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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Unevaluated |
 Stretch
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[series:3778#628] | ||||||
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(11 episodes watched): The previous SAO series did not thrill me, and I did not get much of a sense from episode one what this one would be about. Apparently Kirito is comatose in the fantasy world because of an attack on the real-world facility where his body is at rest. Who made that attack and why I do not know. And the people do not appreciate what he did for them, and he and Alice are treated like crap as a result. This first episode did nothing to resolve the confusion I was feeling at the end of the last season, and after refreshing my memory by re-reading my review, I can't help asking myself if I should watch what is looking like more of the same at all. It turned out that there is an introductory episode, episode 00, which tries to bring us up to speed with a summary of the previous series. But, while useful, even that didn't make complete sense to me; the line between Kirito's real-world brain and his alternate reality mind is vague and confusing, as are notions like a computer program interacting with a person's 'soul' (I wonder if that word has the same meaning in Japan as it does in the West). A good deal of episode two takes place in the real world, but again it didn't make clear just what is going on. As is often the case in anime, it is implied that high level corruption within the Japanese government may be involved, even in the deadly attack made by heavily armed commandos on the Ocean Turtle high tech research vehicle (though, curiously, no one has been actually killed). For some reason only Kirito himself can fix his problem by means of actions he takes in the 'Underworld', and he has a glimmer of brainpower left. The real world to virtual world link in this series (and the last one) makes a good deal less sense and is more difficult to take seriously than the one in the original SAO. For me, the two series have largely been a matter of not worrying about this link and instead just wondering what sort of adventures Kirito will undergo in VR. In episode three both the good guys and the bad ones decide that the only way to break the stalemate which has set in is to send their own people into the Underworld. While the logic of why this was necessary escaped me, this was an intriguing turn. We encounter a number of old friends of ours from various incarnations of SAO who will presumably play a part in this one as well. The chief villain--who once did something really reprehensible--sets himself up as the Emperor of the Dark Realm and prepares to invade Alice's world. In episode six a massive and fairly exciting battle begins as the dark forces attempt to break through the heavily outnumbered defenders. People Kirito once fought against are now obliged to defend him as he remains in a coma. Still no sign of Asuna, who likewise was supposed to venture into the Underworld. I'm getting the feeling that this will be a story which could and should have been told in one season, but is being stretched into two. A lot of it seems like unnecessary baggage which only diverts attention from what really matters. Around episode nine Asuna finally ventures into the Underworld, and since it soon becomes clear that reinforcements are needed, in episode 11 pretty much every remaining character from previous incarnations of SAO is recruited to help out. The show takes a Japan-versus-the-US tone as we learn that the murderous commandos who tried to storm the Ocean Turtle were US auxilliaries, and thousands of American video gamers are tricked into helping them out in the Underworld. This was a fun twist, if slightly grating. I think the biggest error of the SAO franchise as a whole was that the original story of Kirito's entrapment within a video game lasted for a mere one season. I wish instead of these increasingly confusing and frustrating sequels, we would be given an expansion of that original series. Even if we know how it is ultimately going to end, it would be fun to learn some more about what happened there. Last updated Friday, December 27 2019. Created Tuesday, October 22 2019. | ||||||||
