Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-70.187.93.22-20170122053050

So one of the things I noticed about the Elucidator is the critical distinction in how it is used in SAO as opposed to real life - you all know what the blade looks like, and you've probably seen the steel replicas for sale a few times too. I recently went and looked back over them, and at a bunch of fan art too just to be sure - it seems like people are holding it backward. In the actual anime (and in the LNs too, from what I understand) the Elucidator is held with the guard, which is only on one side, toward the user as opposed to away. This seems completely illogical to me, and so if it's true, that explains why so many people are holding the thing backward... I'm not sure how many have actually noticed it. That's why I'm here - what I want to know is, why on earth is it held with the guard toward the user? Is it explained in the LNs? Is there some lore I'm missing out on?

--anon

Edit: I did some more looking, and it seems like the animators ran into the same issue - sometimes Kirito is shown holding the Elucidator with the guard to the front, most notably in the Heathcliff fight. I also found a startling amout of fan-made stuff with him holding it "correctly". At this point, it seems pretty split as to how people think the Elucidator is properly held, and I'm not even sure anymore. So let me know - how are you supposed to hold this thing? And why do so many people have it wrong? 