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Year: 2018-2019
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Episodes: 47
Rating: 4 out of 5
Welcome to the third season of Sword Art Online! You think getting stuck in a game would make you want to avoid coming back and playing, but Kirito, Asuna, and the crew jump right back into this epic adventure. What do you think if a game or system is created to resemble the real world? There are plenty of games out there that deal with the real world, but what about a system that creates souls. Made where people grow up, mate and old and become a new way of thinking but also saving memories. Would this new system change the course of humanity forever?
Overview
In 2026, Kirito has been offered a job at Rath, by Kikuoka Seijirou, the VR crimes division member. Kirito is about to test out a state-of-the-art, 4th generation full-drive machine called The Soul Translator. Kirito’s job is simple: interacting with the community within the game, which has been identified as Fluctlight. Little does Kirito know that the system is unlike anything he has ever dived into. The machine is a special bottom-up type of artificial intelligence called the Underworld. Shit just got real and different. Kirito works to understand the full capabilities of the system. Everything Kirito does within the game, he forgets when he logs out as his memory is wiped.
One day, Kirito is escorting Asuna home when he is attacked and mortally wounded in his defense of his love. Kirito awakens and discovers he is back in the Underworld, unable to escape. Kirito must set out in the new world, gaining the powers he needs to escape it. During his adventure, he finds out that a girl named Alice is the one who might be able to free him.
Review:
I really don’t know how to feel about this season of SAO. I actually watched this series twice. The first time, I was really feeling it because it was a new season and it was around the time I could afford Hulu after a long time of watching movies. I’m usually a fan of SAO, but this season was a little off to me.
I will start with the story and why that bugged me. Let me break it down for you. The story was interesting, with Kirito always being the main person and that dude. In this one, he works for a company that created a world that will blow your mind. The technology is unreal. Kirito gets attacked, and the only way to save him is to put his soul in this game/world. I should’ve said this, but this season has two parts. The first part is Kirito getting used to the new world. He was in it before but lost his memories, but he has some of his stats and skills from his old years. The first season is all about this AI named Alice. Kirito and his boy, Eugeo, try to save Alice and go against the world’s god. Kirito spends around 2 years inside the world but about a month on the outside. The season is a good setup, but it takes a while to get going. It wasn’t until the last six episodes that the action hit, and you wanted more. People die, and Kirito has to find a way to make things right and defeat the final boss. The ending ended on a cliffhanger, making you want to see what happened next.
The second part of the season, aka Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld, was where it was at with me. The final dudes of Laughing Coffin managed to get god-like bodies and decided to invade the human world. In this season, shit goes down, and it seemed like the intensity and stakes went from about a 10 to freakin 25, which is a lot for this anime. I love anime series that have epic battles. This one seemed to lay it all out. You had Kirito’s friends enter the game with god-like powers to face the Dark Kingdom’s armies, and they seemed invincible until the bad guys made the world-like and called in people from around the world. Then when Kirito wakes, he appears to have not only god-like powers but powers of a creator and whips ass in an epic fight. I enjoyed it all until the ending. The ending just felt blah to me.
One of the major highlights of this anime was the animation. When the story was happening, the animation was standard for a SAO series. The color schemes used were bright, and there was nothing too special about it. It went to a new level when the characters unleashed their abilities. I will say that during the first part, the colors were bright and loving, almost reflecting the manipulation of the queen god. In the second half, the colors are dull and dark. This contrast helps with defining both seasons. It wasn’t until Kirito returned with his rainbow eyes that the animation seemed bright again.
I don’t need to explain any of the characters. If you have seen the first two series, the characters don’t change at all. The only differences are Eugeo and Alice. Eugeo was Kirito’s boy, and they loved each other. Eugeo is a cool character; he is loyal and sacrifices his life for Kirito. Alice was Eugeo’s sister, who had been taken away. When he is introduced later, she is a badass and powerful knight who is the system everyone wants.
SAO: Alicization was a good third or fourth season if you include the gun series. This season lets the violence flow slightly more, but overall, it is an SAO anime. This one felt a little long and could’ve been reduced by a few episodes. The first half was long but okay. The second half had a lot more action. The ending fell a little flat. They did the whole SAO will be back. Looking at the clock, it has been around 5 years. It might come back, but who knows.
