Review of Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld Part 2

My initial instinct was to give this a seven, but that's what I gave last season, and this is definitely better than that. So, the Underworld story wraps up with this season. What I believe to be the final arc of SAO is up next. Or at least, that's how it was presented. Was this a good story? Was it a good conclusion? Was it a good setup? All of these have the same answer to me: I guess so. Let's go over each question. (As an aside, the art in this season was stellar. SAO always does stellar art, but a lot of the fightingKirito did was animated really well.)

Was this a good story? The story of this season definitely felt like it had direction where the last season didn't. It built up to the return of Kirito nicely by making the preceding battles feel like they meant something. The battles after, though, didn't have that direction, in my opinion. Rather, the sections of story that happened in the Underworld after Kirito's return felt rushed and underdone. Don't get me wrong, the fight scenes were cool and the callbacks to Kirito's time in Alicization were beautiful, but the overall effect was lacking. It was obvious that this season tried to wrap up the remainder of the previous season quickly so the next arc could be set up. Now, the story that happened outside of the Underworld was well paced and interesting to watch. That section ended too easily as well, unfortunately, but everything up until that point was awesome.

Was it a good conclusion? It gave me a better conclusion than the previous season would've led me to believe it would be. While things ended quickly, the story didn't leave any holes that weren't meant to be there for the future. It felt like the original purpose of the Underworld being introduced as a story was fulfilled, though not in the way I thought it would be.

Was it a good setup? Did this season do its job as a predecessor to the biggest battle the main characters will face? For me, it did the bare minimum. The story pre-Kirito's return took up a lot of this season, which is why the Underworld storyline had to wrap up quickly. Unfortunately, that left the set up for what comes next to be done quickly as well. It felt a bit convoluted to me, and while I'm interested in how Underworld will affect the future, it didn't excite me.

This season was mostly fine to watch. It wasn't the best season of SAO, and it definitely wasn't the worst. It did what it needed to do, just a bit too fast. All in all, it came off all right. If you want to know what happened after last season but are afraid this season isn't good either, don't be. It's still worth the watch. Do with this review what you will, but I think that's all I have to say. The next arc will probably be super cool.