Sword Art Online’s fourth endeavor is the first with an actually positive ending – our protagonist manages to assist a loli, and not only does accomplish this valiant deed, he also gets criminals off the virtual streets.
Fading into the start of the episode, a loli is in distress as she’s being rudely looked down upon by a vixen – yet the arguments don’t carry on for long at all as the loli leaves near immediately, and the opening sequence then rolls. Once the episode initiates once more, the loli is seen in a position awfully unfavorable – surrounded by monsters, her eyes water up with fear, among other feelings, and even though the protagonist arrives to rescue her effortlessly, she remains upset for one specific reason.
One may have noticed her blue feathered winged companion earlier, the fellow died as the loli met a barrage of creatures – and the loli is left heartbroken. However, our protagonist has every concern covered – he informs the loli of the possibility of resurrection for her feathery friend, and then further proceeds to even offer equipment and service in aiding her achieve the necessary.
Much of the substance for this episode arrives in how the loli responds to the help she’s being given by Kirito during their miniature escapade together – one will see that she has a very evident crush on him, yet more of interest, one should be cognizant of the feelings.
An establishment of emotions is a crucial element indeed – and notice how Sword Art Online doesn’t get too complicated with this. There’s no over the top love triangles packed within a single episode, or anything else ridiculous to aggravate the current, already troubling state of being trapped within an RPG – rather, the method of Sword Art Online is one of quality over quantity. The earnest emotions of the episode are given great room to thrive – and Sword Art Online makes the most of the opportunity.
This episode’s sentiments are a simple development in which an intimacy grows between man and loli – with the various cute moments of the loli in fact doing more than merely providing the ever-necessary moe moments, they’re also building her character significantly with every second.
And of course, the same holds true indiscriminately between loli and protagonist – his character is similarly propelled in intervals through the episode, an aspect to keep in mind being how he’s actually occupied in thought over a few items outside of the world of Sword Art Online. One will basically be acquainted with the fact that the game is actually far more than merely a “game” – and this event is simply another instance of life transpiring through it, one with something of a twist.
The loli’s quest to revive her beast companion isn’t anything too astounding – it’s truly just what is shown at face value, an ordeal not complex at all. Instead, the plot flips into another incident which makes up the more elaborate sector of story. Part of the reasoning as to why Kirito aided the loli was apparently to lure the arrogant bishoujo from earlier and have her imprisoned. She was chasing after the loli in order to, frankly, kill her – she’s a player killer, and she’s simply too obnoxious to understand that people legitimately face death upon their defeat in-game.
Nonetheless our protagonist puts on a thrilling show of power – at which point, the day essentially falls to his feet. The loli’s winged friend is resurrected from digital death – and as early aforementioned, the protagonist did not simply support her in achieving this, yet he reduced the amount of life loss from PK groups.
Being an overall direct and conclusive episode in what it introduces, the remaining points to question and consider are whether more of our protagonist’s real world background will ever be learned, will he ever escape Sword Art Online, and of course, if he is to ever once again encounter the passing individuals of his many travels. In essence, it’s an episode which acts as a transition to the next – Sword Art Online has been spectacular indeed, though it’s still hardly shown us anything thus far.
Jul 29, 2012 @ 0:29 CDT
Hope Silica will return soon, and hopefully still in an episode that doesn’t make me want to wallow in my own misery.
Jul 29, 2012 @ 0:51 CDT
Add nude loli.
Jul 29, 2012 @ 1:12 CDT
Short, sweet, and lolilicious…what more can I ask? ^_^
Jul 29, 2012 @ 1:20 CDT
Cute loli is finally here! And she sure does deliver. SAO is looking pretty good so far. I laughed a bit at Kirto’s mention about how strong you get get relative to lower leveled players in MMO’s, because it’s so true. Well with the next episode, we’ll probably see the return of Asuna. I’m looking forward to that too!
Jul 29, 2012 @ 1:26 CDT
Guess PK’s exist even in SOA. Kinda odd that they haven’t learnt that death ingame = real life death, though. Maybe they weren’t listening when they were teleported to the 1st town hub area in episode 1? :)
Jul 29, 2012 @ 1:42 CDT
A fair episode with a good ending. Silica was a nice sisterly addition to the cast.. who doesn’t want lolis?? This episode emphasized on the fact that murderers are there in MMORPG’s also which was nice to see and also refreshing to see Kirito playing the hero. Speaking of kirito..boy..isn’t he overpowered…but then again he’s a solo player or might as well be a one man army. Would love to see where this anime heads for next…
Jul 29, 2012 @ 2:01 CDT
A episode with good ending for loli is good. Still, the story could have provided more information as to why Kirito insist on being solo (obviously being a “beater” and earlier events have an effect, but its clear he insisted on going it alone from the beginning).
Jul 29, 2012 @ 2:21 CDT
“…more information as to why Kirito insist on being solo”
Maybe he’s a solo player in previous MMO, and is doing it out of habit? I doubt it, though…
The alienation from “beater” status would prevent easy friendships and hinder parties inviting him, as the majority seem to fear him (dunno why, I’d be thrilled in their situation). I like Kirito’s nickname of the “Black Swordsman”.
Interesting as to how the PC arrow changes depending on whether you’ve done a crime or not. Generally, a word or symbol tends to be added to the name of the player in MMO. This way, you can see them far off :) (depending on how far you can see the PC arrows…).
Jul 29, 2012 @ 5:35 CDT
In the most popular free online MMORPG, Runescape, you get a skull and crossbones over your head.
Jul 29, 2012 @ 6:30 CDT
…Oops. Forgot about that :)
I tend to play Console games over Online MMO’s, so my knowledge isn’t the widest here.
Jul 29, 2012 @ 10:30 CDT
Aww. She isn’t naughty at all. She’s adorable. I’ve learned that for all her gravitas, Silica is a side character, and probably will not be seen in the regular show. Queue the Comiket market…..
This makes me rather sad, as the character is very well realized for the short amount of time they gave her, and her idol status and how it effected the people around her is probably worth a good arc.
Overall, the theme of all three stories (Silica’s, Kirito’s, and the Orange Guild) dovetail very well together. The game is real, and it is a reflection of what you bring with you.
Jul 29, 2012 @ 14:21 CDT
I’d be interested in seeing when this all spirals back to some recurring faces – episodic tales have to reach some sort of climax.