Sword Art Online - Episode 13

I'm scared... ;__;

The first half of the episode, I must admit, was quite boring, save for the various Kirito x Asuna moments. Sure, the old man was quite amusing and things were all going so well for our lovely couple, but this was not what I signed up for when I decided to watch Sword Art Online. I'm not trying to bash the series or anything, but compared to other shows, SAO just doesn't excel when it comes to the romantic comedy aspect. So when Heathcliff called for the two to go back to the front lines, you can't imagine how thrilled I was. Despite the slow start, the second half of the episode definitely made up for it.

During Heathcliff's conversation with the two, the mood of the episode quickly turned from joyful to serious. The tragic loss of some of the guild's players at the hands of a powerful enemy once again reminded viewers that death is real, which leads into Kirito's talk with Asuna. Although I understood where he was coming from, I couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed when he told Asuna to stay behind. Too many times have I seen people try to push their suggestions onto others without considering the person's feelings, thinking that it's the best thing to do, when in reality, it might not be the case. I would've expected Kirito to have given some thought about this before saying it, but I guess I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and attribute the reason for his words to his fear of losing his waifu.

With that scene and the final moments before the raid began having effectively set the atmosphere, the teaser to the Skull Reaper boss fight was undoubtedly the most intense part of the episode. It's funny how this is only the 75th Floor and you already have the top guild struggling to defeat the boss, having suffered quite the number of casualties along the way. Now while the expected result would be Kirito defeating it by pulling out another trick from his sleeves like he did during the Gleam Eyes battle, something tells me it won't be so easy this time around. On the other hand, I don't expect any of the major side characters (i.e. Klein, Agil, etc.) to die, so the raid shouldn't end in an utter failure either. Whatever might happen next, I'm preparing myself for it. According to some avid SAO fans, the next episode should be extremely good. Looking forward to it.