This is basically an anime review blog now lol.
This post has major spoilers, but I don’t care enough about SAO to try to maintain no spoilers because I’m not going to recommend it to anyone LOL. If you actually want to watch SAO, then don’t read this.
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So SAO Alicization just ended last weekend. This arc has gone on for 2 years (split into 3 parts of 24, 12 and 11 episodes) and alone it is as long as the rest of SAO combined so far. I’ve followed SAO since the anime first started when I was in army. It’s kinda like a guilty pleasure at this point, it’s not amazing, but it’s just fun to watch. I’ve talked about it in the anime and manga post I made. It suffers from glaring problems that thankfully have gotten better over the years, but they are still there.
The main character is still pretty much a generic overpowered badass. It’s like, he’s just gonna pull it of you know. Because he’s kirito, the legendary black swordsman. Of course he can. He will do it in front of a large audience cheering him on KIRITO-KUNNNNNNNN!!!
It’s kinda funny because in the second part of Alicization, the main drama is that KIRITO IS OUT OF COMMISSION. So we actually need to see other characters do things. And that made the show more interesting because it felt like there were stakes. Coz we know when Kirito wakes up all the baddies gonna lose (and that’s exactly what happened).
They’ve tried to give him more personality in Alicization with his relationship with other characters, but honestly I think those other characters just ended up being better characters than the protagonist lol. I mean, Eugeo and Alice were both far better characters in Alicizaztion than Kirito. Heck, other side characters like some of the people from the dark territory are more interesting than Kirito. Except the big bad baddie. The smaller villians are okay but the big bad of the arc is always as bland as the protagonist. Just a generic, pure evil baddie.
Sometimes they try to add some drama by making it look like he’s losing at first, but wait when the OST Swordland starts playing, you know. It’s the boss music. You know exactly what’s going to happen. He’s going to dual wield two swords, and he’s going to STARBURST STREAM everything away.
(Okay so technically it’s not always stated he’s using starburst stream, but the two swords part is true so let’s assume he’s using that skill).
Fighting a deadly monster with a big sword in a fantasy world? STARBURST STREAM!!!!!
Grew some wings in another fantasy world? Flying STARBURST STREAMMM!!!!!
In a cyberpunk world where the main weapon is guns? Grab a lightsabre and a handgun and go STARBURST STREAMMM!!!!!
Fighting a godlike being in a world when you only have one sword? Best friend dies LUL now you can use his sword too. STARBURHSTTST STREEEEEEEEAMMMMMMM!!!!!
Fighting a not just godlike being but a literal god of the world who has the power to shape reality itself? JUST SHAPE REALITY TOO WITH YOUR TWO SWORDS LUL. StArBuRRRhsHTsST StREEEEEEEEEEEEEEaaAmMmMmMMM!!!!!
Another thing about SAO is that it really does get…weird… at times. Like really weird and makes you go err…what was the point of that? Should I be watching this in public? They did this in literally episode 1 of the third and final part of Alicization and the worst thing about it this time was that it was a sequence that wasn’t even in the light novel. Which means someone directing the anime literally decided okay we should ADD this into the anime. I do not understand.
Despite all its flaws, here I am. I enjoyed Alicization. Story wise it was better than the other SAO arcs. It has a better cast of characters, and the world is pretty interesting. There’s a little more drama along the way even though we all know how it’s going to end. In that regard, I think the end of Alicization is the weakest because it’s where it’s the epitome of Kirito does Kirito things. The drama before that with what Eugeo and Alice deals with is much more interesting.
Also while the Kirito moments are boring plot wise, they’re still cool to watch. I mean, it’s basically when the animators use up their animation budget. And as lame as it is, Swordland is a pretty nice iconic OST and so it has some feels.
Until you try to figure out what they're singing. Then you can't take it seriously anymore.
So I suppose SAO will continue to be a guilty pleasure. For it’s myriad of interesting fantasy worlds, it’s stellar soundtrack and it’s gorgeous animation.
Just don’t call me a fan. I don’t want to be associated with it heh.
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Something cool though is that the next SAO anime isn’t going to be the arc after Alicization (not that they can do that since the novel is not completed yet), but they’re going to do something called SAO Progressive. It’s basically an expanded retelling of the very first SAO arc. One of the biggest criticisms of the first SAO arc was the wasted potential – it set up a really interesting world with so much potential, but proceeded to just skip through everything. Progressive comes back to this first arc and expands the story, and they are going real slow. I mean, the original SAO basically went from 1st to 75th floor in like 10 episodes? Progressive is doing something like one arc per floor.
Hopefully since it tells the story of the earlier days of Kirito, he won’t be THAT OP. I mean, I won’t increase my expectations for that because he WAS OP on the first floor in the original… but hey he doesn’t get to hold two swords at least. I think…
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