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Sword Art Online: Alicization-War of Underworld Episode 45 Review/Recap

Well, everyone, we are in the endgame for Sword Art Online: Alicization. And possibly Sword Art Online itself, if they decide not to adapt the new arc from the Light Novels. Gabriel’s been defeated and Alice is safe in the hands of RATH, but the danger’s still not over. After all, Gabriel’s flunkies are still aboard the Ocean Turtle and need to be taken care of. As a result, this episode is basically about tying up the loose ends before we get to the epilogue.

I may not like it, guys, but a surprise appearance by an old character helped make things slightly better.

LINK, START!!

Recap

Thanks to the efforts of everyone, Alice’s fluctlight cube is now safe in RATH’s hands. However, Asuna tells Dr. Rinko that she will be staying behind with Kirito, and begs her not to let Alice be used as a weapon.

Meanwhile, the raiders are aware that the jig’s up and go to inform Gabriel and Vassago that they’ve failed to retrieve Alice. However, thanks to the actions of Kirito, Vassago/PoH is already dead. As for Gabriel, his defeat in Underworld led to him suffering a karmic fate. The soul of his childhood friend Alicia, along with all the lives he ended, appear and drag his soul down to hell. A fitting punishment for such a monster.

Now out of options, the Americans have no choice but to retreat. However, to keep the Japanese from having Alice, they rig explosives on the Ocean Turtle’s reactor and prime them to explode. Before they can go off, though, an unexpected ally appears Akihiko Kayaba. After his death in SAO, he converted himself into an AI and uploaded himself onto the Internet. Now, though, he hijacks a robot and uses it to take out the explosives. In one fell swoop, he saves the Ocean Turtle, RATH, Alice, the Underworld, and Asuna and Kirito. However, his robot body then just disappears, along with the body of Vassago.

Now, all that’s left is to wait for the maximum acceleration to end and wake Kirito and Asuna to wake up.

Review

I’ve said it several times by now: I don’t really like the real world moments in Alicization. All that they’ve really done is provide exposition for the story. It worked in the light novel series since we lacked visuals, but it doesn’t work as well in the anime.

That being said, all of the action for Alicization is over, and from here, all that’s left is the aftermath and epilogue. So, this episode was needed to tie up the loose ends present. And man, did it manage to do it in style. I especially enjoyed Gabriel’s punishment. As a psychopath responsible for the deaths of countless people, being dragged to hell by his own victims was both scary and cathartic to watch. I’d feel bad for him if he weren’t so evil. And PoH! I knew that Kirito was trapping him in Underworld forever, but hearing about it is one thing. Kirito straight-up ended the guy! I’d justify it, though, considering how he wouldn’t stop until Kirito and Asuna were dead.

Speaking of our two lovebirds, after the credits, we get an extra scene where both accept that they’re now stuck in Underworld. But they have each other, and the people of Underworld to help out, so they’re fine. If anyone can survive for two hundred years in a VR world, it’s them.

Overall, this episode was alright. My one complaint was the return of Kayaba. It felt like Kawahara was coming up with a deus ex machina and used the villain that had long since left. Still, it could be seen as a nice way to tie everything together.

The next episode is going to take us into the epilogue, and we will no doubt see how Alice reacts to the real world, and how they react to her. I, for one, am honestly looking forward to seeing how that plays out.

I Give “Beyond Time” a 3/5

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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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