Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld 2nd Season Episode 9 Discussion

ChetanS said:
Excellent! Keep it up.

Prosper the virtual world with "200" of love, ASUNA & KIRITO. 200 kids in 20min. :)

Finally it looks like ASUNA & KIRITO are gonna spend some time with each other. Want to see the next episode totally dedicated to that, "if they are really gonna spend 200 years".

MrBluebear said:
So supposedly in Underworld now, the Moon Cradle take place right if I'm not mistaken?

Short_Circut said:

and you'd think for a bunch of super duper villains, they'd at least put the super deadly explosive device in somewhere that wasn't so obvious lol

Piromysl said:


There must be some logical explanation why they have so much power. I understand that Asuna logged in high level character, but Kirito went from Zero to God in like one episode.
Please, explain.

Cleostar said:


The simple answer is because Kirito beat the Administrator Quinella. She even said herself: "Show me the power that I inherited you".
Incarnation works well alongside Authority. So the more authority you have, the more incarnation works.

Well It's just a logical response after what I read in the novels.
But this "Kayaba" whole thing in this episode is truly a joke.
It's literally ruined entire previous episodes efforts. Even the ending.

WHY WOULD YOU EVEN ADAPTED THIS IN WHOLE ONE EPISODE? :'))

NF138 said:
I wonder what happened to Vassago's body.

CrossBlack said:
Can't they just stop with this bullshit of bringing back old characters because the author doesn't know how to write a story?

The episode was pretty boring , it's been pretty hard to get invested in this season and they are just making it worse by focusing on side characters trying to make the plot make any sense.

Piromysl said:


Kind of makes sense. Thank you. And at least everyone can agree that Heartcliff coming out of literal nowhere despise being dead is an inexcusable asspull, but it may foreshadow Sachi somehow coming back. She deserved better.
Also, Asuna deciding to spend 200 years in game also makes no sense and the only explanation is that they really want to spend some value time together. But I doubt she asked him first.

Marinate1016 said:
Too much Kirisuna. Not enough Alice. 0/10 ep.

Rob7 said:


Jokes aside, there in the beginning of the Alicization season i was expecting:

- We already know that the main "moral" behind SAO is: "Virtual life IS real life". The whole thing with "the importance of the memories of 2 years in Aincrad" is about it.

- Kirito become a vegetable in the real world. Family and friends was expecting the RATH to heal him. What i do expect? Kirito just will live the rest of his days in that place 100% similar to real world, become a 100% virtual life, and Asuna will be okay with that.





So it went in different way, but no so much different. After all, Kirito and Asuna will live "the rest of their lifes" in a Virtual World, and the plot found a way to preserve their real bodies: super-acceleration of time.


And the "next" Arc in fact will be retrospect arc about the time they spent in Underworld.



Guys, it is the endgame for Kirito x Asuna. Anything more about them would be ridiculous, for example, if they just return with the same mind to real world.

200 years, more than 2 or 3 complete human lifetimes. Everything they could do, they did, everything they could think, they thought, everything they could learn, they learned. There is no way to somebody have 200 years of experience and still be the same person.

And the overload of memories? Do you remember that the ALL-MIGHTY Quinella had to split helself in 2 because her capacity of load memories was compromised after so long lifetime?

They could find way to keep their promisse of remember about their friends and some stuff, but the PERSONALITY, it is impossible the keep it the same.


It is OKAY if they return concious and not with a potato dead brain. I like SAO, but i will give a 5 to this season if Kirito and Asuna "for the power of love, friendship, and fluctolighto mumbo-jumbo" return just as the immature youngsters they were, and not like an ancient couple with 200 years of wisdom.

The only way they could keep their personality is if their brain was erased and reseted to the point they entered in the Underworld.

Inorichi said:


Unvoiced Monologue Explaining Kayaba as a Character
Finally the decision not to include this also upsets me to no end. Not even in a show, not tell sort of fashion. This one was a big slap in the face tbh.

Yautja said:
SAO, yet again, shits the bed at the end. What an undeniable trend. Something no-one can defend.

Perhaps the worst of all SAO's finales.

Cleostar said:


this is what I've been wondering for so long. SAO anime lacks the depth of explanation that the novels had ever since season 1. What the hell A-1 has been doing for long time? They never learn from past mistakes.

The scenario movement was always just move forwards whatsoever with the lack of plot twists (which is actually very necessary because SAO is hard to preach for audiences about the actual meaning of their powers despite SAO is categorized as neither SciFi nor Mystery)

Rob7 said:



At this point it is not a mistake by A-1, it is on purpose.

The Director is aware that Kayaba's endgame is about "spirit, soul", almost religious afterlife mumbo-jumbo, and he despises it.

@Inorichi did a great sumary about the most important revelations that were cuted. It too consistent for a mistake. A-1 don't want the anime have this moral behind it.

I'm curious what tbe author of SAO think about this point of the adaptation. Probably he is forbidden by contrat to leak any word about it.

ChetanS said:
Hi @Rob7,
ASUNA & KIRITO are not virtual humans (even if they are in virtual reality). Whatever one says, QUINELLA is a virtual character (i.e she isn't real) so there must be obviously a limit to her memory storage even if she is shown to have human qualities.

If i be realistic, QUINELLA is just isn't possible ; the idea of being a human (she is administrator/god) & not having the "best" memory storage, already denies the idea that she is real.

Humans can not only STORE, but are also able to DELETE, MODIFY & even EMPTY their memories as per their will. There's also a Godly state (in real) in which human can literally know & access everything even if they don't have any memory in the physical body.
Even if i said this, KIRITO & ASUNA (normal humans) might or might not be able to do what i mentioned above, which might prove you're right. I JUST WANTED TO TELL YOU THE POSSIBILITY WHICH NOT MANY OF US ARE AWARE.

Its fun when someone replies to my comment. :)

PraizOP said:
I liked this episode but it was confusing as hell.
-Kayaba in a robot? How did that even happen. Just showed up out of nowhere.
-I understand Gabriel’s death, but how did his brother die. It looked like Gabriel died to some type of mental problem but his brother should’ve just gotten logged out.

Other than these, I liked how the assistant guy volunteered to go remove the bomb and how Niemon actually played a good part in it all. Wished they could’ve added some clips of Kirito and Asuna living out the 100+ years in the Underworld.

Inorichi said:
Hello again everyone, I'm here to write an encyclopedia page to myself again!
Seriously, who is directing this? It's like whoever adapted the first 4 episodes went MIA. From incredible anime only content to engage the viewer and keep the exposition easily understandable, we have the most mindless cutting of dialogue period.

Although the Kayaba scene was pretty good imo, it was nowhere near as good as it should have been. Same with the Kirito-Asuna scene epilogue, why they decided to use a Tender Feeling ost literally back to back after a 10s pause? (when theres literally almost a hundred osts to choose from) I have absolutely no idea.

Art & Animation - Thank you for the first time this season, I don't need to flood the thread with screenshots that hurt my soul. Although there was some odd faceless scene at the Kirito-Asuna epilogue, at the very least the art wasn't a rollercoaster of epic battle to ran out of budget.

Seriously, compared to last episode there's significantly more LN readers that have some form of praise. I don't get it. It's like we read different novels and watched different anime.

Kayaba's Development as the First Antagonist of SAO Cut. Beyond disappointing, it's an utter insult.
Seriously, this one upset me. Although it wasn't a climax battle, in the novels, I felt that Kayaba's return held significant importance and was incredibly 'hype'. His return had a significantly larger presence on the story and felt more emotional due to the context of the arc.

What happens in the anime? Instead of having Rinko and the staff notice one of their robots have gotten highjacked, lets just make Kayaba appear in the middle of a firefight. ??? Like his introduction is literally in the middle of a fucking gunfight, and then they decide to have Kayaba suddenly have a conversation while taking a bunch of bullets.......


Instead of just downright having Rinko mindlessly and confusedly asking if that's Kayaba, having the VA literally just voice the words "I will go" would have had much more impact on those in the audience that recognize the voice and will provoke certain thoughts to those who faintly remember hearing it somewhere before. Not to mention Rinko fucking lived with this man and loved him, she should recognize his voice with a bit more emotion rather than confusedly asking if it's actually him.

Also it kinda makes more sense that he's having a conversation not in the middle of a firefight...

Unvoiced Monologue Explaining Kayaba as a Character
Finally the decision not to include this also upsets me to no end. Not even in a show, not tell sort of fashion. This one was a big slap in the face tbh.

-----
It was true that they had faced many dangers so far. But Rinko felt
that she understood why Kayaba had chosen this moment to shed
his role as an observer.

“…He’s not doing it for Underworld. That man has no intention of
intervening with the simulation. He chose this moment to reveal
himself because he wants to protect Kirigaya-kun and Asunasan…”
----

Although, the first season wasn't without it's flaws as an adaptation. Disregarding Ordinal Scale, I feel like these few lines sum up Kayaba Akihiko, our first antagonist of this franchise, perfectly, yet whoever is directing doesn't decide to add it for whatever reason...

It cements and clarifies Kayaba's position as not a villain, but an observer with interests that once distraught the main character, and it even slightly builds his character as someone who has some feelings of care for Kirito and Asuna. (Yes they cut the ramen restaurant thing from S1, but his portrayal in the climax of Alfheim was enough to show that he doesn't downright disregard the two). Instead, Kayaba remains some random 'oh so mysterious' super genius that nobody can comprehend why he does anything.

Cutting Explanation of the Overarching Plot of the Entire Franchise

Honestly, at the very least, this line should have been monologued by Rinko's thoughts.

"That’s what you noticed and discovered during your two years in that floating castle — their infinite potential, and the dazzling, blinding light of their spirits."

It doesn't take a scientist to figure out that the premise of Sword Art Online (franchise, not arc1) is about incarnation or human will transcending the limits imposed by a system if you're reading the novels. However, if you're watching the anime... You may need a whole squad of researchers, since it may be safe to say that the director probably doesn't even know.

Miracles vs Plot Devices
—I don’t believe in miracles.

Kayaba Akihiko said to Rinko that day — the day that the death
game SAO was cleared far ahead of schedule and every player was
released.

His eyes shone with an unwavering light, and his unshaven mouth
was curved into the hint of a smile.

—But today, for the first time in my life, I witnessed a miracle.

—I had him at the end of my sword; his HP should have dropped
to zero for good. But almost as if he were resisting the system
itself, he refused to accept his own destruction… then he moved
his right hand, and thrust his own sword into my chest.

—That moment might have been just what I’ve been waiting for
all this time…

Finally, after 5 years the mysterious reason as to why Kayaba Akihiko trapped TEN THOUSAND PLAYERS in a Death Game, may have been revealed. A-1 decides to fuck over everyone and anyone following this series. I genuinely fail to understand what the director is doing with this anime. At this point I genuinely think they despise this franchise or something and is subtly fucking with anyone who wants to watch it.

The only single praiseworthy decision in this adaptation was the inclusion of the butterfly on the flower, which first introduced us to this arc and the Underworld in episode 1. I think it was brilliant they decided to have the same scene conclude the Underworld.

Syureria said:
The robot is Kayaba Akihiko. I really don't understand.

Karsaaa said:
Kirito and Asuna stayed behind after getting Alice out. Both the Vissago and Miller are dead and to my freaking surprise, Akihiko comes back to save the day. Legit jumped out of my chair because of that.