Kirito spots Yoruko’s killer on a rooftop and pursues him, but he escapes via teleport crystal. When food Asuna made expires, Kirito gets the idea that the deaths of Kains and Yoruko were faked through use of simultaneous armor expiration and teleportation. He tests the theory by visiting Griselda’s grave, where Yoruko and Kains are questioning Schmitt, then ambused by a PK guild that Kirito scares off. Meanwhile, Asuna apprehends Grimlock, who had his wife Griselda killed because she changed from his wife in the real world. After discussing the perks of marriage, Kirito and Asuna add each other to their friends lists.
SAO will run for 25 episodes, so it can afford to take the odd sidequest, but we’re relieved this particular one didn’t extend past two episodes. While it was a competantly wrapped-up mystery with a twist ending, neither the mystery nor its participants were particularly novel or interesting. It as just kind of there. To be candid, we just couldn’t connect with this guild and its ring pacts and death-fakers as much as we did with Sachi, Silica, or even Klein. In fact, the best parts of this episode were those with Kirito and Asuna, as their mutual trust and friendship grows.
Sure, Asuna can be a tsundere at times, and Kirito can be too quick to play the weary victim, but as we said last week, they make a good team, and it wouldn’t be the end of the world if they became one on a more permanent basis. Asuna wouldn’t be sharing her homemade food or taking “hypothetically” about marriage if she didn’t like Kirito, even if he is a somewhat innocuous lone wolf. Both are pragmatists and mindful of the future. While their encounter with Grimlock (or -rock, whatever) showed that “storage sharing” isn’t for everyone (especially if the couple was involved in the real world), it definitely has its advantages.
Rating: 6 (Good)
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