#especially mothers rosario and unital ring

[transboykirito]

i think “nothing happened in the way i wanted, every corner of this house is haunted” is just an extremely extremely asuna-coded lyric in general tbh

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Sword Art Online 22: Kiss and Fly Review

Author: Reki Kawahara

Illustrator: abec

Label: Dengeki Bunko

Release Date: 10 October 2019

First off, thanks abec for that blessed image of Yuuki smiling while hugging Asuna. It almost made me cry when I first saw it. And thanks, Dengeki Bunko, for releasing these short stories in an accesible format. I’ve been dying to read Sisters’ Prayer since I first heard about it and I’m really glad to get the chance to.

Kiss and Fly is not a continuation of the arc that the last volume started but is instead a collection of short stories that were initially released as bonuses for releases of the DVD/BD versions of the anime. The stories included are: The Day Before (tells the story of how Asuna and Kirito got their log house), The Day After (tells a story about Asuna experiencing a strange issue with her avatar in ALO), Rainbow Bridge (follows the gang as they take on a quest in ALO) and Sisters’ Prayer (tells the story of the creation of the Sleeping Knights). Overall, it’s a good volume and the only story that I didn’t really enjoy was Rainbow Bridge. It’s worth the read if you’re a fan of the series but is certainly not a mandatory read if you just want to understand the main story.

English Release:

Yen-press is currently releasing this series in English so check it out if the series interests you.

This volume is a collection of short stories that were previously released as bonuses for limited editions of the DVD/BD releases of the anime. As I have not read the original stories myself, I don’t know if this volume changed anything in them. I get the feeling that they were at least a little edited. While the stories can probably be considered canon, they’re definitely skippable if you’re not much a fan of the series and just want to follow the main story. If you are a fan, they’re enjoyable enough and some of them are definitely worth the read.

The first story, The Day Before, takes place during the Aincrad arc, after Kirito proposes to Asuna and is about how they get their log house. It’s cute and fluffy and Argo’s in it. There’s some good stuff regarding Kirito and his lack of self-confidence when it comes to relationships with others and it’s worth the read if you’re a Kirisuna fan.

The second story, The Day After, takes place in ALO, after Fairy Dance but before Phantom Bullet. The premise of this story is that Asuna has been experiencing something strange lately where, without warning, it’s like her sould gets disconnected from her avatar. I can’t really talk much about the plot beyond that without spoilers but it gets pretty emotional. Like the first one, this story has some really cute Kirisuna moments.

The third story is Rainbow Bridge. Like The Day After, it takes place in ALO, post-Fairy Dance and Pre-Phantom Bullet. Apparently, this one is a sequel to the story of Extra Edition which I haven’t actually seen but it’s accessible enough without having seen that. It follows the gang as they take part in a particular quest. It’s honestly pretty boring but is probably worth the read if you liked the Calibur arc. It does have some cute moments and features Asuna, Lyfa and the rest of the main characters and provides the story of how Asuna obtained her Crest of Yggdrasil staff (the wooden staff that she uses while in Healer mode. You can see it in the Calibur and Mothers’ Rosario arcs of the anime) so it might be worth reading if you’re interested in that. I thought it was the worst of the four stories but it wasn’t bad and I can see some people enjoying it.

And last but certainly not least, Sisters’ Prayer, which is about the creation of the Sleeping Knights. It’s really good, especially if you’re a Mothers’ Rosario fan. The new characters introduced in this volume, Ran, Yuuki’s sister and Merida, one of the founding members of the Sleeping Knights, are really interesting and make a big impression and Yuuki’s as great as ever. A good portion of the story is spent in the video game Asuka Empire which is the setting for the spin-off light novel Clovers’ Regret and it has interesting system that I wouldn’t mind reading more about. It’s definitely worth the read if you like Mothers’ Rosario. Ah, I really do want a spin-off or side story volume dedicated to the Sleeping Knights! They’re so interesting but there’s not enough content for them!

Overall, it’s a good volume for what it is and is worth reading for fans of the series. I wouldn’t mind if they released another volume of this kind with other bonus short stories (though I imagine that such a volume would have to wait until after all of Alicization airs).

The next volume, which is a continuation of Unital Ring, is coming out in December and I can’t wait to read it! Next up is the second volume of Kusuriya no Hitorigoto