Review of Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld Part 2
This contains no spoilers, so feel free to read! Also, this is my first ever review on an anime, because I was compelled to write one. Without further ado, let's dive in! First, it should be said that the most enjoyment from this season will be had from watching the other seasons AND the movie, in order to understand what the author and creators were going for. Second, it should be worth knowing that I gave this a 9 instead of a 10 because, let's face it, some of the scenes really just don't make sense and one must take them with a grain of salt in orderto keep going.
But it's no less than a 9 from me, because oh my word, I was not only in the feels, but having flashbacks from the other seasons, and as things started connecting together, and the two worlds (Underworld and real world) started to flip back and forth more often, it was a really cool experience and much more than I had expected.
Let's start with the story. The story is well executed, cleaning up some plot holes I found years ago (BIG win here in my book), and it presents a clear path and even some unexpected things that took me for surprise (no I haven't read the original work, I haven't gotten to it). Also, there is an actual goal in mind AND real life gains which are made apparent in the show, which I thought was really cool. So, it's a 10 for me. 10
The art is as good as last season, but a little more quick in some of the fighting scenes when so much was happening at once that it was a little hard to keep up with. So I gave the art a 9, although it's still up to SAO standards (wait, there's standards? Always has been). 9
The sound was okay too, although at times a bit louder than necessary and I won't talk about the last episode where sound just doesn't make sense, but for anime I suppose it should be fine haha. Anyway, I gave it an 8, because I like the voices and the changes in scenery. 8
I'm going to be honest, character plot was slacking a little here. I loved the characters that came back (I'm really just talking about my favorite boi Klein), but some callbacks were made that I honestly had to Google because, let's face it, memory loss. I really enjoy what happened with Alice, and I feel likee a good portion of screen time was given to different characters and those that were shown last season were fleshed out more which was really cool. The biggest reason I am giving an 8 is because I'm not entirely thrilled with how Eugeo was treated, although it was cool nonetheless. 8
I always enjoyed coming back to watch the next episode, because I really enjoy SAO as a whole but particularly this season the most as it was really engaging and full of cliffhangers. As someone who had not read the reference material, I cannot express the differences or make comparisons. Even so, I feel like those that did will still enjoy it, and during the time it came out, the delay was worth it although not helped. So, I grant a 9 for enjoyment, I really do love the series and where it went. 9
For some final points, my overall score was made not only thinking about this season by itself, but also as the second half of Underworld, and the big climatic "end" of SAO, at least as far as timeline goes. I am aware of the next season coming out, and I have a hunch that another movie will be made, just a gut feeling, but when compared also to the rest of SAO.... well, it's hard to compare, right? Each season is so unique, and has it's own little moments, and even the GGO spin-off was awesome. But as a timeline ending to SAO, I couldn't have asked for much more, and although there's lots of things which make SAO "nasty" and at times "cliché", the bad rap has been neatly rewrapped and I must say I really loved it. 9 is pretty high for an overall score, but hey, this is just my opinion, and the overall feel for me personally was a rounded up 9 (technically an 8.8, but we don't get that specific I guess). 9
I recommend people to keep watching SAO if they ever stopped at an earlier season or episode because trust me, it's really cool to see everything coming together after all these years. This is it from me, so, um yeah. See ya!