Let’s talk about personification – the attribution of human characteristics to a non-human subject. Sword Art Online: Alicization presented us with a brand-new world and two new main characters: the titular Alice and Eugeo, both of whom Kirito had befriended and grew up within his “life” in the Underworld. These childhood friends are important to the developments of the lore in this iteration of the Sword Art Online franchise because of their impact on Kirito as a character, as well as their relevance to the major conflict that permeates this season. When Alice is taken away after committing a grave sin, Kirito and Eugeo grow up with the intention of rescuing her. Eugeo’s relevance is incredible because his name, “Eugeo” is phonetically similar to the Japanese word for friendship 「友情」- “Yuujou”. This is important to note because of Eugeo’s significance to the series, as well as his friendship with Kirito.

Kirito and Eugeo grew up together. Maybe not in the life that Kirito left behind every single time he hopped into the STL; however, the relationship that developed in that virtual world was every bit as real as the relationships that Kirito had developed in the so-called real world. Eugeo was Kirito’s best friend in this life, and his death in the battle against the Administrator rubbed salt in one of Kirito’s deepest emotional wounds. When Kirito’s soul was badly damaged in the aftermath of that fateful battle, he could barely move or speak, but he held fast onto what remained of Eugeo’s beautiful Blue Rose Sword. The sword came to be Kirito’s crutch and even assisted him in the final battle.

The Blue Rose Sword contained the memory of Eugeo and repaired itself to assist Kirito in his battle against Bercouli and Subtilizer. In the dramatic finish against Bercouli, Eugeo could be seen fighting alongside the severely injured Kirito in a fashion reminiscent of Dragon Ball Z’s famous “Father-Son Kamehameha”. This obvious Deus Ex Machina is an iteration of the aforementioned power of friendship trope seen pretty much everywhere; however, the idea that “Eugeo” is supposedly “Yuujou” introduces the idea that it was written into the very lore of the series, and in this way, Eugeo can be considered the series’ personification of friendship. This is similar to when Yuuki appeared to Asuna when she had come close to giving up. “Yuuki”, as in the Japanese word for “courage”.