That was definitely a much better episode than the Yui fiasco, though I was still rolling my eyes/laughing at some of the blatant romance fanservice. I guess I just have an issue with how their characters seem to completely change depending on the context: strong and individualistic when it comes to battles, yet all needy when it comes to the relationship interaction. Yes, I get that people can be different when it comes to love, yada yada, but how it's been portrayed here so far makes it seem to be too extreme. It's like the characters are complete 180 opposites, a.k.a. unrealistic. Another fault of the writing, I suppose?
They finally addressed the real world questions. I really wish that they had explained the whole disconnection thing a lot earlier though. We're what, halfway through the series now, and they only address it now? That's just shoddy writing/world-building, especially given this bit of information seems to be quite crucial to explaining the SAO world.
This fight is looking to be epic; will be fun to watch. I feel like the last third of this episode really reawakened some of the feelings I had when I first watched the 1st episode/the previous bossfight, and peaked my interest in the series yet again. It's been a while since I've looked forward to the next episode.
Every series has its highs and lows, but SAO really seems to bring you on a roller coaster ride that reaches the heights of Everest yet drops you back down to hell immediately after and stays there for a while. The premise of this series has so much potential; I can't help but feel that so much of it is squandered on the crappy side stories and amateur writing in some parts.
Edit: Response to David above
You have to realize though that we're talking about 6,000-10,000 comatose bodies over a 2 year span. That is a lot of resources and money to support so many bodies. Yes, morally it may not be right to "kill" them, but practically? If no one was able to clear the game over a long period of time, there has to come a point in time where you have to accept the reality that in all likelihood, it won't happen, pull the plug and apply those resources to better use. Of course, when that happens is the question we all can't answer, and which the characters are wondering about as well. So I think this was quite a realistic dilemma.
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