Well I have mixed feelings about some things in this finale.

Kirito using Incarnation to become the «Black Swordsman» felt really awkward, or it lacked any charm. Checking Vol. 14, it happened later into the fight and not so early.

First Round of duelling Administrator wasn't too bad, all according to the source from «Vertical Square», «Crucifixion» and «Zekku», altogether with Kirito failing to counter with «Slant», «Nova Ascension» and «Vorpal Strike».

Can't tell whether or not the ice ruined the impact here. I personally think it to be silly with how this turned out, it makes for something a little more interesting, Kirito finally being able to recall his childhood within Underworld. With the direction they went with the «Blue Rose Sword» freezing Eugeo's blood, the transition from «Blue Rose Sword» to «Red Rose Sword» didn't sit well with me. I imagined the Sword to have been resting by Eugeo's side.

"Now, stand Kirito. My Best Friend. My... Hero."

Since the transformation to the «Black Swordsman» happened earlier, this gave off far less of a menacing aura than the illustration by abec gave off. Round Two is the duel of the «Vorpal Strikes», I honestly don't like how they have to run forwards like that, using other mediums as an example it sits right that «Vorpal Strike» and «Sonic Leap» were leap or launch moves, that pushes the user at high speeds. But the contact between the two was great to see, the two cutting each other's right arms off. Quinella's hair grabs Kirito (though it isn't as such in the novel) and Kirito retaliates with a move that wouldn't have been possible in Aincrad, another «Vorpal Strike» with the «Red Rose Sword», from mid-air too, and the explosion, though I feel like Sword should have already been broken after that. Partially expected a light fest.

How they handled the position of the System Computer makes way more sense here, rather than floating in the chamber, atop a really long set of stairs. But by Stacia was Chudelkin burning Quinella a lot more violent here than I initially thought, the aftermath of that explosion looked a little weird but cool nonetheless.

"Stay Cool... Kirito"

I'd be lying if I didn't tear up a little upon hearing that, the voicework here was especially well done. Good going Nobunaga and Matusoka. Of everything that hit me hard here, it was the transition to Alice Schuberg, Eugeo and Kirito on the divergent pathways, it was beautiful yet sad. Kind of wish we would get a look at an Adult Alice Schuberg, feel like it would've worked a lot better here.

But finally... Eugeo's journey has reached its end, he will not be forgotten.

Despite all that has happened, the room is empty and quiet. I honestly didn't know that we'd be seeing these two bastards so early on. The power being cut on the Underworld's side was amazing to see. But I kinda wish they didn't cut it at——

To conclude, "——A conclusion, what conclusion...?" it could have been better though.

They pulled it off... They pulled it off really fricking well

Okay, Eugeo may never have been my faviurite Alicezation character by far, but they made this shit far worse than I ever expected it to be. I genuinely didnt expect to cry in this one episode. I expected everything to be cried with last episode, but A1 proved me wrong

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Sayonara, Eugeo-kun. you may no longer be with us, but you will always be remembered. May you have peace there, wherever you are going.

6 months of waiting for the next cour thouu....

worth the wait i guess

Countdown to important character deaths concludes with:

1 - Eugeo

They finally really did it

Well. It's official.

I thought I was emotionally dead this entire season because people kept talking about crying and shit during the various episodes and I hadn't.

This episode broke me. ;-; That's all I have to say.

Insert a lot of random crying here

...okay...that done, what to say now? The animation sadly wasn't as good as previous episode, which is a bad sad, but overall I think most scenes conveyed the feelings were meant to, especially Eugeo and Alice Zuberg saying goodbye. Plus that extra-scene of the attack on the OT from the outside and how Kirito's Fluctlight was damaged was nice too.

However...a key detail they changed there at the end didn't sit well with me: They had Kirito's last words being 'Asuna' and a clear recognition of her in her SAO clothes, which was...underwhelming, really, and reduced the drama/sadness of that scene, because, as anyone who read vol14 should know, his last words should have been him saying how he couldn't recall who that voice belonged to. This bothered men particularly, for some reason.

That aside, though, the sadness this episode caused has been completely quelled for the hype I'm feeling now, because the Alicization Gameverse game has finally been announced, hell yeah! No more sadness :D!

Well...until October for the next bit, everyone :3!

Anime-only here. I don’t mind reading light spoilers.

Does this mean Asuna is coming to the Underworld?

Thanks in advance

[deleted]

I know it says anime watchers should discuss at a certain thread but I need some form of closure

After Kirito hears Asuna's voice, is that when his fluctlight fries and then is looked after by Alice?

Everything was great for me, until they fucked up the last scene by having Kirito say Asuna's name.

I know this opinion might be unpopular on this sub, and it sort of hurts to say it with how much I love the novels, but I was pretty disappointed with the finale.  The animation was REALLY rough at a lot of places (especially kirito's facial expressions) and personally, I thought the pacing was too fast for the fights and emotional moments to be completely satisfying.  Speaking of the fight, it was pretty cool, but it still felt a little clunky and unpolished. I still think the goblin fight from episode 4 is by far the show's best fight, and that sucks when that fight is so small in the greater sense of the story.

I also felt like they sort of messed up one of my favorite LN scenes at the end of the episode.  In the novels, when Kirito's hears Asuna's voice after the lightcube cluster is damaged, he mentions how precious that voice is to him, but he can't remember whose it is.  But in the anime, all he says is “Asuna…”, which is definitely much less emotional.

I did think Eugeo's heart-wrenching death scene was handled pretty well, but overall I'm just not totally satisfied with the finale, and honestly the adaptation as a whole.  Hopefully the blu-rays will help? I love Alicization and I just wish I could be more excited about the anime. The upcoming game looked kinda cool tho ngl

Well, here we are. What a ride.

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Black swordsman, check

Red rose sword looked beautiful.

Finally dual wield Kirito.

It's over admin.

Wait your trying to escape.

Is that Chudelkin?

Wow, I guess there are worse ways to go, I'm kidding I may even feel a little bad for Admin.

Eugeo and Kirito

Two Alices but there can only be one :'(

What a beautiful memory.

Night sky sword.

Goodbye Eugeo, goodbye Alice, stay cool.

Kikuoka what is going on?

We meet those two again.

Asunaaaaaaaaaaaa!

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I loved the season the whole journey matters maybe even more than the end. Now to wait another six months.

What the hell is with this episode's pacing? Too damn fast...

You’d think by reading the novels you can prepare yourself for the emotions...

No, we can’t. But we can stay cool.

Spoilers didn't fucking matter of this episode. Dude, what a beautifully adapted episode A1 gave us, today. Black Swordsman returns to fight the Administrator, and the fight was probably the best fight I've seen from Part 1. I called it and man we got to see Eugeo speak out his final words to Kirito before joining into the light, with Young Alice (I'm not crying, you are!). Night Sky Sword confirmed. Chudelkin...How the hell he managed to stay alive only to fuse himself with Quinella is beyond me, but be gone thot. Kirito...Without Eugeo and Alice Zuberg was definitely sad to see. Despite, Integrity Knight Alice is still alive. And in the end with Kirito's fluctlight be damaged and ASUNA appearing! Dammit it all, A1...What a fucking good episode this was! I was crying the entire time, and this...proves even if you read the LN. You will still get these feels.

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Can't wait until Part 2 in October.

This episode is a perfect example of why spoilers mean relatively little in anime. I’ve known this moment was coming for YEARS, yet here I am crying like a fucking baby.

I still think Eugeo deserved better and could’ve been written to survive, I know Reki tried, but a legitimate bromance going forward would be amazing. Loved the animation and execution of the fight with Quinella and seeing her get burnt up was so satisfying

Fitting that it’ll be a 6 month break until it comes back, *vigorously begins to read volume 15

Can’t wait until volume 16 is released in May, we finally made it boys

Stay cool, you’ll always be my best friend.

Thank you ASCA and ReoNa san for the beautiful songs for the 2nd cour.❤

Well, I don't have much to say about episode since many already did and I agree with them.

RIP Eugeo. You deserved to live :'(

Eugeo's birthday is confirmed to be 10th April Human Calendar 361

Now we will be waiting 6 months, just like the novel time skip in Underworld

Well say goodbye to Kirito until winter 2019, he ain’t doing shit until then

Finally!!! This week felt so long. I personally have always loved yellow eyed Kirito, from back to season 1 and was great to see it return. Watching Quinella using all those attacks was amazing. Its a detail I forgot since I read the LN so long ago. I was hoping for a quick quote from Kirito about having to become the black swordsman again but whatever. Read the ln etc etc.

As for Eugeo, I was hoping that song wouldn't make its return, left me a weeping mess last time and did so again. He honestly wasn't my favorite character back when I first read the LN but spending a season watching this character fight and struggle really makes a difference. He made his way to Alice, it wasnt the outcome he wanted but at least now they can be at peace.

Quinella reminds me so much of Kayaba in the sense that they both have done horrible things but I cant help but to like them. She was an amazing person, discovering the secret of her world. That in itself is an amazing accomplish. She would have gone full on Skynet on the world if set free but Id like to think she's in peace too. Ive seen a few complaints about the animation with her and Chudelkin but I loved it. He still manages to be creepy but I feel it showed off well her final moments.

My one gripe is with the very end. A tiny thing, I feel it would have been more impactful to end with Kirito not recognizing Asuna. Plus it made it feel like there will be a new episode next week :( October is a long time away. All in all it was a great ride. I wish they had the freedom to make as many episodes as they wanted because at times it did feel a bit rushed but it was a job well done.

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I thought season 3 is kinda good, but the monologues were cut heavily. The feeling and monologues are the reason why I'm attach to SAO. I hope one day I might be able to remake alicization, and make a better sao. No joke.

I finally could watch this episode and not gonna lie I cried... My boy deserved better... Now excuse me... I need to do something to feel less dead inside...

Episode almost perfect. A shame they didn't do last scene justice with Kirito forgetting everything and everything slowly fall to black.

All I can say is that it was really underwhelming. The entire fight against Sugou 2.0 wasn't stimulating or visually spectacular and in no way managed to live up to the build up from the previous episodes. The pacing felt kind of odd and at the end it honestly felt like it was being rushed.

All in all, the adaptation is only so-so and from what I have seen so far, the second half probably wont be as good. The LN simply has more substance.

I don't really see the next part of Alicization performing better than Fate Grand Order. Alice, Sinon, and Leafa can't salvage it.

The next season in october is where Alice presents how much of a plot device she is amiright?

What happened to the clown at the end when he jumped onto administrator?

Anime viewer here: was Adminbithc not botherd and didnt comment of kirito dual whielding in ln as well?It seemed strange for me she didnt mention that it breaks the rules of the world or smth like this

early

I can't wait to get home to watch it

Holy fuck I'm crying. Sao has learned me that I cannot get emotional by reading. Only visuals can.

When kirito said "not yet" i remembered that time in season 1 with his fight with healthcliff with both using their willpower to land the final strike

6 months waiting time

They better make sure the adaption is good

Sayounara, Eugeo-kun, Alice-chan :')

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Mata aimashou :')

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Thank you guys for this amazing six months, the next six months wait will be painful as well as the end of this first half :')

Hi! This episode was amazing. Do you know which part of Visual Novel it ends? ( I mean number of Sword Art Online XX)

Where can I find the manga so I can read ahead and calm myself down?

The way they have Eugeo and Alice say how they all lived together at the same time in the Underworld, how they accept that they are going to go different ways and how they will continue to live on through Kirito's memories is neatly changed for the anime 3rd person perspective. Much cleaner, but just as impactive as having the Light Novel Reader have all three say the same thing in the novel.

I would have liked Kirito to say how they lived together, but you could take what they've animated as him being too speechless with coming to terms that part of his memory has just been restored.

And ReoNa <3

I remember saying to myself "Oh boy, this is going to be quite the ride." when the announcement came out that A1 were planning to animate the rest of SAO.

And what the ride it has been.

Not sure if this has been mentioned in the LN of what, I don't mind the spoilers since by October I'll have forgotten all of this anyways. But were there other real people on Underworld besides Kirito during this first part? I know Asuna and some of the guys that attacked Ocean Turtle will be going to Underworld (from what I read these will be entering but on the Dark Territory accounts that are above average.) How does Kirito get treated? Will he ever fight again near the end of maybe the end of the last episodes? And why couldn't they take Alice light cube from the Light Cube Cluster? It says "only to learn that nothing could be done aside from taking a peek into the world" on the summary.

I knew what was going to happen, but that didn't stop me from crying. Man, great performances from the cast. They totally delivered. My heart...

they pulled off this one really really well, loved it

i was sure i wasnt gonna tear up cuz of eugeo (coz i cant get to care about a chara whos not a cute grill) but apparently i was wrong and there was some feels,

ofcourse, when it comes to anime and feels yuuki takes the cake everytime, after that i was mortified and i cried myself to dehydration :3

6 months is not that long time, i can wait <3

;_;

I was never going to be ready to see best boys death animated but damn that hit hard. This whole season was everything I expected and more, I can wait for October

Eugeo nooo i never saw your inevitable death cooooming...!

Wait, im in the LN reader thread.

...EUGEO NOOO I SAW YOUR INEVITABLE DEATH COMING BUT NOOOOO!!

Right. So, being honest, ive not been the biggest fan of Alicization: The Anime. These first 24 Episodes have been a mixed bag; some were quite good, some were quite poor, and all of this is undermined by the fact i know whats coming. Yuuki's death effected me quite a bit, simply because i knew nothing about her and totally expected her to get better, because thats what characters in fiction do, they get better.

But Eugeos death, while well adapted, didnt have the same effect on me. Simply because i knew it was coming for, like, two years now.

And that is not the animes fault, thats completely mine.

Its well sad, yes, and the "Stay Cool" line gave me the chills ive been hoping for all this time. And while i was never a fan of Eugeo, so to speak, he was a good character.

All that bitching aside, the last five minutes have me pumped. Im a much bigger fan of the last half of Alicization, and one of my favourite sections from all the books was when Kirito opens the voice link and hears gunfire - theres a line that goes something like "He recalled the sound from GGO - the sound of a submachine gun firing." Its the absolute biggest oh shit moment in that book, and despite that line's absence from the adaptation, the rest of the scene worked.

I mean, i read that fan-translation over two years ago, and still remember that part clearly. I think i even recall (one of?) the last lines being Asuna calling for Kirito - and Kirito wondering, as his brain melts, who that familiar voice belongs to.

The first half of Alicization was a solid "Its okay" for me. The second half of Alicization? Something im bloody well hyped for, now.

If they made the Black Swordsman transformation when Kirito gets the Red Rose Sword, it would have been SO FUCKING BETTER. They didn't make a great ''transformation effects'' though. His clothes just changed. despite this, the episode was incredible. But it could have been so fucking better

Anime watcher here but I don’t mind spoilers. So I might have missed something or didn’t clearly understand, but how was Quinella planning on coming to the real world? Even if she was able to disconnect her fluctlight cube from the cube cluster (which I’m pretty sure she can’t without a real person giving permission) wouldn’t she just be out of the underworld and into a computer? She’d basically still just be an AI but without control over the entire world. If they didn’t have a robot body ready for her to enter wouldn’t she still be stuck in a computer like how that copied fluctlight earlier in the show was?