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Sword Art Online Episode 4 Micro-Review

By on July 28, 2012

Warning Spoilers Ahead

Sword Art Online is one of the best anime of the summer (so far). So it was an easy choice for one of my weekly “Micro-Review” slots. You can read my thoughts on the first three episodes here (scroll to the bottom). Now, let’s talk about “The Black Swordsman”.

On this episode Kirito helps a loli-idol revive her dead pet. I found this strange at first – why does he keep helping damsels in distress? Seriously, it seems like ¾ of the episodes so far are about him helping out a cute girl.

Don’t get me wrong; I loved the comedy and lightheartedness, but things were starting to feel too familiar. Luckily there was more to the story, and once his true intentions were revealed I was absolutely hooked.

Although, this did bring up another potential problem – it seems like most of Kirito’s battling/leveling is taking place off-screen. This makes things feel a bit rushed; hopefully this doesn’t become standard practice. Still, this was an exceptional episode. (Rating: 8.5/10)

I'm DeShaun Zollicoffer, and I approve this message/bio. "26-years-old, Proud Northeast Ohioan, a Gamer Without Loyalties, an Equal Opportunity Offender, Apple Evangelist, Apple Hater, Music Lover, Anime Junkie, Little Monster, Frequent Flyer, Dexter Fanatic, Title Case Addict, and Geek Revolt's Founder and Editorial Director."
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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000172099718 Dominic Hunter

    The show is presenting things in the chronological order in which they happened, and the last 3 episodes have been a series of short side-stories from vol.2 from the books. In vol. 1, the story pretty much skips from what happened at the end of episode 1 to when he’s Lv. 80 or so, 1.5 years later. The last 3 episodes are just about some stuff he did during that time. When the actual meat of the story starts to come into play, things should slow down a bit.

    Hope this helps you understand it a bit!

    • http://www.geekrevolt.com/ DeShaun Zollicoffer

      Oh, that makes sense! Thanks! I didn’t know that sense I don’t read light novels or manga ha-ha. I’ve tried, but I just can’t get into them.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000172099718 Dominic Hunter

        That’s fine, I’m just glad I could help! On the other hand, it DOES mean the show could use a little better pacing. Things do feel very abbreviated.