how do you feel about kirito? i don't remember him being an amazing character but i hear a lot of people calling him a self insert which idk how i feel about
thank u for wording this so nicely!
i agree that kirito has his flaws - hes not perfect, yet i think this is what makes him so endearing? although he has extensive knowledge of mmorpg combat and strategy, he still has moments when he makes mistakes, and i love him for it. i think some people forget that kirito was only fourteen when sao began. he was merely a child, forced to fight for his life, and although sao was a world that he was already familiar with, he still would have been terrified. that’s why i personally think that he acted in an appropriate manner throughout sao’s beginning, despite people commenting on how reckless he was acting. he isolated himself because that was all he knew from the real world, and he fought because battles were something he was familiar with.
this being said, kirito is also quite mature. for him to respect asuna like he does and genuinely look out for her was very kind of him. any fourteen year old boy i know wouldn’t’ve given a girl his time to help her. he truly tries to interact with and understand asuna, even from the beginning. he quickly learns through his time with her that shutting people out will not solve all his problems, and he tries so hard to fix this. he gets to know her. he picks up on when he says something out of line and apologises, he understands that she wants to fight and teaches her. that’s one of the things i love so much about him.
i understand why some people would say kirito is a self insert. but i just really dont like the terminology. in any work of fiction, the author always puts a piece of themselves in their characters (going from my own experience), yet to call him a self insert is a bit exaggerated. kirito is his own person, has his own flaws and strengths, fears and hopes. like asuna, hes an extremely complex character, and kawahara-sensei has definitely placed a line between himself and kirito. kirito’s past affects his present - hes socially awkward, has isolating tendencies, and behaves like a fourteen year old, yet he also grows. he learns to open himself up because of klein, he learns to place trust in others because of asuna, and he learns the power of one’s own life because of his experiences in sao. he reconnects with his sister, gains confidence in the real world, and overall is just very admirable.
although kirito is very powerful within sao from the beginning, i think a lot of people focus on this without understanding his personal growth. at the start, kirito was, mentally and spiritually, very weak (especially when compared to asuna). he was unstable and fearful, yet most people overlook this to simply comment on his battle prowess, which is disappointing imo. i love kirito for his growth from an awkward, socially inept boy, into a a young man who is confident in himself, his relationships, and his future. hes an amazing character, but too many people reduce him to ‘overpowered hero’, without realising the sacrifices he had to make in order to push himself to such extents. he was not able to possess such battle abilities without giving up something. he gave up his self worth, and his journey to rediscovering his worth through asuna is a wonderful experience. he learns so much, and i truly to respect him as a character and as a person.
it’s easy to make judgements based on his character from the anime alone, but these will be shallow and weak. to truly understand him, its necessary to delve deeper into his mind, and the light novels are amazing at doing this. so please, if you reduce kirito to such tropes as ‘op’, ‘harem-leader’, and ‘womanizer’, i very very strongly urge you to read the light novels. they explain a lot that cannot be captured by animation and voice acting alone.
