Living up to the expectations set by last week’s cliffhanger ending, Kirito’s duel with Levanteinn was a sight to behold. Words of encouragement from his beautiful mentor, particle effects galore, and a power up based on friendship, Kirito draws his match against all odds. Although I expected Kirito to whip out the dual wielding which has saved him in the past, it would’ve probably been illegal in the context of the duel to bring out a second sword. Nevertheless, he channels the power of imagination that is so prevalent in Alicization, drawing strength from his friends and Asuna, almost like pseudo Spirit Bomb. It was quite interesting seeing the juxtaposition of Levanteinn’s strength and that of Kirito’s. While Levanteinn draws strength from his ancestors through his blade, Kirito chooses his friends. In shounen fashion, the power of friendship overcomes Levanteinn’s, and the match ends with no bitter feelings. I was a bit surprised that Levanteinn was such a genuinely honorable individual, not only does he accept that he did not best Kirito, he even smiles when Serlut bests him as well. Good guy Levanteinn isn’t a meathead with a power complex, but just a very strong guy.
Serlut invites Kirito to her room for a celebration with Eugeo and his mentor, which results in quite the cozy scene. It’s oddly comforting to see everyone at such ease, with little to nothing to worry about. Eugeo and his mentor are passed out on the couch from drinking, while Kirito and Serlut share a glass of wine. The room is well lit, in contrast to the darkness outside, and one can’t help but feel at extreme ease. Sometimes it’s nice to take a break from the tension and the action, and instead let the character’s have a bit of chemistry time.
Unfortunately for Kirito, his down time is cut short by the two pompous noblemen from earlier. Now they’re pretty one dimensional characters, perfectly fit into the archetype of arrogant aristocrat. I hate everything about them, from their personalities to their lack of depth. Nevertheless, their cruel destruction of Kirito’s flowers are a vessel in which Alicization brings up life transfer and of course introduces the mystery voice from the sky. The mystery voice must be quite powerful, considering she could connect with Kirito’s distress and give him advice from a remote location, her words hint at some wisdom as well. Could this be the woman in the tower? Will she be a future antagonist? Almost for sure. But only time will tell!
Now, I didn’t really think I’d feel any emotions whatsoever over a pot of flowers, but Kirito’s year long struggle to make them grow for Serlut was absolutely adorable. To see his hard work destroyed after so long, actually succeeded in getting me quite frustrated for him. Luckily, the nearby flowers chose to give up a bit of their life energy for the cause. This is the second time now, that life transfer has been relevant in Alicization, leading me to believe it’ll be absolutely critical later on in this arc. I would not be surprised if someone pulls the sacrifice card and dies to save someone else.
The episode ends with Serlut defeating Levanteinn at last, finally overcoming her mental hurdle thanks to Kirito. She lets out a wide smile in her triumph, and I felt myself cheering her on too! It’s a bit sad that she’s graduating, but hopefully she’ll return in the future of Alicization. A brief timeskip brings Kirito and Eugeo as Elite Swordsmen at the academy, with their own pages. I honestly wouldn’t mind if Sword Art Online became of Slice of Life anime following their exploits around this academy, but the show must go on. Eugeo and Kirito look out their window towards the massive tower, once again bringing back our attention to the main goal at hand.
Reminder that Vol 21 of the SAO light novel releases this December 7th , the beginning of the Unital Ring arc. It’ll be Alicization’s direct sequel and the 1st LN-exclusive story arc of SAO (the previous 20 volumes were adapted from Kawahara Reki’s original SAO webnovel).
SAO’s editor, Miki Kazuma, is also seeking new writers to specifically create SAO spinoff content covering anime, games and novels.
Some commenters are concerned whether this is a plot by Miki to undermine Kawahara’s control (as original creator) over a larger portion of the SAO franchise. Because this future content is not made by Kawahara himself, but novice writers under Miki’s control, the fear is that Miki can use the excuse of “you can’t lose what you don’t create directly” to make the cash flow from these spinoffs flow directly to him (and the publisher) over Kawahara.
Of course, they’re also hoping this is being done in good faith to ease Kawahara’s burden of simultaneously overseeing the franchise and contiuning his LN career with SAO, Accel World and The Isolator.
Man…reminds me of how the Halo franchise continued after Halo 3. Spinoffs seen okay to me, but not so much direct sequels to the original content.