Sword Art Online – 25 [END]
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Well folks, we have finally reached the end of the ever popular Sword Art Online, but did the final episode leave the door open for a possible second season? Judging by the fan reactions on the interwebs it appears it might be happening because there is still one more vidya game world for Kirito and his friends to explore. What are your thoughts going into this episode Overcooled? I think we can agree that we are so ready for this end~ |
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I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect other than a heap of fluffy romance since almost everything was resolved in episode 24. I was mostly just eager to see this series to the end so I could cross it off the list and just forget about it. It is time for SAO to end…at least for now. |
Dangerous Real World Bosses
Foshizzel // After saving Asuna from the evil fairy king Oberon our hero Kirito headed straight to the hospital to pay Asuna a visit; however there was someone else waiting for him to arrive, Mr. Sugou himself! Which I so called in our last review, but why in the world did he bring a tiny freaking knife? I would think he would use a gun or did he pull a Kuradeel card and desired to give Kirito a slow and painful death, maybe he just did not want his fingerprints all over the murder weapon? So did Sugou even stand a chance against Kirito? NOPE sorry buddy you might be taller in the real world, but you can’t possibly stop the hero of Sword Art Online with a weak ass knife. Did anyone notice how badly scared his face was and one of his eyes was all also screwed up, I guess the pain he felt from the ALfhiem Online was so intense that it traveled to his real body! Good thing because he totally missed the killing blow thanks to being blind in one of his eyes…one last thing to mention did his hair turn solid white when he was being interrogated at the police station or was that just my imagination? At least he was arrested so good work Jr. detective Kirito.
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IRL Waifu Meet-up
Overcooled // Kirito has a loving reunion with his in-game wife, Asuna, which is a lot less mushy than I thought it would be. Since the two of them spend so much time meeting up with other SAO players, there’s not a lot of time to be lovey-dovey. Still, we get a small glimpse at how the two act in real life. It’s pretty much the same as their relationship in SAO except they don’t have a daughter and Asuna isn’t used to using Kirito’s real name. To her, he will always be the Kirito she met in Aincrad and took care of Yui with. As they continue to play MMOs together, they will most likely maintain that bond as both online and real life partners. I wonder if holding hands, hugging and kissing feels really strange in comparison to how it felt while in the game. Those were only simulated sensations, so it probably feels a bit more real.
However, while these two are reunited and happily dating, Sugu is left in quite the predicament. She’s not even close to being over her brother’s relationship. Not even close! She puts on a brave face, but she still loves him deep down inside. I don’t blame her for not immediately changing her feelings – that’s just not something that’s possible – but it’s kind of sad that she’s left yearning for her brother. It seems like her resolution to slowly get used to them dating has been broken when she asks Kirito to dance with her. She does it because she wants to have a private moment with her brother. She also gets excited to clear Aincrad with him, as if squeezing in more time with him will be a substitute for actually having him as a boyfriend. Poor Sugu is still madly in love with her brother, and it’s a shame the series ends with her still clinging to his cape as if she still has a chance.
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Video Game School is Awesome
Foshizzel // I am not sure how much time passed in the official timeline of Sword art online, but I think a year has passed since Sugou was arrested and the world found out about his experiments in ALfhiem Online, sadly all that has given the whole VRMMORPG a bad reputation! Thankfully all of the 300 players that were stuck in ALfhiem Online because of the brain washing experiment have woken up. Now for some fun stuff about this episode! I really enjoyed seeing all the old familiar faces at the special school for the Sword Art Online survivors like Liz and Silica? While it was cool to see them I couldn’t help but facepalm because Liz still LIKES Kirito? COME ON STOP THAT! I swear are there any other “good” guys in this universe besides the main character? I still find it hard to believe…anyway we also saw Yoruko, Kains, Sasha, Yulier, Thinker and my other favorite Klein hanging out at Agil’s bar to have a little celebration for Kirito for beating Alfhiem Online. I wish I could have some big party in the real world with my guild mates for beating video games, sadly there is one person who is not so happy at the party *cough* crybaby Suguha *cough* honestly I don’t think she will ever be happy as long as Asuna is clinging to Kirito…
Overcooled //Although I’m pretty much done with SAO, I would actually potentially be interested in seeing a mini arc about the players getting re-adjusted to society. For one thing, there would probably be a number with varying degrees of post-traumatic stress ranging from mild to severe. Even those who are mentally stable would have to go back to a world that had forgotten them for the most part. They will be coming back to friends who have been changing and moving forward over the last 2 years without them, and might feel uncomfortable talking to a revived ghost from their past. 2 years is a long time and a lot of things change. The SAO players may only be able to form friendships with fellow players since they’re the only ones who they can talk to about the event. Normal people just wouldn’t understand. It’s nice to see them all gathering as friends, but I wonder if these are the only friends they have now. Of course, not everyone is flaky enough to abandon their friends, but for the most part I would imagine that socializing becomes a lot harder. A lot changes in two years.
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Final Thoughts
We did it! We survived to the end! You (reader), Fosh and I did it! *cheers* SAO has been quite the bumpy ride over the past 25 episodes. The first arc wasn’t too bad, as it was packed with a lot of amazing battles and intense showdowns. The fact that all deaths were permanent made every action have weight to it. It didn’t take long for players to die in front of Kirito and change him forever. Sachi’s death in particular hit him hard, and showed how brutal this video game world was. It was an interesting concept, but it got bogged down by girl after girl after girl falling for Kirito or just tagging along with him on various missions. The main story was often ignored for romance, and that never pleased me. Although the fights got more exciting when Kirito showed us his dual-wielding skills, things also got more…cheap. Kirito was so strong that he survived almost every situation with ease. It was ridiculous.
After that mixed first cour, the ALO arc started and really turned me off. While the SAO arc was mediocre overall, the ALO arc was downright bad. With no death penalty in place and only Kirito and his little sister as the main characters, it was a dull rinse and repeat of season 1 with all of the good parts cut out. The only good battle occurred at the very end, and everything else was filled with an incest melodrama that we all knew would end in tragedy given Kirito’s undying love for Asuna. The ALO arc was basically annoying fairy characters blabbering incessantly and waiting for Kirito to do everything for them. We basically sat through the same thing twice, which makes me wonder why the hell they made this 25 episodes. I’m told there’s even another arc, and I can only imagine that this is gonna be deja-vu yet again if I attempt to watch it.
At the very least, this episode ended things nicely. Sugu may still have the hots for her brother, but I don’t think that will ever really be resolved given Kirito’s line to her about deciding his feelings once he got Asuna back. Ugh. However, everything else wraps up nicely. Sugou is arrested, everyone goes to school, and the old gang meets up again for some MMO adventures in Aincrad 2.0! Part of what made SAO a little annoying was the come-and-go nature of the side characters. They never stayed long enough to make you like them, and their side stories just felt like a waste of time as a result. If Kirito travels with a party this time (kinda like in Slayers) then things could be more interesting. Then again, if they’re just clearing the same goddamned dungeons again then ugghhhh why???
Well that was certainly entertaining and yeah I know I usually give this series a hard time, but I actually enjoyed this final ride with Asuna and Kirito who I admit looked really cute together in the real world even though it was kind of setting us up for another adventure especially at the end when the giant floating castle from Sword Art Online appeared? I guess Kirito basically combined both game worlds into one! I wouldn’t mind seeing how fast everyone clears all the floors. Speaking of everyone! I loved seeing how everyone showed up at the end sporting those fancy fairy wings?! I couldn’t help but grin seeing both Silica and Klein flying around! Oh and Asuna adopting a brand new look complete with alternate hair colors.
So what about that egg thing? That part was probably the most interesting besides all the old characters coming back, but what does it mean? For me it just screams possible video game world inspired spinoffs we might get? That program gives anyone out there the power to create their own VRMMORPG. I wonder if that is how Accel World got started in the future, but I know that idea is nothing new to us right now because there are several sandbox type games that allow you to create content and share it with others.
Now for the terrible stuff which made me laugh like Sugu spinning and holding hands with Kirito? What was that? Was it just the creator beating a dead horse? Do they have to really drill in the thought of Sugu getting with her cousin into our skulls? My biggest complaint about ALfhiem online is just that Sugu falling for her cousin! Why would you create a character that loves him so much only to have her fail in the end because he already has someone? I just can’t wrap my mind around that still! Anyway while this series was not the most fun for me this season I still enjoy the concept of Sword Art Online from a gamer perspective, but as an anime it just did not do it for me! Sure the music is fantastic and the animation was amazing it suffers just like Guilty Crown for having a fail story with overpowered characters.
Thanks for reading and I hope you had fun debating and discussing Sword Art Online on Metanorn and before I forget I have to say a huge thank you to Overcooled for sticking with me on this oddball anime series because I had a lot of fun working together!
One last dance for the Fairy Dance arc?
About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
For the most part I liked the show. As I mentioned 15 weeks ago, I really liked “Kirito and Asuna’s Married Adventures in Aincrad” and could have done with a lot more of that.
I didn’t really have too much trouble with the Sugu parts of ALO, although I thought the “You pulled away from me because you knew we were cousins and didn’t want to get romantically involved” part was pretty dumb. Only in animes do people really get romantically involved with brothers and sisters that they spend a lot of time around. In the real world, that sibling closeness actually keeps them apart romantically (slight aside – this is why I don’t actually mind the imouto setups of OniAi and Who is Imouto). But then I liked that Sugu was trying to find someone else to fall for, so she could move away from Kazuto. It’s totally not her fault that it was the same guy, and her reaction upon finding out was the part I found to be the best in maybe the whole series, seemingly genuine and heartfelt.
I think everyone probably thinks the ALO part wasn’t as good as the Aincrad part, and that’s just because it couldn’t be. It was too much story and traveling to go through in the time allotted, and spent too much getting ‘from here to there’. They couldn’t take the time because of Slimegou’s deadline in the real world, so they couldn’t even do time skips. So basically, it was ‘race to the middle’. And then Slimegou was just a terrible final boss. He wasn’t even skilled, just a guy who had a magic key fall in his lap (at least Noumi was skilled at AW). Like I said last week, I didn’t mind resorting to a deus ex machina to beat him, because Slimegou would have been nothing anyway without one in the first place, and that was proven out when his system advantage was taken away.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
True it wouldn’t have been soooo bad to see more of Asuna and Kirito together, but I wanted more fantasy adventure aka killing monsters getting loot and all that! I know you have a special connection to those two characters Highway well as far as the “couple” goes right? I dunno I just didn’t really care about them together even though it works in the final two episodes.
I feel the same as OC towards ALO, but mostly face-palmed at Kirito for getting all his money and some items from SAO and used them in ALO? Right because that totally works in modern day MMORPGS, then again I know he didn’t get EVERYTHING but still what the hell? The whole Sugu thing was fine at the start until she fell in love with him?! Yes I realize was taking care of him irl so that probably didn’t help.
Yeah she could just move away from him to avoid having her heart ripped out every time Kirito hangs out with Asuna, but whatever I hated how they set her up to fail when we all know he wasn’t simply going to forget Asuna and go for his cousin and to those that assumed he would I can’t help but laugh >.< I will admit there are a handful of episodes that I liked in SAO and maybe only one in ALO? That said I have no idea why the next arc is amazing because honestly what else can they do? Yeah I know there is some talk of gender changing for certain characters but does that make it any better? I guess we have to see it to believe it.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Fosh, I think the timeline for the end was at most a few months (3 to 4). The school for people coming out of SAO was starting in less than a month from when we started the ALO arc (Sugu and Kazuto discussing it on the bus), and when we saw them in school later, they were still within the one month non-compete-for-Kazuto period that Lizbeth and Silica were adhering to.
Oh, here’s another gripe. After Lyfa and Kirito’s dance, everyone else shows up to go to the Aincrad restoration. If you’re going to Color Code the girls for the audience, you have to stay consistent! Blue hair belongs to Sachi, who is dead. Don’t give Asuna blue hair for one scene at the end!
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
The whole ALO arc happened in the end of January 2025. The end showed that it was May so it’s 4 months.
But Sachi has black hair though…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Dang, I thought Sachi had blue hair, maybe it’s just me confused with her blue outfit. Anyway, Asuna still had orange / brown hair.
And I have yet another comment caught by Spammy. 🙁
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Hmmm true maybe I didn’t see the time switch in with horrible subs or I wasn’t paying much attention…either way Liz STILL has the hots for Kirito while Silica probably still thinks of him as a brother type xD
Ahahaha I thought the same thing but her ALO armor is similar in style to what she wore in SAO when she joined the blood guild, yeah it was confusing at first but I was like well who else would stop to get face to face with Kirito?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yeah, that picture you put up shows Sachi with almost the same look to her outfit. Just a little confusing when they only show us that for like a second. And besides, after Kirito goes around dancing with Sugu, you can imagine that he’d hug Sachi if she came back to life somehow.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
I still think Sachi hair looks blue….. Asuna blue hair is due to her choosing the Undine race.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
So Sword Art Online comes to an end. It had its bumps on the road every now and again but overall, I enjoyed watching this. I liked the characters, though and some goofy and sometimes exaggerated but it got me to stick with it. This kind of end development was to be expected since all the action happened in the last episode.
Kirito was your basic shounen protagonist so he had his ups and downs. I seriously think he needs some kind of psychological examination at times with his outbursts when fighting. He looks like he loses himself when that happens like with what happened between him and Sugou.
A school specially made for survivors of SAO. Looks like they’re going to party with each other as much as study, especially now there’s another virtual world for them. The best thing in their case, there won’t be any social segregation between them. The place is nice, making me wish I could be there.
The ending was the best with everyone rallying together after Kirito cheered Leafa up. Two worlds put together makes for a long gameplay experience. I want in!!!
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yes this easily fits the mindless entertainment list quite easily and there were tons of episodes where I wanted to shut my mind off and just watch it, but sadly I kind of had to go back and pay attention for topics on SAO! I wish they kept going with more in game mechanics because that was the cool parts.
Action was good I will give them that much! I can’t say much for the dull story elements…
Kirito is all the shounen heroes rolled into one! I swear one of these days in Bleach Ichigo will whip out duel bankai’s and kick major ass, but he did loose a few fights right? JK! He only lost 2/3 actual fights.
The school stuff was fun and I wouldn’t mind an OVA series following their every day school life or like OC said the other students we might have seen before? How are they dealing with returning to the real world because there has to be something dramatic!
Ending was good however Kirito x Sugu was not because all it does is scream “SHE MIGHT HAVE A CHANCE WITH ONII-CHAN” and for that I didn’t enjoy their dance…
S2 will probably happen because hey SAO is popular even though I didn’t enjoy it as much as others xD
POWUH: iLurker with 10 comments
Dont end yet sword art!!! Saison 2 come on out next week!-thats a order! (Show ▼
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POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Oh don’t worry! You will have another season eventually.
POWUH: iLurker with 10 comments
its the “eventually” that im worrying over… I know there will be a saison 2 for a awesome serie like that its when that is troubleing. I hope we wont have to wait for almost all the year for it to come out.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Right it might not be right away, but I bet they are already in the process of doing it xD
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Oineapple head? Nah. This is the true pineapple hair.
Also, WTF is Slimegou doing in the photoshoot? He should be permabanned -_- And Sachi really wants to appear again lol. And I thought Argo was green hair? (Acc to anime, anyways)
I still haven’t watch the finale yet =__= I am actually cheating since I am suppose to study for finals now lol. But it looks like a nice finale to me. S2 plz! Same with AW!
Overall, the adaptation are….. well not so good. They should wait until Progressive is done =__= Also they cut out too many explanations…. But since I got my entertainment so eh. Judging by its own merit, its pretty good/entertaining.
http://i.imgur.com/pqLQLl.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q-w0-M7ohg
Guess who is appearing in SAO: Infinity Moment? 🙂
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Who’s the guy in the bottom right corner in the photoshoot? Based on his tribal markings I thought ALO, but I don’t remember him at all.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Its a girl lol. Argo the Rat frm the Sachi episode.
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
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