“Rest Kirito, Let Alice Handle This!”
- Episodes : 12
- Genre : Action, Game, Adventure, Romance, Fantasy
- Airing Date : October, 2019- December, 2019
- Producers : A-1 Pictures
Contains Spoilers
Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld Introduction and Story
Where we last left off things haven’t been going so well in either the real world or the Underworld. Kirito has been severely affected by the surge that took place when he tried to contact the outside world at the same time the invaders attacked. A now nearly comatose Kirito has been aided by Alice who has made it her mission to protect him at all costs. Eugeo has fallen but Kirito still holds his sword tightly as if protecting his friend’s memory. While life seems simple for Alice as she steps away from the Axiom Church, a war begins to break out and it stems from a stranger appearing in the Dark Territory.
Two of the army invaders within the Ocean Turtle—Gabriel Miller and Vassago Casals—enter the Underworld using two pre-set characters who just so happen to align with the story within the world’s lore. Gabriel, now under the guise of Vector, leads the armies with the Dark Territory to defeat the humans beyond the gate. Quickly, the army begins its attack on the human world but thankfully the knights from the Axiom Church assemble to meet them.
Despite now wanting to fight, Alice lends her aid to the other knights and we see several big battles occur as the opposing armies fight. Meanwhile, Asuna noticing Kirito’s struggle finally jumps into the world using the goddess Stacia as her avatar. It almost seems that victory is assured with Alice, Asuna and the other knights beating down the baddies from the Dark Territory but it wasn’t ever going to be that simple. Gabriel’s tech in the outside world makes an entranceway for other gamers from the USA to join in the war not knowing this fight is real. Instead, the players believe they are beta-testing a new game! With thousands of players joining in, the war seems to be siding once more towards the enemy.
Unknown to Asuna, though, her daughter—the loveable Yui—contacts the other SAO players and tells them they can help Kirito and Asuna but at a price. If they should enter the Underworld, they will need to transfer their characters and that could also put their character’s data in real danger if they should die! Despite this revelation, the others agree to assist and even try to gain the help of others!
Our season of Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld ends with a familiar sniper—Sinon—appearing in the Underworld and unleashing a reign of arrows on the enemies! Needless to say, readers, this latest 12-episode season of Sword Art Online was incredible. Was it perfect? No, but in our minds, this might be the strongest outing for the franchise yet and we can’t wait for the next season coming this spring! Here are some reasons why you should watch Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld and a few reasons why not.
1. Step Aside Kirito
With the exception of the short-lived Sword Art Online II: Mother’s Rosario arc and Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online, Kirito has been the main star. With Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld, we see Kirito stepping aside—for obvious reasons—to allow Alice to take the front runner as the show’s protagonist. We know Kirito will be back to show off his amazing sword skills but having a strong female lead is a welcome change of pace.
2. An Epic War
Hands down one of the best elements of Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld is the battles we’ve seen. This epic war has led to some of the best Sword Art Online battles the franchise has offered us viewers and we eagerly await even more of them in the next arc.
3. Old Friends Coming Back?
If there was anything to dislike about Sword Art Online: Alicization, in general, it would be the lack of SAO titans like Sinon, Asuna, Leafa, and Klein…that last one is a joke by the way. Thankfully, Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld has corrected this by showing our original cast and even having them be a big factor in the upcoming season! All jokes aside, we do love Klein…but is he really going to be a bit part of the next season?
1. KIRITO ISN’T THE MAIN MAN!?
Playing Devil’s Advocate for a moment, having Alice take the center stage in Sword Art Online: Alicization- War of Underworld is awesome but Kirito being almost non-existent is a bit hard to stomach. Our black swordsman isn’t dead—thankfully—but in his current state he hasn’t done much yet. At least we’ve seen that he can still move at the speed of lighting as evident by Bercouli throwing a dagger at him.
2. Underdeveloped Characters
Viewers of this new season of Sword Art Online probably noticed we have another heaping amount of warriors to learn about but Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld doesn’t do that great job of fleshing them out. Sure, we did learn about numerous characters seen in Sword Art Online: Alicization but they could have been focused on a bit deeper to gain a stronger understanding of them.
3. That Engrish Episode
One of the few parts that truly irked us the most was when the USA beta players were introduced and they all were dubbed…quite badly. We know this a Japanese dubbed show—so far—but would it have been so difficult to hire some English voice actors for their short dialogue? Instead we got a very laughable dub that almost ruined an epic moment for the series.
Final Thoughts
Sword Art Online: Alicization- War of Underworld was a truly impressive season and it’s hard to find a reason to skip it. A-1 Pictures nailed the animation and equally stuck quite close to the original source material! We loved Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld and we think fans of the series will share in our love for it. What were your thoughts on Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld and are you ready for the second cour? Comment below to let us know and stick close to us here at Honey’s Anime for even more anime reviews like this one!
Author: Aaron
Recommended Post
War Never Changes – Sword Art Online, Vol. 16 [Light Novel]
Recommended Post