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Sword Art Online: Alicization-War of Underworld Episode 44 Review/Recap

You know what I hate? When something that we’ve been building up to for a lengthy period of time ends up falling flat on its face. Since the second half of SAO Alicization began, I’ve been waiting for three moments: for Asuna to show up, for Kirito to wake up, and for Kirito to fight Gabriel. Now, we’ve reached the third and final moment on that list. And while it was visually spectacular, I think that it could have gone on another episode.

Oh, well. LINK START!

Recap

After saving Alice from being captured by Gabriel (and reverting her dragons into eggs), Kirito turns to face down Gabriel. This way, Alice and Asuna can have enough time to make it to the World’s End Altar and escape to the real world. Thus, the final battle begins.

An epic battle ensues in the skies above Underworld as the two warriors clash. Somehow, the darkness in Gabriel becomes so great, it devolves him into a demonic entity of darkness. Meanwhile, Kirito throws everything he has at Gabriel, but it’s not enough. Determined to win and return to his friends and loved ones, Kirito pushes himself to even further levels of power. Drawing on the thoughts of everyone in Underworld, the true power of the Night-Sky Sword is revealed. And with a mighty charge and help from Eugeo’s spirit, Kirito manages to obliterate Gabriel once and for all. As for the girls, they reach the Altar, and Alice is whisked away to the real world. At that moment, though, the maximum acceleration begins. As a result, all the remaining players are logged out.

Kirito remains trapped in Underworld for the next two centuries, and breaks down in tears, thinking that he’ll never see his friends again. Only, he’s not alone. Asuna appears before him, revealing that she chose to stay behind.

Review

I had mixed feelings about this episode. On the one hand, I feel like I should have known that the final battle would be done in a single episode. That’s more or less what’s happened in the anime’s run. And I will admit, while the fight was taking place, it had some of the best visuals the anime’s ever done. On the other, I can’t help but feel a little let down by how Kirito was able to defeat Gabriel so soon. Or maybe I just got myself too hyped for this fight in the end. Lesson learned I guess.

There is one scene, though, that I wish they had included in this episode. After Gabriel’s defeat, his spirit returns to the real world, only for the souls of his victims to drag him off to hell. As dark as that was, I would love to see it happen on the screen. I will say this, though: he looked very scary in his final, demonic form.

As for Kirito, I knew ahead of time that he was going to be trapped inside of Underworld, and that Asuna would choose to stay with him. After being separated for so long, that girl wasn’t going to let anything keep her away from her boyfriend. I won’t spoil anything from the novels, but don’t worry about them. They’ll make it out of Underworld in one piece.

With the climax of the story now over, we have three episodes to wrap the anime up. Odds are, we’ll see the end to the raid on RATH and follow Alice as she adjusts to our world in the process. It’s not exciting, but it has to be done.

I Give “Night-Sky Sword” A 3.5/5. Could Have Been Longer, But It’s Cool to Look At.

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Sword Art Online: Alicization- War of Underworld Episode 29 Review/Recap

I’ve noticed a recurring theme among stories that feature a climatic final battle between two opposing forces. Right before the big fight, there’s always a moment where the cast calms down and prepares themselves for what’s about to happen. Star Wars had their moment with Luke and Leia in Jedi; and Game of Thrones had a whole episode before the White Walkers attacked. Now SAO: Alicization goes through its own calm before the storm as the final battle for Underworld is about to begin.

LINK START!

Recap

Alice arrives at the Integrity Knight’s base with Kirito in tow, much to Eldrie’s dismay. However, Bercouli lets Kirito stay as he knows the boy’s aware enough to defend himself. In addition, since he beat Quinella and most of the Integrity Knights, Bercouli thinks he’ll be the key to victory in the final battle. To help protect him, Alice leaves Kirito in the care of Tione and Ronye, who have joined the Human Army. However, the two are guilt-ridden at Kirito’s state, believing that if they had been smarter, Eugeo would be alive and Kirito wouldn’t be in his state. Alice tells the two girls that they did nothing wrong, and that they should keep moving forward.

A day or so later, Bercouli calls a war meeting with the Knights present. The Dark Territory has around 50,000 warriors and sacred arts users on their side. On their part, the Human Empire has 3,000 soldiers plus the Integrity Knights, each worth a thousand soldiers. So their plan is to bottleneck them at the entrance and try and thin out their ranks.

The night before the battle, everyone prepares for what’s to come the next day. Alice takes the chance to reconcile with Eldrie, telling him to live so that he may reclaim his lost memories. The next day, the Human Army stands at the gate as it collapses, beginning the Final Load Test.

Review

As far as prelude’s to the final battle go, I can sum up my feelings to this episode in one word: meh. I mean, I think it did a good job of building tension up for the final battle, but it doesn’t really do much else. Game of Thrones did a better job with its episode leading up to the White Walkers arrival.

That said, I did like getting to see some of the other characters make their return. Bercouli shows off his leadership skills, and humorously, deals with the same kind of girl troubles Kirito has. We see that Fanatio overcame her insecurities over being a woman thanks to Kirito. In addition, unlike in the Light Novels, several of the Integrity Knights Kirito fought have cameos.

Now that that’s out of the way, though, I think we’ve all gotten to the point where we have one question: can we fight now? This is going to be an epic war that could not only decide the fate of Underworld, but affect the real world as well. If Gabriel captures Alice, then it’s game over. I only hope that it’s better than “The Long Night” was; and more visible.

Next week the War of Underworld truly begins! Can’t wait!

I Give “The Night Before Battle” a 3/5. BRING ON THE FIGHT!

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Sword Art Online: Alicization War of Underworld, Episode 26 Review/Recap

After a quiet prologue to show us what’s happened to Underworld, SAO begins to ramp up once more. The war between the Humans and the Dark Territory’s on the horizon, and the latter’s already make the opening salvos. Rulid Village is under attack by the Dark Territory, and the only one who can stop them is Alice? Although, can Alice regain her warrior spirit, though, and what’s happening in the real world?

LINK START!

Recap

Alice races on her dragon Amayori to Rulid Village, finding that her worst fears have been realized. A vanguard of goblins and other beings from the Dark Territory are invading Rulid. In addition, the greedy Master-At-Arms refuses to let anyone evacuate. Enraged and inspired by Kirito’s resolve to help even in his state, Alice reveals her status as an Integrity Knight and orders everyone to retreat. Afterwards, she proceeeds to drive back the invaders on her own. However, knowing that war’s inevitable, Alice chooses to return to the capital with Kirito to prepare for the upcoming conflict.

Meanwhile in the real world, the Ocean Turtle’s under attack by an unknown assault team. It doesn’t take long for RATH to figure out their objective: to get inside the Fluctlight Cubes and acquire Alice for themselves. Much to Asuna’s fury, the only person in any position to stop the enemy is Kirito, and he’s in a coma within a coma. However, Asuna refuses to stand any longer and demands that Kikouka do something as she comes up with her own idea.

Review

I considered the first half of this episode to be a warm-up for the war that’s coming to Underworld. More importantly, I consider it an important moment in Alice’s character development. We’ve seen her go from a proud knight blindly following the Axiom Church to someone broken by the loss of her childhood friends. Add on the revelation that everything she was told was a lie, and she lost her resolve to fight. In this episode, though, we see her regain that fire she had as she takes up a new cause. This time, though, its worth fighting for. Additionally, I thought the restoration of her eye, while not explained very well, was a symbolic rebirth for her.

As for the second half, though, it represents the shortcomings of adapting a light novel. Exposition dumps are necessary to move the plot along, but I think the show didn’t need to spend so much time explaining it. The long and short is: Kirito’s self-loathing over losing Eugeo+power surge= frying his mind and sense of self. As for who these intruders are, it’s clear they’re working for another government that doesn’t want Japan to create a bottom-up AI. We also got a big reveal in a post-credits scene of the assault team’s leader. Remember this guy, because he’s going to be one of Kirito’s biggest enemies.

The main draw to the real world remains Asuna. She’s running out of patience and, by the looks of things, is ready to dive into Underworld to find Kirito herself. Considering how strong-willed she and Alice are, there would be sparks flying if they met.

Buckle up, people, because things are going to get really crazy from this point on. Crazy even by SAO standards.

I Give “Raids” a 3/5

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