I watched the GGO part of SAO II because I was in middle school, but I watched the Mother's Rosario arc last year (2021) because I heard it was pretty good and let Asuna shine and didn't have Kirito in it at all. I really love Asuna, and I think this arc does her the justice that the rest of the series was unable to so this is a review of JUST the Mother's Rosario arc because that's the only part of SAO I actually care about even a little bit.
In SAO original, we're repeatedly told that Asuna is Kirito's equal in battle, but we're never shown this and there's never been an opportunity for their skills to really be compared. The arrival of Yuuki, someone who was able to beat Kirito, gives Asuna an opportunity to show these skills that we've been promised, and she absolutely delivers and it was the highlight of my month. Mother's Rosario is a redemption arc for the SAO writers. Where SAO original fails to adhere to its theme of digital relationships and experiences being just as important and meaningful as real world ones, Mother's Rosario is the perfect plot for it.
Yuuki feels like the character Kirito could've been if he was written well. She's the same kind of overpowered, way-too-good-at-video-games, obviously an introvert and a social outcast character that Kirito is, but this time with heart and purpose. She has a goal that's more than "I wanna play video games because society SUCKS and I don't get along with people" and for her especially, that goal means something more than being able to say you're really good at a video game.
Yuuki also works because she has friends. If you want to write a story about digital relationships being important, why would you make your main character stop caring about people, and why would you make the relationships they do eventually have exist under the pretense of them all being girls that have a crush on him but just follow him around because he's dating Asuna. Emotionally, Kirito is so disconnected from the entire cast, but Yuuki actually cares about her friends and is able to connect with them because they share a struggle.
28.5 out of 32 users liked this review