SAO: Alicization Episode 10

Taboo Index

This week we actually got a good episode of Sword Art Online: Alicization, which is surprising, I know. However, there still some issues I had with the episode, and there’s a lot I want to discuss about it. So, this week there won’t be a summary of the episode, but instead a full-length discussion.

The main two topics of discussion for today are dark themes such as sexual assault and violence, and the artificial intelligence found within the Underworld program.

Goblin Slayer, Is That You?

Remember that time Goblin Slayer got thrown under the bus by the vocal minority after it was revealed to include scenes of rape? Well guess what series is able to do the same thing without any similar repercussions? If you guessed SAO, then you get a point.

This isn’t the first time SAO has included sexual violence such as rape, and it’s unlikely to be the last. The key difference here is that SAO fans don’t seem to see it as rape when it’s in this series, but when it’s in another, such as Goblin Slayer, suddenly it’s abhorrent.

But do you know what the real difference between rape in Goblin Slayer and SAO is? In Goblin Slayer it’s a major part of the world building and background for many of the characters while in SAO it serves to make the protagonist of the story seem like a hero.

These are two very different ways to use explicit content such as sexual violence, and it’s a shame to see that people think Goblin Slayer adds this content in for shock value while SAO doesn’t. In fact, neither series includes rape for shock value, although Goblin Slayer uses it in a way which could be misinterpreted as such.

So, let’s take a look at how these two series use this same taboo content in different ways.

As I mentioned, Goblin Slayer uses sexual violence as a part of its world building and character backgrounds. This means that it’s not merely there for shock value, but actually serves an important role for both the plot and characters. The series isn’t about sexual violence, it’s about the lasting damage done by it and the long road to recovery for survivors.

On the other hand, SAO uses sexual violence in a much simpler way, which is easily understood and therefore digestible for the casual viewer. The sexual assault in SAO doesn’t have to do with the plot, or even the motivations for certain characters, instead the only reason it’s there is to distinguish the “good guys” from the “bad guys.”

Goblin Slayer does this as well to an extent, but that’s more of a lesser way it uses these themes.

In this episode of SAO: Alicization specifically, we see that Raios and Humbert are the bad guys because they’re engaging in sexual assault (as if we didn’t already know they were the bad guys), and our heroes, Eugeo and Kirito, are the good guys because they see that rape is wrong.

The problem here is that we already know who the good and bad guys are, so since that’s really all this rape scene tells us, it’s simply not necessary. However, what I believe to be a bigger issue is that this sends mixed messages about views on rape.

On one hand, if the heroes are against rape, then rape must be bad. But, on the other hand, if the majority of people don’t see rape as a crime, then rape must be okay. I’m sure Reki Kawahara meant for the former interpretation to be used, but the way he writes these kinds of scenes is a bit messy.

Again, if we compare this to Goblin Slayer, we see that Goblin Slayer isn’t trying to make a point about whether or not rape is bad. Goblin Slayer already assumes we know rape is bad. Instead, it shows us the damage sexual violence causes to victims, and that’s a much better way to handle these sorts of topics.

Viewer Discretion Is Advised

Now, some of you may be thinking, “the reason there was such an outcry over Goblin Slayer is because it didn’t have an explicit content warning at the beginning, while SAO did.” And you know what? You’re right, it didn’t, although it does now.

But, the fact that this episode of SAO did have an explicit content warning is likely only due to the outcry Goblin Slayer received for not having one. If Goblin Slayer had aired next season instead of this season, it’s unlikely that this episode of SAO would have had that warning.

But, there are a few other things to take into consideration regarding explicit content and this episode of SAO. The first is that the warning at the beginning of the episode was only in regards to the sexual violence, not the physical violence, despite how graphic it was.

I’ve also seen complaints about the physical violence in the episode being censored, but I don’t believe this is the doing of any Western streaming service such as Crunchyroll. From what I saw, the only parts that were really censored were the bleeding stubs left after arms were cut off, and even these were barely censored.

As far as I can tell, this censoring was present in the original Japanese broadcast as well, and was likely because it would otherwise have been too graphic to show on TV. That said, if you’re looking for a completely uncensored version, you’ll have to wait until the Blu-ray release, and even that may be censored in the same way.

Finally, should series like SAO and Goblin Slayer even need explicit content warnings in the first place? The series air at 12am and 12:30am respectively in Japan, which are timeslots generally reserved for more adult content, so isn’t that enough of a warning for potential viewers?

Goblin Slayer is rated R-17+, so that should be enough of a warning on its own (although when the series premiered it was mistakenly labeled as PG-13). As for SAO, it’s actually rated PG-13, and so I do believe a warning like this should be included when necessary.

Artificial Intelligence

And, now, onto a different topic: artificial intelligence in SAO: Alicization. Specifically, what we learn about artificial intelligence in this week’s episode. The three main subtopics in this section will be Eugeo, the Taboo Index, and death.

Last week I discussed the social hierarchy found within the Underworld civilization and suggested that if a higher-ranked person were to tell a lower-ranked person something, they would have no choice but to take it as truth. In this episode we see this play out to one extreme with Raios and Eugeo.

Raios is a third-rank noble, and Eugeo is a commoner, so when Raios ordered Eugeo not to take another step and interfere with his “dealing out punishment” to the two girls, Eugeo had no choice but to obey, literally. Due to being commanded not to take another step, Eugeo found himself unable to move his legs.

However, we then see the effects of Kirito’s influence on Eugeo when he’s able to overcome and break free from this absolute order. When this happens, we see that Eugeo’s eye begins to act up just as it did at the beginning of the series. This seems to be some kind of seal which is what’s stopping the AI from breaking the taboo index willingly.

But, break the Taboo Index he does, and this seal along with it. Eugeo’s eye bursts and he’s suddenly free from the invisible shackles holding his body in place. Later on in the episode, Kirito and Eugeo’s teacher also mentions that Eugeo was able to shake off a bond she was unable to.

So is this seal inside an eye of all the AI? And if so, is this seal what forces them to follow the teachings of the Taboo Index absolutely?

Speaking of the Taboo Index, when it appears we learn something interesting about how it works, or at least potentially works. Before the being which appears in front of Kirito, Eugeo, and their disciples begins to speak, Kirito and Eugeo cover the ears of Ronie and Tiese so they won’t hear it.

I’m not sure exactly why whether someone hears the voice of the Taboo index or not would matter, but Kirito and Eugeo clearly seem to believe it does. Does this mean it works in the same way that verbal commands from nobles to commoners do? If you don’t hear the command or the Taboo Index, does that mean it doesn’t exist?

Finally, what summoned the Taboo Index this time around? It didn’t appear when Eugeo cut off Humbert’s arm, and it didn’t appear when Kirito cut off both of Raios’ arms. Instead, it only appeared after Raios died from blood loss. So does that mean it saw everything prior to that as legal?

Or, was it simply “called” to that location upon the death of Raios? We saw that when he died, it appeared as if he was glitching out. Could this be the reason the Taboo Index was summoned? Perhaps there was something else wrong with Raios’ death other than the fact that he was murdered.

Also, I’d just like to point out that for someone who has dedicated his life to preventing another tragedy in which people get stuck in a game and then die in real life when they’re killed, Kirito is surprisingly okay with killing other people within such a game. He doesn’t even seem to consider that Raios was actually another person.

Conclusion

So what are your thoughts on this week’s episode of Sword Art Online: Alicization? Do you think it deserves the same outrage Goblin Slayer got for depicting sexual violence? Do you think series like this need an explicit content warning? And, what are your thoughts on the Taboo Index? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.