"A person with something to protect is a strong ally to have. I'm expecting a good fight from you."
FULL EPISODE SPOILERS AHEAD
Alright, hey look, another two-parter. And...it's the final two-parter of the first half of the show, how crazy. But trust me, it's super epic. The most intense boss fight of the show is here as well as the showdown against the Skull Reaper.
The episode plays to some other great skills SAO has, such as how funny and human these characters really are. We always see Kirito as being like a god among men with how strong he is, but really, he isn't the best at everything. Even though its one of the simplest of things, he still isn't the greatest. The way that the characters in the first half of the episode interact is great and the different expressions the animators give the characters are priceless, never really seen in the show because they haven't gone down a very humorous path too many times.
It's also another lop-sided episode, with the first few minutes not at all preparing you for what is to come. There is some heavy foreshadowing and build up going on but not like the other two-parters where it just sort of ends and you're like "well I don't know what's going to happen." This one ends where you pretty much know what the next episode is going to be about.
So how does it begin? Well, Kirito is fishing (yes, that exciting activity) and is failing at it. Another fisherman, Nishida, arrives and expresses that as great a fisherman that he is, he can never do anything with the fish he catches since he has a low cooking skill. You'd think that after two years he could get good at it, but I guess leveling up that fishing skill takes forever.
Kirito takes him to Asuna and there they create a wonderful dinner. Kirito complains that the fishing spots on that floor are difficult and Nishida replies that the lake Kirito goes to is actually the hardest, and in it dwells the King of Fish. Nishida asks Kirito to help him catch it, and to do so they will implore the "switch" method that is used during battle.
I don't get why Kirito is confused as to why that would work. It makes a ton of sense. If you have a large fish on the line and require some more strength, just switch in to the next person and they should be able to yank the sucker in. Whatever.
The newlyweds have an intimate moment where they express that they are now living and fighting for each other and it's cute and yeah next scene.
The big day, or...the next day, arrives and Nishida casts his line, with most of the villagers there to watch. He snags the big fish and Kirito switches in. He fails to pull it to shore, but the angered fish jumps onto shore and begins to attack. Asuna, because she's so freaking cool, takes down the fish in one hit and gets praised by everyone else. As Kirito goes to congratulate her, he gets a message from Heathcliff, and then the two prepare to rejoin the army on the front lines.
Nishida sees them off and tells them about how he wondered if he even wanted to live in SAO since all he does is fish. Asuna tells him a story about how she would always cry herself to sleep until she one day found a boy lounging about, telling her to relax on the grass as the floor was at its optimal setting. Ever since they she's discovered that they aren't losing days in their real life but gaining them with each passing adventure or snooze they take in SAO, and Asuna also expresses that she hasn't had nightmares or felt scared since she met that boy, who is of course Kirito.
Asuna's little monologue is something that, as a viewer, we've seen develop so we know exactly what she's talking about. But to hear her character admit all of this to someone else is a major leap in development. Her saying that the reason she put on the NerveGear was to meet Kirito (though she didn't know it) is cheesy but heartwarming. It's such a good moment and it's such a great bit of dialogue that does invoke those sadly-joyful emotions within you.
The feels with the show gosh darn it.
It comes to a halt when the two arrive back at Knights of the Blood Oath HQ to find the reconnaissance team was wiped out by the Floor 75 Boss in a matter of minutes, and that they were totally trapped in the room. Heathcliff declares that they will force an all-out attack on the boss and Kirito counters by saying Asuna is his number one priority, and that he will protect her over fighting the boss (which, really, is the same thing).
Afterward, we see a moment where Kirito seems to break character and tell Asuna that clearing the game hardly matters as long as they are together, and Asuna expresses the same feelings, but the two also realize that all the players have probably all been moved to hospitals and are being kept alive merely by machines, so really, their bodies are on a time limit, thus, so is their time in the game. They vow to never break their spirit to defeat the game.
As all the players meet up, we get to see how Klein and Agil are doing. For some reason, Klein is not with his guild, which raises the question as to why that is...and it's never answered. Cool. Agil, on the other hand, is looking forward to battle for the item drops it will give out. It's a really nice moment between all of them as they get to just be themselves. It's halted by Heathcliff's arrival and the start of the mission, and really I didn't want to see it end. It's the calm, relaxing moments of the show that are really the strong points.
Then again, another strong point of the show is the fight sequences. Which we see here, at the end of the episode. The group pours into the Boss Room and gets trapped, as expected, but find that the boss is actually a skeletal, snake-like creature that descends from the ceiling and is capable of killing the players in one stroke (if they are unguarded). Their spirits decline but Kirito and Asuna find that if they attack together, they can weaken it. Kirito has a slight moment of doubt as he sees that Skull Reaper's HP has barely dropped despite their attacks, but presses on with Asuna nonetheless, ending the episode.
Skull Reaper is probably the most threatening boss we've seen, outside of the King of Fish obviously, simply by the way that he moves and the quickness by which he does so. And unlike some of the other CGI creatures we've seen (those of which I can't remember, for some reason) this one actually works as it adds to the fluidity of the creature, allowing it to snake around easier than if it were a more 2-D image.
This is yet another great episode of SAO playing to its strengths of humor and reminding us of the prime directive of the show: clear the game to live again. While Asuna and Kirito have indeed found love and life in SAO, they are determined to get back to the real-world where they can do it all over again without their bodies decaying over time and without having to worry about the front lines.
Because life is easy like that.
But whatever, I won't get into why life sucks and all that jazz. The goal of the show has been remembered and that's a good thing. This was a hilarious episode with great character interaction and sets up the most challenging boss yet.
Tomorrow, however, we find that the Skull Reaper may not be their greatest challenge...but perhaps someone within their ranks.
And...we find where Kaiyaba has been all this time. See you tomorrow.
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