In Sword Art Online episode 3 Kirito joins up with the Moonlit Black Cat guild and becomes attached to them only to watch them die.
Kirito was so wrong to keep telling Sachi that she would live through the whole game of Sword Art Online. Luckily Sachi already knew she was doomed. Kirito should not have felt so guilty about the whole group dying, but Sachi her gave false hope. Sachi was not a strong fighter and was afraid. That is not a combo that is going to get her very far. Also while he was protecting her, Kirito obviously could not always be there to save her.
I do not understand why Kirito trusted and liked the group enough to join, but not enough to tell them his level. If they did not like him because of his level then it was not the group for him. They probably would have accepted him anyway. Sachi knew and did not care. Maybe if the group thought that he knew more about the game then they would have listened when he warned them. Telling Tetsuo after the team was dead was not the time and was probably part of the reason Keita blamed the whole thing on Kirito.
It is hard for me to understand in an environment like Sword Art Online how a group could be so laid back like Moonlit Black Cat was throughout this episode. I can only guess that knowing each other in real life made them feel comfortable even in this setting rather than constantly being reminded where you are by being around people purely for survival. They sure seemed more carefree than the group from the last episode. Wandering somewhere you do not know and opening a random chest is not something I think most of the players would do. Knowing that they knew each other in real life and were watching each other die made the whole thing sadder to me. I know the characters were not very fleshed out and were there just to show how Kirito got to be the way he is, but I can imagine the pain they must have felt. Keita’s suicide was a natural reaction really. What did he have left to fight for? Having them all die to one mistake would not leave Keita with much hope for making it all the way out.
Sachi showed the drawbacks of having real friends in the game. If Sachi had been all alone she would have stayed in town and lived as best she could. Since she had real friends Sachi did things she was afraid of and uncomfortable with. Her friends tried to push her to do even more and be on the front lines. It is a bit surprising that they did not notice that she was so afraid and that going out with them to kill monsters was tearing her up inside.
The revival gem being an immediately after death item was pretty harsh for Kirito. I do not think it was all that surprising though. The whole point of Sword Art Online is that the deaths are real. If someone dies for real an item in a game is not going to revive them. Obviously that item works only before their brain is fried. If they had changed their stance on people being able to come back in Sword Art Online I would have to question if they really died or not.
