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A review by jolovestoread
Sword Art Online 4: Fairy Dance by Reki Kawahara
4.0
This will be a mainly positive review, because on the whole there weren't many things I didn't like in the second part of Fairy Dance.
I wasn't bothered by Asuna's damsel-in-distress/Princess Peach status. There was no way it would have been believable for Sugou to give her a weapon whilst in the cage. Also, she does get out of it for a short while and uncovers a key piece for Kirito - which would never have enabled him to save her without it. I still think she's a kickass heroine despite being locked away.
I did think the slugs groping her was unnecessary, not every bad person sexually assaults their victims (btw, in case you were wondering, the assaults aren't *graphic*. They aren't pretty, but it's more like, "hands sliding up her dress", not actual full blown description of her private parts being violated or anything). The more I watch of anime the more I see it's kind of the *norm* for that stuff to be in there. Like, I haven't watched heaps of anime, and this is the first series I'm reading from a Japanese author. But I definitely see more rape-y situations happening in anime verses Aust & American T.V.
So, for me, I don't think this volume wrecks Asuna's character for me. I don't think she should be put down as a character because she was held in a cage. She did all she could in the situation she was in.
This volume did feel larger than necessary - I guess is a way to put it. When reading the first part of Fairy Dance, a few of the places felt like filler to me. Particularly when Kirito stops the Salamanders from attacking the treaty meeting, but I guess that needs to happen for them to help him get past the bottom of the World Tree.
I feel like the Suguha/Kazuto storyline doesn't add anything to the existing plot, except for it's entertainment value. Like Reki Kawahara says in his Afterword at the back: "This two-volume story was both a continuation of the story from Volume 1, and a very, very long epilogue. At the time I started writing it, I was only planning on having it be about the hero, Kirito, searching for and finding the heroine, Asuna. But the more I added to the story, the longer it grew in the telling."
Despite the extra sub-plot not needing to be there, I really liked it. It's one of my favourites. I really loved how Kawahara created a *sort of* love triangle and managed not to make it a big mess. As much as Suguha is upset about her feelings for her cousin, I like that Kazuto doesn't share or grow this feelings (we'd have words about betraying Asuna if he did), and that he handles the whole situation remarkably well for someone who always seems to get close with the ladies.
It does piss me off that Kirito is the ONLY guy all the chicks fall in love with. And Kawahara does apologise for this in the previous novel. However, it didn't annoy me that Suguha liked him, like I did when Liz and Silicia did. I felt like there was an actual reason for Suguha to develop feelings for him (his sudden niceness to her again/finding out he's her brother/him living on the edge of death for two years/etc.), and the other two girls not so much. I didn't like their insta-love. It felt more like a crush than proper in-love feelings and I wish they'd get over it and move onto Klein (the poor guy!).
Gosh. I'm nearly all talked out!
The only other thing I really want to mention is, the whole episode with Tonky and Jotunhein, felt random. Like, you-know, let's get eaten by a worm just for shits and gigs so we can discover this friendly demonic God, and the best sword in the game. It just didn't feel necessary and more filler. I actually really liked that the anime took it out and put it into the future.
But, I do get that it gave the Sylths and Cait Siths time to get to Alne with all their weapons. So I guess it kind of has a reason?
Overall, another good edition to the story. I'm SUPER looking forward to meeting Sinnon. I love her IRL storyline and cannot wait for the extras that weren't in the anime series! But I swear, if she ends up liking Kirito too!!! RAGE!!
haha :) x
I wasn't bothered by Asuna's damsel-in-distress/Princess Peach status. There was no way it would have been believable for Sugou to give her a weapon whilst in the cage. Also, she does get out of it for a short while and uncovers a key piece for Kirito - which would never have enabled him to save her without it. I still think she's a kickass heroine despite being locked away.
I did think the slugs groping her was unnecessary, not every bad person sexually assaults their victims (btw, in case you were wondering, the assaults aren't *graphic*. They aren't pretty, but it's more like, "hands sliding up her dress", not actual full blown description of her private parts being violated or anything). The more I watch of anime the more I see it's kind of the *norm* for that stuff to be in there. Like, I haven't watched heaps of anime, and this is the first series I'm reading from a Japanese author. But I definitely see more rape-y situations happening in anime verses Aust & American T.V.
So, for me, I don't think this volume wrecks Asuna's character for me. I don't think she should be put down as a character because she was held in a cage. She did all she could in the situation she was in.
This volume did feel larger than necessary - I guess is a way to put it. When reading the first part of Fairy Dance, a few of the places felt like filler to me. Particularly when Kirito stops the Salamanders from attacking the treaty meeting, but I guess that needs to happen for them to help him get past the bottom of the World Tree.
I feel like the Suguha/Kazuto storyline doesn't add anything to the existing plot, except for it's entertainment value. Like Reki Kawahara says in his Afterword at the back: "This two-volume story was both a continuation of the story from Volume 1, and a very, very long epilogue. At the time I started writing it, I was only planning on having it be about the hero, Kirito, searching for and finding the heroine, Asuna. But the more I added to the story, the longer it grew in the telling."
Despite the extra sub-plot not needing to be there, I really liked it. It's one of my favourites. I really loved how Kawahara created a *sort of* love triangle and managed not to make it a big mess. As much as Suguha is upset about her feelings for her cousin, I like that Kazuto doesn't share or grow this feelings (we'd have words about betraying Asuna if he did), and that he handles the whole situation remarkably well for someone who always seems to get close with the ladies.
It does piss me off that Kirito is the ONLY guy all the chicks fall in love with. And Kawahara does apologise for this in the previous novel. However, it didn't annoy me that Suguha liked him, like I did when Liz and Silicia did. I felt like there was an actual reason for Suguha to develop feelings for him (his sudden niceness to her again/finding out he's her brother/him living on the edge of death for two years/etc.), and the other two girls not so much. I didn't like their insta-love. It felt more like a crush than proper in-love feelings and I wish they'd get over it and move onto Klein (the poor guy!).
Gosh. I'm nearly all talked out!
The only other thing I really want to mention is, the whole episode with Tonky and Jotunhein, felt random. Like, you-know, let's get eaten by a worm just for shits and gigs so we can discover this friendly demonic God, and the best sword in the game. It just didn't feel necessary and more filler. I actually really liked that the anime took it out and put it into the future.
But, I do get that it gave the Sylths and Cait Siths time to get to Alne with all their weapons. So I guess it kind of has a reason?
Overall, another good edition to the story. I'm SUPER looking forward to meeting Sinnon. I love her IRL storyline and cannot wait for the extras that weren't in the anime series! But I swear, if she ends up liking Kirito too!!! RAGE!!
haha :) x