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Sword Art Online: Alicization- War of Underworld Episode 33 Review/Recap

In a series titled Sword Art Online, one would think the main focus would be on swordsmen and women, yet that’s not always been the case. There have been times when the heroes have used other weapons in VRMMO’s like guns, bows, spears and the like. However, I never thought we’d see the day when we saw a swordswoman fight a martial artist. Sword and Fist clash in the latest episode of War of Underworld.

LINK START!

Recap

Having gotten his attention, Vecta/Gabriel sends all his forces after Alice and the decoy force. At the head of the vanguard is Iskahn, leader of the Pugilists (boxers) guild. However, they’re halted by Sheyta, a quiet Integrity Knight with a love of cutting things up. With her razor thin sword, she proceeds to Madara Uchiha the Pugilists. As a result, Iskahn decides to step in and fight her himself.

Despite her razor-sharp blade, Iskahn’s able to hold her own against Sheyta. The Pugilists train their bodies to be tougher than blades, and as their leader, Iskhan’s body’s crazy strong. Sword and fist clash on equal footing before Sheyta withdraws. However, the experience has earned the two a respect for the other.

Meanwhile, the supply camp’s ambushed by Vassago. He goes Assassin’s Creed on most of the guards before turning his attention of Ronye and Tiese. However, before he can kill them, a shining figure the girls call “Stacia” appears in the sky and drives him off. To Vassago’s shock, he realizes that “Stacia” is really Asuna.

IT’S ABOUT TIME!

Review

The sword vs. fist fight of this episode was interesting, to say the least. At the least, I think that Sheyta’s a more interesting character than most of the Integrity Knight’s we’ve seen so far. As for Iskahn, though, he reminds me too much of your stock Shonen hero. With his confident personality and love of fighting, it’s like he’s a miniature version of Goku. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but if not used right, characters like Iskahn can end up being one note. The same goes for Sheyta, too.

All of that pales compared to the big reveal at the end of the episode: Asuna’s finally in Underworld! Her arrival signals the start of the second half of the war for Underworld. From what I remember of the Light Novels, things are going to get really crazy. In addition, this means that Alice will now learn the truth about Underworld and her importance. Given what I remember from the Light Novels, though, Alice won’t take kindly to Asuna’s prescence. In other words, I think next episode’s going to be fun.

I Give “Sword and Fist” a 3.25/5. Asuna’s Here!

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Sword Art Online: Alicization- War of Underworld Episode 30 Review/Recap

It took us six episodes to get to this point, but at last, the War for Underworld has begun. I waited for this moment since reading about it in the web novels. I wanted it to be what made SAO a good isekai again. However, this first episode felt like a repeat of the Battle of Ice and Fire from Game of Thrones. The difference is that this time we can see what’s going on.

LINK START!

Recap

With the barrier between the Human Empire and the Dark Territory shattered, the War for Underworld begins. The Dark Territory’s plan is simple: win through sheer numbers. Goblins, giants, and more hammer away at the front lines without respite. While the Integrity Knights live up to their power, there are too many enemies. When Deuselbert  runs out of arrows to fire, he resorts to using his sword as an arrow. Eldrie’s position’s covered in smoke, so he can’t fight without hurting his men. As for Fanatio, one of her followers gives their life so she can slay the Chief of the Giants.

Despite the Knights best efforts, they’re fighting a battle they can’t win. One of their members, Renly, is so scared he runs back to the supply depot. Through all of this, Alice watches in the sky overhead, gathering the energy needed for what amounts to a Spirit Bomb.

Review

So far, I think the War for Underworld’s off to a slow start; a very slow start. The anime’s going out of its way to let as many Integrity Knights appear as possible, yet only a handful are shown fighting. After spending the first half of the season focusing on the Knights, it feels like a letdown.

However, I do think that Fanatio and Deuselbert had their own badass moments, so the anime’s at least making an effort. They don’t mentioned as much in the web or light novels. Meanwhile, Alice is flying above the battle pulling a Goku as she charges her attack, so the best Integrity Knight does nothing. However, it’s not Alice I want to see fighting: who I want to see is Asuna.

Asuna logged in several episodes back to find Kirito. However, we’ve yet to see any sign of her in Underworld. When she does show up, though, I can bet she’ll kick some serious butt. I want the War for Underworld to have Asuna kicking ass, but I have to wait who knows how long? Hopefully, next episode will have Asuna make her grand appearance and turn the tide of battle; that’s how these “cavalry ride” scenarios work.

I Give “Battle of the Knights” a 3/5. Give Me Asuna and Leafa now!

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Sword Art Online: Alicization- War of Underworld Episode 28 Review/Recap

Sword Art Online has given us its fair share of villains over the years. While at are great hat sinks (*cough* Sugou and Quinella *cough*), I wouldn’t put them on a list of great anime villains. However, the exception to that has to be the big bad for War of Underworld, Gabriel Miller. I said that he’s a sociopath in my last post. However, it’s not until this episode that shows us how much of a gaming sociopath he is.

Link Start!

Recap

Through a series of flashbacks, we learn about Gabriel’s past. As a boy, Gabriel was fascinated by the idea of the soul, and longed to understand its power. This grew into an obsession as he got older, until one day, he murdered his best friend and childhood sweetheart, Alicia. As she died, he saw her soul leave her body, leading him to spend his life to experiencing that moment again.

In Underworld, Gabriel assumes the role of Vector and seizes power as Emperor of the Dark Territory. Playing off Underworld’s mythology, he vows to invade the Human Empire, promising its land for all in exchange for Alice. However, that night, a woman who’s opposed to his invasion tries to assassinate him. He kills her, and as she dies, witnesses her soul leave her body. Which he then eats.

The following day, Gabriel presents the frozen head of the woman to everyone, which leads to her leader/lover to attack Gabriel by incarnating himself into a storm. That storm’s then sucked into Gabriel’s soul, revealed to be a black void. Unphased, Gabriel then orders the invasion of the Human Empire to begin.

Review

It’s as I said: Gabriel Miller is a gaming sociopath. He’s got no ability to feel emotion, and his soul’s an all-encompassing void that devours everything. In other words, he’s the most evil person in SAO.

As good as the episode was at demonstrating how much of a sociopath Gabriel is, it leaves out some details from the web and light novels. Before he killed Alicia, he started taking insects apart so he could see their souls. That’s very disturbing! In addition to this, the light novel mentions how he becomes obsessed with Alice due to how she looks like Alicia. Even their names are the same. His ultimate goal is to steal Alice for himself and enslave her for his own, perverted goals.

Gabriel Miller’s the most dangerous enemy Kirito and his friends will ever face, and it will take everything they have to destroy him. I am personally looking forward to the fight between Kirito and Gabriel; we know it’s coming. If the show pulls it off right, this may be one of the biggest arcs anime has seen in a decade.

The war for Underworld is mere days away, and a gaming sociopath is leading the Dark Territory. They have 50,000 warriors to the Human Empire’s 3,000. Even with the Integrity Knights power, the heroes will need a miracle. Since Kirito’s in a coma, then maybe Asuna will do the trick!

I Give “Dark Territory” a 3/5. Getting better.

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Sword Art Online: Alicization- War of Underworld Episode 27 Review/Recap

Given what I know about the latter half of Alicization, I hoped that the anime would turn itself around. That it would give more of the action that I wanted to see. While the last episode gave us more of the action, it’s back to the exposition here. Pacing problems have been a recurring problem with this season, but I’m still holding out hope for Alicization.

LINK START!

Recap

In a flashback, we learn the identity of the man leading the assault on the Ocean Turtle. His name is Gabriel Miller, and he got hired by the US Government to steal the AI Rath’s developing. They want to weaponize it so they can maintain their dominance in war. The team that Kirito fought in GGO in the first episode was them; they were practicing for the attack.

However, in the present day, Gabriel’s team is locked out of the area where the Fluctlight cubes are. Thus, they devise of an alternative way to seize their target (Alice). Soon, Underworld will go through “The Final Load Test”, where the barriers between the human empire and the Dark Territory will collapse. Finding two god level accounts in the Dark Territory, Gabriel and his lieutenant use them to log in and use the Dark Territory for themselves.

Meanwhile, Asuna decides to take matters into her own hands. She prepares to log into Underworld herself in order to find Kirito and protect Alice.

Review

I get that exposition and flashbacks are important to moving the plot along, but when you use them too much, a show suffers. Pacing problems have been a big problem of Alicization, and I’m worried it will ruin the war to come. I want to see something as big as the final battle in Avengers: Endgame. Instead, we may get something “The Long Night” from Game of Thrones.

That said, this episode tries to fulfill its purpose, but it misses a few key details about Gabriel. In Tokyo, Sinon has a nightmare of when she fought him in the final round of GGO 4; he strangled her to death with his bare hands. Yet I think the show fails to show how much of a sociopath Gabriel truly is. The web and light novels talk about how he’s obssessed with the soul, and with Alice herself. I hope they show more about it, but if not, click here.

With Gabriel about to seize control of the Dark Territory, all out war is now inevitable. Fortunately, Asuna’s coming to rescue her boyfriend/husbando. Fans should know by now that nothing will stand between an angry Asuna and her goals. Pacing problems or not, I look forward to the war.

I Give “The Final Load Test” a 2.75/5

By the way, pay attention to Gabriel’s lieutenant, Vassago. We’ve seen him before, but I’m not giving any hints.

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Sword Art Online: Alicization, Episode’s 8 and 9 Review/Recap

Two weeks ago, an issue with broadcasting led to the dubbed premiere of an episode of Sword Art Online: Alicization to freeze mid-broadcast. As such, they had to re-air the episode last week to make up for it. Which is why I had no review for it last week.

To make up for it (and possibly to fill out the time slot for Megalo Box), last night gave us a double dose of SAO: Alicization. So, I’m doing the same. It’s a good thing, too, since the plot’s split into these two episodes. TWO FOR TWO, PEOPLE! LINK START!

Recap

“Swordcraft Academy”

It’s been two years now since Kirito and Eugeo left Rulid Village. Together, they’ve journeyed to Centoria and entered the Swordcraft Academy, spending their days training to become swordsmen in order to join the Integrity Knights and find Alice. They’re both serving as apprentices to elite swordsmen, and, of course, Kirito’s mentor is a girl, Sortiliena Serlut

Sortiliena’s the second-ranked student at the Academy, and she’s going to graduate once the semester ends. She’s been practicing with Kirito every day to get better, because she wants to beat the top student, Volo Levantein. Meanwhile, Kirito gets a brand new sword, forged from the branches of the Gigas Cedar.

Kirito’s so excited that he can’t wait to test it out. That turns out to be a bad idea, because he ends up getting dirt on the top student’s uniform.

As punishment for staining his uniform, but really just an excuse to fight him, Volo challenges Kirito to a duel for the entire Academy to bear witness to. Despite his mentor’s advice, Kirito refuses to back down from this challenge, and accepts the terms: first person to get a hit wins.

“Swordsman’s Pride”

The duel between Kirito and Volo is so epic, instead of saying anything, I’ll just show you what happens.

The main thing that Kirito take from this fight is the notion that in Underworld, people can use the power of their will and imagination to make things that would be otherwise impossible possible. Sort of like what he did when he beat Kayaba all those years ago.

Kirito’s pride at fighting the top student to a standstill is cut short, though, when its discovered two pompous noblemen students had wrecked his gift for
Sortiliena: a rare type of flower she loves that normally can’t be grown in the north

Kirito gets really upset, not only because he can’t give his mentor her gift, but because he saw himself in the flowers: things living in a foreign land, just like him. Just when he starts crying, a voice tells him to use the power of his will and imagination to save the flowers

Thanks to that, Kirito is able to save his flowers. Not long afterwards,
Sortiliena beats Volo to graduate as the top student at Swordcraft Academy, with Kirito giving her his gift on her graduation day. Kirito and Eugeo thus advance to become Elite Disciples, meaning they’re the fifth and sixth top students in the academy, with valets of their own: Tiese Shtolienen and Ronye Arabel.

DO I HEAR SEVEN GIRLS?!?

Review

When I first saw these episodes last week, I thought that it was a nice treat to get two episodes of SAO in one night. After watching them again, I still think that. Though, to be honest, I think it seems silly for Kirito to have to be in a school about being a swordsman. He’s already one of the best swordsmen there is. Is what I used to think.

Watching him train at the Academy, though, made me realize that Kirito still has a lot left to learn about being a swordsman, especially in Underworld. The one thing that I really like about these two episodes, though, were the visuals in Volo and Kirito’s fight. The image of Volo’s ancestors using their will to strengthen his own sword was pretty cool to watch. I haven’t seen the rest of the show in sub form, but I hope that they do more of this stuff.

Granted, I am aware how corny the idea of using “imagination” to strengthen one’s attacks in Underworld sounds. If the Abridged series ever gets to it, they’ll probably make fun of it. I take it as a sign of how the will of a person can influence a virtual world. Someone with a good enough understanding of how a virtual reality works would pretty much become a god. Add on the will and creativity of the human condition, and that’s a recipe for something amazing to happen.

Wait…. this feels familiar. Am I thinking of what’s going to happen ahead of time? Ah, well.

Next week, we are going to deal with the inevitably controversial episode of the season. Buckle up, people. We’re going to need to steel ourselves.

I give “Swordcraft Academy” and “Swordsman’s Pride” 3.5/5 and 4/5, each.

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Sword Art Online: Alicization, Episode 6 Review/Recap

This post would have been up sooner, but there were technical difficulties. In the midst of the dubbed premiere of episode 6 of Sword Art Online: Alicization, it. froze up.

Fortunately, I can be very resourceful. I went online to a website I know I can trust to get me the latest episodes of animated shows, and I watched it from there. So here it is, my review/recap of Sword Art Online: Alicization, episode 6

LINK, START!

Recap

The episode picks up where the last one left off, with a very pissed off Asuna demanding one thing from Kikouka: Take me. To Kirito. RIGHT. NOW.

Kikouka then explains the reason why they basically kidnapped Kirito from the hospital: because a hospital wouldn’t be enough. Johnny Black’s attack damaged Kirito’s brain too much for normal tech to heal him. But with the STL, they can create a new neural network, saving his brain. Asuna is happy with this, but Rinko wants her own answers: what is RATH really doing.

Kikouka drops a bombshell: the whole purpose of Underworld is to create a bottom-up AI. Unlike a top-down AI, which is programmed with knowledge to respond to situations. But they can’t respond to situations they don’t know the answer to. Yui may be an exception due to her bond with Kirito and Asuna, but that’s about it.

A bottom-up AI, though, is recreating the human brain through technology. They use the STL to scan people’s mind and souls, then put them into a virtual environement where they can grow and learn like normal humans.

Key thing to note: they can’t just copy an adult’s fluctlight or soul. The copy can’t stand the fact that they’re a copy, go crazy, and kill themselves. So, they have to raise them from infancy. Hence, why Underworld exists. Combine that with accelerating the time in Underworld, and they have an entire civilization.

The only problem is, they refuse, or can’t, go against the Taboo Index. They have no real free will, to choose what to do. Or who to kill. RATH wants to create bottom-up AI to fight in wars so human beings wouldn’t.

Asuna is obviously pissed at this, and so would Kirito if he weren’t in Underworld. But the reason he was in Underworld in the first place was part of an experiment: to see if a human could break the Taboo Index. That led to Alice breaking the Index, and then the Axiom Church took her away, and RATH was too slow to react.

After explaining this to her friends in Alfheim Online, Asuna gets to see Kirito. Afterwards, Rinko tells Asuna that she had helped Kayaba create SAO. She then looked after Kayaba, and she begs Asuna for forgiveness.

In spite of all that happened, though, Asuna’s grateful for being in SAO. It’s how she met her friends, Yui, and Kirito, and she’s grateful for it.

Review

I get why some people don’t like exposition in a story: they want to get on to the fun stuff, like the fights and the plot. But I appreciate it when they do this stuff anyway. It’s necessary in order to explain the backstory behind the characters and their motivations.

This was the episode that was meant to explain everything that was going on: Underworld, Kirito’s involvement, Kikouka’s motivations, and how important Alice really is. It’s necessary to move the plot forward. And honestly, I liked it. Especially considering how next episode, it’s back to the Underworld for the forseeable future.

The only thing I didn’t like was how the whole “reading the soul” thing seems like bullcrap that’s delving into rabbit holes I don’t want to get into. A lot of philosophical, moral, and scientific issues are being brought up here. Right now, I just want to see cool sword fights. Still, I appreciated how Reki Kawahara thought everything out and gave explanations.

Overall, this episode gave me back hope for this season of SAO. And if it doesn’t pan out like Karandi says, then I got the second half of the season to look forward to. Or I can just switch to Rising of the Shield Hero. That’s a good anime.

I Give “Project Alicization” a 4/5

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Sword Art Online: Alicization Review/Recap, Episode 4

Remember how I had said that Sword Art Online: Alicization was going to be a slow burn? Well, a slow-moving story can be worth it as long as the payoff is worth it. As this episode of Sword Art Online shows, the payoff comes in the form of epic fight scenes. Say what you will about SAO, the fight scenes are always awesome.

LINK START!!

Recap

We pick up where the last episode left off: a horde of goblins about to fight Kirito and Eugeo, and Eugeo scared out of his mind. Given everything that Kirito’s been through, this is like another day at the office.

Kirito then comes up with a plan: he fights the boss, while Eugeo deals with the small fry. The fight that follows lives up to the standards that the show sets.

Quick note: unlike previous VRMMO’s, Underworld is meant to be as close to our world as possible. That means when people get cut with swords, they bleed. When they get their arms cut off, they bleed a lot. Just like that goblin leader when Kirito cuts his arm off.

Another quick note: pain is very much a thing in Underworld, and Kirito’s at a disadvantage here. He’s been playing VRMMO’s for so long, he hasn’t experienced pain in a while. When that goblin slashes Kirito across the chest, he is in agony.

Fortunately, Eugeo finally finds his courage and distracts the head goblin, but is mortally wounded in the process. Enraged, Kirito manages to decapitate the guy. The rest of the goblins quickly retreat.

After freeing Selka, she then leads Kiritio in performing an incredibly risky sacred art : transfer their life into Eugeo to keep him from dying. It manages to work, but just before Kirito passes out, he hears a voice. It’s Alice, telling him that she’s waiting for him and Eugeo at the top of the central cathedral in the capital of Centoria.

A few days later, Eugeo and Kirito are back on their feet, and Kirito tries out Blue Rose again. He leveled up from that fight before, so now he can use the sword. And it takes a chunk of life out of the Gigas Cedar!

Eugeo then begs Kirito to train him as a swordsman so he can bring back Alice, and he readily agrees. He also dubs his sword style “Aincrad Style”.

One training montage later, Eugeo can handle Blue Rose like a pro, and just like that, that giant tree’s chopped down. The whole village celebrates! And, in a convenient plot device, Eugeo is now free to choose a new sacred task. He goes with the swordsman, and so Kirito and Eugeo depart for Centoria to become master swordsmen and bring back Alice.

Review

As I said before, the fights in Sword Art Online, however brief they may be at times, can be worth the wait. I’ve read the light novels, so trust me when I say that this was just a warm-up. The second half of the season is going to have some Dragonball Z level fighting.

It was a good warm-up, though. The choreography was good, the pacing and animation met the standards the show has set, and the music was on point. You know it’s going to be good when they start using a remix of swordland.

On that note, though, I do have something I want to discuss: are they overusing swordland? I know that it’s one of the best songs in the show’s soundtrack; it always has. When you hear it, it conveys a purpose, letting the audience know that this fight is going to be good. But it seems like they are using it a little too often now. When they were healing Eugeo, I swear I could hear a soft instrumental remix of it playing.

I like the song, but don’t rely on it exclusively or else its going to get really old really fast.

Also, Selka, why would you go into the mountains on your own? I get that you were trying to prove to yourself that you’re not Alice, but trying to do what got her in trouble isn’t going to help that argument. At least she admits tbat she’ll find her own way of surpassing Alice through the Sacred Arts. She’s got latent talent, so I’ll give her that.

The only other gripe I have about this episode is that they missed a few scenes that were in the light novel. They say the goblins were supposed to fight amongst themselves to determine a new leader, but we never see that. Also, I remember reading that Eugeo announces he’s going to be a swordsman, that jerk guard fights him for it. He doesn’t even show up here. I think it was a wasted chance to see a jerk get clobbered. I don’t even remember his name at this point.

Actually, according to the wiki, there was a lot of creative liberty taken with this episode. There are a lot of differences for each of the previous episodes that I never even knew. Them’s the breaks for not reading the first half of the arc.

So, in the end, this episode was at least 40% action, and 60% dialogue and moving the plot forward. Since this is just the first fight, though, I will give it a pass. I just hope that the fights continue to get better as time goes on.

I Give “Departure” a 3.5/5

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Sword Art Online: Alicization, Episode 1 Review/Recap

As I established last blog, I like Sword Art Online. If you don’t agree with me, you’re welcome to say so. Free Speech is a two-way street. That said, I am moving forward with my plan to review each and every episode of Sword Art Online: Alicization as the dub becomes available. I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum for those who haven’t watched it. Also, I know the entire plot from the light novels, so I may know things that the anime-only fans may not.

Part 1 Recap

The first half of the one-hour premiere starts off with a younger looking Kirito inexplicably in a medieval fantasy world, Underworld, with not mention how he got there or the outside world. He spends his days hanging out with his two best friends in this world, Eugeo and Alice. One day after they finish working, they decide to go on an adventure that ends up taking them close to the edge of Human Territory, and Alice accidentally, barely, touches the soil of the Dark Territory, where humans are forbidden to go.

The next day, one of the holy knights, called Integrity Knight, comes and tells their village that since she broke the rule, she is to be arrested and then probably executed. For breaking a dumb rule. Kirito tries to stop the knight from taking Alice away, but no one else helps him.

Okay, confession time: I didn’t watch this through because A.) I knew what happened beforehand, and B.) the whole angers me beyond belief. Sounds dumb, I know, but I want to explain.

The “no touching Dark Territory” rule is part of a larger set of rules called the Taboo Index that everyone has to follow. Not because they want to or choose to, but because they have literally no other choice. If they even think of defying the Taboo Index, their eye will turn red, and the Taboo Index will try to stop them from breaking the rules. Like with Eugeo:

Look at him. He’s got that “deer in headlights” thing going on, and he can’t do anything about it even if he knows its wrong. Anyone who breaks the Index anyway will meet Alice’s fate.

Maybe it’s from years of reading up on history or watching too many films about fighting against oppressive groups, but the Taboo Index is a concept that I hate with every fiber of my being. It’s basically saying “follow these rules, or die”. Do you know how many people were unfairly treated throughout history because of that mindset? Too many to count! Thus, it offends me on every level possible.

Okay, rant over. Back to the show. Kirito then wakes up in a machine somewhere in a cold sweat, with no memory of what has happened. Which leads us into Part 2

Part 2

The setting shifts to GGO, where Kirito and his friends are fighting against a mysterious group of players that have been appearing recently and only seek to hunt other players. They get their butts kicked by the group, so the mystery guys retreat at their orders of their commander, who says this is “practice” for some big mission they have coming up.

Like I said before, I know the Light Novels so I know what happens, and who these guys are. Not telling, though, since that would ruin the fun. I will say this, though: this was a nice way for them to make an early-bird cameo. Good job, animation people.

At the Dicey Cafe, Sinon, Kirito, and Asuna hang out and they agree to enter the next BoB tournament. Kirito also explains how he’s working for this company called RATH, and how what we saw in Part 1 was part of his work. He was diving into a new virtual world, the most advanced ever created, to help them develop their new tech. It’s all about learning about the secrets behind the human soul; it’ll make more sense as time goes on.

Kirito and Asuna walk home and start talking about their future plans. Kirito has decided to go to America see the advances in immersion technology, and Asuna decides she’ll go with him. Her exact words were “it doesn’t matter you (Kirito) go. As long as it’s with you, then I’ll be okay”.

This is why I like Kirito and Asuna so much as a couple, despite the flaws in the show at times. Their relationship is built on years of mutual trust and respect in each other; they’re partners and equals, both in-game and in real life. That’s the kind of relationship I’d want to have with people, especially someone I love.

Their romantic moment is ruined, though, when an old enemy from SAO/GGO shows up: Johnny Black, the last member of the murder guild, Laughing Coffin. He’s been on the run ever since the “Death Gun” Incident, but now he’s back for revenge against Kirito.

Before Kirito can do anything or Asuna can help, Black injects him with the drug Death Gun used to stop people’s hearts! The final scene of the episode is of Kirito lying on the ground as the drug begins to take affect.

Review

This is going to be the biggest arc in the franchise’s history. That’s not just because it’s important, either: at 9 light novels, it’s the longest arc in the series. Ergo, they had to start it off with a bang. For all intents and purposes, they managed to do that. The hour-long special manages to set up the premise and plot of the season fairly well and even throws in some foreshadowing for fans who know what to look for.

That said, I think the pacing could have gone better, especially in the first half. That’s one of the reasons why I blew through it: it was going too slow for me, and since I have made my hatred for the rules of the Underworld clear, I didn’t want to linger. I’m weird like that.

What I did like, though, was getting to hear all the voice actors again. I have made it no secret that I think Bryce Papenbrook and Cherami Leigh do a great job as the leads. It’s why I chose to wait to watch this season even though the subs are close to the halfway point of the arc. I wanted to hear their voices.

If this is any indication, then Sword Art Online: Alicization is going to meet my expectations, and I have some high expectations. I want to see the show improve on the source material and give fans the epic they deserve. The second half of the arc is going to be on a scale that you would see in Game of Thrones or Hollywood, so I want it to be good.

I give the first episode of Sword Art Online: Alicization a 4 out of 5 stars.

Pros

• Good voice acting
• Nice animation
• Nice foreshadowing of future plot points
• The new opening song is the best since the original

Cons

• Pacing’s a little off
• I hate the Taboo Index and everything about it

Side Observations

• Did anyone else think the app Asuna has to monitor Kirito’s health was a little creepy? Like Yandere creepy?
• There are references to “Alice in Wonderland” than I thought.
• Did you guys catch the remix of “Swordland” when Kirito and Asuna were fighting the PKers? That was awesome!

Check back next week for my review of episode 2!

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