Sword Art Online 2 Final Episode (24): Kayaba’s name returns!

Well, the big, dramatic death scene was kinda expected, but at least it only took half of the episode. In the second, we get the not-so-shocking truth that Kayaba Akihiko was behind the Medicuboid…that doctor only needed to say “designs for free” and it wasn’t that hard to figure out where he was going. I guess it’s not as bad as Aeolia Schenberg…yet…

And so another season concludes for this show. Just from a surface judgment, I think that both of the seasons were approximately the same in my eyes. If I were giving recommendations, I’d likely say something to the effect of “if you liked the first season, go for it”. From just my perspective, I’d say the second season has the slight edge in that I was less hyped going into it, but the first season has the advantage of introducing me to Sandwich-kun. So, who’s ready for another season? (I don’t think anything’s been announced…just joking around, people)

Sword Art Online 2 Episode 23: I guess everything worked out

Well, it looks like Yuuki got her wish thanks to Kirito’s magic webcam. Also, Asuna’s real life problems with her mother pretty much went as expected. Are we sure that she’s really an Asian mother? Not too much more to say about this week’s episode…it wasn’t all too interesting to watch. The power of love and friendship (and the virtual world) solves everything! Keep playing video games, kids.

This week’s episode pretty much solved all of Asuna’s problems, so I guess all that remains for next week is Yuuki’s death. Anything else I’m missing? If not, then that’s a full episode devoted to a character death…I wonder if I should be worried. More than likely, it will just be some sort of final dungeon before she dies or something, right?

Sword Art Online 2 Episode 22: The secret is out

Yuuki’s secret is finally brought out…as many like me have found out or just guessed from her strange behavior, she’s dying of a terminal illness. Also, the fact that everyone else in the Sleeping Knights is also close to death explains why no one told Asuna despite her desperation. But all of that aside, anyone else feel like Kirito knows way too much? That’s so convenient that he happened to know about the Medicuboid. I understand that he’s learning about VR, but is that information really available to the public?

It sounds like next week, Asuna will try to make Yuuki’s wish to go to school come true using Kirito’s fancy Yui webcam (because no one else could think to use something as significant as a webcam). Then, I guess the episode after that will be Yuuki’s death? That should be enough to wrap up the season…I suppose they could spend some time with Asuna’s mother, but does that really take that long?

Sword Art Online 2 Episode 21: Secrets everywhere!

Well, the boss fight ended up being pretty easy (that weak point seemed almost too simple). There were a lot of really awkward moments this week with the guild tiptoeing around Yuuki…still haven’t given away her big secret yet. I guess we still have plenty of time to do it. The “nee-chan” stuff also seems important…I’m not foolish enough to think that Yuuki is Asuna’s secret sister, though (I will admit that her name certainly made me suspicious).

The Sword Memorial for this week only ended up being an in-game thing, but next week’s episode is actually called Journey’s End…which certainly sounds ominous. I assume it means the end of the guild or just the end of the online adventures? I assume the guild won’t give away anything to Asuna after Yuuki logs out, so either she has to wait and see or do her own research. But whatever happened to Asuna’s RL issues?

Sword Art Online 2 Episode 20: The power of friendship!

And of course Kirito is here to save the day, as usual. Strangely enough, given the trajectory of the show, I was expecting him to make a move like this…showing up in the nick of time to help Asuna. I was actually expecting him to show up and take out the initial twenty guild members so that Asuna and Yuuki’s team didn’t have to waste any energy, but this is pretty close. That aside, Yuuki’s guild is my kind of guild…that’s pretty much how I play MMORPGs: join a group of strong people and take on challenges without having to wait for 40+ people to assemble (because let’s be honest…I don’t have the patience for that).

The title of next week’s episode certainly makes it sound like this arc is coming to an end…but that doesn’t make sense. This arc should last until the end of this season given that there are only four episodes left. I guess the in-game stuff might be resolved next week…leaving the rest of the show to deal with real-life problems? Does it really take three episodes to deal with Asuna’s mother? Should only take 5 minutes…

Sword Art Online 2 Episode 19: Kirito is so busted

This is a very Asuna-focused arc, I see. I guess it’s only fair given that she was trapped in a cage for an entire half of a season. Anyway, Zekken is revealed to be Yuuki, and as expected, Asuna is chosen by her from the duel (this is her story after all). Should be a fairly straightforward arc with Asuna dealing with overbearing mother with whatever big lesson she learns from spending time with Yuuki.

No need to tease me or anything about Yuuki. I’ve already done my research and found out who she truly is. That aside, it looks like this arc is going to be a quest with Yuuki and Asuna (and by the looks of it, some others as well). But why is this quest so important? And what kind of quest is it? This much I don’t know…

Sword Art Online 2 Episode 18: Legendary duelist

That’s just like MMO players…a new update comes out with new abilities and all Asuna cares about is the in-game accessories. Anyway, while a decent amount of time was spent on buying the house in Aincrad, it looks like the main focus for this arc is going to be this new character Zekken. I can totally get behind what this Zekken is trying to do in the game…I’d often much prefer dueling people over the raids that MMO players tend to love.

But who exactly is this Zekken? It seems like maybe Kirito knows something about Zekken’s identity? Or did he notice something in the fighting style? Also, it looks like the subs I was watching were trying really hard to use gender-neutral pronouns to describe Zekken, so I’m guessing someone who read the light novels is trying to tell me that Zekken is actually female or something. Just a guess…fansubbers are often predictable in that way. Anyway, it looks like next week, Asuna will take her shot at fighting Zekken.

Sword Art Online 2 Episode 17: Should have listened, Klein…

Oh Klein…what are we going to do with you? Now you’re trying to flirt with quest AI? Anyway, it looks like the myth of Freyja and Thrym from Norse mythology became relevant after all…I hadn’t even considered the possibility that Mjolnir would be a second quest reward (what kind of quest drops two legendary weapons?). Still, it might have just been my imagination, but Thor looked almost surprised that Mjolnir transformed him back when he picked it up…game logic, maybe?

So now that this filler arc is done, is it time to get back to the final arc in this season? There can’t be any more filler in between, right? The title of the next episode “Forest House” doesn’t exactly give me any hints…how am I supposed to interpret that? I guess either I look it up or wait and see…

Sword Art Online II Episode 16: It’s a trap!

The final boss is here! I guess with all of the complaining the group has been doing about being short an offensive magic user, it’s only natural that they would recruit one…I wasn’t expecting it to be an NPC, though. Is this Freyja really a trap or will she become an AI ally similar to Yui? Also, I checked out the story of Freyja and Thrym in Norse mythology…apparently, in Norse mythology, Thrym steals the hammer Mjolnir from Thor and Loki disguises him as Freyja to get it back from Thrym (so she really is a trap if they’re mirroring the mythology).

Presumably, next week is the end of this arc with the final fight against Thrym. I still have no idea what Excaliber is doing in a Norse mythology story, but I guess Kirito needs his shiny new sword, right? Also, who knows? Given how much they’ve been claiming Freyja is a trap, it’s very possible that freeing her was necessary to win the fight against Thrym…then Klein would actually have done something useful for once.

Sword Art Online II Episode 15: Does Kirito really need another sword?

Well…I guess we’re back to Alfheim. It looks like the story for this arc is Kirito and the “We Love Kirito” gang (we can probably just call them groupies at this point) have to stop other adventurers from completing a false quest by retrieving the sword Excalibur (is Kirito really so much of a sword nut that his eyes glisten when he sees a legendary sword?). Unless there’s some darker reason why the false quest was given out, this arc feels a lot like filler (which is annoying considering the recap episode last week). As for Shinon, she really has joined Kirito’s harem, huh? I guess I can respect an archer…especially one who would choose to be one in a game where the class is under-powered (archery is inferior to magic in most games, sadly).

The new opening song seems fairly lackluster to me in comparison to other openings this series has used…the ending is pretty on-par, though. Anyway, it’s very possible this arc is concluded in the next episode. It doesn’t seem like it should take too long. Who knows? Maybe Klein will actually be useful for once? I feel like right now his only role is to be the other guy in the group that stops all of the girls from jumping Kirito at every moment. I feel like Silica suffers the most because she gets false attention from Kirito (Kirito’s really aiming the attention at Shinon, but she gets false impressions because Shinon chose to be a cat girl as well).