Sword Art Online - Episode 6

"OMG! It's a ghost. Run!"

Just like that, the mystery within a mystery has been completely solved. Although everything happened a bit too fast for my liking, the episode was still enjoyable as a whole. With Kirito having already showed off his strength in Episode 4, this time around, he chooses to exhibit his intelligence as he single-handedly (well, you could say Asuna helped a bit) solved the two mysteries himself. In a way, the whole case was kind of amusing in the sense that the deceivers (Yolko and Caynz) were also being deceived (by Grimlock). While the former pair tried to fish out the culprit of the crime, they were oblivious to the fact that the murderer was right under their noses. If it wasn't for Kirito's lucky timing and Asuna's luck in locating Grimlock (yes, lots of "luck" was involved), the three Golden Apple members might as well have been dead already.

However, that is where the problem of this episode lies. Everything just happened to go the way of the protagonists—from the accidental dropping of the bread to the seemingly easy capture and defeat of Grimlock. Now, I'm not sure if this is because the producers want to cover more material (by speeding through the side stories), but if so, I think slowing down the pace would greatly benefit the series, even at the cost of how far in the story gets, and also calm the rage of some LN readers who feel their beloved SAO is slowly getting butchered as the episodes pass. Personally, this is not really a big deal to me, a non-LN reader, but I heard that a lot of important content, particularly the development of the side characters, was left out in this arc. If this is truly the case, I can only imagine how disappointed some people must feel right now. Nonetheless, it's hard to deny that, despite these shortcomings, SAO is one of the better shows this season.

After some quick searching (while trying to avoid spoilers), I've found out that the next episode will probably introduce another new character by the name of "Lisbeth" (barring any stupid name changes by the studio), who also looks to be imouto material and a possible addition to Kirito's harem. Judging by the character list on MAL she'll be the second to last female introduced, meaning Kirito's harem size will stop increasing one day. Anyways, I hope Lisbeth is another interesting character (like Sachi, Silica, and Asuna) and look forward to seeing her.