Sword Art Online

Reasons why Kirito may be a Mary Sue/Gary Stu/Whatever

• He is cute
• He can make needless calculations of objects by just looking at them for a few seconds
• He is one of the highest level people within the boss clearing group
• He has a skill exclusive to him
• He isn't fat
• Multiple women like him in a world where females are sparse
• Two of those women are considered "idols"
• He is cute
• He gets a lightsaber
• He manages to solo a lot of things most people party up for
• He is already highly experienced in MM Os prior to SAO
• He was lucky enough to get into the beta testing period, which was a lottery with 1000 winning slots
• He gets an S-Rank food ingredient that some people have never even seen before
• He isn't all that socially experienced but still manages to make some nice friends, most of which are the opposite gender
• He nearly beats the shit out of a flying robot guy that has a blade made of imagination or something without wings and without the use of ranged weapons
• He found that big bad santa boss dude or something and got the revival item on the first try
• He has rare equips
• He near-solo'd the 74th floor boss despite how he himself said that it would probably require a lot of people without all that much planning
• He would have defeated the guild leader of the Knights of Blood if it wasn't for OMGHAX or something
• Two years of semen etc etc
• Orphan
• Married with little actual internal conflict
• Didn't use a shield even before his dual blades
• Armorless
• Did I mention that he is rather cute

(I don't have a problem personally with all of these, well other than maybe how I liked his golden chestplate which he replaced with a shirt)

He cuts a bullet in half with a lightsaber. I think that about sums it up.

Personality I think he's The Ace as the main character done right. But I can see how some would think he's a Stu.

He is not "infallible" or the only person anyone talks about in the first book. He might meet a lot of other Gary Stu qualifications in the first book, but without those I can't call him one.

Episode 10: Nice fight against Heathcliff. There was a weird scene where Kirito seems to have "lagged", is that part of Heathcliff's unique skill? That's interesting, that his powerful defense is because he can "slow down" stuff.

Kuradeel definitely looks like he belongs to Laughing Coffin. Liked how Kirito just went ahead and punched the dude to death after Asuna whittled his health down. (I have to wonder how Kirito was able to move though, even with the paralysis in effect. I mean, this is technically still a video game)

As for the latter part... d'awww. Just... d'awwww.

^ I think the paralysis finally wore off by then.

So like, I just read through the entire GGO arc due to being impatient, regardless of possible spoiling.

And like, damn. That thing felt so..."stretched out", like if it was adapted I could imagine it being 2 OV As without really missing out on much. And it took 6 chapters just for Kirito to make his character.

But I got what I read it for so it's fine I suppose.

From what I recall, some of the stuff in those first 6 chapters are rather important world- and character-building details. Without them, the transition from the previous book would have been quite sudden.

Not much actually happens, but there's a lot of character development and worldbuilding. Same with volumes 3-4. I think volume 1 is the only one where stuff happens actually... And most people say it feels a bit rushed.

edited 15th Sep '12 2:09:22 PM by Clarste

New episode out and subbed.

For me, the characterization is some of the best parts of it.

Of course, being able to stop yapping and kick some ass is also very good.

Huh, they're stretching Yui's story into 2 eps. Really thought they could've fit everything into one ep, esp at the pace they've been setting.

They're also mixing in some of the generic honeymoon stuff, I would hope.

Liked the episode and glad they're doing Yui's story in two parts. She's one of my favorite characters.

What the hell? Apparently somehow I lost this thread off my watchlist back around page 3.

...Anyway, I like the new episode. It's good to see Asuna being given equal opportunity to scare a few Army thugs into digitally shitting themselves, but I can't help but feel like I've seen this plot somewhere before, if I'm right about Yui.

Not entirely sure what you are talking about (it has been a LONG time since I saw Twilight), but I think you are on the right track even if you get the details wrong.

The whole thing with a data-girl pretty much arising spontaneously, though my secondary guess is that Kayaba made Yui to fuck with Kirito and Asuna.

Yep, right track but details wrong. And no, I won't be more detailed/specific than that It should all be explained next episode.

edited 15th Sep '12 9:31:42 PM by Belian

I can just see Kayaba sitting around thinking "how should I troll Kirito and/or Asuna today".

So can I.

Yui! so cute!

BTW, I don't think it'll be easy fitting yui's side story into one episode. and it seems they cut out the "fishing", although they alluded to it with the greeting to the fisherman. Maybe they can put it in an ova or something......

Yeah, the "fishing" side-story is nice just because of the different perspective it provided. But it is not really important to any plot in the series, so I don't care that they skipped it.

...actually, they might tack it on at the end of the next episode. I just re-read the relevant chapters and they can ether skip it after this or use it as it is used in the book.

I'd agree that Kirito really takes on Gary Stu properties after the first novel. But not really during the first novel, though he is bordering on overpowered already at that point.

But is he a Gary Stu from the game's perspective (apparently justified, since Kayaba is taking a direct interest in him with Dual Blades and whatnot), or from the narrative's? I agree that he's gotten kind of messiah-ish after the encounter with Lisbeth shocked him out of his self-interestedness, but he only beat the Gleaming Eyes by a very small margin even with his broken extra skill and Asuna has had to save him several times in the past few episodes.

Narrative. As mentioned, it mostly shows up later in the series.

So... I have read the novels and am caught up with the anime.

Main complaints for the novels: Kirito's Stu-ness. It's okay till the end of the 4th novel, not that bad because he went through some rough experiences, after that I got really annoyed. I also instantly kind of groan whenever I see incest. Yes, it's one-sided and doesn't go anywhere, but it's a huge turn-off for me in anything in any situation. Urgh. I also despise harem series and it really bothers me when there is a new girl every arc, when the relationship between Kirito and Asuna is probably the most interesting and could be enough to drive the series. Especially by the time I reached the most recent novels, it kind of became really obnoxious, even if it's a lot better than most harem type series.

Main complaints about anime: It's rushed and a few details that were skipped from the novels would make the whole thing more coherent.

Main pro's for the series both anime and novel: Very interesting worlds built with the games, how everything works in general. The villains are freaking despicable. Yuki Kaijura's music, the animation and art. The little moments and interactions between the "main" players(particularly, Klein, Agil, Asuna, Kirito) and finally, the heartwarming moments between Kirito and Asuna. I just love the couple and how both of them are capable and save each other's rears. I love two-sided relationships like that.

tl; dr. It's cute, I guess. Good enough to follow week by week at least. I've always liked the concept, but .hack was boring, Not a fan of Accel World either. I just really like the idea and this is the closest thing to do something good with it. In addition the novels are fairly easy reads, so I can see why the series caught on in popularity.

edited 16th Sep '12 1:34:01 PM by Pipoko

I disliked Lyfa because she felt completely pointless and her side of the story was pretty silly (as you mentioned in the spoiler bit), but I think Sinon works pretty well as a foil for Kirito. Honestly, it's just as much her story if not more. It's pretty easy to see their relationship as completely platonic so it doesn't necessarily veer into harem. And in the even later novels the Deuteragonist is male, so it's even further from a harem. I really think Lyfa just set a bad precedent that colored people's perception of new characters.

Asuna not having an important role is a separate issue, but I really don't see how focusing on their relationship any further would be very interesting. Kirito has his own stories, Asuna has her own story, and in between we see little hints of them just living their lives together. It's not like they need to spend every waking moment side by side. The other stories take place over what, 2-3 days?

edited 16th Sep '12 2:12:00 PM by Clarste