Sword Art Online Alicization First Impressions

Sword Art Online season three is finally upon us. The alicization arc has been long awaited by people like me who have read the entire arc through the light novels. To put it in perspective, the first two seasons of the show were covered in books 1 through 9; alicization is books 10 – 18. So, there is a lot of content.

The series does a bit of a reset in the story at the beginning. We have a backstory of the boy Kirito playing with two other children, Eugeo and Alice. This, we discover, is him testing a new scuba technology that is indistinguishable from real life. After being attacked by the third perpetrator of the incident with the deadly weapon, he is rushed to the hospital. The next thing he knows, Kirito is waking up in the virtual world, known as the Underworld.

Things are slowly explained as Kirito tests his problem-solving skills on the inside, and Asuna shows off some detective skills on the outside. The real question is, what is the underworld and why does it exist? Eventually, you discover the beginning of the corruption within the Underworld.

So far, how does it compare to the light novels?

Pretty good, actually.

The first few episodes of the show do a great job of following the light novels almost perfectly. All the important parts of the building are present, and it’s really amazing to see the characters I read about come to life in animation.

Now there are some parts that are removed, which I really don’t agree with. Throughout the first six episodes, I counted down two major scenes that should have been included and weren’t. These scenes were important to character development; one for Kirito and the other for Eugeo. The most important scene was for Eugeo, since she is a newer character and we can always use some more construction.

Then episode 7 happened.

Episode 7 threw the good pacing to the wind and rushed through about half a book’s worth of material, which I don’t like. We get a flashback covering Kirito and Eugeo’s journey to becoming Swordcraft Academy students, but it actually went much deeper than just a flashback. They also rush the relationship of Kirito and her mentor, which is very sad, especially since she comes back later, and it would have helped develop their relationship further.

Overall, I’m very pleased with the way the anime is developing. In the end, the book is almost always better than the anime or the movie, so I can’t complain too much. The animation is absolutely beautiful, and I enjoy watching the story unfold before my eyes.