I feel like sometimes people forget that Kirito was 14 when he became trapped in SAO, watched his friends, people like Sachi die right in front of him.
He was just 16 when he fell in love with Asuna. Asuna was 17. Both characters burdened with the weight of clearing Aincrad.
And when you think about it, they lost crucial parts of the teenage experience and forced themselves to become warriors instead of being able to do “normal teenage things” (not the Kirito would be into normal teenage activities.)
This kid was 16 and took on the burden of saving Asuna from ALO and the other 300 survivors of SAO that didn’t wake up.
He’s 17 when he gets asked to investigate the Death Gun incident, almost getting himself killed
He’s also the same age when he get’s trapped in another virtual world and has to watch the death of someone who he considers as a a boyfriend brother.
Can someone give this kid a break??
