THE ANIME GUARDIANS: SWORD ART ONLINE: EPISODE 13

Here's a glance at the episode reviews I do for GoBoiano. Enjoy!

9 stars out of 10

Sword Art Online. Copyright - Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures.

YES! YES!! YES!!!

The first half of this episode is about utter ridiculousness, a most welcome interlude for a series that at times takes itself way too seriously. The mandatory 'Beach Episode' a lot of anime employ is replaced by a brief fishing tourney. Grandmaster Nishida helps Kirito reel in some mutant fish that probably resembles the first stage in land-to-sea prehistoric evolution. The second half of the episode sees our fighters returning to the front lines to investigate the disappearance of a scouting party. The Knights of the Blood Oath summon Kirito and Asuna for their aid in fighting the dungeon boss that killed the scout team. As of now, the Skull Reaper is wiping the floor with the party members, and next episode will reveal what becomes of our woefully weak comrades.

This episode is successful because it encapsulates many of the positive changes SAO needs to make in order to be better than 'average', a standard the series has grown rather content meeting time and time again:

Sword Art Online. Copyright - Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures.

1. The apotheosis of Kirito has officially ended! At first, Kirito's omnipotence was bemusing and spectacular all at the same time. He handled foes with the flick of his wrist and had girls leaving drool puddles at his feet. The funniest moment of Kirito's career was the time he helped Silica stave off a band of robbers: he literally stood still while the petty thieves chopped away at his health bar, only to realize that his health regeneration speed exceeded their attack power.

Kirito's vulgar displays of power, however, lost their novelty after the first dozen battles or so. His near-death experience at the hands of Gleam Eyes established that Kirito is indeed mortal. His subsequent beatdown at the hands of Heathcliff; the sneak attack Kuradeel administered; and last episode's dungeon reaper have humbled Kirito's character. His inability to catch fish is the metaphorical icing on the cake. Yes Kirito, pond fish are cooler than you now.

Sword Art Online. Copyright - Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures.

2. Asuna wears the pants in the relationship. As my co-editor Kate Cwynar has shown me, there seems to be a fandom war over Asuna's role in the story. Many bloggers feel she is overtly feminized and sensitive. In this episode, she clearly states that she'd kill herself if Kirito never returns from the front lines and leaves her alone. Asuna also states in a lengthy and melodramatic dialogue that she bought a Nerve Gear helmet and played the game just so she can meet Kirito.

As Sword Art Online and Accel World have already displayed, Reki Kawahara has a flair for the overly dramatic. Hearing Asuna claim that her whole life revolves around Kirito is indeed silly, nauseating, even a little pathetic and demeaning - but not astronomically so. Giving her more backbone would be nice, but remember that she and Kirito are teenagers (i.e. not yet rational adults who claim better control of their emotions), so it's difficult to take such banter seriously. If she were a mature adult, then there's sufficient reason to be appalled by her reckless abandon of life without Kirito; she isn't a fully realized adult woman, who would rationally say, “I love Kirito, but I'm not going to commit suicide over him.” And what a lot of critical audiences are going to ignore this episode is that as feminized as Asuna might seem, Kirito has been equally emasculated. He's as worried about Asuna as she is about him, and he doesn't look forward to having either of them thrust into combat again. Before this episode's battle, Kirito tells Asuna, “I'm scared... I'm panicking. I'd rather run away with you. We don't have to return to the real world.” Scared! Panicking! What in the world would motivate SAO's biggest, baddest Beater mofo to speak such nonsense?

Sword Art Online. Copyright - Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures.

Kirito's emasculation is compounded by the fact that he literally can't fight without Asuna's assistance anymore. Hell, she does most of the fighting for him. Every battle he engages in requires that Asuna help him block oncoming attacks, and this happened both in this episode and last episode. As they fought the Skull Reaper, they needed their strikes to be in synchrony to be effective. Is Kirito any less a man for needing help? Is it unusual for him to trust that Asuna can protect him? And doesn't she reprimand him for even thinking of leaving her behind? While Reki Kawahara doubtlessly caters to otaku male fantasies by creating what seems to be the perfect wife, Asuna's delight in cooking and fighting for Kirito do not automatically make her a disenfranchised woman wallowing in gender stereotypes. Asuna can be better, however, and as of late has done a great job of taking charge while Kirito farts around lackadaisically.

Sword Art Online. Copyright - Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures.

3. This anime is sticking to its strengths. By now, it should be no secret that Sword Art Online isn't particularly ground breaking material. There's a number of negative aspects that can be picked apart (Kirito's godly alpha-male status; Asuna's femininity and the obvious lack of empowered female players inSAO; the presence of only one black character), but being finicky over a story that finds its power in appealing to a wider, less hyper-critical fan base is a waste of everyone's time. This episode works because it does what the best episodes of the series have done: provide a good mix of humor and terribly exciting action within a fantasy-game context. And in this episode, all of those elements are delivered in ample quantities.

As a fan of science-fiction/fantasy anime, I can admit that there's a lot SAO can be doing with its themes that it hasn't explored. I was shocked to hear Asuna and Kirito fret about their corporeal bodies in the real world, because that may be the first iota of logical thought the series has ever displayed. But the lack of deeper intellectual aims and sociological/philosophical concerns are tolerable if there's a damn good story, decent action and a few good laughs. It's easy to temporarily ignore SAO's various issues if there's genuine entertainment once in a while. This episode is testament to that.

Sword Art Online. Copyright - Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures.

Have I ceased to be a jaded critic of this anime? Not at all. The amount of times this anime has impressed me, unfortunately, can be counted on one hand. But this episode made me laugh, got me excited, and made me think. Sword Art Online did a great job this time around. Hopefully this isn't going to be a one-hit wonder.

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To whom would this anime appeal? I always stumble at this part of the review. This episode was excellent as far as I'm concerned. It functions more as a fantasy show and less like an MMO. The implications of worldwide VR gaming take a backseat to pure action and comedy in a fantasy world.

Which anime are similar to this one? Accel World; .hack//SIGN; Fractale

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Below are screenshots from this week's episode. Enjoy!