First time reads this part in LN : HOLY SHIT!

Watching the anime scene : HOLY SHIT!

I'm surprised by how well A1 produced and directed this scene. My credit goes to Manabu Ono!

You know, I was told earlier that the last episode was the “calm before the storm”. I didn’t really believe that. But then my area started storming and flooded the neighborhood. I realized that this was omen of what’s to come.

Because HOLY SHIT what an episode!

Honestly one of the best, well made episode I’ve seen. The animation, tone, music, and acting blew me away.

Eugeo finally became a man and manage to break from the taboo index. That probably means he won’t be able to marry Tiese. Sad.

For Kirito, my man, he just insulted that asshole “Goblin Slayer” style. And that fighting animation! It looked like it was a budget directly out of unfotable unlimited blades works.

Man I don’t know what’s going to happen anymore. We get to see Alice again but she’s an Integrity Knight now. I have a feeling she won’t remember Eugeo or Kirito what so ever.

OH MY GOD! This is the best episode ever, A-1 actually fucking ace'd it! The long wait for (in my opinion) THE BEST WAIFU IS HERE!!!!!

Aside from that, this episode had me feeling the chills the whole way through, big props to A-1.

Really appreciated how much effort the animators put into this ep. The Kirito vs Raios animation was so well done that it gives me goosebumps!!

Apart from that Aliceee is here and cant wait for next ep!! Especially When Alice slaps Eugeo XDDD

All hail A1 Pictures

Is it just me I don't remember Kirito's sword growing in this scene?

Hooooh boooy...I actually had to take deep breaths after watching that warning at the beginning.

I knew what was coming, we all did, but my God A1 surpassed themselves. The scene was a thousand times more horrible and feels-inducing animated than I ever thought would be. The horror and despair from the poor Kouhais, the sheer disgust and hate Humbert and Raios, and Eugeo's own feelings of powerlessness and then of determination, it made all of it even more nerve-wracking and also masterful.

Kirito arriving literally in the nick of time was also even more amazing here, you could literally FEEL that blade about to behead Eugeo when he intervened. And then 'disarming' Raios...just pure delicious karma. Even the hard censor didn't deter me from it all.

The following part is just SO touching. Tiese crying and blaming herself, then Eugeo doing the same, then Ronye also crying on Kirito and finally him telling Eugeo that no, he was not a monster for what he did...feels everywhere, ladies and gentlemen.

And finally, of course, what other cliffhanger could they have given? The moment so many had been waiting for arrived...the Golden Waifu has come.

Let's all get ready, people, because from now in Alicization becomes a tire-less train...and we can't get off until the very end...

I wonder if that disclaimer is because of the Goblin Slayer fiasco earlier this season.

I knew what was gonna happen this episode but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it to be like this. Still shaking a bit from watching it.

WOAH! THEY WERE DEFINITELY NOT HOLDING BACK THIS TIME (OO) I felt uncomfortable the whole time and damn I even cried during the Eugeo&Tiese scene ;;

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I wanted to hug Eugeo the entire time. I already felt very bad for him in the LN but the anime made me feel bad for him even more, especially when he started to cry. Making him cry should be a crime 😭

This was the scene that they had to get right and I feel A1 executed it very well in accordance to the light novel. Well done

I know we’re talking about the rape and Alice parts, but let’s take a moment to acknowledge how sweet Kirito looked jumping into that tree with a minimum amount of effort

Fantastic episode. I absolutely loved every scene, especially Eugeo breaking the seal of his right eye. Absolutely made me shake with excitement and anticipation. Alice showing up at the end was nothing short of stellar; she looks absolutely gorgeous onscreen and I can't wait to see more of her.

My only gripe is how Crunchyroll handled this episode's release. Know that Crunchyroll cropped out bits of some frames, or straight up removed some content. The raw/original episode had extra detail that Crunchyroll unprofessionally cut, at least in my opinion.

It's one thing to add a viewer advisory to warn whoever is watching, but very much another when they take the "liberty" of removing what they want, despite already stating what the episode contains. I paid to see anime as it is aired in Japan, not how Crunchyroll sees fit.

It's been a while since I read the LN, so I thought raios would just bleed out. The fluctlight essentially going blue screen was absolutely disturbing

The censorship was over exaggerated but holy shit the way they handled everything from Eugeo breaking the seal to Alice S30

I think they handled the episode very well without going too far.

Kirito like always comes in just in the nick of time, I wonder if that's he true skill.

They also showed how Raios' fluctlight enter a parados between saving itself and violating the taboo index which was very disconcerting.

We finally meet Alice Synthesis Thirty, what a ride is going to be from now on.

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I’m not normally one to cringe at gory/uncomfortable scenes like this but fuck...

That hurt a lot.

They did that really well. They made it just like how it was in the books. Can't wait for Eugeo to get slapped by Alice next episode.

All I can say is....

Damn.

Also, I guess u/rkraiem100 didn't call it.

Ngl the way A1 handled this episode just made me even more hyped for that other scene in about 10ish episodes

I'm possibly gonna get crucified but can I just say I'm kind of disappointed. I'm disappointed with regard to if I compared the novels, so I'll say as an anime standalone, it was done well. The scenes were drawn and written top notch, you get the sense of anger that Eugeo feels, you see how Humbert and Raios are terrible scum like Kirito says, but to me this chapter wasn't just about them. The anime deals with how they they're terrible.

What I'm missing compared to the novels is why and how. In the novel I got the perfect sense and message: People embody both good and evil that was presented in the novel. The buildup while reading and hearing about the Taboo Index was so powerful and builds up more of the structure of Underworld that's just missing in the anime adaptation. That's just scraping the surface of my concerns.

The next bit is more of a nitpick if anything but Kirito's motives and thoughts are completely thrown out of the window. If you watch the anime alone, you wouldn't know that Kirito switched his fighting style to that of Sortiliena's to compensate for the small room to go on the defensive and protect Eugeo instead. That's 1 part.

The second part is how they handled Kirito "saving" Raios. In the anime, Kirito slices off the rope cleanly and we as viewers think he has intent to kill Raios because he doesn't even make an effort to tie it up for him. He straight up says to an armless Raios, "Here do it yourself"....which is as good as wishing death.

In the novels, Kirito walks over and attempts to untie the rope but fails because it's bonded too tight on Ronie so by the time Raios sputters and dies, it's too late. He makes an effort here, it's consistent with how much he cherishes life and not want to kill. It also adds more of a theme to how bad Raios and Humbert are to the point where they kind of did their own undoing because the rope being too tight is on their fault. That's the second part.

My last nitpick of the episode is how much underutilized Azurika and her speech was. I can boil down the anime's adaptation of her lines into two things. "Eugeo, you broke the seal that I never broke. Kirito I wish I got to know you better." The novels actually build and imply something much more to her. Not only that but it establishes her as more friendlier than the eye can see with how kind of a good vibe departure speech she gives to both Kirito and Eugeo how she believed they would be the Representatives for the Sword tournament, and how later on she implies she knows more than she lets on, mentioning how the Taboo Index is not made by god, but by man. We also in the novels see how important she is to Kirito, with Kirito saying that one day he'll come back and visit saying that he'll tell her everything she wants to know and that sets up a much more interesting dynamic you can expect in the future. In the anime it just felt so glossed over and brief because we're haphazardly jerked to meeting Alice for the first time.

So to conclude I want to be clear, I know the anime's adaptation and the direction it wants to go in is different. I know. I'm not faulting it, I'm not thinking it less of it because it's in a much more condensed medium. In fact out of every point I mentioned today, focusing on the torture scene was definitely the best call overall in terms of not offending people and getting the message across of Humbert and Raios' comeuppance. So I can't fault the anime and think it handled it well. What I do feel is personal disappointment because I liked the points they skimmed over and missed. I remember reading the novel just last week in preparation and got to the part with Azurika, and I was thrown back, unknowingly how important she was. Here in the anime she's given really if anything a nudge to Kirito and Eugeo. Yeah her role is established same as the novels, the sole person so far that could understand Kirito and Eugeo and sympathizes with them and lets on more than she knows, but in the novel you get a more sense of kind of like a mother interaction with how she has faith in Kirito and Eugeo, believing they'd be the representatives that year, how she directly lets out a line that implies to the reader there's more things going on in the back one may think with the Taboo index made by man line. You also miss out on a bit of Kirito's characteristic and his relationship with her.

Overall I think the anime did well with what it set out to do. I only wish it set out to do more of what I liked whilst reading. That's all.

Edit: One more thing: I think the interpretation that the anime did with the torture scene was too much. The novels AFAIK even as I'm citing and looking directly literally right now only implies touching, the licking was too much for me. That's another more personal issue. It's minor because with Kawahara behind the anime, this may have been his vision behind all the implies screams in the novels.

That warning at the begin of the episode really got me like "Oh f*ck, this is actually happening...". Sure, we knew it was coming, but still...

They did a really good job setting the mood for the scene too, imo! (That part with Eugeo and the two jerks in the front room with the wine and stuff)
The actual scene was about as horrifying animated, as it was to read in the novel, f*ck that was intense...

But now we finally got Alice back and the Tower climbing will probably begin next episode and I'm soooo looking forward to that!

Buuuut, I'll have to wait another week... Damn it...

When Raios hit "smacked" Tiese during the rape scene, wasn't this against the taboo index? Because you are not allowed to hurt someone.

Lol, research on STL is already warming up.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2177064/chinese-scientists-go-search-soul-worlds-most-powerful-brain?utm_source=quora&utm_medium=referral

Nobody is going to mention that the Blue Swordsman turned into Guts for a few minutes?

The second I saw that disclaimer at the beginning is when I realized....

....SHIT WAS ABOUT TO GO DOWN!!!

I want a spoil. Does Eugeo become stronger? Does Kirito remain as the strongest? Is he even? I don't want Alice spoils tho lol

You know, when I read this scene in the LN, my hatred for two fictional characters hit an all time high. I knew this was coming, but my god, that can of worms has reopened. I don’t think I’ve ever actually shaken in anger before, but I couldn’t sit still for the entire episode after seeing that content warning. Fuck Humbert. Fuck Raios. Fuck the Taboo Index.

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That 'Arisu Shinseshisu Sāti-desu' at the end was smooth af!!

I would have hope they didn't black out the blood and stuff. I think the warning at the beginning was sufficient to not need to censor the good stuff.

Overall great episode. Would have been good if you actually follow the LN and not be half-assed with the "Generate Lost Organ".

creep factor right here!

Holy freek'n rescue scenes. And the boys' takedown of the Two Dicks on a Sofa ©®™ is bloody awesome (literally).

And things will only get bloodier from here!

good fucking riddance raios

Who is the woman that healed Eugeo's eye? I don't remember her from the LNs. She seems to know about the Seal of the Right Eye and that Kirito is somehow special.

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Edit: I just looked at the LN and realized the scene is pretty much the same there, but it still seems weird to me that she knows this stuff.