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.
Aug 30, 2020
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 ... |
