Kirito isn't as Oblivious to Love as he appears; he figured out that Lisbeth had feelings for him, and is just acting oblivious so that he doesn't hurt the other girls' feelings. In the case of Asuna, he does have feelings for her, and he recognizes the signals she's sending out, but he's still getting over the trauma of Sachi's death.
There's also an in-universe example with Kirito, whose "loner" attitude is interpreted early by many players as a sign of him being a "Beater" and not caring about other players, while in reality it is caused by his Survivor Guilt and fear of losing any more people; if anything, the way he treated Klein and Asuna (he is the one because of whom they started Taking Levels in Badass) and him taking the blame for other beta-testers after the first boss's defeat make it really hard to see him as a selfish type unless this trope is invoked.
Keita blaming Kirito for their guild-mates' deaths is in fact a mental defense mechanism for his Survivor's Guilt. In truth, he blames himself for not being there. Yet he doesn't even believe himself, which is why he kills himself right afterward.
Is Diavel a well-intentioned leader who's too confident in what he knows as a beta tester, a power-hungry manipulator who would do anything just to be in charge of the Assault Team, or some combination of the two? The former interpretation is somewhat easier to accept in the anime, in which the subplot of Diavel's attempting to buy Kirito's sword through a proxy is removed (an incident that could imply that Diavel wanted to put himself in a better position to lead the Assault Team). It's also worth noting that regardless of Diavel's reasons, he did, in fact, inspire two different people to lead factions of players toward clearing the game, even if his reputation was preserved as a result of Kirito's "beater" ploy. It's possible that Diavel genuinely believed in the idea of a united front to clear the game, if only for the sake of his own survival.
The exact nature of Kyouji's admiration of his brother and Shino's bloody pasts. Is he enamored by the act of killing itself, or did Shouichi give himself some Draco in Leather Pants treatment when he told Kyouji of his SAO exploits, perhaps painting himself as Vigilante Man who punished criminals in the Death Game, and the resulting Big Brother Worship translated to his infatuation towards Shino upon learning that she gunned down a robber who shot a post-office clerk.
Would Deusolbert really not have arrested a child and transported them to the Central Cathedral hanging off his dragon like he did with Alice, or was he simply lying about it? The former seems more likely as he had no real reason to lie due to not having many issues with being killed after his defeat, and there's the definite possibility that he did it under the Influence of the Seal of the Right Eye, which only a few Underworlders are actually aware of.
Are Integrity Knights really separate entities from those whose body they're unknowingly using, or are they simply the same person with Laser-Guided Amnesia and brainwashing? While many characters note that restoring the memories would kill the person they become, there are several factors that serve to muddle the issue, namely the fact that the Knights are capable of remembering things from their previous lives and are affected by them in one way or another. Alice remembers her little sister Selka to an extent, Eldrie was driven to protect Alice as she reminded him of his mother to a degree, Deusolbert has constant dreams about someone who was apparently his wife, Renly suffers from severe trauma in regards to fighting after he accidentally killed hisBest Friend in a duel, and Dakira's feelings for Fanatio stem from her reminding Dakira of a girl she had a crush on before her Synthesis. There's also the fact that skills they possessed before Synthesis, such as swordsmanship and skills in Sacred Arts, carry over from the Pre-Synthesis self, as evidenced by how the Church had Alice train as a nun to increase her System Control Authority before Synthesizing her. A later scene also has Alice tell Eldrie that as soon as they win the war with the Dark Territory he should go the top of the Cathedral and reclaim his memories, in spite of the fact that, going off the logic that she isn't the real Alice and that restoring the real one's memories would have killed her, this would effectively kill the Eldrie she knows.
By extension, is child Alice truly the "Real Alice Zuberg" as Kirito, Eugeo, and Alice believed? While it's noted that the unorthodox nature of the Forced Synthesis Ritual caused Alice's memories to gain a FluctLight and become a Literal Split Personality, the fact that Alice Synthesis Thirty can remember certain parts about her past, such as the location of Rulid Village despite having never been there as per the rule that Integrity Knights can't visit where they're originally from, as well the fact that she feels close to Selka, the original Alice's younger sister, despite having no real memory of her, brings into question about whether or not Alice Synthesis Thirty can't simply remember everything on her own without the need of the memory crystal which, if true, would make child Alice an unintentional clone created by the Forced Synthesis Ritual.
The anime adaptation of Alicization gives Quinella this, as right before her death, she has a vision of her kingdom and smiles, stating that she loved it all. Is Quinella an evil Control Freak who truly does not understand love and only uses it as an excuse of her actions, or does she really believe that love is control and sees herself as a caring mother to her people?
In Alicization Lycoris, what exactly does Fanatio feel towards Kirito and why does she act so affectionate/playful towards him? Has she given up on Bercouli and decided to pursue Kirito instead? Is it a mix of No Social Skills due to her time as the Integrity Knight Vice-Commander combined with her Taking A Level In Cheerfulness? Or is she just trolling him and hisother love interestsfor her own amusement? While the first possibility is likely due to them sharing Bed Scenes and hinting that Kirito reminds her of Bercouli, the line is further blurred with her and Bercouli still getting some Ship Tease, such as in one Event where Bercouli disappearing after meetings causes Fizel to tease Fanatio that he might have a secret girlfriend, something that's clearly shown to depress her even when she tries to deny it.
