“Sanctuary”
A sanctuary is a place of safety and stability. In anime, there are several different places and environments that characters call “home”.
In this post, I will be using discuss the importance of a person’s own sanctuary by using the anime Sword Art Online as the model topic.
You might be wondering, “what is sanctuary” and “where do you find it”. You might ask yourself, “how can Sword Art Online relate to our world.” I will explain it all and tell you that even places like a made virtual world can bring peace to this troubled world.
(Possible Spoilers)
Just like I mentioned earlier, sanctuary is a place for comfort and safety. In a way, it could be a home that shelters you from trouble and pain. Places like a house, a school, church or even your room can be a sanctuary as long you feel safe and happy. In this cold world we live in, sometimes we need a place to rest and avoid the negativity of those who wants to hurt us. For me, whenever I don’t want to deal with scary situations, I go and reside in my room. In my room, I have anime and video games. This room makes me happy because I can be free to enjoy the things I like without being judged. Some people might say, “video games are a waste of time and you should be doing something productive.” In a way, I like video games but I don’t let it control my life. Besides it bringing joy to my life, video games help me relax from the stress of the world and it makes me feel important to video game world. Whenever I play games, I am either the good guy and saving the weak. If I am evil, I can destroy people who hurt me. Anyway, video games make feel powerful.
In Sword Art Online, character play video games for fun and to hang out with friends. Main character Kirito (Kazuto Kirigaya) does more than just play for leisure, he sometimes has to save either one person or the lives of others when death is involved. However, I won’t be talking about the Black Swordsman in this blog tour. Instead, I will be talking about his friends and what is their reason to play video games. Their purpose for gaming may not be as serious compared to Kirito but they treat it as personal reason.
Leafa – A girl seeking Neverland
The character I want to talk about is Kirito’s little “sister” Leafa (Suguha Kirigaya). The reason why I picked because after carefully reading about her from from aniblogger Takuto from Takuto’s Anime Cafe, I realized that Leafa goes through a lot of pain in both real world and virtual world. A while back, OWLS member Takuto wrote many posts titled “In Defense of Fairy Dance” in which he talks about in his opinion that the anime arc of Sword Art Online deserves some recognition after fans called it the worse arc of the anime. After reading the posts, I realized Fairy Dance is not that bad as it seems.Going back to be Leafa, she is character who carries the most burden in this arc. The first thing we know about her is that after losing her brother Kazuto in Sword Art Online and blaming video games for trapping him, she somehow decides to try the new successor game VRMMORPG ALFeim Online. In this game, players can become fairies and fly all over the game’s world and play with friends. Taking from Takuto’s posts, Wings of Freedom, Cage of Gold and Overfly, To Be So Close Yet So Far Away, here are the main points and burdens to bring up. You can read more from his writings in the hyperlinks.
- Her relationship with her “brother”: Technically speaking, Leafa and Kirito are actually cousins. As much as she really loves him, Leafa gives up her feelings for him and tries to distant herself from him by playing ALFeim Online.
- Led by a controlling guild member: Revealed little after meeting Kirito, we get introduced to one of Leafa’s guild members named Sigurd. Unlike Leafa’s goofy classmate Recon, Sigurd is rather rude and cares about the pride of Sylph. After finding out that she was going to take a break from the guild and help Kirito, he calls her selfish and consider her an item than a person. Even in video games, she can’t escape her stress
- Fight like a Kendo Master: Mentioned very early in the anime, Kirito mentions that his grandfather tried to force him to practice kendo. However, knowing Kirito wasn’t good, Suguha volunteers to learn and take his place. For the ake of her elders, Suguha had to learn to fight. This added more to her burdens.
Regardless of the pain she goes through, Leafa always come back to this game for one thing: to fly high above the clouds. Mentioned in Takuto’s post about the Ending song Overfly, Leafa carries her burdens up to the sky and places them above. It’s almost as if she is praying to God in Heaven and hoping her cares will be resolved. Taking this in a religious perspective, Leafa is isolating herself from everyone and asking God for help. Leafa’s sanctuary is in the virtual world where she can fly away and be free.
Another character I want to look at is from Sword Art Online II, Sinon (Shino Asada).
Sinon – A girl who became “Batman”
Not literally Batman, but both Sinon and Batman went through a similar past that affected them: both had to do with death and guns. Batman lost his parents from a crooked thug in the alley with a gun, Shino killed a robber in a very tender age. However, unlike Batman, Shino didn’t train years of martial arts and used money to become a crime fighter, Shino had to take care of herself without the aid of her mother. The painful moment in her life even caused her to be afraid of guns to the point where he vomits out of fear. This trauma even caused her to get bullied at school by other girls. This caused her to be alone and become a target to be picked on by others.
However thanks to her classmate friend Shinkawa Shouichi, Shino gained the confidence to play a VRMMORPG called Gun Gale Online, a virtual reality game where players uses guns to compete online.After creating her avatar Sinon, she becomes an expert killer and a valuable player to teams. Unlike reality, Sinon is not afraid of guns but she embraces them and makes it her own. Armed with the deadly sniper Hecate II, Sinon can shoot enemies from far distant and make kills fast and painless.
Now, what is her sanctuary? Obviously, it’s the virtual world but what makes it interesting is that her character Sinon and the world makes her feel great and powerful. In Gun Gale Online, Shino becomes Sinon and she brings fear to the enemies. She doesn’t need to show fear to strangers and she can become cold like any killer. The point is this, Sinon, in Gun Gale Online, is a powerful player in the game and she doesn’t feel afraid from anyone. She can fight for herself and tackle strong with her courage. In the end, the virtual world brings her more than comfort, it gives her strength.
Conclusion
What is sanctuary and where do you find it?
To answer this, sanctuary is a place where you can find comfort and feel secured. Where is it? It depends on what do you call home? To me, it’s in my room where my hobby lives and my house where my family dwells. In anime, characters have a special place where they feel welcomed. In Sword Art Online, the fictional virtual world can even be called a sanctuary. Characters like Leafa finds comfort by flying in the sky of ALFeim Online. Sinon’s Sancuary is in Gun Gale Online where her fears of guns is gone and she learns to how to use them. Even thought they were video games, they brought happiness to people and actually made their life better.
In the Bible, Luke 2:41-52, Luke tells us the story of the young boy named Jesus and his mother and father visiting Jerusalem in the time of Passover. After the Passover, Mary and Joseph heads back to their home town but they find out that Jesus stayed behind. After they found out, they headed back to Jerusalem and found him at the Temple with the teachers. Jesus told his parents “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Even Jesus wanted a place of comfort to be with God.
Everyone has a special place where they can feel at home.I don’t know what is your sanctuary but if it’s something that protects you from harm, that is your sanctuary. I hope you enjoyed this blog tour.Next blog post will be the awesome Takuto on March 8th! Be sure to check out Becknaja‘s post on March 10th and read Lita’s post on Rurouni Kenshin. God bless your day!
Please be sure to visit Takuto and read his posts about Fairy Dance. Thanks Takuto!
Matt-in-the-Hat 
Matt perfect post. This is a good anime to relate to sanctuary. High five
High five! Thank you. I worked hard to create it.
And it shows you worked hard. Great one 😀
Thank you. 🙂
This post is fire the way you broke down Suguha’s situation actually made me think of her differently, I never thought of what she had to go through. You definitely explained it better than the author of SAO did.
Haha thanks. I actually had to look up my blogger friend Takuto’s post. He is the one who broke it down. I just made it simple. He deserves the credit.
Either way it’s still fire and I’m gonna check him out.
Thanks. Takuto got everything you need if you want to read about Fairy Dance. I hope this post helped you understand sanctuary.
It most definitely did.
That’s good news. I did my best trying to explain the importance of sanctuary.
Well you did an amazing job.
Thank you. Feel free to stay tuned for Wednesday next blogger.
I would have bet money that the song “Sanctuary” from Kingdom Hearts would have been included in your post.
Anyway, great post! Interesting to read the two girls and trying to find their happy place.
Actually, it was there but I took if off last minute.
Thank you. I felt like these girls are worth mentioning.
This was indeed a great post Matt! Thanks for sharing! SAO is a great anime for this month’s topic! 😀
Thanks Hazelyn :). I felt like this suitable for this month. Funny how I am talking about this anime and the movie is coming.
Are u going to see it?! I bought my tickets and am going! Also my WCW tomorrow is asuna! 😀
I am planning to see it! I actually won the ticket giveaway from Shay. WCW?
My Women Crush Wednesday Post
Oh! Yeah Asuna is the best wife lol.
Awesome that you won a ticket!
Thanks. I am thrilled for Thursday. I love the music from LiSA.
good post. My name is Brandon. I would like to discuss some business with you. can you please contact me at animemodeuniverse@gmail.com?
Hey Brandon! I emailed you now.
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Great post! I am glad you wrote about two of the side characters that don’t always get attention :3
Thank you. I did this on purpose because I feel like they are worth talking about.
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Great job, bro! I think this post is very relatable especially for otaku like us who find comfort in watching anime, reading manga and like what you say in this post, playing video games. And I can’t help but nod in agreement when you said that others may say playing video games is a waste of time and go do something productive, but for people like us, this is where we feel most “at home”. I don’t really play games, but I did when I was still in my teens, so I can relate. I have also started watching SAO and Log Horizon before but took a break from them. I just have to finish the two series. Nicely done, Matt. Keep it up. Cheers!
Thank you Arria. I tried my best to help people understand that sometimes having a break is good. You don’t need to be a hardcore gamer to be a gamer. For me, if I enjoy games, I am gamer who likes some quality time. I need to see Log Horizon. I heard it was good. Cheers!
Having a break is very beneficial. You’re right. Well, Log Horizon is good during the episodes I watched so far. We’ll see how it goes. And SAO too. Cheers!
It looks interesting. I always wanted to try it but I am trying to finish Accel World first and then jump to Log Horizon.
Ooooh. Accel World is another one that I’m interested in watching. Phew. Lots of shows to watch. Lots of fun.
I know, so many shows to watch and little time. It’s not easy being an anime fan but it’s worth it.
Exactly. It is difficult but it’s also so much fun. We not only get to enjoy so many awesome shows but also connect with great people all over the world, fellow fans like us.
I totally agree. Besides watching anime, at least we can connect to people and interact others with the same taste.
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First and foremost I just want to say I loved the first season of Sword Art Online and I loved the Fairy Dance Arch lol. Haha sorry haters! In all serious though, love the post Matt! I was really interested in how you were going to relate Sanctuary to this anime when you chose it and I am not disappointed 😀 Sanctuary is def a place that we feel safe and secure at and it’s something that everyone needs. I also liked how you used to side characters! I did not see that coming and it was great.
Thank you. At first, I wasn’t much of a fan for Fairy Dance but after reading about Takuto’s defense post, I appreciate it now. I could have easily talk about Kirito but I thought the side characters deserve attention .
I think using side characters def made the post more unique:)
Thank you and I agree. Besides Kirito, I find the girls interesting. 🙂
Awesome post mehn, like the youtube vids. I’m planning on watching season 1, season 2 was cool.
Thank you Mahdi. I felt like these videos will help out this post. I enjoyed both season 1 and 2.
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I haven’t finished watching SAO’s entire first season, so I’m not familiar with the characters you focused in the post. Still, I can imagine the struggles they went through (thanks for the quick background).
It’s good to know, Matt that you found your sanctuary from the comforts of your home. Such a convenient place too. And again, nice post!
Personally, I recommend checking out the anime. You’re welcome by the way, I wanted to help readers understand these characters for the purpose of this post. I am glad to hear you enjoyed this post.
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Awesome post matty I’m so late reading this but I’ve only seen the first season of sword art online Leafa is one that came to my mind instantly for this subject you did a great job displaying with she find comfort in the game, to feel free from the deep feelings she haboured for Kirito. Sanctuary in a virtual space I can understand that well great choice for choosing sword art online hehe
Thank you Lita. It’s okay Lita if you are late, what matters the most you to read and enjoy the post.I felt Leafa should mentioned this post discussion. I can relate to this anime in regards to sanctuary and gaming.
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Matt this post was fantastic!! I love how you didn’t just talk about sanctuary in the context of SAO, but from your own experience! It added a really nice personal touch to the post!!
Thank you Naja. I felt like this anime was something I could relate and I wanted to talk about it.
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It’s good to know, Matt that you found your sanctuary from the comforts of your home. I haven’t finished watching SAO’s entire first season, so I’m not familiar with the characters you focused in the post.
Personally, I recommend this anime. Season 1 is pretty good and if you made it this far, season 2 is also good too. 🙂
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I don’t believe I ever got to express how honestly happy this post made me feel, so better late than never, right? Matt, this post was written with so much heart from you; understanding how much solace we find in gaming and the places in which we play those games is something I quite often take for granted. Seeing as how I don’t game, this was an eye-opener for me. My room does function as my own sanctuary for my anime-related hobbies, however, so I do resonate with you there.
Sword Art Online was such a great pick for this tour’s theme: all of those characters use the game world to cope with the painful realities that await them in the real world, whether it’s relationship dilemmas, traumatic incidents, or just to feel strong for once in their life. I’m glad you highlighted some of the supporting characters rather than the lead, by the way.
Lastly, and can’t express this enough, thank you so, so much for not only flipping back and to read my Fairy Dance posts, but also for diving into how much they meant to you here. As a blogger, this doesn’t happen often for me (people might give a shoutout to their favorite posts they read one week, but rarely do we ever hear further elaboration on the topic). Blogging, as much as I hate to admit, is a transient experience–every moment is as passing as the next, and people move on to read the next newest thing, discarding the old. But you went back and elaborated on a post that clearly meant something to you, and enlightened you as not only a reader, but a fan of SAO. As even an informal writer (the lazy blogger that I am), this is what I should strive for–this is why I blog.
This was an expressive post for you and an endearing read for me–I’m only sorry that I was this late to the party. Thank you, my friend!
Wow this is a very touching comment Taku! You made me feel happy. I couldn’t have done this post without your writing. Thanks to you, I was able to relate to SAO and talk about how it involves my own sanctuary. I felt like the details you mentioned on the side character Leafa was a perfect example. You don’t need to apologize. Like you said, it’s better late than never 🙂
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