That still doesn't address what I'm talking about. Kirito was in a digital world where killing someone meant actually killing them. Three months back this had been his world for 2 years. Then, without the slightest hesitation he is fucking murdering people everywhere. Basically, telling him "it's just a game" makes him not even once question it. And it contradicts what you've said, since he still freaks out over parties dying but now has no concern about killing people. It's inconsistent.
I really don't know why you're so determined to think that the fact that "it's just a game" shouldn't make all the difference. If Kirito was hesitating about PKing even though this is just a game and he has more important things to worry about, that's what I'd call awkward writing.
He has no problem killing enemy players because fighting against players who oppose his views and goals fits in perfectly with his own "hero" persona and how he views MMOs. Even in SAO he spent plenty of time fighting against criminal players and bringing them to justice, he just had to do it without killing them if at all possible. Now he doesn't have to worry about that, because he knows that killing someone in this world is no worse than sending them to a prison cell or whatever back in SAO. Hell, I don't think Kirito would have had any problem with "killing" people even within SAO if, say, he had a weapon with the special property of reviving the killed person immediately in a prison cell somewhere.
Likewise, he gets obsessive about protecting his party to his dying breath because that also fits in perfectly with his own "hero" persona and how he views MMOs. The
party death
trauma he experienced in SAO only served to reinforce this tendency. I don't think Kirito's an idiot; he can tell the difference between matters of actual life and death and matters of personal pride, so I don't think he'd prioritise this obsession with keeping his party alive if it meant putting something that really mattered in jeopardy. But in this particular situation, he really had nothing to lose by forging ahead with it.
Furthermore, SAO WAS an unending trauma. Particularly the way that it ended.
Without any resolution whatsoever, the whole thing abruptly ends, with no explanation from the man who held him prisoner for two years and murdered 4000 people. It just ENDS. And when it does, Kirito is missing two years of life in the real world, and should likewise be struggling with the fact that he cannot discuss the two years he spent in another reality with ANYONE, and that in that world he had a wife and child and that one day these things were abruptly ripped from him.
Unending trauma? Really? I don't think so. Sure, it's more dangerous than real life, but even that isn't going to seem hugely traumatic if you've been doing it every day for two whole years. If Kirito was the kind of person to be deeply traumatised by the idea of fighting monsters that could kill him, he would never have become a front-line player of his own accord. He always had the option of just settling down in a town and not putting his life in danger. He chose to pursue the dangerous life. That above all shows that, even at the beginning, he didn't find it super-traumatic. After two whole years to get used to it, he's not going to be mentally broken.
Then you say the way it ended was traumatic, but was it really? The most traumatic part would have been when Kirito
thought he was going to die, at the very end when Heathcliff emptied his HP
, but even that was a possibility Kirito was ready to face willingly, and it became clear almost immediately afterwards that
he wasn't dying after all
.
The suddenness of the ending? Probably wasn't all that sudden from Kirito's point of view, since he'd
suspected Heathcliff ever since their duel, and ultimately brought about the whole thing himself
. Sure, he couldn't have known that
confronting Heathcliff
would actually lead to the game ending, but he could see it was a possibility, and imagine any number of much worse outcomes, so he was ready for that when it happened, I think.
You say that there was
"no explanation" from Kayaba, as though the ending of SAO was completely inconclusive and unsatisfying, but regardless of how you may see it, it's extremely clear that Kirito did get a sense of closure from that final conversation as Aincrad collapsed. You focus in on Kayaba's statement that he "doesn't really know" why he did it, while ignoring the fact that he still gave an explanation that made it clear what his motivations were. He wanted to create a real, tangible "other world" like the one he had dreamed of all his life. Does that excuse him from causing the deaths of so many? No. Does the fact that he went through with it make him a madman? Possibly. But it's also a goal that's easy to relate to on some level, particularly for someone like Kirito who gets incredibly invested in fantasy worlds.
Then you say Kirito should be traumatised because he can't discuss his experiences in SAO with anyone, but I don't think that's true either. For a start, I doubt he's forbidden from giving at least a basic explanation to his family if he so desires. More to the point, it's clear that he is still in contact with at least some of the people he was close to back in SAO - we see him visit Egil, for instance, before the whole ALO arc even starts - so it's not like he's suddenly got to bottle that whole part of his life up like it never happened.
And perhaps most importantly, your final point, that he had a wife and child in SAO who have been ripped away from him. Yes, this one is legitimately traumatic and clearly weighing heavily on his mind. It's why he initially seems to be very "out of it", before he finds a hint to finding Asuna. But this "trauma" actually has a positive effect on him in ALO, because the hope of finding Asuna acts as a powerful driving force to adjust to this new world and take action there. That kind of trauma isn't going to make him hesitate about PKing; it's going to do the exact opposite.
What does Kirito do, instead of consider the fact that he's killing people now with ease and relish in a world identical to one where doing so would've made him a monster? What does Kirito do instead of worrying about the wife he's lost and who is, you know, now 5 days away from certain doom?
Yeah, way to misrepresent the entire situation. Obviously he's not just "going on virtual dates with his sister" (who, incidentally, he doesn't even know is his sister). He's exploring this new world, familiarising himself with it, learning valuable information about it, and making his way towards where he believes Asuna is being held captive. That's not "instead of worrying about the wife he's lost". Worrying about the wife he's lost is the entire driving force behind what he's doing.
Is he also enjoying himself to some extent? Sure he is. Because after months of not knowing why Asuna is gone or having any way to find her, he has hope. Because after months of grueling recuperation and a whole lot of nothing, he's finally back in his element, battling and exploring a virtual world for a heroic purpose. Because after months of not seeing his "daughter", he's finally been reunited with her. Because enjoying himself even in dire and dangerous situations is what Kirito does, and has been his coping method for two whole years in SAO (well, maybe not during the period when he got super-depressed over
the death of the Black Cat guild
, but you know what I mean).
I really don't see why any of this is as inconsistent or strange as you seem determined to think.
Huh, you're really racing ahead now! You're far ahead of me already. That just just goes to show that you're Doremi spirit was burning bright inside all along!
They should just accept reality and open the Hentai|OT| since everyone who likes anime is perverted+weird+creepy anyway. Even perverts have human rights (this is what Onani Master Kurosawa taught me) and one such right is the right to discuss sexual animation in an intelligent fashion
Saki season one is entertaining magical mahjong, it didn't turn terrible until Achiga-Hen. The BDs seem fine, I haven't seen anything terrible about the upscales.
I mean, okay, I guess I can see the reasons why he
fucking proposed to Saki
. The
Valvrape
events of last episode will only have reinforced his misguided notion that he's a monster who has no right to ever be with Shoko. And at the same time,
the fact that he did that to Saki will make him feel an awful lot of guilt towards her, which, together with the empathy he already felt for her feelings of being "alone", could easily lead to the conclusion that he ought to be with Saki for her sake
. Essentially he's trying to "take responsibility" for his actions.
Which would be all very well if not for the fact that
DUDE, THOSE WEREN'T YOUR ACTIONS AT ALL. You didn't rape Saki. You're not a monster. You didn't even have any way of knowing that was going to happen. All of that is entirely down to the beast inside of you that you can't control and acts without regard to your own wishes. I mean, yes, the existence of this beast is obviously a huge problem, but rushing into a fucking marriage with Saki is not the way to deal with it, and really won't solve anything.
Huh, you're really racing ahead now! You're far ahead of me already. That just just goes to show that you're Doremi spirit was burning bright inside all along!
If hummingbird had actually good character listings and character names in jpn language itd be so good. Currently mal > animeplanet > hummingbird > ann > hummingbird knockoff sites.
Saki season one is entertaining magical mahjong, it didn't turn terrible until Achiga-Hen. The BDs seem fine, I haven't seen anything terrible about the upscales.
If hummingbird had actually good character listings and character names in jpn language itd be so good. Currently mal > animeplanet > hummingbird > ann > hummingbird knockoff sites.
The Amazement panel with Hiroshi Nagahama about Aku no Hana has been transcribed. A couple interesting excerpts:
Q: Why rotoscoping?
Nagahama: I read the original manga thoroughly, and I thought that the feeling from its artwork was actually more real and vivid than the manga artist had depicted. It felt very close to how we are. Living in reality, you see and feel a tactile sensation, and I wanted to evoke that feeling of real life as closely as possible. So my only choice was rotoscoping.
Nagahama: I knew there would be criticism because we chose the method that we did. Even if this rotoscoping was accused of being creepy, its way better than if the audience didnt feel anything. Tor example, this aired on TV: so if you turn on the TV at midnight, you can watch this show and see that this anime is so different from the usual anime. So its creepy. But 5 years from now, if this anime is still sold, youll see it and think, oh this is that creepy anime, maybe I should give a try. And then youll watch it, and if you discover something new from that, I would be happy.
There are so many anime in Japan, and most of them fail to leave any lasting impression. I didnt want my anime to be just another show, and I didnt want to treat the original work that way. Thats how I felt.
Q (by Omo): The stuffed animal [on the bed] from episode 7 is that actually the voice actors rotoscoped bear? (It resembles one from another anime.) Also was the hair rotoscoped [in the end credits with the manga-ka, Oshimi]?
Nagahama: Really? these dolls were of the actress that played Saeki, Yuriko Mishina, so I made her bring her own dolls. And the doll had very long limbs, like Jason, so I folded it and tied it and put it there. But as a result, I reckon it resembled Gooter.
As for [Oshimi's] hair, this is the first time I was asked that question both in Japan and the USA! Everyone asks about the rotoscoping because it leaves such a strong impression. So, to tell you the truth, that end credit self-portait was in the original manga and I drew it myself: I traced and made the original picture for the animation. I used different material for the hair and made it move. Most of Aku no Hana is of course animated in the opposite way, but for the end card I had actually wanted to do it in Flash, almost as a symbol of this anime. But no one could do a Flash animation, so I made them animate the hair in a Flash-like style. That gave it a weird atmosphere, and the picture that come out made me say, ummmm.