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Characters you think are overrated?

There should be a worldwide ban on "gary stu." It seems nobody understands how to apply it properly, and it just becomes a go-to protagonist criticism for whatever show you don't like.

The nature of protagonists is that they advance the story. Being put off by the fact the protagonist in any story succeeds more often than not is just mind-boggling, because if you criticize one you pretty much have to criticize them all.

Same goes for Naruto, Ichigo, Kenshin, or any of the other 10,000 protagonists in every anime ever. Does anyone ever believe any of them are in real mortal danger? Of course not.

Yeah, occasionally they die for good, but that's always at the end when the story is about to wrap up anyway.

Your definition of gary stu is very different from mine. To me, gary stu/mary sue is an ideal character with little or no flaws in addition to winning every battle. Kirito seems gary stu-like to me because many of the characters he interacts with, particularly female characters, take an immediate liking to him or he instantly wins them over. But I don't consider Kirito a full blown gary stu because he does have to work on winning over Asuna and Shion.

I felt that many, but not all, of the fights in SAO (especially the 1st season) weren't that interesting because Kirito basically destroyed his opponents with little effort.

There should be a worldwide ban on "gary stu." It seems nobody understands how to apply it properly, and it just becomes a go-to protagonist criticism for whatever show you don't like.

The nature of protagonists is that they advance the story. Being put off by the fact the protagonist in any story succeeds more often than not is just mind-boggling, because if you criticize one you pretty much have to criticize them all.

You could call Luffy from one Piece a gary stu. Even when he's in trouble (and he's been on the verge of death many times) I know he's got a 0% chance of dying, because he's Luffy, and Luffy needs to live on for the story to continue. And so, miracles keep falling out of the sky to keep him alive. Same goes for Naruto, Ichigo, Kenshin, or any of the other 10,000 protagonists in every anime ever. Does anyone ever believe any of them are in real mortal danger? Of course not.

Yeah, occasionally they die for good, but that's always at the end when the story is about to wrap up anyway.

Far as Kirito having "little no no flaws," that is simply not true. Anyone that's actually seen SAO would admit to that. Kirito is a complete and total mess on the inside. He's selfish. He's antisocial. He gets his entire guild killed after 6 months because of his own flaws and spends another 6 months on painful suicide missions trying to kill his own grief. On an emotional level, he's needed to be rescued repeatedly throughout the series because he's really weak in that area.

...so your definition of "gary stu" is a male protagonist that is too well liked by females?

And Kirito wins every battle in the first arc because losing would mean his automatic death. Again, no different from every other series where you know the main character isn't going to die. You simply are not going to get any tension out of those situations.

Far as Kirito having "little no no flaws," that is simply not true. Anyone that's actually seen SAO would admit to that. Kirito is a complete and total mess on the inside. He's selfish. He's antisocial. He gets his entire guild killed after 6 months because of his own flaws and spends another 6 months on painful suicide missions trying to kill his own grief. On an emotional level, he's needed to be rescued repeatedly throughout the series because he's really weak in that area.

All of this.

Here's what I'm thinking of. It's been awhile since I've seen this episode, but that episode with the blacksmith girl Lisbeth. So he saves her from the dragon, and then at the end of the episode she wants to tells Kirito her feelings. It felt very sudden to have Kirito save her and then she's suddenly in love with him. Since this all happens in a single episode, it felt very rushed.

Speaking as a girl, if a cool, hot guy saved my life in that super-dramatic way Kirito did for Liz, I would be all his.
Some girls are just suckers for that "sweep-you-off-your-feet" stuff. :]

In Liz's case though, she absolutely can't stand him at first until he goes hero on her. I do recommend reading that side story; since it's all from her point of view and you get to see just how much he pisses her off in the beginning; it's downright hilarious to read.

I think the most damning piece of evidence that Kirito is the Gary stu of Gary stu is that he can dual wiled because… he's just that damn awesome!

And yeah every female character just falling for him almost as soon as they meet him is another pretty big tell tale. Every female character he meet fall for him, even his sister.

I could've sworn Kirito got the dual-wield ability because his habit of soloing everything brought him to the attention of Mr. Crazy.

Far as Kirito having "little no no flaws," that is simply not true. Anyone that's actually seen SAO would admit to that. Kirito is a complete and total mess on the inside. He's selfish. He's antisocial. He gets his entire guild killed after 6 months because of his own flaws and spends another 6 months on painful suicide missions trying to kill his own grief. On an emotional level, he's needed to be rescued repeatedly throughout the series because he's really weak in that area.

Gokuu is not supposed to be a hero, that's pretty much what the entire Majin Buu arc is about.

Kirito is and always has been intended as a self-insert gary stu.

Your saying so doesn't make it true. If you put him through the Mary Sue Limitus Test, his score is not very high and I'm inclined to believe something like that more than a person's opinion on a forum.