The Soul Translator is a state-of-the-art full-dive interface which interacts with the user's Fluctlight—the technological equivalent of a human soul—and fundamentally differs from the orthodox method of sending signals to the brain. The private institute Rath aims to perfect their creation by enlisting the aid of Sword Art Online survivor Kazuto Kirigaya. He works there as a part-time employee to test the system's capabilities in the Underworld: the fantastical realm generated by the Soul Translator. As per the confidentiality contract, any memories created by the machine in the virtual world are wiped upon returning to the real world. Kazuto can only vaguely recall a single name, Alice, which provokes a sense of unease when mentioned in reality.
When Kazuto escorts Asuna Yuuki home one evening, they chance upon a familiar foe. Kazuto is mortally wounded in the ensuing fight and loses consciousness. When he comes to, he discovers that he has made a full-dive into the Underworld with seemingly no way to escape. He sets off on a quest, seeking a way back to the physical world once again.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
SunlitSonata
I tried to like this. I really, really did. I was even sticking out for it upon its announcement because for all of the problems earlier iterations of SAO had, there was always a sense that, if the finer details were checked over and looked at in complete retrospect of what came before, it could be deservedly fun, inspiring or genuinely meaningful. A series deserving of the immeasurable hype phenomenon it generated. Escapism, blurring between actions of reality and fiction was always a thematic that separated the series from the many isekais this decade that followed in its footsteps, and something that held my interestin how it would be handled, but aside from arguably the Mother’s Rosario arc, this wasn’t given enough space in the narrative between all the superfluous anime tropes that seem to be there to draw the most general audience possible. Look no further than the original Aincrad arc, praised most by anime-only fans for its concepts, but forcibly rushed to completion when its author chose to submit a word limited contest draft as the first novel, compared to refining the fully story he wanted to make.
Sword Art Online’s biggest problem is itself.
Its writer, Reki Kawahara, keeps getting in his own way, and when he doesn’t, the anime eschews his vision. What he wants to get across is almost always clear, and there are effortful attempts to act on those ideas, but with the anime’s focus on moving the plot forward rather than making details feel elaborately set, it ends up bringing down the entire experience to make watching the series weekly for the most part, feel like a slog of boring exposition attempting to cover up poor pacing of external events. If something from earlier is justified, it can feel annoyingly retroactive. Kirito himself is less a factor than in previous arcs, he is still partially to blame in the indistinct coverage of how this season adds to the themes of the franchise.
General spoilers for the season below:
The main premise of this arc is that Kirito, while on a date with his girlfriend Asuna, is caught off guard and stabbed to near death by one of the three Death Guns from the previous season. While in a coma, he ends up in the digital world of Rath, a system used for a military experimentation project where he must do..............................nothing in particular at no real urgency. There is a plot, and there is a goal, but for once they feel entirely separate from the tension.
But I’ll get to that later. SAO, being as popular as it is, has mostly being met with snark and derision from people calling it the “worst ever” or otherwise exaggerating the flaws of it, so I think it’s fair to start off with the positives of this season, because contrary to what haters will tell you, they do exist.
1. Production value and music. These have been consistent strengths of the SAO series throughout the years and generally, they still hold up here. The character models take on the new polished style from the Ordinal Scale Movie, and while not having as much animation (I’ll get to that), the look is maintained very well across all 24 episodes of the show. If you compare to the original two seasons, there is a definite improvement, and while the architecture present isn’t particularly unique or standout, it is well presented. Likewise, Yuki Kajura’s music, while not her best soundtrack, still does what it can to set the mood for the quieter scenes and the action scenes, with a great new remix of Swordland to go along with it. Special mention to some of the opening moments of Episode 2, and the fight in Episode 16. Of the music outside of the show, the first OP and the second ED are the best ones and do have a good amount of catchiness and energy to them.
2. Alice Schuberg, the arc’s new female lead. While it takes 16 episodes in to actually really explore her as a character, and she looks a lot like Saber from the Fate series, the time we do have from then on with her sets her as probably the most consistent female lead in SAO so far. As of yet, she’s hasn’t been subjected to an endless supply of ass shots, her growth hasn’t been stunted by time skips, nor is her growth entirely for Kirito’s sake. Her arc of rejecting the corrupt system she’s been brainwashed under, wanting to reconnect with her old life and opening up on her feelings is adequately handled and leads to some of the stronger character moments this season. She also has one of the coolest weapons in terms of both design and animation; a space bending sword acting as moving protection with golden butterflies as weapons. It’s been put to effective use in the fights so far and has potential to be used further as the story moves along.
3. Measuring Kirito’s power. Compared to say, the Phantom Bullet arc, some of the worst aspects of his character are toned down. He doesn’t start the series overpowered from the get-go, has actual struggles in several fights and even takes a few Ls in a couple of them. It gives a couple of the fights in the season more tension than previous ones. The existence of Eugeo also helps for his sake since the show is better able to balance the battles between the two of them rather than giving Kirito the entire spotlight. It doesn’t mean there isn’t still an annoying amount of contrived solutions to conflicts, but that’s more on the writing than him specifically.
4. Actually building the villain. The arc’s villain, a Knight Templar dictator calling herself Quinella, has an established backstory and a defined reason for ruling the way she does. We know why she is the villain, we see the clear consequences of her actions on the world and she isn’t as laughable to be taken seriously compared to say, Sugou from ALFheim. She’s a product of an as of now unknown evil seed, but nonetheless she’s established properly. However, showing her attractive naked body on screen doesn’t work at all to be alienating for a series that in the past used naked bodies during bath scenes as fanservice. There are some fun intensity moments with her in the climax, even if the battle is a mere two minutes long.
Unfortunately, that’s the positives out of the way. Now for everything else that really breaks this arc and saddens me given the inherent potential of a SAO story.
The biggest problem that persists throughout the entire show is the immeasurable focus on exposition over every other element. Characters will abandon the idea of development, fighting, talking, world building, or anything else for the opportunity to talk in technical terms about topics that, while somewhat relevant, are not as important as what else could be focused on. Eugeo, the new male lead, has got family issues? No, that's not important. We need to talk about the villain’s plan and “Fluctlights” (the series’ pretentious name for digital souls in an indistinct coverage of AI vs humans) again. Knowing how that works is way more important that a main character's backstory. The exposition often brings the narrative to a screeching halt, especially in scenes where the heroes stop fighting the villain and exposition for a few minutes while the villain just stands around waiting for them.
Exposition is something inherent in building a setting and establishing the plot. I understand the use for it. There are several shows that have still been entertaining despite or because of their exposition. But SAO Alicization’s exposition is not only incredibly frequent but boring and lacking in character. It’s frequent enough to where Episode 1 spends 10 minutes just expositioning off vague terms about the setting, while half of Episode 12 and nearly all of Episode 13 are nothing but this flat delivery of the plot. Other episodes tend to tag nearly every fight with exposition that’s 8 times longer than the fight itself. While the old director was no exemplar by any means, he at least knew how to make fights seem varied and exciting visually with a lot of movement. Here, Yuki Kajiura puts in the effort, but this new director who directed some of the worst LN adaptations in recent memory like Mahouka and The Asterisk War, just cannot pull it off. So, when the OP makes you think you’ll be getting this epic fight, it’s usually just maybe two attacks apiece preceded and followed by 5-10 minutes of exposition.
The framing device of the season also presents several issues this time around. The idea that Kirito’s exploration in this new world is happening while his real-world body is comatose could generate tension, but this alongside Kirito’s connection to the real world is poorly substantiated. In learning about this framing device, we, as the audience, know it is just a waiting game for Kirito to heal up and be back to normal. Until the very last episode, his actions in Rath have absolutely no consequences in the real world. None of that “die in the game die in real life” stuff here. He gets really hurt from time to time but we have no idea how his real body is taking it. There’s a two-year timeskip at one point, but unlike in Season 1 where it really was two years, we have no idea how much the time exchange is between the system and the real world which I think hurts the connection to the story. This framing device also separates Kirito from his past connections in this story. I don’t mind the reduced role of his entourage for the moment (even if Asuna, who SHOULD be important, has nothing to do right now), but he barely brings them up over what’s been at least two years. There was one moment Kirito thought of his real-world connections, but that was for a poorly animated fight that ended in a draw and had absolutely no effect going forward. Kirito cries more over the fact that flowers he planted were destroyed (that were contrivedly brought back anyways) than even the chance that he might NEVER see Asuna again being stuck for so long. I want to care, but the show refuses to let me with a framing device that undermines the events and severs past connections.
Other old habits die hard, whether because of Kawhara’s own writing or the adaptation. Not only do we get another ridiculous rapey scene, but there’s a two-year timeskip rather than say, actually seeing Kirito and Eugeo train up to be better swordsman. They set off for the Capital and the next we see them, BOOM, two years pass, and they’ve already had a lot of training done. They could’ve at least done an FMA03 type thing by building character relationships prior to a timeskip but nope, nearly all relationships at the sword academy are shown after and as of now, doesn’t matter to anything since we know so little about them. If this was better in the light novel, good for Kawahara, but perhaps it should’ve been a cause for concern seeing how much got cut for the anime onlys. In this adaptation, the only purpose of the sword academy stuff, aside from telling us Kirito and Eugeo became better swordsmen offscreen, was to build two bullies as irredeemable rapey monsters, and paint two cute girls as victims of this. We don’t know much about them either, aside from one of them having a romance arc with Eugeo that goes absolutely nowhere. There’s also a lot of contrivances to make progress, like with Kirito seeing the “ghost” of Alice in Episode 4 lead him the right way, how Cardinal is introduced into the story specifically to ex Machina Kirito and Eugeo out of a scene, and how Kirito uses a completely unknown attack to one shot a late-game villain that returns him to his Black Swordsman coat for a bit. This attack is never referred to by name and never mentioned again.
And it’s not like this progress has done well for the characters, as Alice aside, they range from passable to horribly flat. Kirito isn’t as overpowered as before, but aside from problems the framing device puts on him, he still has annoying moments, like one case where he retroactively Sherlocked his way to avoid being poisoned, or where he used a device he only had two of on a character he barely knew, rather than to potentially stop the villain and save Alice. The show puts him in the right for this by the way, and there’s not much of an arc for him this season either. Cardinal is actually pretty decent, even if the show’s use of her as an ex Machina isn’t for the best. The sword academy characters are barely developed at all, and among the antagonists, only Bercouli and Deusolbert are passable; the rest are just obnoxious. Fanatio’s only character trait is being ashamed of being a woman, which falls deaf when both the main villain and Alice, whom she knows personally, are also women, as well as there being no indication of gender division in the world. And Chudelkin’s only purpose is to ruin the tone and make rapey faces whenever possible until kill stealing at the end.
Which leads us to the biggest wasted potential so far, Eugeo. There was a lot of potential for his character at the start. Being a guy partner to help balance Kirito out of the spotlight, there was a lot Kawahara could do with what he distinctly did not know about Kirito, his personal relationships with him and Alice as kids, his fighting ability, the idea that he has more innate fighting potential than Kirito, his unawareness of being an AI program and his romantic relationship to Tiese.
Unfortunately, not one of these elements get to shine in this adaptation to let us in on his blank sheet personality. Perhaps improved in the light novel, but the anime should have better stood on its own. Him having more innate potential than Kirito is completely ignored later on, his sword training is told not shown, and anything the show tries to pull regarding his relationships with Kirito/Alice as kids, his family, or Tiese fall completely deaf because they received little to no focus. He didn’t even TALK to Alice in the present day, once. The show would rather go into long tirades of exposition than show a main character’s backstory! Near everything about him was entirely cut short by the show despite having more than enough time to act on all of it. They try their best to make up for it at the end, but it’s a bit too little too late.
It’s hard to say whether I’m more annoyed or disappointed with how Alicization has been executed so far. Sure, some of the problems in the world, characters and framing device can be fixed going forward, but first impressions are everything and this series did not make a good one. The focus on constant exposition over all else, the disconnected framing device, and lackluster character writing drag it down more than needed, but it could’ve been avoided if Kawahara just knew what to focus on or the anime didn’t skim over the better parts, since his ideas are abundantly clear. The SAO franchise can theoretically explore a lot, but it almost deliberately gets written into corners. That’s something I’ve always given SAO over the many works that have almost no effort at all to act on their ideas, and though there’s that chance for the future with new elements coming in to make the second half an improved experience, this season’s quality suggests it won’t be without a wide range of caveats.
Stark700
In a world where popular light novels gets anime, manga, games, and hell, even live action movies, there’s one title I’m sure no anime fan can ignore. Sword Art Online. Becoming ever more popular and entering a mainstream line of anime adaptations, the franchise has also no doubt sparked decent deal of controversy. But hey, controversy sometimes makes cash right? It’s not rocket science to realize SAO would eventually get a continuation. It was just a matter of when and after 5 years since the second season, the time is now. Sword Art Online Alicization covers the light novels with an extended amount of material,much more than the previous season. It’s so much that in fact, a full 2-cour season of 24 episodes isn’t enough. Luckily, it has been confirmed the series would run more than that and given an additional season for its adaptation. However, the big question people should ask themselves if this is another SAO show to jump into or a cash grab at making more money.
Starting with the prologue, we get a double length episode to give a general background of the new season. Make no mistake though as Alicization is not going to spoonfeed viewers with recapping. The show assumes you are familiar with the first two shows so anyone hoping to watch this needs to have completed the first two seasons. Light novel adaptations tends to suffer a lot from adaptation standards but thankfully, Alicization manages to deliver a faithful start with its character cast and storytelling. Besides Kirito, we are introduced to Eugeo, a new character who serves as his partner and best friend in this arc. Similar to Kirito, he has a kind heart although lacks experience in the beginning compared to him. He also appears somewhat cowardly in the beginning as he is unable to prevent certain events from happening, in particular for failing to help his childhood friend Alice. It’s not until he meets Kirito that he develops a resolve and finds the courage to become a stronger person. That is to say, Alicization features a lot of character bonding especially in the first half of the show. Eugeo begins to grow out of his shell after training and becoming strong enough to fight as a warrior. It really shouldn’t take long to realize that he has great potential, perhaps even someday of surpassing Kirito himself. As for Kirito, his personality remain largely the same in this season. That is, he is a selfless person who isn’t afraid to help others in need. Kirito and Eugeo develops great respect for each other and the latter even finds his resolve. The two sometimes almost feel like brothers.
Outside of the duo, you may have noticed another prominent character being featured in the trailers or key visuals. Alice would be her name and she is Eugeo’s childhood friend. The show makes it clear that she is an important character from her introduction to later on in the story. Alicization also devotes time to developing her character after meeting Kirito. Despite having a rocky start, she develops respect and a growing trust for him. Now, people may have a curiousity if Alice become another ‘harem girl’ similar to some of the previous seasons. SAO is not a harem although it gives off a stench at times. Thankfully, there’s no need to worry. The closest that Alice seems to be with Kirito is when they are at the tower during one of the episodes and nothing more comes out of it. On the other hand, Kirito’s friends from the real world are still concerned about his well-being. In particular, Asuna searches for him through unorthodox methods while discovering some revelations about the technology in the real world. Remember, the world of SAO contains complex technology that defies the law of nature. I’m not even referring the VR system or robotics but rather the capability of influencing people’s lives. This extends to the virtual world where the Administrator managed to use system commands to reverse her own age. Sounds unbelievable, right?
As with previous seasons, Alicization can’t be complete without antagonists and conflicts. One of the major antagonist in the new season is the Administrator, Quinella and her Integrity Knights. She’s an important character as not only is she a threat to the main protagonists but also a catalyst for some of the key events in this season. This includes character manipulation that extends to our new characters such as Eugeo and Alice. I’m not going to lie though, one of the events in this show is rather disturbing to watch considering the way she manipulates others. (I’m looking at you, Eugeo) On even more disturbing matters, we even have characters that commits unforgiveable sins that pushes Eugeo to the edge. It’s the type of event that brings controversy out of its fullest. I’m not going to spoil it but when you get to that particular episode, you’ll feel disgusted too. It’s so disturbing that it even changes Eugeo’s views on the laws of their world and causes him to rebel. Quinella herself also demonstrates a God-like complex with her own dark motives. If I said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times. She is detestable. I doubt anyone with a sane mind would find her character likable.
I can’t be the only one to notice that the animation quality improved more than the previous seasons, right? The Ufotable-like animation is used in parallel with the Sword Art Online movie, Ordinal Scale. Not only did the animation style improve, it also managed to craft an imaginative virtual world to it its fullest. The character designs are also featured in great details compared to previous seasons. In particular, Alice is important to note for her chivalrous look and golden armor. Character expressions are meaningful with an emphasis put on human emotions. Eugeo is a prominent example especially as his personality shifts from a weak survivor to a noble swordsman. While I’m not impressed by how antagonist are portrayed this season, they were able to deliver their dialogues straight with a degree of villainous expressions. Quinella is the biggest culprit with her manipulative personality. Her malevolence simply cannot be overlooked.
The SAO franchise is one of the longer light novel running adaptations that continues to build more into its universe. Truthfully and despite some of the controversy from the past seasons, this one managed to finally jump out of its rabbit hole and deliver what I wanted to see. With another season on the way, I cross my fingers that it will ride on this momentum.
Chrome_Falcon
The anime community seems to be split in its opinion on SAO. Half of them ignore everything positive about it and only talk about negetive things. The other half just does the opposite. No other anime has been this controversial for more than 5 years after its original release. Now here is a new season that features mostly different cast from the original. So is it worth watching or not? Here is my analysis:- **THIS WILL INCLUDE MINOR SPOILERS ABOUT THE OVERALL SETTING ** The story this time is centered not on a game, but around a simulation of civilization. The aim of this simulation is todevelop highly advanced A.I capable of thoughts and emotions. It brings about some ethical questions about humanity, playing God, and where to draw the line in scientific experiments. This season deals with more of these mature themes than the previous seasons ever did.
The premise is that Kirito finds himself in a medieval world with its own history and lore and journeys with his newfound friend Eugeo to achieve both of their (different) goals. It starts out slow, with a lot of focus on world building. Even though it seems disconnected to the plot of the previous seasons, eventually many plot points from before will make their way into the story. So it is important to watch the last seasons to get a full understanding of the current season.
Eugeo is the focus of these two cours, Kirito just tagging along. He has an innocent, easygoing personality that makes the story work - much like Frodo from Lord of the Rings. He is the embodiment of a common citizen of Underworld. His opinions about himself, others and the society he is in changes throughout the story and the viewers get to experience the same things he does. Alice has not much role in the initial part, but her time for development will come in the 3rd and 4th cours.
Unlike SAO's history, there is pain and blood in the fights. It makes the characters' struggle believable and makes you root for the characters. Later on, the story gets even more darker without resorting to plain bloodshed - in a psychological way. Kirito is not overpowered in this arc. He only has the knowledge of a swordsman and works his way from the bottom up.
The entire story is well thought out and is planned beforehand. There are several questions that arise in the early episodes - the answers are made clear slowly, as the plot progresses. Some of the things happened may seem irrelevant and random, but they make sense eventually.
A large number of new characters are introduced in this season. Most of them influence main characters in various ways. The three main characters undergo some changes throughout the series and get some good character development. But the same cannot be said about the side characters.These characters last only for about 3 episodes and don't make an appearence till the 2nd part of this arc, but the gap is too long.
The review will be incomplete if the villain is not mentioned. It is an ambitious character capable of easily manipulating others for personal gain that ended up turning into a different and dangerous entity due to an accident. Certainly there are better villains in the anime history, but this character is arguably the best villain SAO has seen so far. There is a moral ambiguity for this character.
There are plenty of criticisms that can be offered as well. Some episodes have a lot of talking involved. A lot of exposition is delivered this way. People expecting all out action scenes will be disappointed or bored by these episodes. There is some pseudo-science explanation for the premise. It may not appeal to everyone.
The tower climbing arc is adapted very poorly. The Integrity knights that are supposed to have their own reasons and understandings about the world around them are dumbed down to mere villains of the week. The cliffhangers are conceived in a very poor way. They feel forced and unnecessary because most of the fights are very short.
The anime looks gorgeous with colorful shading - just like Ufotable. But the same can't be said about action sequences. In many action sequences, the frame of animation focuses only on one character. It makes the viewer unable to follow the fights well. The short fights are usually already ended by the time we get invested into them.
The soundtrack is underwhelming compared to the last seasons. Old music is repeatedly used by remixing it. Only few soundtracks are memorable and they don't last long. Some of them sound very similar to Yuki Kajiura's other works. Only new notable music is the Eugeo's theme and the Quinella's theme.
The adaptation of the source material is below average. It is not butchered to Tokyo Ghoul Re's extent, but it is significantly rushed and cuts out a good amount of inner monologues that gives a good understanding of character relations and motivations. Think of the GGO arc that lasted for 14 episodes but now compress it into 8 episodes. That is how much rushed it actually is. Even so, everything that has happened can still be understood with some thought.
Tl;dr - If you liked the previous seasons, it is a must watch.
If you thought that the previous seasons were wasted potential then this is still worth watching as it explores a different theme - in far more detail.
However if you didn't like the original characters of SAO, then better stay away from this season. Chances are that you will not like this season either.
There is still two more cours to come. But that is a different entry in the database. Be informed that the story doesn't end yet.
For me, what is great about this arc are its themes and execution, albeit the poor adaptation.
NoizyFrog
Sword Art Online franchise presents a new entry with its Alicization ark and doubles down on familiar writing disasters. With this season SAO reaches new storytelling lows and also seems to lose its last redeeming quality – action scenes. SCORE: 2 – Very Bad. STORY: Boring exposition scenes interrupted by obligatory and meaningless fights. At the beginning I was slightly confused, because SAO:A does not directly follow on its second season. This confusion lasted only a few episodes and worked as a setup for a new “death simulation” for Kirito, without his harem, but with the same amount of plot armor and OPnes. Terrible writingis more apparent in this season than anywhere else in the franchise. This show is too busy creating lengthy exposition dumps about either mundane or unnecessary topics: several episodes long discussion about calling and its meanings, that loses relevance after 1 sword swing; an entire episode to establish something as simple as basic royalty system; or 15 minutes of backstory for 2 characters, who lose within 10 seconds and vanish, just to name a few. As a result, plot progresses at a snail pace.
Not that the actual plot is any good. A lot of techno gibberish, plot holes and questionable motivations. Just a simple “save the girl” premise buried under a convoluted mess of pointless subplots.
At least, people will stop talking about Asuna’s horrible treatment in the first season, as SAO:A manages to top that scene. Genius.
CHARACTERS: Kirito - doubled; harem - disabled.
There is Kirito and then there is lesser Kirito, who is just a slightly inferior version of the original. Support cast consists of crazy dudes and girls, predetermined assault victims or characters who die for nothing. There is really not much to talk about here.
ART & ANIMATION: One step forwards, two steps backwards.
While character models and backgrounds show more craftsmanship than the average anime show, SAO:A seems sterile und unimaginative, be it detailed but boring backgrounds or character designs.
The biggest downgrade happened to action scenes. Sword fights turned into arm wrestling competition, where combatants just press glowing sticks against each other. Gone are the days of fluid sword dancing. Even the most potent fight against goblins in ep4 borrows too much from infamous directorial techniques like unnecessary camera movement or excessive close-ups, executed at 10 cuts per second. I certainly could not enjoy presented action.
SOUND: The most anime sound possible.
This is a MVP production, as Minimal Viable Product. Neither the music, nor the voice act stand out and will leave any memory. Maybe with the exception of this distorted sound on high energy impacts during fights.
Do not waste your time on this garbage. If you are looking for a competent “trapped in a video game world” anime with a clear goal, superb world building, diplomacy, smart use of game mechanics and successful focus on NPCs, try Log Horizon.
BabyGirl06301
LISTEN, MAYBE IT'S AN UNPOPULAR OPINION, BUT THIS SEASON IS THE BEST SEASON OF SAO TO DATE. I get it, people don't like it, but I'm gonna take a minute to explain why I loved it oh so much. Number one: the sound design and art are absolutely gorgeous. I think the storyline for this season gave a lot of opportunity for beautiful art, and this season didn't disappoint. I think I have a thing with lighting effects because every time I see an anime with stunning lighting, I have to bring it up. See: SAO. The sound, also, especially during the last half of thisseason, was so lovely and emotional.
The story. Okay, so I'm assuming this where everyone's hang-ups lie, right? Let me tell you why you may not like this season: it isn't all about Kirito and Asuna anymore. In fact, the main clique from SAO doesn't show up much in this season. It's VERY different compared to the seasons prior.
That, however, is why I loved it. I felt like SAO needed a revamp after the second season, and I think this season proved to me how much better the series could be. The story itself was imminently intriguing. The world that was created for Alice and Eugeo (the world Kirito finds himself in this season) is something that I fell for immediately; in fact, I'd love to see an entire anime just about those three in that world rather than just a season. To me, at least, the story change was very well written because the dynamic it reigned in was something completely unlike anything we've seen before. There is a bit of a time jump in the middle that's a bit weird, but for the most part, the pacing is done really well to explain how these characters get from point A to point B. It doesn't feel like anything's missing.
If you wanna know the main reason I fell in love with this season, though (even though the story was fresh and interesting), it was the characters. The new additions to the cast made this season for me. Especially Eugeo. Because this world is so different, Eugeo came off as a very unique character, and I liked that. The development he went through was some of the most interesting I've seen because of how it was written. You got to see all colors, and that's something I was surprised to see given the fact that he isn't a main member of the overall SAO cast. He become beloved very quickly.
Beyond that, though, I think getting to see Kirito connect this much with someone new (Eugeo) was really valuable for the series. I'm glad that that was written in and shown because it offered some movement and development for Kirito as a character that we haven't gotten in a long time. The previous seasons ended up flat-lining because it felt like repeated material after a while, so that's why I think this season is so special; it shook everything up. It made me get invested in SAO again. Even the parts that don't involved Eugeo and Alice.
The thing I think I'm most excited for going forward is seeing how this has changed Kirito and what all of this means in the real world. Also if anything will connect together in the future. I don't feel like I did a whole lot of explaining during this review, but I will say this: Sword Art Online: Alicization is one of the best things I've seen in anime.
LegendAqua
Reki Kawahara's...Magnum Opus??? Sword Art Online: Alicization gives us another installment of Kirito and the gang but this time Kirito wakes up in a game world like no other. No Asuna, No sword, new world. If there was a weakest link in Sword Art Online...ironically enough was Kirito but in Sword Art Online: Alicization he FINALLY gets his due and develops, instead of the being Hacking OP Game Jesus he's known for. Ok, so it seems Reki Kawahara has gone back to his roots with Sword Art Online: Alicization and looked back into his flaws of the Aincrad arc and saw it's immense flaws and decided to giveKirito a fighting chance of him actually developing as a character, fleshing out his new game world and what it means to Kirito and his new companion Eugeo voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki. With how Sword Art Online: Alicization was formatted and planned out, the anime really takes it's time with it's pacing being for the most part, moderately slow, slowly drip feeding up exposition about the game world and giving us enough information to us to to speed to the world Kirito is in and to be honest with how the first few episodes introduced everything, LA and the audience would had been easily in the dark, so the exposition at the start is necessary.
With the world building, well since Kirito knows this new game world of Underworld is a game world, he exploits basic features and weirdly enough he has admin privileges (but not to worry he doesn't outright abuse it) let alone the fact that allies and villains use it just as well as he does, so it's even footing either way. The world building through Sword Art Online: Alicization was actually VERY well done, giving us a Chehov's gun payoff that gets mentioned and utilized well throughout the anime, almost like LA is watching someone playing an MMO game in a ways. Of course latter down the line, exposition does somewhat become a problem with episodes dedicated to certain characters backstories and world building lore of sometimes tie simplest things that didn't exactly need that much detail but noted either way.
So characters, well as LA said before Kirito grows as a Gary Stu FINALLY, with him not being an all powerful main protagonist this installment, well he like Reki Kawahara, he doesn't want his mistakes from his past to haunt him and this is through him wanting to protect those close to him Eugeo and Alice voiced by Ai Kayano, both a "childhood friend" in Underworld, so say that Kirito actually develops as a character is a feat and quite honestly one of the best signs that that Reki Kawahara knew Kirito needed more development from the start. Eugeo is something of a companion, "best friend" character towards Kirito, heck he grows from the meek, shy and orderly character to a more confident character through the course of the anime and latter his desires are tested. Alice, the psudeo-namesake of "Alicization", at first gets "put on the bus" thus her screentime was diminished, but once she comes back into focus, well she's quite different to say, but nonetheless like Kirito and Eugeo, grows in a ways more like showing the authority of the higher ups of Underworld is not what she thinks it is...and to say that Alice was LA's favorite character of Sword Art Online: Alicization is a frickin' understatement, a lady of war, a badass and pretty much Shinon 2.0 without the "harem disease" status, she was and IS a fully realized character that isn't just harem bait.
On terms of villains, well they are major step up from the Aincrad and fairy Dance arc villains by a MILE, as they at best are shown as sympathetic characters, sometimes against their will, yes they are obstacles for Kirito and Eugeo, but we learn more about them, through their battles and they just aren't so stock, that you kinda feel sorry for some of them. As for the major villain of Sword Art Online: Alicization, well LA "gets" her intentions and she's malicious and even with her backstory covered and whatnot, she does have a purpose, not ony a threat to Kirito and Eugeo but humankind, because in game terms, she's pretty much a self-aware rogue program out for blood and "shake fist at God" villain, she's an existential nihilist doing only what she does to survive. So depth and not stock evil?...yeah leagues better in many ways.
Sword Art Online: Alicization's animation done by A1-Pictures is almost movie quality to how polished and detailed it is, almost like they got the animators from ordinal Scale and got them to work on Sword Art Online: Alicization and to be honest, the animation done by A1-Pictures was stellar, great and detailed character designs and crazy sword battles. There were some censors but to be honest needed as Sword Art Online: Alicization does get indeed graphic and in one notorious episode where censors (though LA hates them), helped..in a ways. A1-Pictures really outdid themselves really. Exceptional quality and consistency and A1 did it.
Voice acting, well you know LA is just gonna praise the hell out of Ai Kayano as Alice, but to say that Nobunaga Shimazaki as Eugeo and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Kirito also needs to get a mention. The only other voice actors to note are Sakura Tange as Cardinal with her odd but enticing cadence and the major villain of Sword Art Online: Alicization voiced by Maaya Sakamoto who did excellently in portraying the oozing amount of villainess contempt she had.
If there were any flaws LA could see in Sword Art Online: Alicization, well there are of course, but one is that the exposition does not necessary kill but drag the plot, yes the exposition is useful for the plot ahead but still. Sword Art Online: Alicization does feel very much like a game world what with all the exposition layed out, but there are time sin the plot where it was a bit contrived and coincidental at times, yes you can call this plot armour for Kirito and Eugeo, but LA will defend this flaw as Kirito isn't the god he was in the first season as in Sword Art Online: Alicization and Kirito goes through a personal development about the same plot armour being broken and hell he loses, he gets wrecked. But to say around the middle of the anime, it does get a bit coincidental to save the main protagonists...not utterly forced thankfully. Sword Art Online: Alicization has it's problems, but it's strengths definitely outweighs it's weaknessness.
Sword Art Online: Alicization is getting a continuation of it in a second season but for what Sword Art Online: Alicization gave us as of now, it's not only a HUGE step up from Reki Kawahara, but it's definitely on it's way to being amazing. It seems Reki Kawahara goal of righting his wrongs of Sword Art Online is indeed showing and for the first half, it already showed it's potential in being something great, let's just hope the second season follows through and gives us an excellent climax to what's ahead.
fitemeillreku
Now, this is my first and probably only review on this site, but I thought I would give it a try. What's the worst that can happen, right? I'm not very good at reviewing things, so please take this with a grain of salt. Sword Art Online needs no introduction at this point, as it has become one of the most popular and yet one of the most controversial anime that has come out in recent years. I have silently criticized Sword Art Online's first season with poor story and characters, but have always found merit in the show's production quality, which prevented me from entirelyhating it. The second season was a little bit better with easily my favorite story arc and character of the series, but still had some problems with it, namely the Excalibur Arc, which only served as a filler and really had no direction to it, and the Mother's Rosario Arc, which at that time, was my favorite thing to come out of Sword Art Online at the time. Now, we're finally at the Alicization Arc, which I can safely say is the best thing to come out of Sword Art Online.
Story - 8/10
Reki Kawahara, after all of these years of pretty poor writing, has finally learned how to write a proper story with some pretty decent worldbuilding, and an actually interesting fantasy world to go along with it. Alicization takes place in a place called the Underworld, a fantasy world kind of similar to other fantasy worlds that we've seen in the past years, with goblins, knights, and dragons, but has some game-like mechanics to it. It delves deep into how each mechanic works, and the history of this world, and how things are the way they are. Pacing for this is actually pretty decent when the series first started, but kind of got rushed during the last arc, Alicization United. I think that it would have definitely benefitted more by having 26 episodes than 24, but. In this fantasy world, Kirito meets a boy named Eugeo, an NPC of that world whose purpose is to cut down a giant tree; there, his adventures in the Underworld start. In this world, Eugeo tells Kirito a girl named Alice, who was his childhood friend and was taken away when he was younger after she broke a law, or the Taboo Index as they call it there. In the Alicization Beginning Arc, the first arc, not very much happens, as this really serves to build the world even further, which is a bit disappointing, as there were entire episodes dedicated to infodumps. However, in the last two arcs of the series, we get a clear goal that Kirito and Eugeo must meet, and I can't get into that without treading into spoiler territory. And yes, they even included some sort of rape scene that for some reason, Reki Kawahara likes to put, but it's in a way that's important to the plot and sets up the future events of the story. Another thing that I would like to point out is that this series tends to get much more violent than the past series, as there's a lot of blood that was shed during this series. Overall. it's a pretty solid story, but it's not anything groundbreaking, and you won't be missing too much by not watching this, but it's definitely an improvement of what we saw in the last two seasons.
Art & Animation - 9/10
Alicization uses the same art style as the Ordinal Scale movie and if you've, watched that movie, then you'll know how amazing both the art and animation are. It's a bit more complex than the original series art, and there are some still great moments of fight choreography. Background art is also amazing with highly detailed backgrounds, but it's obviously not as pretty as some films that come out in recent memory, but it's still nothing to scoff at. It loses a point because, in the second half of the show, the animation quality seemed to dip, and it really shows if you see a fight scene from there. One thing that I want to mention is the special effects, which are actually really good, though they are only particle effects most of the time, they still look really good, and adds to the complexity of some of the fight scenes that happen.
Sound - 9/10
The sound department has also always been a positive aspect of the Sword Art Online franchise, and in this season, it's no different. All of the openings and endings are catchy as hell, especially the first opening, "ADAMAS" by LiSA, which has easily become my favorite opening of the series and just an explosion of hype, and one of my favorite anime songs in general. The OST, however, is not really that praiseworthy, as I couldn't find anything that notable besides the main OST song "Swordland", but other than that, there's nothing that I could point out. As for voice acting, I think it's pretty good. Some notable ones are that Matsuoka Yoshitsugu returns as Kirito, who's never been a bad voice actor and Ai Kayano plays Alice, and to be honest, I couldn't really see another person but her play that role.
Characters - 7/10
The main cast of the Underworld, Kirito, Eugeo, and Alice are all fairly good characters. Kirito has been nerfed a bit, so he's basically not a god anymore and some sort of wish-fulfilling device that we've seen him be earlier in the series, but is still pretty strong. Eugeo, an NPC, and serves as Kirito's partner for this arc and finally Alice, the heroine. One thing that I liked was that Eugeo was actually a competent character, a person who could hold his own without the help of Kirito and could be said to be his equal, at least in this world, as shown in the later episodes during Alicization Rising. Alice as well is also a fairly solid character, and like Eugeo, she's also pretty strong and can hold her own weight. Out of the trio, Eugeo is the one to get the most development, as he goes from a weak lumberjack to a competent and strong swordsman, and all of it doesn't feel forced, it feels a bit more natural, as compared to the first season. As for the rest of the main Sword Art Online cast, they just pushed aside, and really don't serve a purpose besides Asuna, and even then, she's just kind of there just to be there. Plus, Yui, the Deus Ex Machina machine is still there, which I don't like, but at least she's not in the Underworld.
Overall - 8/10
Like I previously mentioned earlier, this is the best thing to come out of Sword Art Online, Kawahara has improved his writing skills, and it really shows, but his story and characters still need a bit of work. Though it was a pretty fun ride from beginning to end, there were a lot of moments that were boring, especially during the first arc and the ending felt a bit rushed. Animation and sound have always been on point, and this season is no different. I'll be eagerly waiting for the next part of this story.
tlato_but
Sword Art Online has been the most maligned anime that the world has ever seen, sometimes criticized with reason, sometimes being criticized by the sake of criticizing it, sometimes criticizing it just to follow the current. But in the Alicization, most of the critique is surprisingly more subdued due to the significant upgrades of the problems that affected the earlier arcs. I will include some spoilers, so go with caution. Story (10/10): For the first time since ever, Kirito is a mere mortal, he shows that he's a mortal human after all; no more destroying bullets at a 5 meter range. The fact that he gets almostassassinated in the real world proves that. Now into a strange world, much different to the classic MMORPG Kirito used to play, he meets a young Eugeo and a young Alice in a remote village, and both saw how Alice violated the Taboo Index and gets kidnapped by the Integrity Knights.
Also for a very first time in SAO, Kirito's main companion is a boy, Eugeo, which significantly alters the concept of the "Kirito's harem" plot and the Kirito OP thought, both guys devise plans to progress in the seemingly perfect Realm of the Humanity, never overstepping into each other, rather complementing each other.
The latter inclusion of Alice is an anti-thesis of the classic Kirito girl, somehow strong girl, but always dependant on Kirito, She shows that she can stand up to Kirito, even helping him, showing his errors, and entangling a very similar chemistry like the Kirisuna duo. This rare trio between Kirito, Eugeo and Alice is by far the biggest selling point in the anime, because each other complements so well the other two.
Asuna is almost barred from the story after the Ocean Turtle part, save a few cameos in the final part, but this is not needed at all due to the extremely strong story and characters that gives SAO Alicization its earned praise. This is in spite of my personal valoration that Asuna is the biggest reason that SAO managed to be a very popular and decent anime.
Also worth mentioning that the Alicization departs from the traditional SAO rule of high violence, zero blood, the Underworld shows the extreme closeness that it has with the real world, depicting blood as a normal.
The background concepts are the most insightful parts of the Alicization arc, an almost perfect world created by the Interior Ministry of Japan, philosophical elements like war morals, regulation of morals, social cohesion, secret government projects, etc. are entangled in our psyche and how questioning or not can make a difference depending on your own set of ethical codes.
That's what the Underworld's nature shows, the blending created in order to establish a never questioned totally hierarchical order explains in how authoritarianism executes its evilness, better explained in the philosophical dialogues of the Administrator in how she should be above everything and because he loves so much their subjects and the peace, she enforces a crypto-tyranny to do so. Does she reminds you to someone who has usurped the presidency in an oil country in the Americas?
In fact, SAO Alicization is not only a big leap for the classic SAO concept of Kirito saving every girl in danger, it's the quasi-questioning of the entire concept of the social relationships, enforcement of moral values, and societal structures that currently rule our real world.
Art (9/10):
SAO Alicization takes the animation of Ordinal Scale, which was the finest of the finest of A-1 Pictures, but it was basically unsustainable over the course of 2 cours (580 mins worth of the OS animation), this shows midway the course with weird models and weird falls. That of course reflected on the decision to split the cours in order to not continue degrading the animation. In spite of that, the Alicization animation is generally consistent and of the highest order.
The characters are pretty well made, and also the shades and tones are completely detailed, better shown in the rampant bleedings in several scenes. Liked how Eugeo and Alice have the more typical European phenotypes and Kirito has the more Japanese ones. The backgrounds are otherworldly, with a very high level of details to the point of watching each one of the tree leafs moving smoothly, also a big improvement from the first 2 seasons.
Sound (10/10):
You know that SAO wouldn't be SAO without a Lisa song, Adamas is the classic Lisa song that opens the new world of the Alicization, Eir Aoi's Iris is a much more relaxed tune that calms you after the constant latent tension of the Beginning, Running and Turning of SAO Alicization. Asca's Resister is much darker than the usual SAO openings and consisten with the darker parts of what is the Rising, Dividing and Uniting arc, Forget-me-not from ReoNa is also more relaxing, but with darker overtones.
The background sounds are of course of the highest quality, Yuki Kajiura is still one of the finest composers in modern anime, aging like the wine, she always complements the mood and never oversteps nor overshadows the scenes, rather gives the tunes a superb significance in each of the movements made by the story.
The seiyuus are perfectly in synchro with each other, the inclusion of Ai Kayano as Alice follows a tried and tested formula with Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Kirito) of the cold and closed girl with the charming and open boy, like the Mashiro Shiina-Sorata Kanda in Pet na Kanojo, Utaha Kasumigaoka-Tomoya Aki of Saekano, Shiro-Sora in No Game no Life.
Nobunaga Shimazaki as Eugeo is completely on song to the personality, which blends perfectly his performance of the seemingly cold Shidou Itsuka of Date a Live with the specifications required of Eugeo. Of the other performances, Sakura Tange (Sakura-chan of Cardcaptor Sakura) changes massively her cute voice to seiyuu Cardinal, Maaya Sakamoyo who also worked on CCS performs the seductive evil Quinella.
Characters (10/10):
By many detractors, the SAO characters were one of the weakest points, but in Alicization, they're now one of the strongest parts. I'll only mention Kirito, Eugeo, Alice, Cardinal and Quinella.
Kirito is not anymore the OP character that gets all the chicks, now he gets all the boys (Eugeo). Jokes asides, now Kirito's mortality is on play, now he cannot get through due to his MC powers, he feels that he needs help and he just does that. Putting all his adquired knowledge over the time to solve the problems are now his motto, displaying a constant maturity and seriousness required in almost all the circumstances, long gone are the classical Kirito playfulness.
Eugeo is the biggest reason that the Alicization is without doubt the best arc of SAO, he is not an inferior to Kirito, rather his equal, always loyal to him until latter into the season, and there is where his mental vulnerability is shown magnificiently in falling to the temptation of the Pontifex. His interactions with Kirito is the classic one between a fluid and a rigid person, is also legendary.
Alice is not your typical SAO girl who act tough but is always in constant need to be saved by Kirito. Instead, she can stand up to him, helping him to get over simple tasks like cooking dumplings or using her head to climb to the top of the Tower. Alice is also very closed-minded due to her upbringing as a Integrity Knight, but also sees in Kirito what she couldn't do. Her importance is vaguely mentioned at the very end of this arc.
Quinella, or the very hot Administrator who is always naked, is the prototypical tyrant who doesn't display any sort of overt cruelty to their subjects unless forced, like a small-country dictator, she also wants to punch over her weight to challenge their masters that can erase her with just a click.
Cardinal is the rival of the Administrator, who after a fight she had to recluse herself in the Library of the Underworld in order to devise a plan to defeat her, after a long struggle, she managed to find Kirito and Eugeo, and latter Alice to finish that mission.
Enjoyment (10/10):
To the SAO haters, the Alicization arc won't change any mind, and this review is not targeted to them. I personally had struggled to defend the many decisions that Sword Art took in earlier seasons, but SAO Alicization made that more easy for me.
The leaps from a very popular MMO anime with a charismatic MC, to a more deeply moral and psychological anime still rooted on his origins raised my enjoyment to the highest levels, in not only as they've corrected many of the earlier faults, but it's an always evolving anime that keeps generating green paper to A-1 and Reki Kawahara, despite the constant and at this point tiring and annoying hate.
Not only that, SAO Alicization perfected the morals and philosophical questions presented with the classic flair of Aincrad that included several battles with swords, this time without Asuna, but with Eugeo and Alice. So Sword Art Online Alicization has clearly remembered and insisted that it's an anime about, well, Sword Arts.
In my book, SAO Alicization won't be into my Top-25 of favourites, but will be up there in animes that significantly progressed over their courses. That itself is my biggest satisfaction and pleasure, and it truly earned the rating I'm giving to it.
Final score: 10/10.
0004-1
What SAO Should have been from the start, actually soo damn good. By Far the Goriest season of SAO, with far more blood and brutal fights Art - 10/10 The animation is STUNNING, its actually soo pleasing to the eyes, although all of SAO has good animation this season is truly top tier visually, even though it is quite bound by location, the locations that the story is set in has peak animation, the colour pallette has alot more blues and oranges than season 2 which had quite a dark orange and black colour pallette which personally just looked okay, the blue and orange pairing being themain colours makes the characters and locations stand out alot more.
Characters - 8/10 DEVELOPMENT??? We have this insane thing SAO hasnt found out about before and that is Character development we get new characters introduced that are NOT just nothing characters and genuinely outshine every single character from s1 and s2, Kirito even has development finally after like 60 episodes.
Story - 7/10 okkkk the story isnt too fantastic, but that just shows how good the enjoyment factor is, the story is a bit dull and sits still for a bit but the characters and location carry it. The story isnt bad like Alfheim and Season 2 but takes a far darker more grimy look at what we had in Eincrad.
Enjoyment - 8/10 I fucking enjoyed this, the first few episodes build up the world really well and there is some absolutely amazing episodes in this, by far carried by the characters and visuals but the story is there and doesnt piss you off like the earlier SAO arcs, honestly looking forward to war of the underground.
Overall - 8/10
RagnaCrimsonFan
(Potential mild spoilers ad, but ive marked the big ones) I want to real quick give a shoutout to my man Reki Kawahara. I was not familiar with your game. I, like many, watched the first two seasons of Sword Art Online and said "ok. this is cool. but its got some issues." After all, while Kirito (the main character) is of course a great main character, I felt the rest of the cast was a bit weak. Also, the end of the aincrad arc was a little bit ridiculous. I mean, the villain forgetting his motivation for trapping a bunch of people in the game??What kind of a nonsensical plot point is that! However, as I continued through the series that was sao, expecting more okness, alicization came along. And it BLEW ME OUT OF THE FUCKING WATER!
I have not been this surprised about a series this much since the likes of Ragna Crimson. In my last review, I discussed the intruiging foreshadowing and philosophical themes of Ragna Crimson, and how they are integral to the plot of the series. I also discussed the complex motivations of Ragna (the main character of that series) I feel very similarly about SAO Alicization than I do that show. Now of course, it doesn't quite reach the peaks of that, but thats a conversation for another day. Lets actually dive into SAO Alicization shall we?
hehe, get it? dive? like when they link start? because link starting is kind of like diving into the game? because thats a thing they do in the show? anyways...
Characters: 10
WOwie Crimson, SAO Alicization may have some of the greatest characters I have ever seen in any anime. He'll, id say it even rivals some of the finest literature I have read (which of course I am very well versed in). First lets start with Kirito, the main character. In the previous seasons, Kirito is definitely the most fascinating character. I really liked the fact that they didn't waste any time showing his life before the game. Stuff like him being bullied, his relationship with his sister, SAO took all that and threw it in the garbage to have a more natural approach to his character. And I REALLY liked this about him. It really let me understand the perspective of everyone else and let me pick up his character like everyone else. Over the course of the series I was able to piece together what Kirito wanted, and his feelings through brilliant dialogue and foreshadowing. Setting that aside though, Alicization took his (the main character) character to a whole new level. In fact, the scene that REALLY made me realize this was different from the previous arcs was how hsi gamer skills weren't going to help him in this new world. The scene where the death bullet dude attacked him in the real world and Kirito intrinsicely reaching for his sword, only to realize it wasn't there, was one that caught my attention. This made Kirito realize "man, I really am not in the game anymore. This is real!". He then gets sent into a new game, Alicization, which is very different from the previous ones, and he has to learn to adapt and find a way out of this mess. Overall a very good introduction to the new world and characters, that added unique stakes and upped the worldbuilding tenfold.
Next we get to Eugeo, one of the weaker characters of the arc. He's alright. Hes cool DONT GET ME WRONG! but like compared to the other charactesr of the arc he felt a little bland to me. Especially compared to Alice. Hoo boy, Alice.
Before that though, I want to give a shoutout to Klein. Up there with Slime, Klein is easily one of the funniest bro characters ive seen in any anime. HE NEEDED MORE SCREEN TIME THIS SEASON! Ive always wanted to see a spinoff of klein where they dive deeper into his character. I need to know more Reki. I NEED TO KNOW MORE!
Next is alice (a side character). ALICE IS GOATED OML! Such a cool character with a really interesting past. I really liked the stuff with the Integrity Knights here, and how they get their memory wiped by the Admin and brainwashed into thinking that they were sent from heaven. Overall a pretty interesting change from the previous arcs. But yeah, super badass. I really liked the part where she and Kirito had to climb up that building for like 2 episodes. It really gave them a chance to bond and for them to really connect since they had to rely on each other to survive. but yeah, shes awesome. I don't wanna spoil too much about her character though.
Animation: 10
Nothing to say here. This is some of the best animation I have ever seen. Not quite as good as... well, you can probably guess the show im referring to. Moving on. I have nothing to say here.
Story; 10
Kids have had their fun in the previous two seasons. now its REAL shit. The gore and action in this season are upped tenfold, and the story was far more interesting than before. There are so many twists and turns throughout this season that genuinely surprised me, as well versed I am with media of all kinds. Like the stuff with Alice (a side character) Especially how the villain died at the end, there was NO way I was gonna see that coming. ABsolutely insane! (no spoilers though) I like how the arc kind of leaves you on a cliffhanger, which lets you dive right into the next season! I actually haven't seen it yet, though I REALLLY want to. SAO has instantly become one of my new favorites. In fact I even purchased all the light novels (except volume 13, for personal reasons) to give Reki Kawahara as much money as I can. I NEED TO SEE THE REST OF THIS!!!! from what Ive haerd of unital ring and WoU, the story gets EVEN MORE INSANE FROM HERE! As if that were even possible. I can't say too much about the story if you haven't watched this, but its really quite interesting. Just go watch it for yourself. Alice's story (a side character) is enough to make it worth it.
Overall score: 10
Alicization truly changed me for the better. I had been watching so much mid, boring shows up until this point (of which will not be named, but I almost fell asleep watching legend of the MIDactic heroes), and I am forever grateful that I chose to give reki kawahara another chance. I may even have to raise my scores of the previous two seasons, since there was so much brilliant foreshadowing in those that made this arc all the better. From the insane visuals, to the masterfully written story, to alice and kirito (two characters) this is something someone of my caliber could EASILY tell took years in the making, brought up from excellent direction. Great job to Tomohiko Ito! You have earned my respect SAO, and that is a high bar to climb, trust me.
BhinoBambino
This is my first review and I wanted to express my thoughts on a series that I've come to appreciate since the release of the very first SAO. I am not a LN reader (however I plan to do so) yet, I can tell that this season of SAO is at par, if not better, of the original SAO. I am aware that the anime doesn't do the LN justice by just focusing mainly on the action scenes and the harem that Kirito tends to carry every season but, I'm glad to see that this season took a much different approach. Since the first episodeof Alicization, I was totally surprised by the sudden change of world and characters. Characters that I got to care and not follow the same unfortunate route that most characters follow whenever they encounter Kirito. When the anime established the threat towards Kirito, I actually felt somewhat panicked, something I haven't felt since the first SAO. Seeing Kirito actually struggle for once got me to root for him, regardless if I knew that he was going to overcome certain obstacles without a problem. Seeing a character have proper development for once, truly satisfied me. Even if that development was quite minimal, and even when the anime still allowed Kirito to pull something out of his ass in certain situations. But whatever development wasn't present on Kirito, it was sure found in the second protagonist, Eugeo.
At first, I didn't care that much for Eugeo but as the story progressed, I became to be fond over him. His lack of confidence and the fear towards standing up and actually facing the challenges presented to him is something i came to appreciate a lot. Whenever he overcame his fears, it was as I was watching a child I've come to raise finally being able to fend for himself. Moments where he spent his time with Kirito demonstrated how much he looks up to him which could be a good thing as it can serve him as a goal for him to improve himself, however, it became clear later on how much of a double-edged sword that type of mentality would weigh on Eugeo. There is so much I wish to say about his accomplishments and failures but that is more spoiler info.
Focusing on the rest of the anime, I can't really speak that much of Alice since her character holds tons of spoiler info but in summary, I couldn't relate to her that much due to the lack of screen time and development she was given. Hopefully in the next arc she will be given much more development since she is a very interesting character with lots of potential.
The animation never disappoints, the close-up fish-eye shots are always appreciated. Not to mention the delicious sakuga that are sprinkled all over this series. The sound effects seem to be taken from the Ordinal Scale movie which I happen to love quite a lot. The aggressive crunchy sounds of the swords clashing and pixelating sounds whenever a command was activated are just satisfying.
Overall, I enjoyed this arc of SAO so much. It truly brought back the same feeling I had when I first discovered SAO. It is nice seeing SAO beginning to be enjoyable once again, since the 2nd arc of SAO 1 was an utter disaster, not to mention SAO 2 with the exception of Mother Rosario. Hopefully things continue to get even better and seeing where the anime left off, I simply can't wait what's ahead.
toshtt
There's something about SAO Alicization that differs from the other SAO anime. Usually with SAO the only emotional connection you would feel was between Asuna and Kirito. In Alicization the main difference that makes it better than previous SAO anime is the real connection they show between Kirito and Eugeo. Their bond makes me jealous. I wish I had a best friend like that, who would be with me through it all, to be brothers. The downside of Alicization is the cliffhanger you get left with. It concludes the main story but at the end there's a slight turn of event which we will have towait for the second season to see.
Story - 7/10
Overall the story was good. I liked the plot, especially the part with Kirito in the virtual world. There were some episodes in the middle where I started to lose interest but nearing the final episodes, things started to get interesting again.
Art - 9/10
Art was above average I would say. The only downside was the occasional bad cg.
Sound - 9/10
Sound was great. I liked the choice of sound effects for sword duels. It was quite crisp and enjoyable.
Character - 8/10
Overall character development for Kirito, Eugeo and Alice was great. For the others I would say it was average.
Enjoyment - 8/10
It starts off great. Around the middle you might start losing interest, but it's definitely worth watching it because it gets better around the end.
Overall - 8/10
If you liked the plot of the first few SAO anime you definitely will like Alicization. I'd say Alicization is the best SAO anime yet. The only downside is having to wait for the next season, otherwise, it's worth watching.
Eleiryn
While not perfect, I personally felt that Alicization finally delivered the promise that SAO has often struggled with along the way. --- As with all of the good SAOs, we follow Kirito, though in an interesting departure from the usual, the rest of the old crew is either completely or almost completely out of the plot, as a result of this arc's focus on the world Kirito is stuck in. Unlike usual, he doesn't have any carried-over skills or stats, isn't the chosen one, and isn't casually dodging bullets - all of which does an enormous amount to make each battle feel much more meaningful rather thanjust wondering how he'll win. Instead, you find yourself wondering if he will win, and how.
This in turn leads us to more of a focus on clever tactics and shenanigans, which does a great job of showing the intelligence Kirito is supposed to have without going full Death Note/Code Geass with super complex plans and mega geniuses. As a result, while there is some of the usual SAO deus ex machina, victories generally feel earned and not always obvious.
Introducing Eugeo is probably the best decision of any SAO - while his character archetype may not wow everyone, I really liked his combination of skill but vulnerability, and he grows a fair amount over the show. Not since SAO 1 has Kirito really had an equal who travels and trains with him, and Kirito/Eugeo's bromance feels genuine, developed onscreen and tested time and time again. If anything, this is more Eugeo's story than Kirito's, with Kirito as part friend, part partner, part mentor, and the story is all the stronger for it.
I can't go into much detail without spoilers, but the third main character also has a very strong arc once it gets started fairly late in the show, and similar to Sinon in GGO she is her own person, NOT just a random member of Kirito's harem; he helps her out along the way but her development is earned, by her own actions, and she rapidly became one of my favorite characters.
As with every SAO, though the problem is more pronounced here, the amount of people standing around talking can get a bit onerous - I respect and enjoy the worldbuilding, it can get quite interesting, but there's a LOT of it. Don't go into this expecting back to back fights, the real focus is the character development with story and fighting being distant runner ups. For my money, I liked it. GGO's mechanics and rules were almost comically stupid at times and SAO/ALO had their issues as well, these I found interesting enough to want to hear more.
SAO has always been surprisingly focused on deeper questions of morality and dealing with complex personal issues; GGO in particular went HEAVILY into PTSD, and not the cute 'one scene of bad stuff and everything is fine' kind of way either. Aliciazation continues the trend, focusing more on questions of it is to be human and the nature of the soul. It's not quite as emotionally driven as GGO's take on PTSD and occasionally rings a little hollow, but is generally intriguing and well done, if not exceptionally complex.
It wouldn't be SAO without some fights to break up everything else, and they are generally good to great with a few duds. Kirito and Eugeo's teamwork is the real star of the show here - harkening back to the best of SAO 1, they only win their team battles together, and both of them get plenty of time to shine. Kirito is definitely the more experienced fighter, and it shows, but the anime makes it clear that Eugeo is both talented and trained, and his growth over the show definitely comes off feeling earned. It's definitely NOT Kirito the anime, Eugeo is every bit as much of a main character and primary force in fights.
Music and animation are good, but I mean, honestly, those are things SAO has never really struggled with so there's not much point wasting time on it. They're there, they're good, the animation is overall improved.
All things considered this probably won't convert the diehard Kirito haters, he's still Kirito, but for those who are willing to go into this with an open mind I found it to be a genuinely interesting and enjoyable anime that doesn't rely too heavily on past events and tells a story that makes me want to see more when the next cour comes out this October.
forster82
Short Spoiler Free Review: I have personally always been an SAO and especially an Isekai fanboy, so nonetheless I'm also going to love this new Arc of SAO. But even if you didn't enjoy the previous Arcs of SAO I without a doubt believe you may enjoy this one. Anyways, I really enjoyed the story, it's a bit different from the other Arcs but it's still really enjoyable. In my opinion, I believe that the first few episodes were the ones story wise, and even though it kind of slowed down in the middle, the ending was just... wow... ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) In the end,the entire story was overall pretty good.
I've always enjoyed the Art style of SAO, so this new Arc shouldnt be an exception. You have to admit that SAO has some quality 60 FPS fight scenes and one of the greatest styles out there in the anime industry.
The same thing applies for the soundtrack, I love LiSA and all of the anime openings she is a part of, and this first OP is without a doubt my favorite from the whole SAO franchise. The second OP was alright and both the endings were also alright in my opinion.
Even though a lot of people tend to despise the SAO characters, I'm once again a huge fan of them. I enjoyed seeing some of the familiar faces and I especially came to like all the new characters-
In the end, I rate this anime a solid 9/10, not just because Im an SAO fanboy, but because this Arc is really enjoyable! Give it a go lads! <3
M1c3f
*Minor spoilers ahead* Sword Art Online: Alicization is a mountain range of a SAO season. You really want to climb each top but in order to do so you have to fight the mountains themselves and their harsh environment. Mountaintops are: - Eugeo a new somewhat leading male character - Alice is an interesting lead female character that clearly differs from the other female characters of the show - Good action scenes - A decent main villain that has a meta connection to the environment- Kirito not being op (at the start at least)
As mentioned each of these aspects come with their own SAO like flaws that are really well exposed in other reviews. Them being there unfortunately hinders this season to be exceptionally good but as my comparison suggests once you get over and deal with these flaws you will reach mentioned "tops". Your focus will shift on them, and they let you enjoy the overall view of the series.
I don't know if this is exactly as the light novel depicts her so correct me if Im wrong:
One thing that also left me baffled is the moron of a madlad that thought: You know what we are already 21 episodes into the season, but there has been little to no fan service so far. Let's make our main antagonist walk (or float) around completely naked for an entire 3 episodes. Absolute genius
Resting_Bonfire
Sword Art Online Alicization Compared to many other anime, this one is one of the most difficult to rate. I'm always sure that the author has absolutely no idea what he wants to do and just chews through all the ideas without context, as long as something comes out of it. And the Alicization season is no exception. However, I think this arc (including Underworld) is the best of all Sword Art Online, even though it has practically nothing to do with the original anime and is more a mixture of Soma (The Game) and Matrix. However, the author has finally managed to bring interesting ideasto the forefront and ruin them a little less. Especially the characters he has fleshed out a lot more here.
I will regret this sentence, but if this arc had been an independent anime that had NOTHING to do with Sword Art Online. Then it definitely would have become much more popular. Unfortunately, SAO has already ruined its image and you can practically only watch this series with skepticism without expecting any great results.
So what happens in this season? If you have played the horror game Soma, you will be able to interpret yourself a bit more into this theme. Since the "human consciousness" and the true form of a "human being" comes here quite in the crossfire. Divine Kirito-kun ends up in a virtual world, which is connected to his subconscious, because of an extremely stupid plot. In this world, however, there are no NPCs but evolved versions of human brains that had been imprinted over generations. AI is most similar to humans, as these were copied along with the brain function and could reproduce themselves in a virtual world.
This irritated me at the beginning, as Sword Art Online suddenly throws out a new level of science fiction technology without having introduced it before, but the writing here has never been good.
Kirito's adventure begins in this world where he makes new friends, forms relationships, and tries to free himself. Having all the characters be practically lifelike copies of people, unaware that there is a true reality outside of them, gives them much more personality. Especially the new protagonist Eugeo who is the best character in the series. He had more buildup and personality than all of them combined so far.
So the story practically plays out like a relatively decent Isekai fantasy title, in which the protagonist slowly develops and wants to become a knight or something else. Unfortunately, it only lasts until about episode 11, from then on everything escalates pretty quickly and turns into a somewhat cliché shounen.
I liked the aspects of the world, the abilities you could develop and especially the power system was very plausible. Those who have a stronger will simply become stronger. For example, opponents with a massive ego or god complex were incomparably powerful. Others who saw themselves as mediocre would never be able to break through their limitations. Thus, this was the first season in which Kirito's power became significant.
Unfortunately, as I said, this season very quickly turned into a boss rush shounen, where suddenly one boss after another is introduced until you get to the final boss. And the scene leading up to it was very questionable. The author panicked trying to make it as brutal, obscene, and shocking as possible so that you get the alternation between "nice school life" and "cruel reality" shoved in your face. I'm referring to the scene with the 2 nobles and the 2 girls, which was Satisfying at the end, but still unnecessarily overdone.
[Animations 9]
The animations this season were top-notch most of the time. Rich in detail, dynamic, and immensely fluid delivery of fights and action. Unfortunately, there were some scenes where it wavered a bit more, this is understandable with 24 episodes.
The backgrounds were mostly fine, except you could see the landscape and sky, in these scenes, you would have loved to take a screenshot, as this has been a pure work of art.
[Characters 5]
Sword Art Online is often accused of having bad characters and honestly, I disagree, they are simply average but not a disappointment. Now aside from Kirito, in this season he became an extra very quickly and honestly he was no longer a protagonist. Eugeo took over the entire role and I wonder what Kirito was doing half the season anyway. He only had glamorous appearances in fights; otherwise, he wasn't even present. At the same time, the new protagonist had a complete guide and build-up from A to Z.
The antagonist this season was reasonably okay, cliché but the possessed atmosphere and at least personality.
[Conclusion 5]
I enjoyed this season more than I expected to when I started. Though is not an anime I would ever watch again, but slightly better than the average you usually see. Sword Art Online has a massive amount of flaws, so, understandably, it has such a bad reputation. However, I would never go far enough to say that it should not be watched. It's simply average, that's all there is to it.
The only problem is that it's so long and that its average quality will discourage viewers in the long run.
[Enjoyment 6]
Electrocute4u
Well, to be my first review, I thought it had to be on an Anime I've had heard so many different opinions around. I will not go into any great details like sounds, characters or any technical stuff. Because frankly, I am here to enjoy the Anime not to watch it, for then analyze how poorly it can perform compared to some other work. To be able to sink to such a level, I can personally say you're not there to enjoy the Anime but to trash it completely, which is a great shame to all of those actual Anime fans out there who enjoys the content rather thenthe quality.
Every Anime is an unoriginal piece of work, no matter how you twist or bend on it.
Therefore, I have decided to refrain from doing so and properly enjoy the actual shown content, storyline, the arc and where the story is headed.
To be totally honest, the split opinions regarding this Anime, the previous "movie" and Second season and first, sadly pull a heavy toll on this one.
This one is rather unique compared to the first season, the second season and the "modernized reality world" movie.
Every Season has had its different twists on the era.
Futuristic, Medieval and real-time with a bit of modern technology.
To pity this Anime series because of what "fans" claim as a "total failure of a Season 1" is sadly how low the split community can become.
I've seen some pretty harsh judgment on the previous seasons and I've seen people explicitly hating this Anime and season because they believe it's on the same level as Season 1 or 2, while this ascends above both of them in times of storyline and events. I will not comment on art or Characters, as stated in the beginning.
If you're against the original concept behind the Anime.
There is no need to force yourself to like it, the Anime resolves around 1 concept, and if you hate it that much to make fake alt users too hate on it, you might as well stop calling yourself a worthy Anime watcher, you're nothing but someone to pity for have sunken so incredibly low.
I've been a fan since I first saw Season 1 in 2018.
I'm no hardcore fan or a continuous binge-watcher.
So I can safely assure my opinion is as neutral as it can get,
where the odds are weighting the most is up to the reader to decide.
I felt like expressing some of the unspoken facts about why this Anime shouldn't even be taken lightly compared to previous Seasons.
Well, that pretty much concludes my review.
My overall rating is 9, for the following reasons.
It gave me a decent storyline, that was practically interesting and not distorted in all kinds of arcs, pretty much straightforward.
It also left me wanting more, for over 150+ days now, I can't wait to use some time every weekend to watch a new release :D
JiangHaoyi1979
Another SAO franchise has ended......the 1st cour that is , cu'z by October another cour will begin, and this time Asuna would be back (I think). So far, this franchise never gets old and it wasn't something that one should be bore of. Ok so this time around Kirito is back in some virtual world in what is now called Full-Dive technology known as "Soul Translator", or STL, pretty much different from the couple of SAO worlds, but only this time, he finds himself being in a virtual world as a necessity to save his life after encountering Johnny Black, successor of Death Gun whosucceeds in injecting Kirito with a poison syringe. A poison syringe , really? I would have preferred the scenario,where Kirito and Asuna where going home but they've found out that there is someone following them and threatened to kill both of them and yes it's Johnny Black, the two tried to get away, but the guy gave chase, so in a dark corner Kirito waits for Johnny Black and stabbed him in the abdomen with an iron bar that Kirito found laying around , but Johnny has a gun was able to shoot Kirito in the head, but lucky for him he's still alive to be brought to the hospital, but it left Kirito comatose , while Johnny Black died from loosing a lot of blood from the stabbed wound that Kirito inflicted on him for self defends, that would have been a better start... too bad original creator Kawahara, Reki has to to come up with something corny to put the character in such a predicament. Give that this is a new SAO, only the main character Kirito has to remain and the rest of the cast from the previous SAO franchise have to be regulated as support characters like Asuna and the others. Here it is now Eugeo who replaces Asuna as Kirito's partner and from there the new journey begins where the mission was to get Alice back after she ventures to the "Dark Territory," so without any more BS, here are my ratings:
Story- Very Good 8: It has a new start, new characters and still the same MC Kirito in the helm and a new set of antagonist.
Art - Mediocre 5: Cu'z things were still the same from the previous SAO franchise and btw don;t expect to see any good raped NTR scene being done to Tiese and Rione and also Quinella fanservice sucks. cu'z you won't be seeing any nipples nor a hairy pussy.
Sound - Good 7: That's for the 3rd ending theme "forget-me-not" by ReoNa.
Character- Very good 8: Since Kirito still has that hero thing that he has from the previous SAO franchise and with the addition of Eugeo and Alice ( in later eps) adds to the the buildup and having a main antagonist like Quinella removes any boredom of enjoying this anime especially when you see how she ends and yep in the hands of her perverted lackey Chudelkin.
Enjoyment- Very Good 8: there are no words for me to say about this anime, other than the rating.
Overall- Very Good 8: Can't wait for the next cour.
AlanNichols
Amazing anime.Ready to review it forever!!!! I like how characters were deleloped in the new season and they were able to develope a new perspective. I recommend this anime for viewing to all those who love a high-quality storyline, beautiful battle scenes, beautifully crafted characters and are ready to plunge headlong into the universe which from the first minutes will make you look and not be distracted by anything else. By the way, this anime helped me figure out myself during the difficult period of my life, so if you need to get distracted from problems for a while, then this is what you need!
