Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-71.82.164.213-20150409225706/@comment-79.44.224.90-20170523012656

I've read that Word of God stated that Yuuki is simply straight up better then Kirito. And that should close the debate per se, but actually IT IS a little bit more complicated.

It's true that the anime hints at him holding back in every fight they have. He held back the first time they fought because she's a girl and it's stated that he cannot fight with full strenght unless he fights something actually life-threatening, and when they duel the 2nd and last time, he loses due to time limit, after receiving Yuuki's best attack, Mother's Rosario, and it's hinted that he loses right before answering with a potentially lethal attack. Also notable that he never uses dual wield against her.

My 2 cents are that she's better than him in the light novels, but he's stronger in the anime adaptation. Despite not beating her, it's clearly hinted at by the anime's authors.

Just because someone has some characteristics in a medium, that doesn't mean they translate completely into another one. Several characters of Game of Thrones, for example, have differences from their book counterparts. For example, Daenerys in the tv series has obviously a natural fire resistance, that is never hinted at in the original books.