Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld 2nd Season

SAO's franchise has always been full of disapproval babbles between the anime fans, we can look that in the continue hate and rants that we can find in every place. However, even if it is hard to accept for several fans, the light novel is considered the best of Japan's decade, where it matters. One of the arcs from that light novel is titled Alicization that concludes with these eleven episodes and that for me, it is probable the best part of SAO's plot until this date leaving aside the new arc (Unital Ring) that is being published right now.

The story follows the ... basic template of the light novel; we have a Kirito in a coma waiting for his return as the underworld struggles to survive. The fight allows a large number of characters to participate in the story. The action sequences and some of the subplots are concluded (for example, Bercouli), so the development of the main character is completed. We can see tears, blood, gore, betrayal, fear, and many other feelings during these episodes. Maybe the screen gets saturated with action to the point that we can't process what's happening, or perhaps the events are too fantastic to be accepted. Furthermore, those awkward and useless scenes will lead us to wonder why several fans hate SAO, and it's not a problem with the adaptation that is a problem with the novels and the need to promote them with fan service. Albeit this silly impression, the show is able to offer a charming conclusion to Alicization's story arc, leaving the door open for future development.

On the other hand, character development wasn't too impressive. I understand that various characters are introduced. However, I want to remind the audience that several of those characters have already had their development through other arcs of the story. Therefore, it is unnecessary to cover more details because the setting of the story will not allow it. They are just fillers that will help with the conclusion of the battle, and perhaps that is a negative aspect of this series. Asking for further character development when the climax was already set is not wise, but it could have enhanced the enjoyment. For example, giving Alice a bit more context would have been interesting. Still, this second season I feel like she is left behind as a supporting character, and all her development from the previous seasons froze.

From art and technical aspect, the color palette is traditional but exciting nonetheless, the adaptation focuses more on the action sequences than the personal details that could have been expanded. Even if the action was well directed, you would feel like something is missing if you are not an avid SAO fan. I can't complain about the technical aspect of the series, it's good and I think the director and the studio made an excellent adaptation. On the sound, it's okay and it helps with the dynamics of the action, but it's not great. The songs are interesting, especially Anima by ReoNa; for some reason, I like the rhythm and the lyrics.

Finally, the conclusion is acceptable, but sometimes the plot is useless and leads us to think that the story is garbage. However, I think the author is playing with some fictional elements that can give us great emotions and better development in future arcs. I can't recommend this series to all fans because you need to understand SAO's entire plot from the beginning to enjoy the full context, but I do enjoy it until the last episode. One last commentary, it was funny watching Alice coming out from a box lol.

Sword Art Online’s Alicization arc has been one of the most complex and gratifying storytelling in its franchise history. From the depths of the underworld, we are thrown into a labyrinth of conspiracies. As a matter of fact, this arc has been so complex that it had to be told in multiple parts to explore its story at its full potential.

From the first episode titled “The War of Underworld”, part 2 immediately jumps into the chaos with characters we were familiar with from the previous seasons. In this case, we are reintroduced to Sinon, Leafa, Klein, Lisbeth, Silica, and among others as they make ... their journey to the Underworld. Furthermore, Kirito still remains in a comatose state with viewers wandering if he can ever recover to normalcy. With the full weight of the ongoing war, characters such as Bercouli gets their triumphant yet sorrowful moments. It’s his moments of tragedy that is depicted not by fear but with a resolve, a way for this show to exemplify his character’s personality at its apex. And as I watched more and more of this season, I realized that every character has its importance, not like random fodder thrown away.

For the sake of part 2, we are treated with 11 episodes with the ultimatum to conclude this saga. As the longest story arc to date, SAO Underworld wanted to fully capitalize its themes such as identity, loyalty, and love. When we realize what SAO Underworld has been selling to us, it makes sense to see how characters behave. It’s important to know that the war is much more about one side trying to gain dominance over the other, but rather why characters fight with their lives on the line. Bercouli, Alice, Sheyta, Iskahn, and Asuna are among a few of those who finds a reason to fight. And it is because of their reasons, they put everything on the line. For what’s worth, SAO Underworld isn’t afraid to also pull the trigger with character betrayals such as Yanai. With every action, there is a consequence as startling revelations are discovered.

Meanwhile, fans will also have a lingering question on their mind. Will Kirito ever wake up from his coma? He’s the black swordsman that stepped foot into the virtual world of the franchise from the very beginning and make no mistake, he is an integral part of the Underworld arc. The memories grows to show his despair but somewhere within him, Kirito will find a way to become what he once was before. That is, during mid-season, he reawakens to battle against Vassago (Prince of Hell) and reunites with his friends. The moment between him and Asuna is imperative to show that despite them being apart for so long, they’ve never forgot about each other or their reason to exist. It’s a characterization element of the show that makes up their character roles this season. Furthermore, Kirito’s resolve to fight the good fight again shows that is able to conquer his personal demons and that anyone can overcome any obstacle in the SAO world.

On the outside world, there’s also the threat of the government with the world at stake. This season shifts the balance between the virtual and real world to a surprisingly satisfying effect. The betrayal of Yanai is one such example to capitalize on how characters are motivated by their own morals. When you throw the government into this complex arc, the stakes are raised even higher. For what’s worth, you should expect SAO Underworld to deliver its best arc to date. It manages to woven together the multiple arcs together to meets its ends. This isn’t some half-baked game project like Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris. It may not be perfect but certainly manages to evade a disastrous launch from the beginning. With every episode that progresses, we see more and more of the story unfold and why characters fight the way they do. SAO Underworld is the best for what this franchise has to offer and this one really hit the ball out of the park.

A little story on how Sword Art Online started. Reki Kawahara written SAO in Fall 2001 to participate in the 9th Dengeki Novel Prize, but he exceeded the page limit. According to him, he had no idea or will to trim it down, so he end up forfeiting and instead published it online. This manuscript he wanted to use to take part on the competition is the very known first arc "Aincrad arc", a death game story that take place in a floating castle inside a Virtual World, because of continues support from readers he wrote the sequels arcs and spinoffs. SAO was later published ... officially into Light Novel around 2008 then adapted into anime on 2012, at the right time it exploded in popularity, with varying receptions to its fan, haters and critics. As well as at that time, the boom of isekai from light novels had begun. The author's wish to take part into a light novel competition was now unexpectedly adapted into anime continuously with new seasons and other media as well.

Minor spoilers for first episode.


Currently, here we are with the longest arc of SAO, started on Fall 2018 and span with almost 50 episodes, "Alicization arc" is animated completely. Alicization arc mostly sets in a Simulated Reality called "Underworld" created by Rath for the purpose of creating a True general-purpose Artificial Intelligence, where the characters are not NPCs but actual people copied from real world people's soul using the most advanced technology of SAO, the Soul TransLator. The first part of this arc "Human Realm sub-arc" is about Kirito and Eugeo on quest to reach the central city Centoria, with different goals, Eugeo is to save Alice, while Kirito is to find out how and why he was in sent to Underworld. Consequently, in the real world, while Asuna and Rath Staffs are waiting for Kirito's recovery and observing the state of Underworld, their facility Ocean Turtle is infiltrated by a Foreign Terrorists group. This lead to unfortunate events, with Kirito being comatose worsely, character deaths and the start of "Rath's Final Load test" or in Underworlders viewpoint, it is the start of war between Human Realm and the Dark Territory. This last season is part of the "War of Underworld sub-arc", the second part of Alicization arc, that covers the later 4 volumes, spanning with 24 Episodes. It started at were the "War of Underworld 1st Part" left off, with the Reinforcements coming from Real World, Asuna, along with the human army and a temporary truce to the Dark Territory had now a glint of hope. They can now fight back to the overwhelming number of the Red Knight Army, or so they thought, as a certain demon from the past takes the stage, and wants to settle the score with the SAO survivors, such as Kirito and Asuna. Meanwhile, Alice was captured by Vecta flying on his dragon to exit through the World End Alter, Bercouli, along with the 3 integrity knights dragon, continues to chase him. The adaptation is pretty faithful with slight alteration to join the elements from the movie Ordinal Scale. But because of most scenes lack explicit context, it will not be understood well by most viewers. Unless the viewer, perceives the scene using the past similar phenomenon or scenario that happen in previous season, as reference for its explanation or context, this is mostly the "Incarnation scenarios" in the anime. There are also overdid scene which got controversial receptions, which is to begin with, already questionable in the Light Novel, and just like on the first part of Alicization, this seasons controversial scene was adapted worse. But even though it did have those scenes, the anime did deliver heartfelt or emotional scenes, character moments, high production action battles and the storyline wrapped up well for this arc. The story elements that matter at start of this arc and from the other previous arcs were still used for this arc, such as the old characters coming back for this arc like the friends of Kirito and other players from other VR worlds; there is also old game/system mechanics at work such as the account-conversion system which made possible by The Seed program package, the common program used by all VRs in SAO.

The Alicization arc until this last seasons arc is still directed by Manobu Ono, not a well known director, but has made quite experience with the popular very detailed scifi Light Novel, The Magic of Irregular High School. Did he do a better job at adapting the whole Alicization arc up to this point, instead of Tomohiko Ito who directed season 1-2 and the movie? My answer is not really, at most it's presentable, some directions being questionable leading to varying receptions. But thankfully, he did some good scenes that got a well reception like character interactions and relationships either among the main or supporting characters; and the most notable in SAO, of course the action scenes. But that is because of his other notable well-known great talent staffs such as Yoshihiro Kanno, Kentaro Waki, and Kajiura Yuki. They had produced high production values for this arc specifically in this second part of the War of Underworld. Yoshihiro Kanno is the SAO's main animator of major action battles, he came back for this arc's second part, after not animating the major battle scenes back in Alicization Part 1 Human Realm sub-arc. He did a great job, putting rough and weight on major action scenes, such as the most notable, Bercoulli vs Vecta fight. The Director of Photography(DoP) Kentaro Waki, known for being the DoP of God Eater and Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt, made the final animated product refined. Blending the background and subjects with amazing visual effects. They produced the major action scenes captivating. Major action scenes indeed is sakugafest, although most of them lack the explicit context for it to understand. Also, we continuously have the notable great talent composer Kajiura Yuki, who's well-known for Ufotable Fate anime and Kara no Kyoukai. She had produced well-arranged pieces, ranging from heart warming to intense soundtracks.

SAO is consistent and didn't shy away on presenting its themes, even though how ambitious it is. From earlier arcs back then we have Virtual Reality, VR machine for Medical Technology, now in this arc we have Artificial Intelligence, Time Accelerated and Simulated Reality, which is for myself the very reason I continue looking forward to SAO, are the themes it shows us, how our future technology might be. I wonder what more can SAO do with its themes, as the franchise is far from ending now. An announcement just made for another SAO anime.

If you have watch this SAOs longest arc up to the previous season, why not finished it now with this last part, you might still find something to like.

The SAO franchise has always been filled with conflict. The combination of amazing sound and animation and poor writing has divided the community. I always had an affinity with SAO in part due to it being one of the first isekai ( not including .hack). SAO opened the industry to the isekai era due to its success. SAO started off strong, set up definitive goals and introduced characters that develop and progress throughout the series. That is until ep 5 where they trashed everything. So stick around and ill try to explain my love / hate relationship with Sword Art Online: Alicization and the series ... as a whole.

Overall the SAO series is strictly not terrible . It has its ups and downs. SAO Alicization was a major up in my opinion from the original SAO. No harems, no super OP kirito. I think that was the redeeming quality. Kirito and Eugeo ( who is a man) as friends and co-main characters? Wow .

SAO War Of The Underworld and War Of The Underworld part two take some of the things done right in SAO ALicization and turn them upside down. Below is a perfect example.

Umm.. what

Some SPOILERS ahead but if you watched all the previous SAO installments then you should not be surprised. I want to get this out of the way before breaking down my thoughts so once again official SPOILER AHEAD UNTIL END OF PARAGRAPH. SAO series has always felt that adding a rape factor will increase views and acquire the acclaim that SAO deserves. Enter SAO war of the underworld part two. The first thought for developers was to decide which character will be raped this season. Ding ding ding, lets rape kiritos sister. BRAVO SAO BRAVO.

0/10


So let's get into breaking down SAO War of the Underworld Part 2:

SOUND/ ANIMATION:

Great as usual. Honestly some amazing direction from the animation team. The show has come a long way from Kirito vs 75th floor boss in SAO. Despite some amazing animation in action sequences, certain scenes display slack luster animation. An easy example is using the generic red armored enemies as the one and only generic enemy. This is a step down from an animation perspective. Since all the enemies are the same their animations can be reused and swapped between all the red soldiers. Furthermore I am not a fan of the color palette. The red enemies blend too much with the red desolate wasteland. I suppose by creating one generic enemy type with the same color it makes it easier to identify the villains and heroes but the red stormtrooper feel doesnt work in this instance. In what game or beta test is there only one type of generic character. To me this felt like a way for the staff to cut some corners in animation and focus all their attention on certain fights. This choice creates a disparity in animation.


The disparity can be seen in every non-main battle.When all the SAO and ALO characters enter the underworld I was expecting some really intense animation and battles but we are presented with generic 2D standoffs. Instead of showing the fighting and desperation of their battle being outnumbered, we are shown ALO characters starting the fight, then cutting to another scene and when we cut back everyone is exhausted. The fights are more like a slideshow display. It really takes away from what SAO is good at. This is just a consequence of a choice to focus the animation on main battles.

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD
Other times the animation is amazing. The battle between the dark god and Bercouli Synthesis One felt dynamic, and the fast pace helped sell that this is a real fight happening in real time. It was an amazing display of how fast you need to react and think in a real fight. The scene was most likely animated on 2s. There was some good stretching and squashing to really apply some motion blur to the fast movement.


The sound this time around did not speak to me. It wasn't terrible but it did not spring up any emotion. You can sometimes tell the emotion of a song through its composition. This time around I didn't understand what the opening was trying to convey. Similarly, the sound in the anime didn't help build up tension or create a specific mood. The fights between main characters is the only time when the sound is noticeable and helps heighten the fight sequence.

9/10 - Art, 7/10 animation, 6/10 - Sound

CHARACTERS:

Very dull and static characters. Part 1 and part 2 try to show that some people are bad and some are good. It fails at both. The supposedly “good” villains are not given much screen time, we dont get to see their motives. There is some very bad writing in war of the underworld, that tries to make a bad guy look good because this person can talk. Interesting?!?! So SAO sucks at making dynamic characters that develop. Ok. Thats ok, there are tons of static characters in anime that are engaging. Kamina from gurren lagann is an easy example. Kamina never changes but he's a great character because he's likable and compelling. Problem with SAO is it also sucks at making good static characters. I figured that a calm rational “marine trained” individual would make a great dark god Vector. Rip my beliefs. Even the america players are very flat, generic mob creatures like goblins or slimes you would face at the beginning of an isekai. The only difference is some have spoken lines. Most people cant seem to believe logical augments. When an attempt was made to talk with the invading players all it took was one lie to deceive everyone. It's as if all the characters in SAO were written by Karens.

There are clearly some good characters like Bercouli Synthesis One who is a static character done decently. And some decent character interactions throughout the alicization arc.


2/10 - there was an attempt made to be different




STORY/WRITING:

SPOILERS AHEAD. Story up till current point in tldr. JP is trying to make AI into weapons and Americans want this new potential weapon. This leads to the initial invasion of the research station with backing from some Japanese officials. Somehow the development team ( on a secret, secure research island fortress) are dumb enough to not put in any safety protocols for hijacking ? The also disregard any password protection for its interface and "god tier" characters. The invaders are able to learn all of the functions of this new system in under 2 mins and also somehow bring in thousands of american players into this AI world (would require a lot of back end programming just saying ).

Does any of this make sense to you ? I can criticize this all day but I would just like to point out that the whole purpose of this experiment was to not intervene, and let the AI develop and make choices ( to kill) on its own. SO why would you make god-like character profiles to enter this world? Why would humans even be allowed in this world ( with the exception of the initial founding). The more you think the less it makes sense.

MINOR SPOILERS:
For some reason the bad guys ( who are soldiers) are SAO/GGO players hmm. I didn't know you played video games for years as part of your duty in the US ….cool. The best analogy for SAO’s narrative is the carnival game where you have to shoot out the star. The goal is to shoot out the star shape on a piece of paper . Once the paper gets enough holes, it doesn't matter how many times you shoot you will never punch out the star. It's the same with SAO once you reach critical mass with plot holes it doesn't matter what happens, it will never recover.

Overall no change from original. SAO alicization was decent compared to this but I should have been prepared.

1/10


OVERALL:

I try to watch without criticizing or looking for flaws but when flaws hit my face and ruin my immersion then it becomes a problem. While sound and animation is good, an anime is defined by its story and characters. Literally every movie and novel is defined by these two factors. SAO is not a story or character driven show. Its driven by an idea with poor execution and no attention to detail or logic. This ultimately leads to poor characters and narrative, the most paramount factors of any anime, show, movie or novel.

3/10


Finally dont let me change your opinion. This review is my personal opinion. Your views may be different and thats totally fine :)

(Note: This review covers both seasons of SAO War of Underworld, and also contains spoilers for Samurai Jack Season 5)
 
The end of the nine volume “epic” Alicization, the end of SAO’s original web novel, and the last of the cringe phase origin. While SAO rants have been done to death on the problematic issues, including from me, I want to structure this review in a slightly different way. War of the Underworld positions itself as the end all be all of everything the series has culminated towards for nearly a decade, and it has the presentation to potentially make it an impressive achievement, but not ... without bizarrely problematic writing being a near constant, even by SAO standards. It has its moments, but it still has enthusiastic high schooler writing, equivalent to a runner having more than enough energy and support to run a full marathon, but choosing to bump into every person, car, sign and small animal on their way to the finish line.
 
With that in mind I want to qualitatively explain how the show’s faults affect its story from three perspectives: the heroes, the villains, and the presentation.
 
The Heroes
 
If there’s one thing I can give War of the Underworld credit for, it’s that on principle, the cast on the hero side is the largest it’s ever been in the series, and they were even willing to kill off several characters for dramatic stakes. This works well for the named characters.
 
The War of Underworld seasons consist of large-scale battles between the heroes and villains for virtual dominance. Nearly every character in the series is brought back for what feels like one last hurrah, in an almost Endgame-esque fashion. So, if there’s any alive character a fan may have liked from an earlier season, they’ll get to see them battle for a bit in this season, which is a nice, if basic way to pay off fans’ investment in the series. In particular, Klein has some small, but nonetheless genuine heartwarming moments. A brief almost self-contained story is one of the season’s highlights, mostly contained in the episode Sword and Fist. This story features Sheyta, a character taught to believe her power was a hindrance to ever form meaningful bonds, and her relationship with a more hotheaded, laid-back character on the other side of the war with the opposite personality. It’s nothing exceptional by the standards of most anime, but for being in an SAO story, it’s surprisingly alright and has some nice animation to back it up.
 
On the downside, the show really wants to cultivate emotion with all of these characters, and many of these moments wind up ringing hollow because of their lack of focus. This isn’t to say they all suck. Asuna finally seeing Kirito again within the system is gratifyingly heartfelt, and any sacrifices on the hero side actually feel well-earned and theoretically interesting ways to have Alice grow as a person. Bercouli in particular has a surprisingly good arc of protecting Alice to the very end. His fight against the main villain’s first form is gorgeously animated, scored and resolved in a way only he was capable of doing. These moments in Episode 2 provide a genuine standout in for cast. But unfortunately, the rest of the series mostly flubs its emotional payoffs.
 
For instance, at one point when defending her leader from an attack, one of Fanatio’s guards faces a brutal attack head on as their body gets torn to bloody pieces, and the audience is asked to care when they die from it. The previous season had the perfect opportunity to show Fanatio’s rapport with her guards during her introduction, but that was deemed unimportant in favor of needless exposition. It wastes half an episode trying to invest us in Renly, an Integrity Knight whom we only just know knew existed, and to be entirely irrelevant past this brief episode. The show tries to get weirdly sentimental about Alice killing random mooks with a spirit bomb, insisting they all have souls and that killing them is losing life, but with how little agency most of them have, it doesn’t land at all.
 
The most desperate plea of emotional hollowness comes in Episode 11 of the first season. The speech is well-acted by Takagaki Ayahi and Sarah Williams, scored and animated, but what’s actually being said feels like hogwash. The writing in that scene is so sloppy and full of exposition that's only now relevant. What? You mean it WASN’T mentioned, let alone shown, how the school for SAO survivors was treating them poorly prior to Lisbeth mentioning it like it was always a thing? Who knew? God forbid we create an actual reason for all these background characters to care about throwing their Avatars away for a conflict that they have nothing to gain from.
 
And then there’s Kirito.........
 
Because of the events of last season, he’s spent most of this season wheelchaired around in a vegetive coma state. How exactly is Kirito in a double coma? Barely explained. But his state leads to a lot of very eyebrow-raising moments, like having entire scenes where characters do nothing but praise him, rolling him onto the battlefield where he could potentially be in danger or having a.............................................slumber party where four female characters all sleep together in a tent around his barely functioning body. Characters like Sinon and Leafa don’t even see him this season, but that doesn’t mean they won’t shut up about him or randomly inherit his clutch survival tools. Leafa in particular gets it incredibly tastelessly, constantly calling Kirito big brother over and over again (despite her initial arc being to shine on her own and get over her feelings for him) and doing nothing for the plot besides being killing a villain who had every reason to die earlier. But that’s not before Leafa gets raped by said villain in a scene shot like tentacle hentai for tasteless shock value! Because Kawahara just had put that in somehow and then it had to be animated with such gratuity.
 
Near the end of the story, this is an actual dialogue.
 
Lisbeth: I love Kirito, after all!
Silica: So do I!
 
SAO’s harem antics and wish fulfillment have been inherent to the series, but they’ve never dropped all pretenses to this degree before in something that was actively trying to be grandiose and gory.
 
In previous arcs, Kirito had moments where he does stuff through ridiculous means because main character, but there’s enough driving motivation and the occasional arc, like his character arc in the first season of learning to be accepting to others, which was an idea, or the brief intentions to draw on his PTSD in Phantom Bullet. However, in this arc specifically, nothing progresses because Kirito isn’t active. Sure, characters appear and disappear, form armies in different places, or gain new forms, but the plot is still at a stalemate for 15+ episodes. And since everyone, even the Integrity Knights, talk about the off chance of Kirito coming into the fray to be all awesome, the self-importance is inflated to the nth degree, because it's all about Kirito's return. When elements start to move, it’s because they want Kirito back. War of the Underworld actively made him the black hole that sucks all the important stuff into and leaves little left for anyone. I mentioned earlier how Bercouli got a decent arc, but even then, his development is sidelined by events like the aforementioned slumber party, or Vassago trying to tip Kirito into waking up because he’s “the only one who can defeat him” and all that.
 
The predictable result is that by the end, Kirito is going to godmode back to life and defeat Gabriel Miller, the main arc villain. This, by itself, is not bad, but the show majorly missed out on an opportunity to make this feel earned by exploring Kirito’s doubts, mentally. Samurai Jack Season 5 for instance, I think did this really well. We actually get to see Jack’s shattered, worry-worn state in action, while we also are shown in his mind, a twisted version of his previous self tormenting him, until Jack eventually overcame his past character (with the help of Ashi) to become the character fans knew and loved from the original four seasons, complete with his original sword. This occurs over multiple episodes and it felt like a genuine triumph.
 
With Kirito, it takes 17 episodes into the arc to finally see his thoughts, and less than half of one to resolve them.
 
As cliche as it would’ve been, imagine visages of Sachi, Asuna and Eugeo mocking him for his perpetual inability to protect those surrounding him from dying, and his propensity for constantly throwing himself into danger again and again with every new arc. Like he has this need to be some sort of paragon. Kirito overcoming those visages, and learning he’s more than what he gives, could actually be seen as a powerful character moment, worthy of people being excited for his return, and something to speak out against Gabe having learned this. But, no. In his headspace, Kirito, despite seemingly hating everything he went through, is validated for everything without it being by his own decision, and despite being in a double coma in a virtual system, the power of friendship prevails.
 
Nothing important can happen or be resolved until Kirito returns, yet there isn’t anywhere close to enough time spent with him to make these moments feel earned in any way. You could lose at least half of the episodes in the first cour and most episodes of the second half and lose nothing. Did Eiji really need to stand up to Vassago just to lose and reset the status quo, when that time could’ve been spent better elaborating on Kirito’s mental trauma? No, I don’t think it did. Did we need to waste half an episode building up Renly? Not really. Did trying to bring politics into the mix with Chinese, Korean and US players pitted against Japanese heroes really mean something in the longrun? Not enough. Even the Sword and Fist story, which works decently well as a stand-alone tale, contributes nothing in the long run and wastes time that could’ve been spent either elaborating on Kirito’s mental state or building greater connection between him and the villains.
 
This even causes moments that could’ve been other characters’ time to shine to fall entirely in Kirito’s lap. War of Underworld actually does a decent job giving Alice animosity with the main villain, Gabriel Miller. After all, it was because of his invasion that her apprentice Eldrie had to sacrifice himself, and he drove Bercouli to what was effectively a suicide just so Gabe could have another form on standby. There's an actual dramatic investment there.
 
I mentioned in my previous SAO review that Alice was heading in the right direction for a female lead in SAO and that it was nice to see her stand up after learning her trust in supposed nobility was a lie. In this season, all she does is wheel Kirito around a bit, kill a bunch of mooks, sleep next to Kirito, get captured by Gabe for a bit, and then make her way to the tower like the plot device she is with no resistance because of an arbitrary time limit. So, Kirito defeats Gabe without her help, and she has no final words on the matter. Really spitting on all that potential there.
 
Similarly, poor Asuna. She arrives into the world with a Goddess level power set, tries to help her side best she can, gets depowered through an offscreen time-jump, and just when through force of will and compassion she eviscerates Vassago in another ASTOUNDING cut of animation.......he gets to live just as strong while Asuna is near death. Like seriously? How much better would it be if she finally got a W against a major villain to prove herself as Kirito’s strong and capable battle partner, rather than being someone who needs her boyfriend to clean up for her? Or if Vassago, who constantly talked about wanting to finish things with Kirito, never got that chance because Kirito surrounded himself with people who care for him, rather than just people he could hold power over? They didn’t do that for, what? A fight that was passable at best? Where the fight animation is comparatively mediocre, and Kirito just wins by pulling numerous powers out of his ass to do whatever he wants because plot? This once again proves any stand against major antagonists by someone other than Kirito is pointless because plot. After all, who else besides Kirito can dual-wield, do the Gainax pose while flying through the air between two dragon wings, or straight up steal Goku’s Spirit Bomb?
 
The heroes in this conflict have a couple standout moments, and it’s nice to see so many characters return, but nearly all of their previous effort evaporates once Kirito, the longest living person in human history, enters. No, killing random mooks/noob players and nothing else does not feel like it makes a difference in the grand scheme. But don’t worry, the villains will be waaaaaaaay better, right?
 
The Villains
 
If a story is only as good as its villains, then the score for the Story number here on MAL would enter the negatives. It’s no secret Sword Art Online hasn’t written very good villains; the series has become a standard-bearer for bad anime villains. With two exceptions that had vague characterization, they’re basically all the same character; some asshole who makes creepy faces at the camera, has obsessively rapey thoughts, and spends all their screentime making sure viewers know they’re as unambiguously evil as possible. Unfortunately, War of Underworld only worsens this aspect. There are four villains that hold plot prominence in War of Underworld, and none of them are written well for a variety of reasons.
 
To get the two minor ones out of the way, Dee E El is just there to be the requisite femme fatale/baroness character for the villains and little else. She has an eye-catching design, but like most of the other female characters in SAO, gets sexualized incredibly hard with ahoge faces, groping herself and at least one shot of her ass. For how little she actually does, it seemed fair enough to kill her when her tactics backfire on her but nope, she needed to inexplicably come back, sport tentacles and graphically rape Leafa for tasteless shock value. It’s as if the anime screenwriters weren’t sure viewers thought she was evil enough yet, so she got brought back solely for hollow shock value.
 
Yanai’s villainy is both hilarious and sad. He’s set up like a twist villain with incredibly poor foreshadowing, introduced and named out of nowhere in an episode to accompany an important character doing a plot-important task, before revealing himself at the next episode’s end. If the anime writers wanted to build up the shock value, they could’ve just had him be there with other scientists from the start and create conflict behind the scenes, but nope. The concept of his character, a programmer who took the form of the tentacle monster back in Season 1 to get Asuna all entangled, before becoming a virtual simp for Quinella, is so utterly dumb on principle I can’t imagine what Kawahara was thinking when writing him into this plot. But hey, how the narrative deals with him makes for great comedy. Still though, why?
 
Then there’s the dastardly duo: Vassago and Gabriel Miller. To start with, the story barely implies how these two even know each other. How did they even meet in the first place? And no, I don’t care if the light novel answers. I’m judging the anime on its own merits. These two seem like they took some sort of bet for who could be more evil by the end of the run.
 
Vassago has technically been built up since Episode 6 of Season 1, the former leader of Laughing Coffin and the one who as we find out, knowingly caused the PTSD incident that caused Kirito pain in Season 2. But what’s his deal? Oh, he has a hate boner with Kirito and is super obsessed with him, and entirely gets to realize that even despite losing. Yup, that’s it, more Kirito obsession. Plus, his backstory, which the anime presents as a choppily edited mess. Oftentimes, villain backstories tend to feel like either needlessly contrived excuses or too simple to buy into. However, somehow this is the worst of both worlds. There’s numerous leaps in logic and missing information to make how he became who he is needlessly irrational and confusing. Was he a soldier? Assassin for hire? School shooter? Anime viewers have no idea. The anime also widely overestimates his charisma. When convincing gamers from multiple countries that the Japanese heroes are villainous hackers, everyone instantly believes him, except for two people. This way Vassago can both piss of the heroes and make people from other countries look dumb in the process. He eats up the lion’s share of villain screentime in the second half, occasionally having fun chewing the scenery, but really just rubbing in viewers’ faces how flat he is, with random abilities to be a wall that only Kirito can break.
 
Finally, there’s Gabriel Miller, somehow both the most and least important character in the story. He’s introduced with some bravado as the next big bad guy, having murdered an adorable girl as a child, taking control over the massive army, and repeatedly worfing Sinon. Perhaps there was some intention to make him a cold calculating sociopath as opposed to the wilder antagonists of previous seasons, but it backfires when the anime plays his expressions just as over-the-top as any other villain. Making him be hired by AMERICA also baffles. This heartless, irredeemable bastard was deemed the one America wanted to use for understanding mysterious technology? Really though, the most rookie mistake made was just how little attention he got proportional to his role in the story.
 
He feels so poorly developed that by the final battle, there’s no connection between Gabe and Kirito other than taking opposite sides of the plot. Creating some sort of connection between a hero and their ultimate villain is basic writing 101, and even something previous arcs did. Kirito and Kayaba were foils to each other. Kirito and Sugou fought over Asuna. Kirito and Death Gun fought for Sinon and the (supposed) end to the legacy of Laughing Coffin. Kirito and Quinella had at least an attempt at some personal stakes such as Eugeo dying and avenging the Integrity Knights. Hell, even Vassago at least was built up since Aincrad and had history with Kirito despite it all being next to worthless in the end. But Kirito and Gabe? Nothing. His importance to the narrative ultimately just marks the guy as a footnote. The animators and sound designers do a great job giving the battle spectacle, but any substance is either straight up not there, or pulled with no buildup.
 
To try and make these two seem threatening, the show opts to give them random arbitrary powers to pull out of their asses whenever they need to be a threat. Things like mass mind control, shadow cloning, force choking, or weapons that gain power from surrounding death frequently get pulled out of nowhere for the sake of false tension. This stuff isn’t even from the god-level accounts the system left open for them to obtain because plot contrivances; this is from GunGale Online accounts, where the abilities they use could not have existed. It’s annoying because these abilities tend to be used as an excuse for why no character has any chance against them without similar asspull powers. This is a problem Kirito and Asuna have as well, but it’s far worse when referring to Gabe and Vassago. It makes the establishment of a magic system, called Incarnation, seem pretentious, since all it really amounts to is the major characters pulling abilities out of nowhere to assert dominance and win fights. A major part of what makes action scenes, or tournament arcs enjoyable to people is thinking about what the combatants are capable of. War of Underworld actively denies that pleasure, particularly in the second half.
 
What possibly makes this worse is that, as flat as these villains are, there was some potential present to make the focus on them more interesting. When they first enter the Underworld, they have a conflict of control with two characters that served as more civil leaders for the various armies. Seeing Gabe and Vassago navigate their way through the system to eventually overthrow them might’ve felt cruelly cathartic. But, nah, they die instantly just to show how evil the main villains are, and the evil army is mostly just drama fodder for one-dimensional bad guys.
 
Presentation
 
This refers to both the production value behind the show, and how the show itself choses to provide the audience a lens into its world.

Visually, the show for the most part looks great, and while Swordland is still overused, the soundtrack can still hit at the right moments, like in Episode 2's battle, or A Tender Feeling at the end of Episode 9. Nearly every episode has some sakuga in it, and after mentioning how a lot of the battles in Alicization Part 1 didn’t seem to have as much passion as earlier parts, it was generally added back in Alicization Part 2, regardless of whether or not the writing supported it. The first half of War of Underworld does have some pretty dodgy CGI for ground battles, but that’s mostly done away with in Part 2. Bercouli’s battle against Gabe and Asuna’s battle against Vassago in particular have some astounding animation cuts. However, the sense of place conveyed with the animation when it comes to the war aspect is pretty poor. There’s no sense about what distance either side of the battle is from each other at any given point during almost the entire series. The Dark Territory is a whole lot of nothing scenery-wise: flat red canyon as far as the eye can see. Sure, they’ll be a crevice or a forest here or there, but they only exist as places for characters to walk through, not actual landmarks. Something as simple as giving either side forts would’ve done so much for stakes and establishment. In many war stories, or stories in general, the heroes managing to overtake a villain stronghold (or defend their own stronghold) after a desperate fight can be incredibly cathartic, and likewise, the villains managing to destroy or take over a hero base can be an effective moment of drama or tragedy. War of Underworld doesn’t concern itself with either possibility, instead thinking the best solution is to cut back and forth between numerous characters in numerous battle spots and camps that don’t have any relation to each other. Even something like showing a map of character locations during commercial breaks could’ve added. So much more gravitas could’ve been there if the anime illustrated where everyone is compared to everyone else.

The series also could’ve benefitted from better editing. Jumps to the real world events can sometimes feel arbitrary, and editing in the battles themselves can be confusing at times (in one scene, the protagonist side will have a massive advantage against the clueless enemy, but in the next, they’re burned out and near death with no proper transition). When certain elements that are more pertinent to the story are sidelined, you’re left with Vassago’s confusing mess of a backstory and Kirito’s nightmare not having the time and space in the narrative it warranted for being so ultimately important.

One improvement over the previous series is that the Star Wars prequel level exposition that tried to convey the show’s idea of “hey, digital souls are people too and they matter” has been reduced, but the utilization of the theme in the narrative too often undermines drama. Kirito thinking about Eugeo’s spirit once is fine, but it’s so comically overdone that it feels like a video game quick time event. Yuuki, who didn’t die within Underworld, pops out to provide Asuna with worlds of encouragement or bits of exposition because Asuna merely keeping her in mind wouldn’t be enough. And the most side-splitting scene in the season occurs when a virtual spirit manages to power a real-world robot to complete a task through strength of will alone. Really undermines the realness of digital souls when they have powers well above the plot.
 
Conclusion

Sword Art Online’s position is tragically precarious, or at least, the original SAO on its journey from web novel to light novel to anime. In light of everything it inspired within the industry, it cloaks itself in higher ambitions and always has strong production value on its belt, but it keeps stepping on rake after rake when it comes to the writing.

Sometimes this season was enjoyable for the wrong reasons based on just how consistently the stupid decisions keep piling up in contrast to the production value, and how much of a teaching tool the series can be for up-and-coming writers. If you’re a fan of the series that can accept every dumb decision for the sake of seeing your favorite characters, you may be satisfied in some places and let down in others. For everyone else, it’s a well-produced but stupendously frustrating bellyflop that gets incredibly close to realizing something, only to fall short over and over again. At the very least, with Progressive as the next project, when SAO returns it’ll be closer to what everyone wanted out of it to begin with, and create ponderings for a timeline where it was the first big break for the anime.

A really good start so far, it continues there where part 1 of season 3 left off, so you know what to expect.

Animation quality and sound is gorgeous, as in the previous seasons.
The great OST is the greatest strength of SAO, along with the beautiful art design and animation.

Even the first episode already had this really epic moment, I am speaking of the fight at the end of course. The music which kicked in made the clash of one of the two strongest characters in SAO even more intense.

Also we have Alice in here, my favorite character of SAO, just her design literally screems badass.

The ... war scenario is pretty thrilling itself, so there is also potential for a 9/10.

While that's the impression for the first few episodes, SAO doesn't do it's potential from season 1 justice.

While the animation and sound remains outstanding while progressing, the show makes literally no progress. Most of it just felt like a big buildup for a major event, actually the same stuff happened for the most time, the main cast fighting against the invaders and losing. Instead of a real war, which we got in the first season, they somehow dragged on the second season with no major events.

The moment after the buildup was okay but not what I would have expected from that long buildup.

I never even considered making an animelist acc, but seeing how god awful this show is triggered me into signing up so I could review it.

Where to begin?
*SLIGHT SPOILERS*

Overwhelming fan service:

So the first episode starts off with a bang in true SAO style: Tentacle rape. If you compare the audio from a rape hentai and a SAO episode, you wouldn't know which one was which. Half of this season is literally Asuna and the rest of the big titted, no personality cast screaming 'yamete' and crying. Every episode has at least 5 minutes of that moaning, cringeworthy bs, so look forward to that. ...


Unbelievable plot:

This season has got me rolling my eyes in every episode. The plot is centred around the theme of 'GAMERS RISE UP!!!' in the most unrealistic fashion possible.

Tens of thousands of players from America, China, and Korea log onto this one shitty server that looks like a nuclear bomb got dropped in it already, because of some random call for help, where they have 0 gear and they all look exactly the same. They then all unite under the seediest, most evil looking fucker i've ever seen who's claiming the Japanese are evil, and they all accept this no question and start PKing the Japanese without mercy. There are so many things wrong here that don't even need to explained.


Characters are terrible:

The first SAO: Alicization was pretty good (This is compared to all the other SAO seasons, it was nothing special). That's because in that season there was actually a main protagonist in Kirito you were following, that got the job done - albeit having the driest, goody-two-shoes personality.

Well in this season, Kirito is still a god damn vegetable and the first couple episodes has just been moving around several of the less-fleshed out characters (if that's even possible in this show where character development is a myth) as they all deal with their respective crises. I understand what they were trying to do, but it was executed really poorly, and it just ends up as a complete mess.

Because there are so many characters being focused on in such little time, there is just zero development of the characters and you end up just not giving a fuck about any of them because NONE OF THEM MATTER TO THE PLOT (excpet Alice of course). Every episode has just got me begging for kirito to wake up from his beauty sleep so he can slap the fuck out of the main antagonist and put this show to bed once and for all.


TL;DR:
- Typical SAO art style can't really complain
- Soundtrack is typical SAO
- Plot is way worse than usual
- Characters are so poorly fleshed out the only thing i know about half of them are their names
- Ridiculous fanservice

If you're a die-hard SAO fan or you're like me, who just wants to see how shit this show can go, go ahead and watch.

For everyone else, I'd stay away from 'Kirito-kun and the big titted harem 2'

So, finally the Alicization arc has finished. It took some time but it was entertaining and way better than previous seasons also it was the longest. It took 3 seasons for gods sake. It had some pretty epic fights that gave me chills, some good animation and cool characters.

Story: As a whole; It was okay, a lot of things happened after Kirito got poisoned but I don't understand how putting him in to a VR world fixes anything. Sure time moves faster but I don't know how it cures poison, that never got addressed or maybe I just missed something. Here we saw the end ... of the war and the return of the vegetated Kirito. Fights were pretty good but sadly there was some "questionable" scenes like there always is in SAO so that is nothing new.

Characters: We had one from the Laughing Coffin; surprisingly they were still a thing and he had a big grudge towards Kirito but he is definitely out of the game, or in this case he is in the game (You'll get this joke after you have seen this show) Then we got Gabriel who is the leader of said private military company. He is known for his skills in GGO and previously he defeated Sinon. He is back and he is more messed up than ever before. He had a weird thing for dead bodies so he was certainly creepy. Kirito returned to save his friends from the Laughing Coffin man and oh boy it was brutal. Alice was the same as before and so is the rest of the cast. I don't think we got anybody new.

OST: It was darn good. The opening was great in many ways. The background music was also nice. There was some very fitting themes and few not that good ones. Of course the classic SAO battle theme made a return which was also cool.

In the end Alicization was cool and way better arc than GGO or Alfheim. There was better animation, better story, better characters and Kirito was a crippled fuck for +20 episodes.

If you have seen only the first 2 seasons, I would recommend you checking out Alicization because it is actually better.

This adaptation is just perfect. The perfect "ending" to a now legendary series. Some of the things that happened this season are definitely top tier, like the animations (the best I've ever seen in an Anime), the ost (I consider it the best after SnK's) and the visual effects.

Overall, I don't feel like giving a rating lower than 10 because I couldn't find any flaws other than a little stupid thing in episode 9 (21). Basically the anime has taken the liberty of letting a robot use the incarnation in the real world xD

Overall I would say:

Animations: 10

Ost: 10

... Drawings: 9

Visual Effects: 9

Characters: 8

Plot: 8

Enjoiment: 10

Overall: 9.5

:)

oh btw, Bercouli's fight was the best fight i ever seen in an Anime so far.

Link Stop

For the final of Alicization, a lot of things must happen and be explained. Everything needs a conclusion that will make sense for the plot. SAO War of Underworld Part 2 takes this in consideration and expands some facts that probably will reappear in the sequel anime when he premieres someday.

- STORY - After all that happens in Underworld, finally some basic questions receive answers, connecting fragments of lines spoken in several episodes along the 3 seasons. Nonsense of some concepts are better explained, and script holes are filled with convincing facts or protagonism. Also, some cliffhangers left in the final episode probably will ... make surge some excellent theories.

- ART - The usual digital effects are used almost every episode, and the final fight makes extreme use of them. The design and consistency are the same of WOU Part 1, but thanks to the numbers of episodes, the 2D is better worked, along with the choreography of fights that are more detailed.

- SOUND - Sound is almost the same, but the final episode has some “new” tracks, so I'm going to count this. Highlight for the opening & ending music: they are better than the choices of Part 1, in my opinion.

- CHARACTERS - In characters, I will judge based on the conclusion, without spoiling of course. When compared with the original material, it is missing 2 volumes for the conclusion of some characters. But, analyzing the main cast, the changes that occur during the story are marking in the personality of each one that received this type of development.

- ENJOYMENT - Enjoyment causes conflict. Personally, this final was 80% what I expected. Like I said above, some things are left to imagination, so this is where my enjoyment of Part 2 assumes you can spend hours theorizing what can happen in the sequel. The story did not leave enough evidence for accurate answers, soon free interpretation is accepted as a limiter for theories.

- FINISHING - Overall, the final score is 8. In a nutshell, “it's a final with and without answers”. This expresses what the author probably wanted, a building arch before the Unitial Ring. It is an old technique, animes like Code Geass R1 are an excellent example in the use of this narrative tool. For Alicization, is an excellent ending. But for the franchise, it is the basis for the next arc, the Unitial Ring, making the connection between them, without the need for an OVA or film for that, closing the arc in the best way that was possible.

Unfortunately, A-1 is continues to fail to live up to their Ordinal Scale success with WOU P2. Both the art quality and direction have been dropping since the beginning of Alicization and ironically, the reviews for this anime are equally as bad, with the top review claiming to have seen all 11 episodes before the 4th ep even aired or praising the art/animation as the only thing of merit when it's clear that there's been a significant drop in quality.

Story: 6/10
War of Underworld continues to get butchered by poor decisions leading to the audience lacking a clear understanding as to what's going on. Major issues ... stem from the lack of details in Alicization and WOU P1, however, that isn't to say P2 is without fault. Many deeper elements of the story are skimmed while 'key' points of the story are spoon fed to the audience with monologue. To put into perspective, an iconic scene from the lightnovels, depicting Kirito's trauma's and development as a character has been replaced with an anime-original recap sequence which not only confuses the audience, but also changes the premise of Kirito's character in the anime entirely. Another notable cut is the removal of Kayaba's stating a potential reason for trapping 10,000 players in SAO and the explanation of his character which ties into the core premise of SAO as a franchise.

Art & Animation: 6/10 [+1] (7/10)
The Art and Animation are aspects that are exclusive to an Anime Adaptation of a written work which ultimately play a huge role in determining whether the adaptation has any merits or not. However, the backgrounds were the only thing praiseworthy in this adaptation of Alicization until the 8th episode. If you've been paying attention to the many fights in the adaptation of Alicization, there's a clear trend of battles being prolonged with "sword locks" or two characters having a shoving match with their swords, instead of a real battle taking place (most likely to save time and effort rather than drawing out extended battle scenes). Some scenes look horrendously out of place with characters eyes replaced with literal cartoon dots and curves or just an absurd lack of detail and incorrect proportions. And the severe lack of any form of fight choreography in certain battles ruins the immersion.
[+1]
However, during the 8th Episode, a lot of these issues are redeemed with the climax of the arc taking place. It's not to say the quality of the entire episode is on a different level compared to the rest of the season, but the most important scenes are clearly of a higher quality than anything that took place before, comparable to the visually appealing Ordinal Scale movie.

The biggest fault in the art and animation has to be the inconsistency as the quality of the art bounces between good, decent, and terrible without a clear standard or bottomline, as if every animators works were improperly stitched together, making it difficult for the anime to be engaging or immersive if the quality of animation distracts you.

Sound: 9/10 [-1] (8/10)
The music and sounds in an anime are the 2nd and only other element completely unique in an adapted work and play a large part in engaging the audience and provoking specific emotions. The original soundtracks for SAO by Yuki Kajiura have and always will be incredibly impressive. However, due to poor directing or management, a certain episode starts off blaring with climax music (variation of the iconic Swordland) with no build up, focus, and straight in the middle of a large scale battle and another episode has the climax music inserted way too late with the most intense portion of the song playing when the battle has already concluded. The ost building up the climax elevates Alicization WOU P2 sounds to a 9/10, however, the poor placement of every other ost leads to the [-1].

Characters: 9/10 [-2] (7/10)
The Alicization arc praised to be the best Arc within SAO and undoubtedly the longest within the novels has the most character development as it should. Or at least it should have. While it's undeniable that the characters develop the most during this adaptation, a major issue is, that a lot of the development is cut short or cut entirely compared to the novels. Any side character that was introduced in this adaptation will only have an introduction with absolutely no development and any future appearances severely cut short, and our main heroine Asuna suffers the most with more than half of her battles, thoughts, and emotions cut from the anime. The anime-only reappearance of Eiji and Yuna was poorly executed and leave more questions than answers and the greatest flaw is the incredibly poor decision to add an inappropriate anime-only recap into a crucial portion of a main character Kirito's internal struggles leading to Kirito's portrayal not only feeling lacking compared to the novels, but completely straying away and undeniably more unrelateable.

Enjoyment: 7/10 [+1] (8/10)
While enjoyment of an anime is very subjective, anyone who has followed the anime up until this point won't find this conclusion boring with battle after battle, every single one of which significantly better than what we've seen against the integrity knights in Alicization cour 2. Thanks to an engaging and visually impressive climax battle, it's safe to say a fair amount of viewers won't be left completely disappointed with this final cour.

Conclusions:
Although there's no doubt SAO Alicization War Of Underword Part 2 is not as good as it could have been, it definitely is not a terrible conclusion to the Alicization arc. Due to some unfortunate and poor decisions, the experience an anime-only viewer gets is incomplete and leaves them to come to their own conclusions in more than one points in the story. This final cour to a ridiculously ambitious 4 cour anime project, scheduled only a single year after the release of ordinal scale, was met with not only staff issues, according to rumors, but a global pandemic occurring at the original scheduled release of this season, which can only be summed up as unfortunate circumstances experienced by the viewer.

Thus brings the Alicization anime to a close. Wow. That's sums it up on it a single word well in my mind. Wow. Seeing this arc animated has bean something to savior these past two years. The greatest of SAO shown to the world finally complete. There's so much to dive into about all I love with this arc. Number one has to be Alice. We saw it in the finale here culminating her struggle with adapting to this new real world. Alice is definitely my favorite character in Alicization. A fully realized human as human gets artificial intelligence. But with such a soul that's ... she's human in my eyes and no could convince me otherwise. Made in a program or not, she's infinitely more human than people I see everyday. Alice is the pinnacle of what SAO I truly about. Kirito said it in the finale here, she's our hope. Our hope of bridging the digital with the material world. Our hope of a new better world.

Focusing more now on the fourth and final cour here. Holy hell was this one impressive wrap up to an all out war arc. Had some of the best fights in all of SAO, along with a front running contender for anime fight of the year, some emotional heartfelt moments, times of sadness and reflection. Truly the culmination of all SAO has been these past eight years with the anime and well beyond back to when Reki first started this story almost twenty years ago.

Kirito my boy!!!! Shined bright and covered the world like the night sky. Definitely him t his lowest like we saw a while back but reflecting on all the memories he's made over this long journey he dug his way out of despair. His closest friends pulling him out. You can't forget everything that's happened. Eugeo coming back with his sword and memories within it. Got me so emotional tons of times this arc. Gabriel Miller proving to be the most despicable villain we've seen yet. Vassago linking us back to the earliest days of this journey. The action being top notch as it gets! The characters all coming together, literally as the og crew popped in to help. Loved seeing so many great character moments not just for Kirito and Alice but for the likes of Asuna who proved why she's top tier goddess level waifu, Sinon and Leafa helping out in the war. Klein, Eiji, the character from Korea and China, so many characters showing how amazing they are.

I truly believe this is SAO at its finest. These 47 episodes are masterclass imo. Especially the war of underworld latter half itself! Some amazing stuff. For this final cour I'll give it a 97 out of 100

Sword Art Online Alicization comes to its final season with its characters fighting for their lives and discovering their new identity, and returning old characters to bring Kirito back and disclosing the war. The Alicization Arc comes across to me as a reboot of Sword Art Online with a new story, new characters and a new world with the simliar vibe of SAO orginal world.

Disclaimer, this is a personal review so sorry if I offend anyone or got something wrong. I also havent read the light novel so this is fresh to me. Right off the bat, I'm giving a 7, a good overall. ... I'm continuing to watch the show and I want to give my impression so far on the show, the good and bads.

Good
Characters: The characters in the Alicization Arc, the NPC to be precise, are the central figures of this whole new story in my opinion. These characters are portrayed to be this real being, having these complex emotions and choosing their own path which makes this whole world something worth fighting for. The Orc in the first episode denies its given identity is a good example. I feel for Alice when she's this important figure for this world when she doesn't really know why. She is a character with the feels for Kirito and has the ambition to protect her people but needs to do God's work (The reality people) to fix things up. Character development have come a long way and this arc really shows how the author steps up for improvement.
Art: Animation continues to uphold its quality through the Alicization. But animation steps up its A-Game through battles of 2 key characters (cough ep 2). Nothing to really complain, you know the studio loves SAO to put this much quality.

Bad
Sound: I don't know if it just me, but I having to really dislike the Sound Effects in this particular season. The Sound design for this season is so off balance that it irritates me a lot. The sound effect when people die, the sword clashing, Bercouli's heavy sword, blood splashing....I'm finding it hard to not pause the episode and to think on the sound effect direction.
Story: So I said that the characters are the essential figures to the story and how they are great, but there is another side of the story I don't pay attention due to its...complexity? I think..Or its just boring for me. So, one side of the of the story is the Underworld and the other is the reality world, with high tech stuff. I have no idea what's going on in the real world and what the characters of that world, are talking about. I even had to have Giguk in his latest video to explain the a short summary of whats going on, something about hacking a server. I'm really sorry if I'm the only one who doesn't get it, but this side of the story feel so important that I can't be cope to get it because it fails to engage to me.

Overall, a 7 is what I give to this season so far, I cant wait to how it comes to a close, my enjoyment is a 7 as well. Thanks for reading my review.

At this point SAO, has made a place in the hearts of everyone that it is good(popcorn anime) and is not gonna stop and I personally don't mind.

This season SAOWoU2 is the end of the Alicization Arc and ends in the most SAO way with Kirito overcoming some personal depression and destroying verone in his path to add Alice to his harem girls group. As usual, I am still surprised at hoe good SAO's animations are and the sounds are really good with the animations. So, if you wanna chill and watch some good mindless anime, just watch this.

PS: Can't wait for the next ... season which will be a completely new arc.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Sword Art Online is not good, I don't think it ever was. It's funny because a few years ago when I first started watching anime I loved SAO, probably because it was one of my first anime and I didn't have much to compare it with. But when Alicization came out my opinion towards SAO changed a lot. All the novel readers were hyping the series up as the "best SAO season to date" and that it would "change the minds of the haters". Obviously that's not the case.

I think this season of SAO is probably the worst one yet, or maybe this is ... just my disappointment talking as this season is the freshest one in my memory. Either way, SAO Alicization War of Underworld part 2 (this title is too long) has a lot of problems to point at and not much to praise. But let's section the topics.

Art/Animation (8/10): It's great, animation in this season is really good, just like in the previous season. Art style and character design are also pretty good although SAO suffers a bit from many characters looking alike if you match their hair style. Overall great tho.

Sound (6/10): Decent, nothing special to point out. Not memorable nor forgettable imo, I don't particularly care about the OP and ED but they're OK. I honestly don't know if the OST is new or it's the same from previous seasons, but that just speaks about how it didn't mean much to me.

Story (1/10): This is where things start to get interesting. This season's plot is not good. The premise is not bad, similarly to other SAO seasons, but the execution is awful. Nothing in this season makes sense, it's all a bunch of asspulls and plot armour and poorly explained actions. I'll give several examples:

- Certain characters show up out of nowhere for no reason and they change their costumes and gain new and old abilities they're not supposed to get.
- The Underworld simulation is ran by a bunch of retards. Their code is hacked easily, an intern that barely understands anything about the simulation is able to change the source code and implement a penalty for disobeying orders, known as the code that blows the eyes of the AI's out. For some reason the guys in charge didn't even notice that. Also the Americans that invaded the Ocean Turtle are able to get access to every account they want, it seems there is no level of security or firewalls, it's dumb.
- The author relies a lot on rape scenes to move the plot forward, like always, and it amounts to nothing more than a bit of shock value.
- AI's die and for some reason have a soul and can go to the afterlife? But they're digital?
- Kayaba Akihiko is back, for some unexplained reason like usual. He manages to have his counsciousness in a robot and control it even without battery power, power of friendship apparently works for machines as well when his girlfriend pleas for help and he comes back to life.

Character (1/10): This is as bad as the story. The characters are one dimensional, dumb, hypocrites and most of the side characters are thrown off the plot episodes after being introduced (but that's already a trend in the series I guess). The intern that hacked Underworld, for example, wants to worship Quinnella and at the same time he also wants to go to America and live a leisurely life there. Obviously he can't do both things at the same time, which shows how inconsistent this series is.
The villains are trash like always, they have absolutely no motivation behind their actions. The main villain wants to eat people's souls while the secondary villain is literally a racist that wants to kill japanese for entertainment. His backstory is trash, he hates all japanese just because is father who is a japanese is a dick. There is a huge trend in this season about racism and xenophobia. Klein for example points out that the players that enter Underworld are all Chinese and Korean, while in the last season they were all American. How is he supposed to know that with no outside information? Besides how is every single person entering the game from the same region? These players that enter the game are as unoriginal and bland as they can get. People that enter the game just to kill others but then for some reason they listen to the secondary villain. Moments before they were persuaded by some girl and then they change their minds immediately afterward.
Kirito is out of combat but he is being saved by the power of his harem, because a dude in the real world is linking their counsciousness and that for some reason works. The author uses the word "quantum" as if it sufficed to explain the dumb phenomenom.
Secondary villain is facing off against a character that isn't even supposed to be there with his dead waifu and the other players just stand there watching, like wtf?
The villains die at the end of the series but it doesn't make any sense at all, because they were killed inside a simulation and yet they also died in the real world. It makes things even more confusing when Kirito and Asuna stay 200 years living there and they manage to come back in perfect health, even though they said it themselves their brainds wouldn't be able to handle it.

In the very last episode of the anime they create a bunch of awkward and cringy situations where Alice (who by the way has a perfect robotic body which was not explained) interacts with Kirito for fan-service and then in the end they go to the Underworld and they're in space all of a sudden fighting alien creatures with space ships. And that's how the anime ends. Wow, out of all sorts of way they could end the series they decided to do that? I wonder if the same thing happened in the novels.

This anime is a mess. Enjoyment for me is close to null. The animation is flashy and the battles are visually appealing, but that's about it. I'm glad that it's finnally over, even though they may still animate the last arc in the series. For now it was announced they will animate the reboot and hopefully that works out better than this. I read the first volume and enjoyed it, let's see how it turns out

Please note this review is intended to be read by those that have finished watching Sword Art Online Alicization and while care has been taken to minimize spoilers there may still be spoilers present. Proceed at your own risk.

Please note while Sword Art Online Alicization has been divided into four cours as outlined by A1 pictures the four cours collectively represent the Alicization story arc as a whole. As a result, rather than create separate reviews for the different cours this review will instead cover the events and development that the cast experienced as they fought through the events of the four respective cours. ... Thank you for your understanding.

Based off a popular light novel of the same name Sword Art Online is an Action, Adventure, and romance genre anime that gives us the unique opportunity to see what will happen if one day after being seriously injured while protecting the person that you care dearest about that instead of hopping on the ray of light that will take you to meet your creator that instead, you find yourselves waking up in a brand new world that’s reminiscent of a fantasy world that features swords, dragons, evil and cunning masterminds who run the only church in town and evil demi-humans who are determined to conquer the human realm in the name of their gods. Now thrust into not only a brand new world but also forced to join a titanic war to protect not just this new land but also the lives of the many friends and allies that he had made in the course of his travels Kirito must draw upon not just every ounce of his skill as a swordsman but also the many bonds of friendship and comradeship that had been forged in the VRMMO worlds that Kirito and his friends had explored and fought in. Only then would Kirito and his allies have a chance of stopping the evil machinations of an enemy that was determined to take all that is good about the world of Underworld and transform it into a means to revolutionize warfare in the 21st century.

The core concept of Sword Art Online had always been one that focused on not only exploring the many new worlds that had the opportunity to come into existence via the seed system but also forging bonds of friendship with like-minded companions and allies that share one’s passion for not only exploring such worlds but also explore the many mysteries that lay within such worlds. In this, while the core concept of the series can be said to be the enjoyment of the many game worlds that were able to come into existence thanks to the tech advances of the 21st century in the form of VRMMO’s within SAO this is married to the series trademarked combat skills in the form of sword skills that allow its users to unleash powerful attacks within the game worlds that can be used to devastate their enemies player or enemy alike. When used in conjunction with powerful villains and plots that are one of the hallmarks of the series this ensures that each adventure within SAO is filled with battles that are both highly entertaining and yet also ones that have extremely high stakes where the lives of innocents are caught in the crossfire and it is here in Underworld that I will say this aspect of SAO is shown the best for here nothing less than an entire world and its people are under threat from people who care only about what they will gain from harming others and not the amount of damage that they can do to the those caught in the crossfire.

Back in Summer 2012 when SAO first aired, I remember quite fondly on the unique ideas that it presented in the form of the many virtual worlds that can be experienced not by looking at the world through a screen as current tech restricts us too but rather through the tech of the 21st century that allowed players to enter that world virtually. Whether as a fan of anime, LN’s or games this concept of exploring new worlds, making new friends and allies, and doing battle with powerful villains both in-game and in the real world to protect something dear to you all was something that resonated with me. And it is here in Sword Art Online Alicization that I felt this struggle to protect something that may not be seen as worth it by others but yet is vital to you and your friends and allies is best represented for it is here that nothing short of war is being fought to protect not just the fragile society that lay within Underworld but also the lives of hundreds of innocents that have been caught in the machinations of mankind’s worst enemy aka Greed. Being able to see such a grand tale that combined the trademarked tension-filled combat with overwhelming enemies with the desperate stand to protect a brand new world while fighting side by side with allies old and new I felt was the main aspect that drew me to this series and one that I felt was rewarded greatly because of the level of enjoyment that I got from it.

Story and setting

The overall story of the series takes place within the world of Underworld a world that can be said to be reminiscent of the ones that are usually found within European high fantasy settings and follows the life of Kazuto Kirigaya a Japanese high school student from the real world who despite his young age had already overcome the threat of death countless times as a result of his alter ego’s skill as the famed Black Swordsmen of the VRMMO world Kirito. After becoming the victim of a terrible attack that saw him get injured severely Kirito after waking up finds himself mysteriously transported not to the local ER as one would imagine being at but rather in a clearing deep within a forest in a world that looks far too real to be a dream. But as Kirito explores this brand new world to which he finds himself seemingly trapped in Kirito starts to realize that while this world was beautiful and its people were living in a society that was seemingly at peace where hard work and loyalty to one’s gods were justly rewarded that beneath the surface were many powers that were working in secret to destabilize this peaceful life that the people of Underworld lived. Now faced with the difficult choice of not only finding and beating the chief villain that had the world of Underworld in her thrall but also having to defend it from an invasion of hostile human players that were summoned thanks to the machinations of countries concerned with only leading the world Kirito must fight his hardest to both protect this world and the people that he holds dearest to his heart. But this is a war that not even the famed Black swordsmen will be able to fight against alone and alone he shall not be. For striding forth and joining their blades with his is a host of allies and friends both old and new who share Kirito’s determination to protect both the innocents of the Underworld but also the sanctity of the VR world for to them the VR world is a realm that not only transcends borders and continents but cultures as well and allows people from all walks of life to not only explore new worlds together but also form lasting friendships and bonds with one another in a world when anything is possible. As the enemy approaches Kirito and his allies their blades drawn and their morale high from standing side by side with friends and comrades from across the VR world stands ready to give it their all.

Kirito

Kazuto Kirigaya portrayed by veteran voice actor Yoshitsugu Matsuoka of Buddy Complex and Daimachi fame is one of the main characters of the series and is the primary protagonist of the series. An 18-year-old teenager Kazuto who is more popularly known by others as his famed ingame avatar Kirito the Black swordsmen was shown to be a quiet, calm, and composed person by nature that always strived to deal with the problems that he encounters whether in-game or in the real world with rational thought and an eye on ensuring that the results will be one that is beneficial to all parties involved a fact that is shown well in the many trials that he has managed to overcome through not just force of arms but also through the creative use of his intellect and his ability to adapt to situations on the fly. While known widely as the famed solo player Kirito the Black swordsmen Kirito rather than being someone that enjoyed seeking out and fighting strong enemies to prove his skill with the blade was instead shown to be someone that can be said to be the opposite of that image. While certainly skilled with the blade that was borne through the many hours that he has spent playing VRMMO’s Kirito for his part seen to be someone that preferred to stay away from the many struggles that strength at arms and fame will bring to one instead preferring to simply enjoy the experience of being able to explore the many different and visually impressive worlds that have come into fruition thanks to the advances made in VR tech.

While a quiet and calm person by nature that preferred to keep to himself Kirito was also shown to be someone that was kind, friendly, and understanding of others and while prone to not being able to read the room at times was someone that was shown to be very loyal to his friends and comrades and actively looked out for them and willing to help them overcome their troubles when needed no matter the odds arrayed against him a fact that is best shown in his determination to help Sinon during the events of Gun Gale Online as well as his efforts to help Asuna find the true Yuuki within the real world. While initially shown to be someone that actively avoided adventuring with other players in MMO’s thanks to bad experiences in the past Kirito as a result of the overcoming of the death trap that SAO had become was shown to have matured greatly both physically and mentally learning to instead of building walls around himself to instead open his heart to others and learn to place his trust in the skills and knowledge that others possess instead of trying to do everything himself. This aspect of Kirito I felt while doing well in helping Kirito grow as a person both mentally and physically also served to forge a deep sense of friendship and comradeship between Kirito and the many friends and comrades that he has made and encountered in the many VR worlds that he has fought across. While at times they may be at a loss on how to deal with the sassy, overconfident, and overly optimistic Black Swordsman these friends and comrades all know that Kirito is someone that will fight with both bravery and determination to protect not only the people dearest to him but also be trusted to act a tireless defender of the sanctity of the VRMMO Worlds that they all collectively cherish. It is such bonds of friendship and a desire to protect the sacred worlds that have been created thanks to advances in technology that ensures that Kirito the Black Swordsmen will be able to face down the darkest demons and most foul of humans to protect the very things that are the most vital in their eyes.

While Kirito’s skills at arms and his nigh unbreakable bonds of friendship that he shares with not just fellow survivors and VRMMO players served to make him a formidable fighter it can be said that this is enhanced by the unique views and beliefs that he has developed as a result of his journeys across the many VR worlds he has come to witness. More than anything Kirito is someone that believes fervently that the worlds created via VRMMO’s are not merely empty worlds that can be used as a madmen’s playground as Vassago did nor were they simply a toolbox that Gabriel saw them as but rather each world was a unique entity that not only provided players with a rich world to explore and challenge but also offer opportunities for people of different nationalities and walks of life to encounter each other, befriend each other and have fun together in a space that transcends borders, continents, and cultures. When used in conjunction with the unique belief that the people of Underworld were not merely programs but real people this served to ensure that Kirito would fight even harder to protect this new world that had been inadvertently created and was facing destruction at the hands of mankind’s oldest enemy Greed.

Overall the character of Kirito I felt was one that was both well designed and developed with his gradual evolution from a quiet, calm and composed person who was socially awkward and reluctant to fight alongside others to someone that not only learned the true value of having friends and allies that you can count upon but also the joy at being able to explore the VR world with them being especially well done. While serving to awaken and develop the core bonds and light the first embers of his motivation this act of forging friendships with like-minded gamers while walking the many realms of the VR world had managed to endow Kirito with a deep sense of appreciation for not only the technical marvels that VR worlds bring but also of the many societies that have also been created as well. When combined with his trademarked kindness and caring nature this ensures that Kirito would not see the people of the VR worlds not as mere data but people that are every bit as real as himself and is every bit worthy of fighting for no matter the odds against him for to Kirito and his friends the VR world is not just a mere game but it is their home and a home is always worth fighting for. More than anything whether you like him or not as a character Kirito perfectly embodies what a hero is in that they were not born as one but instead are just normal human being who chose to step up and take on a dangerous mission that can prove fatal to him and his friends if he failed and in this war, a hero is just what underworld needed to thwart the machinations of the invaders.

Eugeo

Eugeo portrayed by Nobunaga Shimazaki of Kiznaiver and Active Raid fame is one of the main characters of the series and is one of Kirito’s allies within the series. At the start of the series Eugeo was from initial appearances an 11-year-old teenager that was quiet, positive, and hardworking and while certainly curious about the nature of the outside world was seemingly content with living in his home village of Rulid and live out his life performing the woodcutter role that had been handed down through the generations of his family. However, this life of repetition and boredom soon changed upon Eugeo’s encounter with an enigmatic stranger that he had found deep within the forests that lay near his village a certain fellow named Kirito. Whether by fate or not Eugeo’s encounter with Kirito was too dramatically alter the destiny that Eugeo’s life would have for instead of living and continuing his duty as a woodcutter to the end of his life before passing the sacred duty to his descendants Eugeo would not only accomplish his sacred task but also become the first of his family to take up the mantle of becoming a swordsman. After meeting Kirito and becoming fast friends with him Eugeo’s personality gradually begins to change.

At the beginning of the series while a quiet person by nature that preferred to stay apart from others Eugeo was someone that was also friendly, kind, and caring and while wary of others was someone that can be seen to wear their heart on their sleeve as shown when he helped Kirito not only get his bearings but also help him get used to his village. Though at first somewhat put off by Kirito’s lack of knowledge regarding basic Underworld concepts like the Stacia window Eugeo rather than belittling him for forgetting them instead sought to do the opposite in teaching him everything that he needed to get by showing well his kindness and desire to help others in need and in doing so forming the first real friendship that he had since the departure of his cherished friend Alice. As the series goes on and Eugeo and Kirito’s bond deepened it become apparent that Eugeo was someone that bore an immense sense of regret and guilt over the taking of his childhood friend Alice by the Axiom Church and was the main reason for Eugeo keeping his distance from others of the village as he was scared of ever thinking of leaving the village and going after her a fact that caused great pain to both him and his friends within the village. However, this sense of loss and regret soon began to change and be reformed into a potent sense of motivation for Eugeo as a result of both Kirito’s teachings of the sword but also of the potential that Eugeo can wash away his shame and guilt by visiting the capital and joining the church as swordsmen to determine Alice’s fate. After this injection of fresh hope into his blood Eugeo’s personality gradually begins to mature.

While remaining quiet, calm, and polite Eugeo by the time of joining the Swordcraft Academy was seen to have become relatively honest with his feelings and treated everyone that he met not with the wariness of the past but with the due respect and humility that he felt that they deserve as shown in his relationships with both his seniors and his and Kirito’s young pages Tiese and Ronnie whom he treated warmly and kindly, unlike the other nobles that populate the academy. However despite being more open with his feelings and still very much determined to rescue his childhood friend Eugeo was still bound to the laws of the world however unfair they were which served to impose a potent limit on the amount of strength that he can wield against aggressors even if justified in using it as shown in his initial inaction when presented with apparently justified evildoing of the worst examples of nobility that was perpetrated against his dear friends and pages. However while terrible these events served to allow Eugeo to finally break free of the last shackles that restrained his heart and finally allow him to open up the true path that he was destined to take which is that of a swordsman. Though the events of that night were grave it's in the aftermath of that tragic event that would lead Eugeo to rediscover not only the sense of regret that he had long harbored inside him but also reforge it into a potent catalyst that would allow him for the first time in his life stand against the very institution that had created this world that of the fearsome Axiom church and their fearsome integrity knights that Eugeo openly loathes as well as the one that started this world the enigmatic leader known only as administrator. This catalyst while not as grand as Kirito’s quest to find a way to exit this world was nonetheless the one thing that he needed to push himself to join his dear friend and take the first steps in both changing himself and in changing the way that the world had been advancing even if it meant having to fight against the very friend that he had hoped to save.

While level-headed and rational it can be seen that surprisingly Eugeo is also someone that had trouble reining in his emotions at times which is best shown in the hatred that he displayed towards the first integrity knights that he and Kirito encountered. However, while the knights are certainly deserving of the hate that Eugeo views them with on account of the actions that they take as part of their duties what I admired the most about Eugeo here was that even though they were enemies that he had to stake his whole life against that after crossing blades with them and gradually understanding them as individuals that he was able to empathize them and realize that despite commanding the godly powers that they are famed for that they too are limited by the fact that they were still human and must obey the orders that they are given regardless of their views. This ability to let go of one’s hatred which while powerful can only serve to put you in a never-ending spiral of self-destruction I felt showed well in how Eugeo matured within the series both physically and emotionally. The character of Eugeo I felt was one that was well designed and developed with his gradual evolution from a quiet, calm and friendly person who hid his pent up guilt and regret that he developed from not being to save his precious friend to one that was not only willing to stand up to the tyranny of the Axiom Church and the world that it had created without sacrificing his core values and loyalty to his friends and comrades being especially well done as shown in the tenaciousness that he displayed when forging their path up the floors of the church. While Eugeo’s base personality traits can be said to be the total opposite of his best friend Kirito I felt that within the series these traits served to resonate relatively well with Kirito’s serving to both provide Kirito with an effective comrade in arms on the battlefield while also serving to provide him with a friend that can serve to balance out his unique eccentrics which is perhaps best shown during their time at the academy as well as during their accent of the levels of the Axiom Church in their quest to change the world.

Alice

Alice Zuberg portrayed by veteran seiyuu Ai Kayano of 3 Gatsu No Lion and Konosuba fame is one of the main characters of the series and is one of the primary heroines of the series. In her initial appearances, Alice was introduced as the eldest daughter of the village chief of Rulid village and was shown to be a kind, caring, and playful person by nature that was ever friendly and was seen by many as the true spark of the village by many of its inhabitants including her childhood friends Eugeo and Kirito. While intelligent and level-headed and widely seen to be the natural successor to her father as village chief once she comes of age Alice was shown to display a peculiar amount of free-thinking that served to make her stand out from her peers. While still bounded as strongly to the world’s most important law of the Taboo Index as her fellow villagers Alice was shown to particularly adept at locating the many loopholes that existed within them much to the amazement of her childhood friends and the displeasure of the adults. This when used with Alice’s confidence and adventurous nature enabled her to not only circumvent the laws easily but also allow her to experience many adventures with her childhood friends while ensuring that they stay within the realm of the law. However, this free-spirited nature of Alice’s while admirable within a child was to unknown to her at that time lead her to not only leave the village in a way that will be unsung and unremembered by its people but also leave the lives of his childhood friends for the foreseeable future as a lawbreaker.

Upon her reintroduction, as an integrity knight of the Axiom Church, it can be seen that Alice’s personality has changed considerably. While in the past Alice was shown to be loyal to the church and to the Taboo Index that they managed grudgingly in her new form as an integrity knight she was shown to have become an ardent believer in the church and its teachings and was shown to be very loyal to her role as a knight of that institution. In her new form as an integrity knight, it can be seen that the sense of positivity, curiosity, and playfulness that served to define her child form was no longer present and indeed in her new form as a knight her attitude and personality can be said to be the total opposite for in this form she was seen to be confident, dutiful and loyal to the teachings of the church while also being noticeably colder in how she deals with others with this last point being reinforced by her willingness to use force and punishment on others when needed a change that served to surprise many not least her childhood friends. However, unlike most members of the church, Alice though having absolute conviction in the Taboo Index and the sense of order that the church brings to the world was not afraid of admitting that the system wasn’t perfect and that there were plenty of flaws within its structure that can be exploited. However, despite this apparent crack in her beliefs Alice still was of the opinion that without the power of the church the land around them will be far worst off than it was at present.

While shown to be a confident, calm, and composed person as the series progresses and Alice’s personality is gradually expanded upon it can be seen that despite the seemingly perfect role that she has that beneath the surface Alice had plenty of insecurities that greatly troubled her. Though shown to be a formidable knight despite her young age it can be seen that within both the order that she was immensely loyal to as well as across the Underworld that she served she was often underestimated due to both her relatively new career as well as her gender something that she was seen to greatly resent. As a result of this negative attitude Alice while courteous towards her fellow knights was shown to be someone that viewed the petty bickering that nobles and politicians partake in with disdain preferring instead to cross blades with enemies directly rather than interact with nobles. Indeed it is within the midst of combat that Alice can be seen to be truly within her element as to Alice the crossing of blades with an opponent will not only allow her to show both her mettle and her determination to protect the world from evildoers but also allow her to banish the sense of inequality within the world by challenging her opponent to honorable combat where she engages foes that have proven their strength and conviction to her. However, despite her confident and composed attitude, it can be seen that not all aspects of Alice’s base attitude had been replaced and while Alice tries hard to maintain a sense of stoicism and calmness when executing her duties it can be seen that she’s also capable of showing more positive feelings to others when needed as shown in her displays of kindness and care towards her former enemies after they become allies. Arguably the most surprising aspect of this chink within her Armor was the fact that she despite her sense of confidence was someone that was capable of feeling fear as well as the wry sense of humour that she possessed elements that I felt showed that despite her determination to be a good knight and not show weaknesses to any potential threats through effective use of her mask that Alice was still very much a human being that while bound to the dictates of the church as much as her fellows were still someone that can be seen to be more loyal to the people than to the church. This aspect when used in combination with Alice’s inquisitive nature and ability to think critically served to become a potent source of motivation for her when she came to face to face with the terrible truth that her much-respected administrator was hiding from her a truth that was not only detrimental to the lives of the very people that she was tasked with protecting as an integrity knight but also one that ensured that this was an act of damnation that she as both a human being and a knight will have no choice to oppose even if it meant going against the very oaths that she had been so proud off.

It is in the aftermath of this event that saw Alice not only rebel against the very institution that had kept the world safe from the predation of chaos but also against the very person that had given her a new role in life that can be said to be the catalyst that will allow Alice to transform into her final state as a person. In the aftermath of the battle with the administrator it can be seen that while Alice still retains her trademarked confidence and calmness personality traits that defined her as a knight, she had also begun to break out of the mask of stoicism that she had carefully maintained as a knight and instead openly displaying the kindness, caring and gentle side of her that she had tried to conceal within her no longer afraid of the sense of weakness that can be attributed to her in doing so. While largely a result of seeing the church’s callous disregard for the lives of the people of Underworld it can also be seen that this is also a result of the interactions that she experienced with both Kirito and Eugeo who while enemies at first later become potent allies that taught her just how valuable and fragile the lives of humans were and that while fleeting the bonds between lifeforms can also be nurtured through mutual understanding and respect of each other and in doing so create the potential to change the lives of others as well.

However, it can be said that it is in her interactions with Kirito the former enemy now partner that the greatest change of Alice’s personality can be seen for while Alice was still a member of the church and an integrity knight that rather than place her priority in the defence of the realm that she had placed as her priority the protection and caring of Kirito and her immediate friends and family a fact that showed well not just how much impact meeting Kirito had on her both personally and in terms of beliefs. While still loyal to the duties of an integrity knight it can be seen that Alice in this new phase was shown to have developed a noticeable dislike in matters that relate to the church and indeed has become determined to unravel the many lies that they spread to the people that aimed to keep them obedient. While she certainly understands the need for laws within society Alice thanks to her newfound freedom can deduce the many restrictions that lay within society thanks to these laws as well as the many senses of injustice that evildoers can take advantage of thanks to them. While the impact that this had on her day to day activities within her village was significant the impact that this new priority had on Alice’s views on her duty to the realm and to her view of the races that inhabit the dark territory I felt was also significant. Whereas her priority after the rebellion was focused on the care of her partner Kirito and protecting her family it can be seen that she had not forgotten her duty not to mention her fellow knights in particular her mentor Knight commander Bercouli whom she viewed as a father-like figure and when the call came for the knights to take to the field and defend the realm from the invasion of the forces of darkness, Alice, though reluctant at first also decided to join not to fight for the church but to protect her fellow knights and the people of the realm including her family, her friends, and Kirito.

While deciding to fight in the name of protecting her fellow knights and the people of the realm instead of the church was significant what was even more so was Alice’s views on the races of the dark territory that she faced on the battlefields of the war. Whereas in the past Alice under the influence of the teachings of the Taboo Index would have viewed the races of the dark territory as mere threats to the realm that must be exterminated thanks to the new insight that was provided through her rejection of the index Alice not only did not show hatred at them but instead show a sense of regret and lament the fact that despite being all inhabitants of Underworld that they must fight and kill each other on the battlefield rather than live alongside each other and settle their differences with not sword and magic but with dialogue and understanding with this shown best when she faced down the Ogre chief that had killed many of her fellow soldiers and released its soul and granting its wish to return to the grasslands to where he was born. Overall the character of Alice I felt was one that was both well designed and developed with her gradual evolutionary phases in life from her life as a child through teenage years being especially well done both in terms of personality development and her ever-changing views on the world that she lived being especially so.

AMV

In terms of animation overall, I felt that the animation style used for the series was well designed with the animation featuring an excellent blend of detail and colour coordination as shown within the series character designs, the series trademarked incarnation powers as well as in the combat animations within the series. Of the latter, my personal favorites were Alice’s armament control art for her sword being especially so. In terms of location variety and presentation, I felt that overall the series featured an excellent variety of locations that were both well designed and animated while also seamlessly fitting into the world as well. Locations within the series that I felt was designed particularly well included Alice’s home village of Rulid which made excellent use of simplicity and a sense of warmness that one’s home gives them, Swordcraft Academy that showed well not just the advanced levels of Sword skills and Sacred arts that existed within the world of Underworld but also the many undercurrents that class-based societies possessed within the world and lastly the Axiom Church facility that not only featured an excellent variety of locations within its halls but also ones that made effective use of architecture styles and spaces that ensured that the church was not only functional but also beautiful in its own right. The rooftop gardens I felt were especially beautiful.

In terms of character designs, I felt that overall the designs featured within the series were especially impressive. While the character designs for the citizens of Underworld were relatively standard, I felt that this sense of simplicity served well to allow us to differentiate the people of Underworld by their profession and standing within society with notable examples being Selka’s outfit and the members of Swordcraft Academy. Within the designs of characters that lived within the dark territory this sense of simplicity was also reinforced by the unique race cultures that made up the dark territory races with the designs of the pugilist guild members, Dark knights, and Orcs being especially impressive. It is within the designs of the integrity knights however that I felt that the character designs within the series truly shined for unlike the others the designs of the knights I felt reflected not just their profession as integrity knights that protected the realm but also matched their personalities and personal beliefs as well as shown in Alice, Bercouli and Fanatio’s designs. Of the many character designs that were presented within the series, I would say that Alice’s design was particularly impressive as her design while certainly beautiful also represented well the sense of hope that her character represented within the series one that can be worn down but never destroyed and always souring to great heights to inspire others. While only shown within the War of Underworld portion of Alicization I felt that the designs for the three goddesses of Stacia, Solus, and Terraria that Asuna, Sinon and Suguha took the form as when they entered the world of Underworld as part of the intervention force was not only well designed but also featured impressive colour coordination for their outfits that synergized well with both the mythology of the world and the powers that they derived from it, which is perhaps best shown in Asuna’s terrain altering attack and Suguha’s regen ability.

With regards to combat, attack animations, and variety I felt that the series made an excellent usage of not just conventional melee combat and sword skills that defined the series but also did well to incorporate the arcs unique magic in the form of the Sacred Arts and the equally powerful armament control arts of the integrity knights and in doing so managing to give us an impressive spectacle of war that while surprisingly brutal in its slaughter also featured impressive acts of valour and sacrifice as both sides fought hard to achieve their respective goals in the war. Notable attack animations and battles that I felt deserve special mention were Knight commander Bercouli’s armament control art whose ability to create slashes in time was impressive as was his ambush of the minion’s attack on his HQ during the war, Vice commander Fanatio’s light beam control art and her dual with Kirito, Delsolbert’s flame bow and his dual with Kirito and Eugeo as well as his stand against the goblins during the first phase of the war, Alice’s full armament control art that was as deadly as it was beautiful and lastly Bercouli’s epic dual with Vector that while ending the life and career of Underworld’s oldest knight helped snatch victory from Vector’s grasp and of course Kirito’s epic dual with Vassago and later Gabriel that served to end the war.

In terms of enemy and creature variety within the series I felt that the series while doing well in featuring what can be said to be the staple of fantasy world races in the form of the Goblin’s, Orcs, Ogre’s and dark humans and dragons also did well to feature original ideas like giants and unique characters like Chudelkin and the administrator's sword golem. While the variety of enemies and creatures that were featured within the series served well to present foes that Kirito and Allies had to fight and triumph against, I felt that within the series this was also reinforced by the fact that these enemies also were much more lifelike than previous enemies and thus much more deadly. Within the series unlike past enemies that were featured within the franchise the enemies within this arc not only displayed intelligence and cunning but each also had their own desires and goals that they wanted the war to provide them. This within the series was shown well in the unique cunning that the goblins possessed as well as desires that were expressed by the pugilists and Orcs. The expansion of the Orcs in particular I felt was especially well done and while their leaders were no less expanded than the rest seeing the physical and emotional toll that Gabriel’s war was having on their people was no less startling with the icing on the cake being the forced sacrifice of a full half of their population to fuel Gabriel’s war. While certainly tragic this act of madness also served well to allow us to see a rare glimpse of the tragic consequences for them as they realized that in this war the lives that they must pay for a possible victory were a steep one indeed.

Voice acting-wise I felt that overall the series main voice cast all did an excellent job at portraying their assigned characters whether they were main or support ones. In particular, I felt that Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Nobunaga Shimazaki, Ai Kayano, and Haruka Tomatsu all did an excellent job at portraying their assigned characters of Kirito, Eugeo, Alice, and Asuna respectively. In addition, I also felt that there are many support characters and assigned seiyuu’s and voice actors that deserve special mention thanks to their excellent portrayals of their assigned characters within the series. These include Ayana Taketatsu whose portrayal of the fairy swordswoman Leafa/Terraria that fought against eye breaking odds was particularly impressive, Miyuki Sawashiro whose portrayal of the ever calm and wise Shino Asada/ Sinon served to bring much needed calm and rock steady aim to the battlefield, Megumi Han for her portrayal of the ever reliable swordswoman, Upperclassman and later guard captain Sortiliena Serlut, Sanae Kobayashi for her portrayal of Rinko Koujiro, Hikaru Hanada for his portrayal of the wise knight Deusolbert , Konomi Kohara and Hina Kino for their portrayal of the integrity knights Fizel and Linel, Junichi Suwabe and Hitomi Nabatame for their portrayal of Knight commander Bercouli and vice commander Fanatio, Rina Hidaka for her portrayal of Silica, Mutsumi Tamura for her portrayal of Renry the coward knight who nonetheless managed to redeem his honor and fight with distinction in the war, Takeaki Masuyama for his portrayal of Alice’s faithful apprentice Eldrie , Sakura Tange for her portrayal of Cardinal, Taku Yashiro for his portrayal of Iskahn the leader of the dark territories Pugilist’s guild and lastly the trinity of villains in the form of Akira Ishida, Tsuyoshi Koyama and Maaya Sakamoto whose portrayal of the characters Gabriel Miller, Vassago and Quinella/Administrator was just amazing.

Of seiyuu’s from this list that deserves mention include Kaori Ishihara and Reina Kondou who portrayed the characters of Tiese and Ronnie respectively. While their portrayals of their respective characters were impressive, I felt that they deserve mention on account of their determination to continue portraying their characters in the aftermath of the infamous rape scene that would have been shocking and stressful to them. This determination to continue on I felt did well to showcase not only their strong work ethic but their professionalism as seiyuu’s as well. I hope that this experience while a hard one will be a great stepping stone that will allow both to advance their careers as seiyuu’s. Another seiyuu that I felt special mention was Ayahi Takagaki’s portrayal of the character Lisbeth. While Lisbeth’s role within the series as a frontline combatant was a relatively minor one her role in calling upon allies to fight alongside them within Underworld in the leadup to the intervention of Japan’s VRMMO veterans in the war of Underworld through her speech within ep11 of the series was particularly impressive not just in terms of content but also in the sheer emotion that Ayahi infused within her delivery of her lines that served to resonate well with everyone that saw it including me.

Music-wise the series made use of 4 openings and 5 ending themes respectively. Of these, while all of them were excellent songs my favourite openings were ADAMAS, Resister, and Resolution that was performed by veteran singers LISA, ASCA, and veteran seiyuu singer Haruka Tomatsu while my favourite endings were Forgot me Not, Unlasting and I will that was performed by ReoNa, LISA, and Eir Aoi respectively. In terms of the series’ OST, I felt that overall the one featured was excellent and was one that had both excellent variety as well as some amazing pieces that were used in the series notable fights with notable ones in my opinion being the piece featured in the fight against Quinella and Kirito’s dual with Alice.

Overall conclusion

In overall Sword Art Online Alicization, I felt was an excellent anime series that had among its main strong points in my opinion an excellent premise, an excellent story that made effective use of a well thought out world, excellent characters, voice acting, music, combat scenarios and an intriguing look into not only the creation and correct usage of Artificial intelligence in the real world but also whether the bonds that are forged between artificial intelligence and human beings are genuine or simply an illusion.

Arguably one of the Sword Art Online Alicization’s main strong points in my opinion was its unique premise and setting. Since the beginning of the series back when SAO first aired in 2012 Sword Art online has served to allow us to enter many new, beautiful, and unique worlds that featured an excellent variety of settings that did well to entertain both fans and casual viewers alike. Whether it’s the fantasy setting of SAO 1, Fairy Tale like setting of SAO’s fairy dance arc, or the adrenaline and bullet filled battlefields of SAO 2 over the years the franchise had created many worlds to showcase the many possibilities that VRMMO’s have brought in the 21st century. However despite these numbers and despite marked improvements in its world-building to me, the world’s that the franchise created while certainly beautiful and having their own unique charms had always felt they were missing something. This was an effective world-building. Rather than being a product of a lack of imagination for the author it can be said that this problem was due to the fact that the SAO series takes place as its core narrative across many different worlds. As a result, while the series served to introduce plenty of worlds to us the speed of its advance meant that it did not have the luxury of time to develop and expand upon any of them until now.

What served to make the series overall story so interesting in my eyes was not only the introduction of a brand new world to explore by Kirito and his team but also of the fact that unlike past worlds that were featured within the world of SAO the world of Underworld was a world that felt alive. Because unlike the other worlds that were presented so far the world of Underworld was different in that not only was it not populated by standard game AI’s but it also had elements that simulated the real world in a way that’s surprisingly natural which within the series was shown in the form of a class-based society that followed a strict social system and laws that served to not only define the role that one had within society but also dictated what their day to day activities looked like. When used in conjunction with both the natural lore and mythology of the world that brought to the world not only the dragons that were ridden by the integrity knights but also the many races of the dark territory this served I felt to create an excellent canvas in which we can overlay the series story on to. The overall story for the series I felt was also one of the series main strong points which while certainly entertaining was helped by several factors that served to enhance its delivery and make it much more enjoyable in our eyes. These included its marriage with a virtual living world as discussed above, an interesting insight into not only the best in class-based societies but also the worst, excellent pacing and effective usage of phases that served to enhance the flow of the story in line with the stakes being raised ever higher within the story.

In the past due largely to lack of world-building and expansion into the worlds that were featured thus far it was relatively difficult to see and understand the level of bonds that were forged between Kirito and his ever-growing team. While Kirito’s core team of himself, Asuna, Lisbeth, Silica, Klein, and Agil were understandable as they like him were fellow SAO survivors that managed to surpass death itself, and Leafa and Sinon were relatives and close comrades respectively apart from them you didn’t get much indication that there were stronger bonds that have served to link them with the other players that they encounter in their travels. However, within this series, I felt that the creator of the series Reki Kawahara sensei had served to recognize this flaw within his series and implemented some much-needed changes to not only make the bonds that are forged between the cast to be much more natural through skilful inlaying of both shared physical trials but also effective emotional investment within them. While serving to expand upon the characters within the series this method I felt also served to add additional emotional depth to the cast and make them much more relatable to us fans. This within the series is shown well in the relationships and bonds that were forged between Kirito and Eugeo and Alice. However, while serving admirably in making the new cast members that much more lifelike and relatable to us fans this shared concept was also expanded effectively to form a newfound sense of motivation for other VRMMO players that Kirito and team have encountered while exploring the VR world.

For like Kirito and his friends there are many VRMMO players who despite coming from not just all walks in life but also from every country around the world who like them enjoy the freedom and sense of enjoyment that can come from entering the VR world and playing together with their friends and comrades. To them, the VR world is a realm that not only transcends social classes but also national borders as well and is a space where one can forget the often-stuffy nature that comes from social classes and real-world issues and instead focus on having fun. Whether you win or lose in battle, have a mishap while out questing, or end up rescuing a newbie from a quest that they were not supposed to do until much later being able to adventure together with both your friends and random players and forging connections with them as you laugh together, triumph together, cry together and rage together these connections that you forge are not mere illusions but bonds that are genuine and tangible and ones that are more than enough motivation for one to make use off when this sacred space that’s unique to you and your friends and comrades is threatened.

This unique view within the series is shown best in Lisbeth’s speech in which she not only lays out the powerful bonds of friendship that she has forged with her friends but also of the many worries that she has regarding how their shared world is being ridiculed and at times threatened with closure by common society on account of their lack of knowledge on a world that’s just a childish game but yet is akin to a second home for them. This sense of belief when used in conjunction with the skilful inlaying of individual self, emotional investment, and a desire to protect a space that’s threatened by outsiders who know nothing of the kind of connections and memories that are contained within it I felt served as an effective source of not just motivation but also a realization of Reki Kawahara’s aim of creating worlds where every player is equal regardless of social class, age and nationality and that the VR world is a canvas that will allow them to pursue their dreams regardless of their standing in society a revelation that ensured that despite the odds arrayed against them that the hearts of VRMMO players are united in their determination to save Underworld from its invaders.

In overall Sword Art Online Alicization, I felt was an excellent series that featured among its primary strong points an excellent premise, story, characters, voice acting combat scenarios, and a surprising array of villains that were not only a threat physically but mentally as well. While Sword Art Online as a franchise has always been one that tried to interweave the events of the real world with the events of the Virtual world I felt that within Alicization that it finally succeeds in doing so thanks to not only the threat posed by the introduction of foreign players that Gabriel led into Underworld but also the physical realization of the many dreams and hopes that VRMMO players actualize as they form connections within the VR world that led them to take up arms against not only the invaders but government meddling as well and in doing so stand by side with players that come from all walks in life, social classes, and nationalities. Even within the relatively peaceful 21st century seeing this unified front of humanity as they stand and fight for their worlds was an inspiring sight. While the concept of artificial intelligence and its application within the real world as a tool to be used on the battlefield was mainly used as a plot element to give Kirito and his allies an overall goal that must be prevented at all costs the introduction off and reveal of Alice the world’s first top-down Artificial intelligence I felt served to not only show the world what the VR world is capable of creating but also raise some rather interesting questions on the kind of roles that AI’s can play within our world specifically how do you define what is real in a given world and whether the relations that you form with them are genuine bonds or simply figments of one’s imagination questions that resonate well with not just the revelations from this arc but also on the core values of the SAO franchise.

As a final score, I would say that Sword Art Online Alicization easily deserves a final score of 10/10 for in my opinion Sword Art Online Alicization can be seen to be a success and joy for all of the parties involved be it members of A1 studios production team who created the anime, the seiyuu’s who worked so hard to portray their assigned characters and the author whose gradual development of writing skill and world-building can be seen clearly in this series. For me, Alicization was a series that I thoroughly enjoyed and indeed was one of the best series for this anime season.

This second act of War of the Underworld delivers sincerely spectacular animation and sound design.

The story gets really hit or miss in places, and there's a lingering issue of the anime adaptation not doing a great job of explaining how "Incarnation" works which leads to some confusion about where all of the power spikes come from during the action scenes.

If you're already a fan of Sword Art, then this finale of the Alicization arc delivers on great action so it will definitely be enjoyable for you. If you're not a fan of Sword Art but are still watching it for some reason 4 ... seasons later well this particular arc probably won't change your mind.

SAO is no stranger to heavy plot armour , cheap characterization, one-note evil villains, irrational plot, and this season 3 pretty much sums up everything bad about SAO and put it into one whole season. Somehow episode 6 is the embodiment of all the worst elements of SAO.

Let's ignore the appalling and totally out of place tentacle rape from the very first episode and move on just to the story element of SAO S3.

SAO takes the route of typical shonen powerup system, aka. power of friendship/ power of love, but executes them in the most generic , uncreative, boring, cliche, unbearable way possible.
The problem is ... the pacing overall is just very bad and it just doesn't get the point of why these powerup is significant, especially with those comedic villains that just happens to have infinite hp as long as the killing blow is not done by Kirito.

When 50k enemy trope invaded UW, instead of coming up strategies to fight back, instead of retreat, instead of doing anything meaningful, instead of discuss with the Knights and the soldiers about what to do, all stupid Kirito's harem do is praying for Kirito to fight off 50k tropes for them. Like wth? Why do they assume Kirito can fight 50k tropes at once, w/o knowing how the incarnation works in UW world?

So basically everyone just worship him as god, and assume that as soon as he wake up, 50k tropes will be a cake to deal with and everything will be fine. And then Kirito ofc woke up and able to do exactly what everyone expected him to do and become Jesus.
This is terrible writing and characterization.

Also don't get me started how pointless that trauma part and wake up part is.
You can put this wake up sequence on the first episode of season 2 and it'd make absolutely no difference because all of those things done in S2/ S3 are unrelated to what makes Kirito wakes up, and unrelated to Kirito's trauma.
The fact that they never mention/ showcase any sign of trauma throughout the entirety of Alicization story during Kirito's time in UW world before he went into coma further proves how pointless the whole trauma scene is.

You can skip the whole war thing, whole Alice with Kirito thing, whole everyone talking to Kirito thing and the whole wakeup sequence would be unaffected whatsoever. Apparently all you need to do is let the outside ppl connect 4 of his harems' memories.
Screw all the development, screw every other characters that try to help Kirito, screw the whole war, they're completely unrelated. Even w/o the war Kirito will wake up anyway.

Also not just Kirito, the characterization and asspull of all the villains are even worse.
PoH being the worst villain so far with all the bullshit and infinite life.
As if he's the only guy out of all the 80000 players that have sad/ hateful memory , what gives him right to do all those asspull?
Apparently out of all the 80000 otakus, there're only 2 guys with infinite will power and imagination to do whatever they want in UW world, which is Kirito and PoH, all the rest are bunch of idiots that can't do shit with no past , no memory, and no will of their own. Yeah, it's just heavy plot armours for the the convenience of story.

Overall, good animation and soundtrack can no longer save this dumpster fire plot and characters for SAO: Alicization.
Back in day when I watched the first half of SAO: Alicization season 1, I once thought SAO has the potential for being something good, but this season has proven me wrong in the most disheartening fashion.

Sword Art Online has done it once again. With Alicization basically being over at this point and the next few episodes will be heavily story based from what I have heard, I decided to write a review. This review is written by myself, I have not read the novels up to this point so this will be anime only. Spoilers may be inevitable.

Story is easily a 9/10. It was a bit hard to follow here and there but overall the story was really good. I felt the pain of the three goddesses and everyone else in the war, fighting not only for themselves but for ... Kirito. Everyone was connected to Kirito in one way or another, either friend or foe. It was as if I too had connected to Kirito as well.

Pretty much everything in the series was led up to this point, the climax of SAO. Every bit of this dark fantasy VRMMO series finally comes together, all building up to the final fight. Not much else I can say besides the fact that the story held up, I was able to easily understand most of it, pacing was very good, and the plot ever since the first episode of Alicization was very interesting.

However, as a fan of the series, I do understand its flaws. For starters, After Kirito woke up he did that cool hand trick and blasted Vassago away. This made no sense to me. Things like "incarnation" confuses me in SAO, so I usually blame it on that if I don't understand. Another issue was that Kirito could use sacred arts on the spot rather than saying "system call. Generate thermal element." Before saying "discharge." This was never thoroughly explained to me, and caught me off guard when he just started flying. When he grew wings (and pretty much every scene Yuuki or Eugeo was in) was also poorly explained. It felt like they were trying to keep the story going rather than explaining the story. But, I was able to piece everything together with the help of the light novel readers and by making it make sense in my own way. This kept the score at a 9 rather than dropping to a 7 or 8.

Art is a 10/10. The animation was movie quality, in fact, I would go as far to say it looked better than Ordinal Scale. There were many great impact shots along with fights like Bercouli vs Gabriel, Asuna vs Vassago, and Kirito vs Gabriel where the animation looked completely different. This gave those special fights more feeling and hype. Art is usually what everyone praises SAO for, and I can't argue with that. Some of the best animation and art I have ever saw.

I was also impressed by the amount of limbs that were cut off and the gore that was added. Unlike the first 2 cours, these last two didn't hold back in any of their animation.

Sound is also a 10/10. Another thing people rank very high when it comes to SAO. Sword on sword during clashes sounded perfect. All the sword skills sounded exactly how I imagined they would. There was deffinetly less moments for sound to really show in this cour compared to the last 3 cours, but what sounds we did hear had so much impact in them that they felt heavy. When Bercouli walked on air, each footstep sounded like a gladiators, as if he could just step on Gabriel and defeat him like that. The OSTs were also just as beautiful and fantastic as the past 2 seasons and the movie. I really enjoyed hearing Yuna sing again.

Character is a 10/10 as well. And as shocking as some of you may find this, please read my explanation. Each character had big moments, whether it be through feeling and emotion or power. Even some of the random soldiers dying made me feel a lot. Kirito is back and finally reclaimed his crown as the god of anime. Ever since season one, it was clear Kirito had gone through a lot of mental problems. Mainly PTSD, regret, and depression. It was also clear he was suicidal, but he knew better. In one of the more recent episodes, The Nightmare happened. In this scene, we really see Kirito's mind, everything he has and still hates. He hated himself so much he would rather have his life over the others that did die. He knows he shouldn't have gotten this far, but somehow fought through to this point. Kirito has always been a protector. Like a father to his children, he never let people hurt those he loved. But now we get to see the other side of Kirito that had remained hidden up until now.

Leafa was also amazing this season. She picked an account that would heal herself when she got hurt. She endured the pain and had to go through endless suffering and torture. One girl even tried to suck Leafa's HP and transfer it to herself. To see her go through so much just to ensure her "brother's" safety is what truly made her character shine. Even smaller characters were amazing. Lilpilin (I believe his name was) had a huge change in his character throughout the entirety of the last cour and this one, though they really didn't show too much of it and only what was important. All the characters show so much and add so much to other characters.

Enjoyment is a 9/10. Not the best cour of Alicization to be fair. I did enjoy the fight scenes and The Nightmare. SAO as a whole is a 10/10, but this cour in particular went to a 9. It's always been my favorite anime (now my 2nd favorite). I was really satisfied by how it turned out. Each episode gave me more hype than a video game I waited 2 years for. But a couple of the episodes didn't feel as good as the rest did. If you watched this cour you should know what those couple episodes are.

Overall score of 10/10. Very solid cour, no SAO fan should be upset. I heard many things got cut, some were not worth complaining about to be honest. But in the end, as an anime only fan, I saw no problems besides a few missing explanations and some of the overhyped fights that didn't look as good as it seemed to be promising (though they never promised anything to begin with). SAO is a must watch anime, and this cour is a must watch as well. Please do not stop watching it before watching up to this cour.

This second season of War of Underworld is hideous, mediocre and meaningless in many ways, so they tried to hide it through excellent animation and a fairly acceptable sound, but without needing to be a detail person or pay much attention to the history alone, you will notice all the inconsistencies here.

In terms of history, development and characters, the war continues in Underworld, only now dozens of characters have entered that do not contribute absolutely anything since their only function is to be exaggeratedly dramatic and show the viewer gore scenes that are absolutely unnecessary. Oh, I almost forgot the true role of these characters ... ... Saying "Kirito help me / save me" throughout the show just to make Kirito look like some kind of hero, when they are fully capable of defending themselves, leaving aside some of them have accounts of administrator or just a very high level and useful skills.

In the case of the "terrorists" they are really nothing special, apart from being extremely strong and ignoring all logic of the game, they do not contribute anything to the story or development despite being the main enemy.

Also, how was to be expected throughout these 11 chapters there is an apparent nonsense situation at all times, for example, a robot with a soul inside ran out of fuel and magically, because his loved one encouraged him, it works again or when Shino is saved by an object she had and was supposedly Kirito, who was more than still and without "life" in a wheelchair.

As I mentioned at the beginning, they try to hide all of the above with an animation that is worthy of applause, in the same way with the music and sound, but unfortunately this aspect also has its problems or small aspects to improve. In terms of character design, they are all very "flat" and the colors are the same in all their clothes or face, there is no evidence of any change in the tones, which is strange when compared with that fluid and detailed animation, but Of course, this one also has one thing or another to improve and that is that despite looking so good they exaggerate it too much and I would not be surprised if someone had an epileptic attack when they saw so many colors and lights that are left over, but how I mentioned they did it like that to try to make the viewer not notice the rest of the details that make SAO such an illogical work in many respects. And as for the setting, as expected as well as the characters, it is exaggeratedly simple.

In terms of sound, I consider that it is the only one that almost does not present problems since in battles they present us with something pleasant to listen to and that goes according to the situation and both the opening and ending themes are good.

Finally, let's talk about the enjoyment of this program, although there are scenes or events that are meaningless and overlook the limits of the Underworld itself, I believe that this program can only be enjoyed if we ignore the story and the characters, it is I mean, spend a few hours of your life to see a somewhat exceptional animation and sound, but nothing more, just that, do not demand a good story or anything similar, because you will be more than disappointed.

Although being realistic, I think it has been one of the "best" seasons of Sword Art Online to be so immersed in another world and show us another universe with more characters and stories, which personally are better than the real world.

Oh well, here my review ends, I hope you have enjoyed your reading and learned a thing or two about this program and in the same way, you have decided to watch it or not.

Have a nice day.