'Sword Art Online' Season 3 Sparks Sexual Assault Controversy

Sword Art Online is well into its third season, and it seems the release has hit its first big [...]

Sword Art Online is well into its third season, and it seems the release has hit its first big hurdle. While the new season has been met with praise, its most recent episode has stirred up some serious controversy, and it is all thanks to one rather NSFW scene.

For those of you caught up with Sword Art Online's new season, you will know this week was a rough one. Both Kirito and Eugeo are still learning how to sword fight at the academy, but the pair are being tested again and again by the Taboo Index. So, it was only a matter of time before Eugeo broke, and he did so after being forced to watch two friends nearly get raped.

The tenth episode of Sword Art Online: Alicization is not quiet about the moment. Fans got a bad feeling about what was coming when Eugeo learned Tiese and Ronye went to confront two bullies in the school. Raios and Humbert wanted to belittle Eugeo and Kirito, so the two thought it would be fitting to sexually assault the girls to get a message across. Having laid a trap for the women, Raios and Humbert were able to use the Taboo Index in their favor as Nobles to punish them with rape, leaving Eugeo unable to do anything but watch in horror.

The violent scene has been censored on most streaming services, but the stomach-churning moment is hard to watch nonetheless. Eugeo is unable to do anything to stop his enemies as they assault Tiese and Ronye, leaving fans to bear witness to the girls as they scream. While nothing explicit is shown in the reel, more than enough is implied to have made fans uncomfortable, and they were relieved when Eugeo was finally able to overcome the Taboo Index's control to save his friends from being raped.

How do you think this scene was handled? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Sword Art Online was originally created by Reki Kawahara with illustrations provided by abec. The series follows a boy named Kirito after he and thousands of gamers get trapped in a virtual reality video game known as Sword Art Online. The gamers must band together to defeat the game's final level to escape, but Kirito and his guild learn there is more behind their prison than they were originally told.

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