Why do people not seem to like Asuna very much?

Forgetfulness said:
I think it's ridiculous that people are saying Asuna is a bad character because "she's useless" and "she needed Kirito to save her"

How the fuck was she supposed to get out of her coma? Oh wait she couldn't
In the game, she was being held by a GM and I'm surprised she got as far as she did.
-She figured out the code and waited til Sugou was on a business trip to leave the cage
-She found the control room
-Although she got caught, she stole the card AND was smart enough to drop it to Kirito

I'm pretty sure the average anime character wouldn't do half of that

Nidhoeggr said:


If a single second of thinking is enough to come up with severe plotholes then I have problems accepting the "beauty" of this series at least on the writing side. Sadly, this isn't the case for a lot of people here so someone has to focus their attention on it. And given the fact that MAL is for rating and comparing series I don't see any reason against this practice. Actually, it should be encouraged.



Too bad the "strong and smart" aspects are thrown out of the window, thereby destroying your argument of a well-written character.

Nyanks said:
I like Asuna, she was a bit guarded at first but she's a good strong-willed character. So she has some good qualities, most people didn't have the privilege of seeing them in game anyway. Sachi was a fun character and I'll admit I was pretty upset during that Christmas message, but people have quoted the LN in here already, they weren't lovers. They cared about each other, and she helped Kirito become a better person. Basically, she put him in a better state of mind to deal with a real relationship with Asuna.

Chiibi said:
I like her a lot. It's so refreshing how honest she is with Kirito and how much she trusts him. I think more anime girls should be like her. And I do think she was very strong, concerning her situation. Some people hate that she said she'd kill herself if Kirito died...but I think she was only saying that to motivate him.

Chiibi said:
I like her a lot. It's so refreshing how honest she is with Kirito and how much she trusts him.

Ghostony said:
Because she's a typical kitchen wife, duh.

Takuan_Soho said:
Given the circumstances she is in this doesn't make her weak, it makes her reasonable. It is a form of rebellion, not cowardice.

Fragmentary said:
If only Alfheim didn't happen...

Chiibi said:

I think people are too harsh on her with this. It's not like she had ANY control of the situation...so it' more of a writer's problem than a character problem, imho.

SchmidytheMini said:
Soooo I'm getting the feeling no one is an Asuna fan really lol

nightcrawlercyp said:
I think is because she is a bit unrealistic. But my actual problem is her sword. her sword is useless. A rapier would work great on PvP but for any other fight... useless. Completely useless.

ShinoAsada said:
-SPOILERS CONTAINED IN THIS COMMENT! DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHO HAS NOT APPEARED IN THE ANIME YET. READ THE WHOLE ENTIRE POST BEFORE JUDGING ME! I DID NOT INCLUDE YUI AS A HEROINE BECAUSE SHE IS NOT A LOVE INTEREST. NOW PROCEED TO READ!-
Lets be honest here... Asuna is "loved" by fans all over the world because of these reasons: She's a "waifu", strong, pretty, and loving. Well, here's the thing, there are like what? Seven other heroines in SAO's entire anime, manga and light novel universe. From my knowledge from the light novel series, I could deduct that ALL 8 heroines (Including Asuna and Yuuki) are pretty. Sure, Silica is a loli. However, you can't really say she isn't pretty in some way or another. Here's another analysis. There are TWO other girls that can actually cook. Shino, was stated to have been living by herself. She was also said to be buying groceries for making dinner. Even though it was kind of vague and most of the time she didn't cook, she was implied to have cooked in the past. Suguha is the other heroine that could cook. We know from the anime that she has cooked (Note- Episode 22). She also cooks meals with Kirito since their mother works to really late. Now there are now THREE more heroines that can be a, some of you may call, a "waifu" and loving. Sachi, who is dead, was acting loving and caring like a wife would. She loved Kirito and vice versa. Sachi slept together with Kirito before Asuna did and also shared inventory with him. Even though they were not like a married couple, they still shared it. Sachi cared about Kirito's well-being. She left a message crystal for Kirito, which he received during Christmas Eve. The message told him to not blame himself for her death and to continue living on. Now another heroine, Suguha is also of "waifu" and loving potential. She can cook and cares a lot about Kirito. She lived with Kirito for like 16 years? She may have began having those feelings for him since an early stage. She also took up the burden of kendo because Kirito had decided to quit, even though she grew to love it. She also cared when Kirito was going all crazy trying to save Asuna. She didn't want Kirito to go all reckless and do something crazy again due to the SAO incident. Shino is the final heroine that is of "waifu" and loving potential. She's like a "waifu" because she can cook like one and cared a lot about Kirito. She loved Kirito so much as to reveal her deepest and darkest secret. She also was worried about him during the events of Alicization. She also cared about Kirito as to use an arrow to obtain Excaliber ONLY for Kirito. Asuna may be able to cook in SAO and ALO. However, it wasn't really revealed about her true potential in cooking in the real world. Her "waifu" like characteristics would just be caring for Kirito and relying on him like a wife should do. Though, she does rely a bit TOO much on Kirito. She constantly calls for Kirito when she could have done things herself. Now about being strong, in a way, all the heroines are strong. Silica risked her life to try to revive Pina, even though she received help from Kirito. Lisbeth may be strong since she acquired Thor's hammer, Mjölnir. It could have increased her strength as a player in ALO. Asuna is strong because she's fast as a rapier user. Suguha is strong as to be able to beat Kirito and got acknowledgement that she would win against Asuna, by Asuna herself. She's also strong for being able to hold in her feelings and looking forward to the future. Yuuki is strong because even though she has AIDS, she continued to live on and lived longer than the doctors had expected. She also has won 67 consecutive duels, including against Kirito and was about to beat Asuna. Sachi is strong because she didn't want to participate in the death game and even thought of death. However, she gained resolve from Kirito's words and continued to fight up until her death. Shino may be the strongest character in SAO's universe in terms of mentality. She killed someone in order to protect her beloved one. Even though she did commit murder out of self defense, she ignored all the comments people used to call her and lived on. In GGO, she was able to win the BoB tournament, alongside Kirito and came in 2nd in the 4th one. She was also able to hold off the against the two giants while the team was recovering from a cool down.
Now as to why people not liking Asuna, I think I pretty much answered it in the post. Even though she was listed for having all those characteristics, other heroines also have the same thing. She's not the only girl with those characteristics. She also has the least character development during the entire novel series. Shino got out of her fear of guns and was able to overcome her past. Sachi influenced Kirito to live on and was able to become brave enough to fight monsters. Suguha was able to get over her love for her brother then moved onto his online character. Even though she learned of the truth, she still continued fighting on and wouldn't give up. Even during Asuna's shining star moment during her own novel, Konno Yuuki overshadowed her and was even more loved than Asuna was. I don't hate Asuna, but you got to admit. There are other heroines MUCH MUCH better than she is and she's not really much of a developed character.

skatlads15 said:
Never played Dark Souls 2 have you?

nightcrawlercyp said:

I actually did. extremely frustrating due to the save mechanics. If you missed what I was saying I was speaking about real life rapiers.

skatlads15 said:

Frustrating save mechanics? Dude it saves if you quit the game lol.
And what do you mean about irl Rapiers? They're very useful as well. Ofcourse not against monsters irl, but there are no monsters irl to begin with lol

ShinoAsada said:

Don't forget the "well written" aspects thrown out of the window since the Kirito joining KoB and Kuradeel tries to kill him incident.

nightcrawlercyp said:

Rapiers are only useful in 1 on 1 duels. Especially on duels that are until first blood as opposed to those until death. In duels to the death and in war like combat situation they are completely useless. I would rather have a cutlass or a messer and a shield. Again I am not saying they are useful or not against monsters (they are not) but against humans. Rapiers are more like a small spear than a sword and while they can inflict some damage by cutting they are specialized on thrusting . They were rarely used in actual combat only in duels and in the rare occasion someone used them in anything except a duel they got murdered. They are a crappy weapon but for gentlemen civilian duels till first blood they are the best and can be easily concealed in a walking stick for instance .
PS: depending how you define monsters there are monsters in real life. Monsters are extremely powerful and dangerous animals. Before fire weapons plenty animals could be viewed as monsters.

Nidhoeggr said:


If a single second of thinking is enough to come up with severe plotholes then I have problems accepting the "beauty" of this series at least on the writing side. Sadly, this isn't the case for a lot of people here so someone has to focus their attention on it. And given the fact that MAL is for rating and comparing series I don't see any reason against this practice. Actually, it should be encouraged.



Too bad the "strong and smart" aspects are thrown out of the window, thereby destroying your argument of a well-written character.

Nidhoeggr said:


If a single second of thinking is enough to come up with severe plotholes then I have problems accepting the "beauty" of this series at least on the writing side. Sadly, this isn't the case for a lot of people here so someone has to focus their attention on it. And given the fact that MAL is for rating and comparing series I don't see any reason against this practice. Actually, it should be encouraged.



Too bad the "strong and smart" aspects are thrown out of the window, thereby destroying your argument of a well-written character.

skatlads15 said:

Nah, you've got this all wrong pal. Rapier or the finesword have always been quite useful. Even in mediaeval combat. As one Jon Snow said, you can poke holes in your opponent till death. They're really good at targetting weak spots and they're Faster than a spear. Pretty much the quickest weapon alongside daggers and especially great for continuous attacks. Heck you can even parry with them!
Even in games, Rapiers are OP. I mentioned Dark Souls 2 before. And that's because rapiers are ridiculously useful in that game. Seriously, I've beaten the hardest boss in that game (Fume Knight) with a rapier like 7 times and it's the preferred strategy.

No offence but it just seems you don't actually know the usefulness of a finesword.

nightcrawlercyp said:

1. Jon Snow is not real. His opinion does not matter at all
2. spears are way better at poking holes. Also there is something called half swording which can be used with long swords and others
3. poking holes is good and nice but unless you hit a main artery or some vital organs it does not do much damage. More than that your opponent will not sit still for you to poke holes into it and by the time you poke a hole he sliced your arm. More than that a straight sword , especially a rapier can easily be stuck in someone and by the time you remove it someone else will cut you. Again we are not talking one on one
4. let's say you poke a hole in someone. he can easily grab your rapier with a hand while inside him and with the other hand kill you.
5. daggers can be great depending on the circumstance and in attacking armored opponent's weak spots are very good. Basically spears for long range combat and daggers for close combat.
6. The rapier was designed and was used mostly by civilians. There were cases when spaniards or the french used rapiers in a war situation. Thing is they lost all those wars. By the time they killed a person with their rapiers their opponents disabled, maimed and killed 10 with axes, long sword maces and others
7. A sword was generally not considered a primary sword in war time by most nations. Generally pole arms were considered primary , axes and maces as secondary and the sword was considered tertiary. That being said there were cases when the sword was considered a primary weapon: by roman soldiers the gladius and later the spatha used behing huge shield, by cavalry the long sabre, by the turks the yatagan and there are other examples, but in war pole arms are king.
8. Again I am talking about history you talk about games. I am talking about physics and real life mechanics you talk a game were a sword like this: https://erick6.artstation.com/projects/6aYEBO can be considered functional.
9. I heard someone bet DS with a spoon and no armor . In a game if you have skill this can be done. In real life not really. I am not that skilled but is not the point.
10. About fume knight he is extremely poorly designed. Not sure where this whole thing with dual wielding started but is crap. The "sword" from his left is nothing more than a mallet and he uses it like this. More than that he uses really ample moves and as a result there is a lot of time in which you can counter provided you are at the correct distance. His right hand sword can be considered a sword but he cannot really use it properly because of the monstrosity in his other hand. Replacing his left hand sword with a shield or having him wield a two hand sword or even a 3 hand sword would make him a difficult opponent. As is he is just dumb and the only difficulty comes from the huge damage if it hits you.

skatlads15 said:

1. Fair point.
2. True,but I'd say Rapiers are lighter and more agile.
3. Well we're considering the user to be incredibly agile and skilled. He should be able to parry and dodge such hits. Ofcourse wouldn't work against multiple opponents, but come on, what does work against multiple opponents irl other than a gun? Lol. And i don't see a rapier being stuck if the user is skilled enough.
4. And you assume the user will just let him do all that? I mean, I'm pretty sure rapier users are very agile.
5. True, but rapier kind of works for both long and short range imo.
6. Ok I don't really know about all that but I'll take your word for it. But I'd say that a skilled user would be much more efficient.
7. Interesting.
8. Well fair play. I will admit, my knowledge of European history isn't much. Still can talk about games tho.
9. I don't think there's a spoon in DS. But yes, I've beaten DS with no Armor. Not just one, but all of them lol.
10. Question, have you ever actually fought Fume Knight? Because as per the mechanics of DS2, it makes him top 10 hardest bosses of the entire SERIES. Bruh, he slashes with his left as well. Does a HUGE swing and thanks to DS2's methodic pace, it's not easy to roll from. The right sword is very quick for DS2, and he can strike from out of nowhere. Why would he need a shield? Dude his left sword doubles as a shield, and negates all damage! He can also heal if you haven't taken out the totems nearby. And that's just phase 1, btw. In phase 2, he combines both swords, 2 hands it, lights it up with dark energy and goes ballistic. From there on its combos, AOEs and monstrous damage. He's not just all damage, the skill required is tremendous. He's considered the hardest boss of DS2 and top 10 hardest of DS bosses for a reason.

nightcrawlercyp said:

3. sabres due to the fluidity of motions, pole arms axes, maces. You asked what works, I answered.
4. being agile has nothing to do with it. use a pointy stick and poke something, then draw it back. It takes a lot of time and is cumbersome regardless how agile you are. You arm works better in arcs of circle.
5. no it actually does not.
6. you do not need to take my word search historical records.
8. games do not have to follow real life mechanics.
10. No I just watched multiple gaeplay videos and is an extremely bad design. Yes he slashes with his right but the movement is not fluid enough the arcs not as large, etc. Never said he needs a shield, I said it would be way better than a club. This something I see extremely often in movies and games: no shields or helmets. In history the first defensive gear you would buy would be a shield and second will be a helmet. A shield is dirt cheap to make so you do not even need to buy it. And this is true for virtually al cultures. Even african tribes used shields and helmets. There is a huge difference between a sword and shield, Using a sword as a shield is extremely inefficient. That is because you put a lot of stress on your wrists and more than that it does not cover a lot of space. About phase 2 is slightly more realistic, but he uses that long sword as a club .
10. Maybe you should watch some videos on swords and hema.