It’s no secret that I love Sword Art Online. I love the style, the animation and the characters. Now everybody loves Kirito he is a boss type of character that just handles everything from the very first episode in season 1 all throughout the second season. Loving Kirito is great but my favorite character, as of the last few episodes, is Asuna. Asuna’s character is a little complex dating back to season 1 as her character has undergone some changes.
Asuna’s character was introduced to us in the first part of SAO as being a loner who foils Kirito perfectly. From the very start she is a talented player who immediately screams “strong female character”. Throughout the first part of season 1 she developed more and more into a leader. Her first leadership position was taking down the first boss. The second was joining and being in a representative position of a guild that is leading the charge to escape SAO. In all anime I look for strong male and female characters, Kirito fits the strong male role immediately. Asuna is not so easy to spot as it takes a few episodes for her to come into her role. As she proceeds into her role we see a brave female character developing and becoming stronger and stronger with each episode. Furthermore, as we approach the later episodes she is a top player who is a high-ranking guild member that is leading the charge to clear SAO. Viewers can see that strong leadership emanating from her. SAO ends with Asuna being a strong leader along side Kirito and others, all being equal in their leadership abilities.
Asuna’s character changes in the second part of SAO. This is what I like to call the “Dark Days of Asuna”. After Kirito defeated the guy who imprisoned all the people in SAO about 300 people did not return from the dead. One of those people is Asuna. Asuna was to be married to Nobuyuki. Nobuyuki is characterized by being an abusive, greedy entrepreneur who has no regards for any other human but him self. Naturally he would imprison Asuna in a giant tree and sexually molest and taunt her. So Kirito has to come and save her. I hate this arc as it ruins everything that they established for Asuna, as she is now a damsel in distress. She is a prisoner in a tree by a guy who essentially hijacked her info and transferred it to another server while it was connected to her nerve gear. This is a completely different Asuna, one who needs and is a subservient to men as she is a prisoner to one and is going to be rescued by another. The imprisonment of Asuna destroys all of her credibility as a strong female lead that she had in SAO part I and as a result ruins her character.
Eventually Kirito rescues her by stopping her future husband,Nobuyuki. Kirito stops Nobuyuki in both the virtual world and the physical world. Fast-forward through Gun Gale, as Asuna was not really featured in the arc. After the Gun Gale arc SAO II breaks up into a bunch of small stories of 3 to 4 episode. Asuna gets her own arc. In this arc she is requested to help a party of 6 members to defeat a boss so that the party may have their names permanently put on a statue. Throughout these episodes we see characteristics of Asuna’s character from SAO I beginning to show of her strong leadership. Furthermore, the episode is a throw back to her skill set in SAO I as she showcases her speed. She is primarily seen as a healer in Alicization, which is just another way that Asuna is confirmed to be a leader despite the damage that was done to her in the second part of SAO I. The final confirmation of Asuna’s ability, along with six other members, are they are the only team that has defeated a boss and placed their entire party’s name on a statue. This is something that Kirito has not achieved and will most likely never achieve resulting in Asuna’s achievement over Kirito. Asuna as a strong female character is on a rollercoaster. She has gone up and down and back up again with her character. As of SAO II episode 21, Asuna is on a strong high point.
You can pick up a copy of SAO here.
