I barely had any internet internet access for the last two weeks. When I did have any, I would download anime to watch for when I won't have internet, (as well as 'select' videos from my YouTube feed.) So, I watched a few series. Because of that, my next few articles will be about anime!
I wrote my opinion on Sword Art Online in my previous article. I had six episodes left in Alicization by then. Now I finished the whole anime, I still stand by what I said: Sword Art Online is not the best anime and suffers from bad writing but it's still enjoyable to watch and does few things exceptionally good. Alicization in particular has very good animation, and the concept (and the philosophical argument it provides) never stops making me think about the possibilities and connection of this in real life. (Maybe I'm just a nerd...)
I'm going to talk about two things that contain spoilers for Alicization's ending. (The anime version at least.) But first, I'm going to talk about Ordinal Scale references in the anime, because while I haven't read the novels I'm sure Ordinal Scale stuff wasn't in them at all.
Ordinal Scale's "Filler" in Alicization
I have to start by saying that Ordinal Scale is canon to both the anime AND the Light Novels, with a big difference between them. The original light novel canon has the concepts that make up the Ordinal Scale movie introduced after Alicization, but in the anime canon/version, Ordinal Scale events and concepts happen before Alicization and after Mother Rosario. So, I'm only going to talk about the anime version in this article!
In the anime version of Alicization, the real world has already been affected by the events of Ordinal Scale movie... AUGMA has been a huge hit in the world for a while, and the main characters use it in the anime version of Alicization. Eiji and "Navigation Pixie" YUNA get a cameo then actually appear in the second half of Alicization. With Eiji continuing his character development from the movie.
When they appear in Alicization anime, their scenes are filler (for the most part, because they does change few things) but it's a really good filler! SAO franchise has tradition of using characters for fanservice excitement, (just look at any SAO game.) and using Ordinal Scale characters at that moment is the best time they've done this. If you liked Ordinal Scale characters (like I do,) you will love every moment of it!
Oh, I have to say that it makes ton of sense in the anime version that Ordinal Scale happens before Alicization, because the "theme" of Alicization feels like a natural evolution of how Ordinal Scale handled AI instead of the other way around.
The Fate of "Kirito"
HEAVY SPOILERS for the final three Alicization episodes!
After he awakened, being the over-powered light novel protagonist he is, Kirito saved the world yet again! This time though, he only managed to buy enough time for Alice to escape. (Fulfilling the goal of Alicization Project and saving the world by doing so.) He didn't have enough time to escape himself.
The antagonist's team had destroyed the speed limiter of the underworld, making the time inside of it moves at 5,000,000 times the one in the real world. Even if Kirito was saved as soon as possible, he will spend at least 200 years in the Underworld and would die of old age inside of it. Kirito who tearfully accepted his fate realized that Asuna let herself be trapped with him in the underworld for those 200 years so that he won't stay alone. (Heartwarming~)
So, the story moved along in the real world, while Kirito stayed trapped in the Underworld. While the Alicization Project managed to succeed and Alice is now living in the real world... Then, we see that Kirito and Asuna were saved in with some miracle or another... They managed to survive 200 years inside the computer and after they woke up, they demanded for their 200 years of memories to be deleted.
Kirito, Asuna and Alice continued their life in the real world...
So, why I'm calling this section the fate of Kirito? Because there are two "Kirito"s in the story right now!
When Higa revived Kirito, he made sure to leave a copy of the Kirito who lived 200 years as a backup. Higa couldn't handle to delete the mind of a human who lived 200+ years. I'm calling the copy AI-Kirito. With his 200-years of wisdom, AI_Kirito expected this to happen, and asked Higa if he was the only person who was copied. Higa replied that he's the only one. He couldn't copy two people *(the other being Asuna) without raising suspicion.
AI-Kirito said that he discussed this with Asuna before they got out of the virtual world. If AI-Asuna was with him, they would work to build a harmonic relationships between the Real Word and the Underworld. But if he was revived alone, he would ONLY protect the underworld... He would fight the real world if he had to.
At the same time, real Kirito lived his life...
Unaware that there is a version of him still inside the Underworld.
I believe that his last words mean, that we might be seeing a Kirito VS Kirito sometime in the future! God I'm so excited for this if it were to happen. But before that the last episode made me excited for another reason.
The Return to the Underworld
In the final episode, Alice received a coded message via Email. (To her brain, so convenient.) She uncoded it with the help of Kirito and found that it leads to some IP address... They realized that this address would take them to the Underworld. Alice, excited to go to her homeland took Kirito and Asuna with her... But what they found when they arrived was more than a bit strange.
They were in the space! The trio, saw some (AI-)humans were fighting a giant, powerful space monster with their spaceships. On top of that, they saw the Earth (of the Underworld) from afar with massive explosions that can be seen from where they are in the space. The final straw is that we (the audience) recognize both girls piloting the spaceships. How are they still alive?! Didn't at least 200 years have already passed?
Something is not right, and we will only realize what is the problem when the next season starts. (Or read the novels, assuming this episode was based on them.) I don't think we'll see a continuation soon, not in anime form.
The next SAO anime has already been teased, and it's an adaption of "Progressive" novels, which is an expansion of the original Sword Art Online Aincard Arc... SAO: Progressive shows Aincard events in microscopic detail, with the current 6 Volumes of the novels only showing us the first 6 floors out of 75!!
What do you think?
Well, this article was a compilation of my thoughts on the ending of Alicization. I just noticed it was mostly a recap of what happened written in some I'm excited about this style!
But really, I loved the inclusion of Ordinal Scale characters. The ending offers a lot of potential for future events. I said it before, but despite being a mediocre anime at best in its execution, (the ideas themselves are actually better than most stories I've seen of this genre.) SAO is filled with stupid character motivations, plot-holes and questionable moments, but still deserves to be as popular as it is right now. SAO tackles great themes and the characters are getting better with each arc!
Hey, I think I should write about Kirito's character/personality for my next article... He is a typical "isekai" hero, (one of the first.) He is a "power-fantasy" vessel, but Kirito is not as "bland" as many anime-only fans tend to believe. Actually, it's a problem I noticed in about every anime based on a Light Novel. I should research and write about this as soon as my internet becomes stable again~
Hope you enjoyed reading this~