Review: Sword Art Online II, Episode 10: Death Chaser

Screenshot taken from: http://www.crunchyroll.com/sword-art-online/episode-10-death-chaser-656643

Review:

Last week left us with Sinon’s life hanging in the balance. While the ultimate outcome may have been fairly predictable, the impact on her character may not have. While she makes it out of her situation, the scare of having her life on the line, coupled with the fact that Death Gun’s handgun is the same kind of weapon the robber used, seems to have robbed her of her previous confidence. As such, Kirito ends up with his hands quite full. I don’t think we can really blame Sinon, though; after all, she did just recently find out that her life could very well be lost by playing the game she was using to get over her phobia. Talk about having your parade rained on.

While the first portion of the episode is definitely action-oriented—there’s fighting, a high speed chase, and an explosion for you action addicts—the second portion is much more character-focused. If two characters sitting in a cave and talking is not your idea of a good time, then you may find it to be a crawl. On the other hand, you may find it interesting since both actually open up to each other. Sinon and Kirito reveal bits about their individual pasts to each other, which I’m sure will help them both understand the other in the long run. Also, I suppose this is the start of the inevitable “Sinon falls for Kirito” trope.

The GGO arc certainly has been different from its predecessors. The setting is different, and outside of Kirito it is (mostly) devoid of the characters we have grown to love. Nevertheless, I think it’s a decent entry into the series, and I plan to continue watching until the end. Man my reviews feel dry…

A Christian Perspective:

There were a couple points I played with, none of which seemed particularly powerful. In the end, I think I’ll go with this:

As we know, Sinon’s whole purpose for playing GGO was to try and quell her fear of guns. This seemed to be working to some extent—at least within the game, she was able to grow and become a powerful player. All of this shatters, of course, when she’s put in a vulnerable position. Whether it was being held at gunpoint, the fact that Death Gun had the same model of gun used in the robbery, or both, that set her off; she lost all of her composure and was essentially rendered useless during a crucial moment. It’s easy to shake our heads and judge her for this, but don’t we sometimes do the same thing as Christians?

Think about it. Have you (or someone you know) ever overcome a sin and found yourself walking with your head held high, feeling like you’re on top of the world? After all, you’ve just been freed from a bondage (and let’s not forget to mention that it’s only with God’s help), so why shouldn’t you feel great? So here you are, feeling like you’re doing Christianity right. Maybe you’ve even become a role model in another Christian’s eyes and this has driven you to do more for Jesus. Then the unthinkable happens: you stumble into sin. Maybe it’s that same sin you previously overcame, or maybe it’s some other sin. The point is, you messed up. Now, how did you feel? Maybe broken or dejected? Perhaps you saw yourself as a failure? This mistake may have even crippled you to some point, as you lost your composure and your drive to do the good works you were previously doing.

I think you get the point I’m making. We all have times where we think we’re walking strong, and then something happens to knock us off our high horse. We find ourselves disoriented, wondering what went wrong, and scrambling to put the pieces back together. Perhaps that’s why Paul warned: So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! – 1 Corinthians 10:12 As Christians, the important thing to remember is that there is still forgiveness for us, and that one failure is not the end of the road. We can confess our sins, trust God to heal us from this, and hopefully use it as a lesson to grow from.

Content Guide:

Language: 1 “d**n”, 1 “j**z”

Alcohol/Drug Use: None

Nudity/Sex/Fanservice: A shot shows Sinon from behind as she grabs her sidearem, providing a close-up shot of her butt in her shorts and showing that the top of her butt is exposed; another close up shot from behind of Sinon’s butt (in her shorts, of course); Sinon’s top shows cleavage; another scene shows the top of Sinon’s butt sticking out of her shorts; a female character is shown wearing a bikini top as part of her outfit

Violence: A character is shot twice; explosions and such as you would expect from GGO; another flashback to the Laughing Coffin raid

Blood/Gore: More flashbacks to Sinon killing the robber, which show blood on the robber and Sinon; Sinon has a vision of the robber with blood on his face as she stares down the barrel of a gun; the usual red spots that appear on characters when they are hit in-game; a little girl is shown with blood on her hands