Sword Art Online: Alicization is the third season of the anime that adapts the light novels. It covers the first part of the Alicization arc in 24 episodes. The anime starts with a 40 minute first episode where the very beginning will throw you off. This is because it depicts a young Kirito in a fantasy world that seems to have gaming elements. It will eventually be revealed what is happening providing much needed context and kick off the setting but it can be confusing at first. After everything has been explained and is settled, Kirito finds himself in a virtual world called Underworld. There, he ends up befriending Eugeo, training him in the art of swordfighting. Together, they set out on a journey to the center of the land where the capital is. They want to reach the capital in order to find their childhood friend Alice.
Underworld is your typical fantasy world and there are many game inspired elements. From how everyone can call up status windows that shows the remaining life of all items and objects as hit points, to sword skills making an appearance again, things can feel familiar. This also means that Kirito has the advantage thanks to all his time from being trapped in Sword Art Online and then moving onto Alfheim Online. The familiarity can come with discomforting frequency, especially when it starts to tie in with Accel World. The result is that you can see what is coming.
While most of the anime takes place in Underworld, there are still a significant amount of scenes taking place in the real world. These scenes most focus on Asuna but the animators will find an opportunity here and there for other supporting characters to make a cameo or two. As the season progresses, these become rarer and rarer, especially once it gears up to its climax. One of the more unusual aspects of the storytelling is how the anime frequently time skips. Just when a situation has stabilized, it time skips ahead and you have to get used to the new scenario and current circumstance that Kirito finds himself in. Thanks to this, the pacing feels slow since it is comprised of a lot of dialogue that does not add much to the plot.
The weakness of the plot doesn’t end there. There are more than a few predictable turn of events. With Kirito being the all around good guy that he is, he will often get into trouble for helping others. He is overly nice to the point of being slightly annoying. The various antagonists are also one-note characters. We’ve seen these types before so there are no surprises on what they plan to do. Therefore, since you know what’s upcoming, you want the anime to quickly get it over and done with. This causes some scenes to be hard to watch, not because they are bad but because they are cliched and predictable.
The plot developments feel like it is being made up as it goes along. There are way too many contrived coincidences that do not feel natural and is an easy way out. Characters spend most of the episode talking, explaining, conjecturing, and standing around, basically anything except moving the story forward. Once that is over, the decisive moment that has been building up until then is over in a minute or two. This happens with such frequency that it turns into a serious annoyance.
The quickness of the climax in each mini-arc leads to underwhelming fight scenes. They are flashy but insubstantial. It either feels like a bunch of random sword waving or random actions that lead to some “ingenious” victory. There’s no sense of proper skill or strategy. Kirito is still an overpowered character but he often holds himself back. The anime goes out of its way to not allow Kirito to outright curbstomp his opponent which ends up being contrived. Viewers who have come here to see Kirito defeat everyone singlehandedly will be denied this pleasure, for good or bad.
As Kirito and Eugeo gets closer and closer to their goal, arriving at the capital and then making their long journey to face the antagonist, the plot tries to dive into deeper issues. It displays the unfairness of the laws of Underworld, which in a way, mirrors reality. It goes so far as to make whether an action is acceptable based on subjectivity, so it goes too far to be believable.
There is a heavy reliance on the series’ original concepts such as sword skills and dual wielding as a method to boost Kirito’s power. Thus, Alicization cannot step out of the shadow of its past, causing it to feel derivative instead of original and fresh. This extends to the ending. Kirito’s method of resolving the conflict against the antagonist is unsatisfying. The ending is supposed to be a cliffhanger but even then it is a bit abrupt. One thing that is excellent is how the original music psyches the viewer up, as well as using remixes from previous season to evoke the feeling of being familiar yet new.
Overall, Sword Art Online: Alicization is an okay anime. To be fair, it is hard to move forward in the series considering the direction of the previous seasons. Unfortunately, the story and characters are too predictable causing the anime to feel generic at times. It’s still a great watch for fans but things are starting to become tired and cliched.
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