Now that SAO is going on hold until October, I wanted to give some thoughts on this season as a whole.
Firstly, the animation style was great. Visually, most of this season was just fantastic. I loved it.
As for the soundtrack… I’m a bit weird when it comes to music in like, anything where it isn’t the main focus, i.e. shows and video games. I usually just perceive it as accompanying whatever’s going on visually, so I could not for the life of me tell you how any of the songs go (except maybe Adamas). That said, I know I enjoyed the music, regardless of me not remembering most of it.
On to the plot… As a whole, I thought it was great, and the story seemed to flow very well… up until we got near Eugeo vs Kirito. The pacing took a nosedive at that point; something that I was pretty hyped for was over in a flash. Then, heading into the gang vs Administrator…the events that happened were fine, but, again, it all felt pretty rushed. I really wish they’d been able to take more time with it.
So, on to episode 24… Compared to the previous episodes since Eugeo vs Kirito, I think 24 was pretty good, though a few things still bother me:
1) Was it ever explained what the hell was up with Kirito going Black Swordsman out of nowhere?
2) Eugeo’s death. The scene overall was really good (Stay cool, Eugeo…), but… They mentioned something like, Eugeo fighting for Alice Zuberg’s soul, with Kirito fighting for Integrity Knight Alice. Wh…when did that come up before? Did I miss something again? Like, during Alice and Kirito’s talk on the side of the tower? I thought Kirito was on board with restoring Alice’s memories.
Now, I haven’t read the LN; the extent of my experience with SAO is the anime, and some of the games (which are, of course, their own…”timeline”). And I’ve heard that the anime adaptation of volume 14 (Eugeo vs Kirito through ep 24) skipped a lot of details. So, I’d be unsurprised if the two points I mentioned above are in fact explained in the LN. But as an anime-only viewer (for now, at least), I’m left a bit confused.
That being said, aside from the noticeable pacing issues toward the end, I’ve loved this season so far, and I can’t wait for it to continue in October.
1. It’s Incarnation, thought and will given form. Think Kirito making his sword grow during the duel in episode 7, or him regrowing the flowers. Eugeo uses it to make himself move when immobilized by Quinella. It’s also how Eugeo creates the Red Rose sword for Kirito. You’ve seen it all through the series, just nothing that striking or spectacular to that point. You’ll see a lot more of it in the second half. One of the things not covered in the anime adaptation is Kirito’s reluctance about his Black Swordsman persona. He doesn’t like the fame and notoriety he’s gained and is happy that Eugeo has no knowledge of that side of him. He even goes so far as to not use Vorpal Strike because it was so synonymous with him in Aincrad. When they fight Chudelkin, he finally has to give in to that side of himself. It’s his imagined version of the strongest form of himself.
2. It doesn’t come across in the anime well either. Even though he outwardly agrees he internally he questions Alice Synthesis 30 giving up her life. Kirito’s absolutely unwilling to let someone else die even going as far as not wanting to kill NPCs. The moment Alice appears in the novel there’s an undercurrent of an expected conflict between Kirito and Eugeo. It gives a lot more weight to their duel as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment