Sword Art Online has been quiet as of late, but it has simply been preparing for its next moves. The show is slated to drop its next arc of season three this October, and it goes without saying fans are excited for the release. Still, there are plenty still hooked on the season’s first arc, and it seems like one of its most controversial moments has finally been uncensored.
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So, you should be warned! The content which Sword Art Online censored and have since uncensored is sensitive and may disturb some:
Recently, the Blu-ray for Sword Art Online‘s latest season went live, and it was there fans got to see some uncensored footage. For those who remember, Alicization stirred up some serious controversy when it included a sexual assault sequence which got censored before its premiere. The scene sees several of Eugeo’s friends get assaulted and nearly raped by several bullies, and the brutal scene ends with Eugeo breaking free of his AI coding. Now, the scene has been uncensored, and fans are mixed on the issue.
For those curious about the clip, the uncensored scene does not show any additional nudity. It does show violence against the female victims as Raios slaps Tiese in the face, and the girls are shown bloodied throughout the clip. There is more footage shown hinting at the assailant’s intentions for the girls, and it all ends with a gory scene of Eugeo’s eyeball straight up exploding so he could save his friends from being assaulted.
The scene was a controversial one when it debuted, and its uncensored one has brought the issue back to the limelight. Many fans voiced concerns about the show’s continued use of sexual violence as a plot tool, and it prompted the series’ creator to release a statement on the scene. Reki Kawahara told fans he used the device plenty in his younger days, but he has tried to stray away from the plot tool as he’s grown older.
“This may be a bit late, but if you’re wondering why SAO has so many of those scenes, a considerable number of light novels (although they weren’t called light novels back then), epic sagas, and adventure stories I read back in middle school contained those plot elements. I would cite ลgun Hakusha (Gold Spur) as a representative title. My writing was bound to that as if it were under a spell,” Kawahara shared.
“These days, the spell has finally worn off. Nowadays I would prefer to express catharsis through other means. If it was an absolutely necessary scene for the story, I would write it, but I would prefer to do that in a book that isn’t a light novel.”
What do you make of this Sword Art Online scene’s controversial history? 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 for ASCII Media Works’ Dengeki Bunko line in 2009. 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. This October, Sword Art Online: Alicization will return with its second arc.
