Starburst Stream

«Starburst Stream» (スターバースト・ストリーム) is a 16-hit Dual Blades category Sword Skill in Sword Art Online.

Description
The first hit is a horizontal swing from left to right with the right sword, immediately followed by an uppercut with the left sword. The user then jumps up and slashes the target with both swords from left to right while spinning, twice. The user lands facing the target and slashes an X from top to bottom, before inversely slashing the X again from bottom to top. The user then leaps at the target and makes two diagonal slashes from the same starting point, with the left sword heading from top to bottom to the left, while the right sword heads from bottom to top toward the right.

Afterwards, the user reverses his grip on the two swords and slashes another X with both swords from top to bottom. The user then does a barrel-roll like maneuver while slashing at the target, like a corkscrew. The user then slashes another two X's at the target, first from top to bottom and then bottom to top. The user then makes a diagonal slash with the right sword, top-right to bottom-left, then spins left and uses this momentum to deal a horizontal, right to left slash with the left sword. The user then, at a very high speed, makes an uppercut with the right sword; then another with the left sword, a downward slash with the right sword, then a downward diagonal slash towards the right with the left sword, spins and repeats the previous attack, and thrusts the right-handed sword out. The final slash is a forceful downward lunge with the left sword.

The List Version

 * 1) Horizontal, left to right slash with right sword.
 * 2) Uppercut slash with left sword + Full circle spin.
 * 3) Horizontal, left to right slash with both swords + Full circle spin.
 * 4) Horizontal, left to right slash with both swords.
 * 5) Downward X-slash with both swords.
 * 6) Upward X-slash with both swords.
 * 7) Two opposite-directional diagonal slashes, left sword going down-left, right sword going up-right.
 * 8) Lifts swords up while turning away from the target, reverses grip of both swords.
 * 9) Reverse-grip downward X-slash with both swords.
 * 10) Corkscrew “attack”, and shifts swords into forward grip.
 * 11) Downward X-slash with both swords.
 * 12) Upward X-slash with both swords.
 * 13) Diagonal top-right to bottom-left slash with right sword + Full circle spin.
 * 14) Horizontal right to left slash with left sword.
 * 15) Downward vertical slash with right sword.
 * 16) Uppercut slash with left sword.
 * 17) Downward vertical slash with right sword.
 * 18) Downward diagonal slash with left sword +Full circle spin.
 * 19) Downward diagonal slash with left sword.
 * 20) Forward thrust with right sword.
 * 21) Forward lunge with left sword.

Usage

 * Volume 1, Chapter 11/Episode 9:
 * Kirito uses this skill to defeat The Gleam Eyes.


 * Volume 1, Chapter 13/Episode 10:
 * Kirito uses this skill against Heathcliff, after noticing that Heathcliff’s face finally showed a flash of emotion. Kirito is able to break Heathcliff’s defence with the skill, but just as he is about to deal the final blow, Heathcliff activates his over-assist beyond its normal capacity, allowing him to block Kirito’s attack and counterattack.

Trivia

 * In ALfheim Online, with the addition of Original Sword Skills, Kirito has attempted to recreate the Starburst Stream skill, but is going through hell to do so.
 * «Starburst Stream» is one of the three Sword Skills in the Sword Art Online series which share their names with Incarnate attacks in the Accel World series, written by the same author. The other two skills are Vorpal Strike and The Eclipse. Additionally, the number of consecutive hits the skill has in Accel World is identical to that of its counterpart in Sword Art Online.
 * Starburst Stream in Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax (both Kirito and Kuroyukihime's versions) uses the 16 hit variation from the original novel (further solidifying it as 16 hits total in canon), but Kirito's version instead ends with a thrust similar to his Vorpal Strike, possibly due to limited animation.

Navigation
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