FULL EPISODE SPOILERS
Secrets are out, tears are out, and I just can't even handle all of this anymore. Why, SAO, why?!
This episode is really, really good. It's probably one of the most emotional since the traumatic episodes back in the early GGO episodes and carries a ton of weight with it. It's all handled very well. There are only, really, four characters playing prominent roles and not a one feels out of place, out of character, or just there to bring down the story.
There's even a return to the stronger character of Asuna that's been missing since she tried to escape the bird cage in Episode 21 of Season 1. She has a fierce determination and a strong footing in this episode that it's hard to not notice, and it's a character that has been missing for a long time. This episode showcases why Asuna deserves her own arc, her own experience.
Though this isn't all about, as a lot of it is also about Yuuki. She's still a strong character, just as strong as Asuna is, even. The women of this series are really stepping up, aren't they?
Yuuki's strength is more mentioned, but it's still evident in her mannerisms and the way she talks. It stills packs a heavy punch to learn the truth, too. If you don't feel your stomach twist in the episode, well...you will by watching the closing again. Everything makes sense in the closing by the end of the episode.
So how do we start this emotional downpour of...emotions?
Asuna tries to contact Yuuki but fails, then Siune appears and tells Asuna that none of them have had that kind of luck. Siune tells Asuna that they did want her to be a part of the group, but, they also would like her to forget all about them, then suddenly logs out, leaving Asuna all alone again.
Man, talk about a low-light.
The next day at school, Asuna gets a message from Kazuto, who is busily working on Yui being able to see in the real world pretty much anywhere she can go in a little portable sphere. It's still not perfect, but it's a significant leap forward compared to her just sitting around in the restaurant all the time. I wonder if she would just hang out with Agil sometimes. I also like how much of a father-daughter relationship the two have, just by the way they talk it sounds like, "Okay, Yui, you got this?" "Yes, dad!" I like it. Adds to the meaning.
Asuna arrives, clearly distraught, when Kazuto gives her the address for the hospital using the Medicuboid, a machine we'll learn about in just a moment. Let's just add more points to Kazuto being a great boyfriend, that seems to be his outstanding role this arc. Can't blame him. He never really did anything like this before.
Asuna rushes to the hospital where at first she can't figure out a way to see Yuuki, but one of the receptionists recognizes Asuna and goes to get a doctor. He's never given a name. Weird.
He brings her to another, more private, part of the hospital where he tells Asuna that Yuuki did want to see her again, but that she expected she never would, since she never told Asuna anything about where she was. The doctor also doesn't know how she got there, either, and it never comes up. I mean, we know, so I guess that's what is important here.
He then tells her about the Medicuboid, and it's actually a nifty machine: it's a medical full-dive machine that has been using the technology from the NerveGear/ Amusphere to help in medical practices. It enhances the nerve-numbing that both machines use while a player is diving so that some surgeries and illnesses can be cured in a fixed amount of time. It essentially serves as a general anesthetic, but it's on the road to eventually becoming public. Not sure how much use a machine like the Medicuboid would have in the public eye, but, I think they mean that more hospitals will have access to the device, which would be really helpful.
I like the idea of the Medicuboid. It allows one to be subdued during a procedure, but it also allows the patient to be playing a game at the same time. Pretty cool, I must say. Not only that, but there's also no chance that the patient will wake up during surgery since the pain receptors are turned off and are focused on the game. The only way to wake up is to log out, which can be done by one of the doctors logging in to tell the patient to wake up. It's practical and would make for something good to have publicly and not just in specific hospitals. Or it could just serve as a double to anesthesia for some smaller surgeries.
Sadly, though, the main purpose of the Medicuboid is for terminal cases. I say sadly because, obviously, at that point there is little hope.
Such is the case for Yuuki. The doctor asks if Asuna wants to know the whole truth, and she asks for it, determined to learn what is wrong with Yuuki. So, the doctor tells her:
When she was young, Yuuki had to get a blood transfusion. However, the blood was tainted by a virus, one that the whole family soon contracted. Up until she was in fourth grade, Yuuki was on and off with medication, until her immune system succumbed to the disease and she was forced into the hospital, which was also around the time the first Medicuboid was created, as well as around the time of the SAO incident. The disease?
AIDS. Yuuki has AIDS, and it's a special type of AIDS that blocks out treatment, the most lethal. Yuuki, though has smiled throughout all of it. Made friends through this trouble, and has continued to live despite her entire family, including her older twin sister Aoki dying from it. Yuuki has shown resilience, but her fight is sadly drawing to a close, though she cannot feel it because of the Medicuboid. Dang.
Yuuki is awesome. In the face of death, in the face of a terminal disease, she is able to live her life to the fullest. Anyone out there who is able to do that is truly a fighter, is truly strong. We may not know her for very long on the show, but Yuuki has proven, just with this knowledge, to be one of the most powerful characters.
It's such an emotion bomb because of the fact that we just met her, and got to meet this goofy little bundle of joy that has AIDS. No, it's not fair, not fair at all. You don't want to see her go, not after we just met her and all.
This is a big scene in the episode, yes, and has some good moments for both the doctor and Asuna. Asuna desperately wants to help Yuuki but knows she can't, and the doctor never sounds like he's giving up on Yuuki and has full faith in her and has been proud to work alongside her, despite at one point questioning if it were the correct decision to put her in the Medicuboid.
Yuuki suddenly contacts Asuna, using the machine, and tells her that she is so happy to really see her in real life, then asks to meet her over in ALO. Asuna agrees, and logs right in using an Amusphere in the room next door.
They meet at the tree they first battled and the use of colors here is rather ingenious. Yuuki's appearance lights everything up, and creates a contrast between her themed color of purple against Asuna's blue. The background of the tree is also beautifully handled, as is the rising sun. It's very good animation in a much needed moment.
Yuuki explains that she really did want to see Asuna and is sorry she never told her about the disease or about any of this. She then explains that each member of the Sleeping Knights has a pretty major disease, and that her own sister, Aoki, was once the leader until she died, along with two other members. Now, Yuuki and another are given just three months to live.
Asuna begs Yuuki to not give up, who wants her final memory to be of getting their name on the monument they pushed so hard for. Yuuki makes a strange request to go back to school just one more time, and to end the episode, Asuna exclaims that there may in fact be a way to do that.
The final scene is beautifully handled as both characters don't at all feel out of themselves and bring forth emotional moments that put a cap to all of this. I have to give credit to make the decision of not having Yuuki break down into tears, as at this point it would have been out of character. She's so strong and so resilient that having her do that would just feel strange. It wouldn't be wrong, but, I don't see Yuuki as the type of person to just break down. On Asuna's part, her determination came through again as well as her compassionate side of all of this.
Overall, both character shine throughout the episode and are able to carry it all on their own, despite their worlds basically crumbling all around them. In spite of all of this, the episode shows that Asuna is not going to give up their friendship just to some disease, and that it will in fact transcend past this, to make Yuuki happy and really make her live out her life. The promise that she'll go back to school is so full of hope that you have to come back to see what happens, you have to see how it's pulled off.
Next time, Yuuki does in fact go back to school. And if you watch the closing, there's a good chance you know how! See you then.
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