Sword Art Online: Alicization War of Underworld Part 2

Episodes 1-2

Note #1: Rather than numbering this season separately, Crunchyroll is numbering these two episodes as episodes 13 and 14, while Funimation is numbering these as episodes 37 and 38.
Note #2: Because I covered episode 13 fully in the Preview Guide, this review will entirely concern episode 14.

Although the War of Underworld part of the Alicization arc has had high points prior to this point, episode 14 starts off with arguably one of the highest: the entry onto the battlefield of numerous established individuals from Aincrad and ALO, including Lizbeth, Silica, Agil, the leaders of the Sylphs, Salamanders, and Cait Sith and the surviving members of the Sleeping Knights. In all, about two thousand Japanese players arrive, and because theirs are leveled accounts rather than the basic ones the red-suited American players have, they don't initially seem to have much trouble beating the players back. (And yes, you can easily read a lot into this that I'm sure original writer Reki Kawahara did not consciously intend.) One aspect of the scene which doesn't get as much emphasis as it deserves is Lizbeth and Silica's reaction to meeting Renly. They have been told that the inhabitants of Underworld are alive rather than just AIs, but this is their first time experiencing it for themselves.

But that is merely one of four major scenes in the episode and not the biggest visual spectacle. A second involved the continuation and resolution of Bercouli's face-off against Gabriel/Vecta. The animation style for much of this fight is different than the norm, which makes me wonder if someone special was pulled in specifically for that part. (Ed. War of Underworld action animation director Yoshihiro Kanno took credit for the scene on Twitter.) It's not exactly fluid, instead often coming off more like a series of carefully-timed key frames, but the vibrant images, music and sound effects, and staging all combine for a spectacularly dramatic effect. If I were to make a list of the franchise's five best battle scenes, this one would probably make the cut, and that's without even factoring in how awesome a power Usagiri is: it defeats an opponent by cutting through the space where the opponent once stood, rather than where the opponent currently is. Even a god cannot defend against that.

The after-effect of it is also interesting. Alice wailing over the loss of her “uncle” against the crimson sky is an impressive visual presentation on its own, but Bercouli's encounter with the spectral Administrator is of greater consequence. He seems to understand that this is his idealized image of Administrator, as she is far more pleasant here than she ever was when alive, but that's fine; he died a hero's death. This scene suggests that Becouli may have even loved Administrator at some point. I think this is also the first place where the anime reveals that he leaves a child with Fanatio behind. Bercouli proved to be a greater character in the second half of Alicization and will be missed.

The other two scenes happen on board the Ocean Turtle. The end scene, which is the shorter of the two, shows that, like Vassago, Gabriel is planning to re-enter Underworld using his original account: Subtilizer from the GGO setting, the account that defeated Sinon to win the most recent Battle of Bullets. If I recall correctly, that Gabriel is Subtilizer is already either been firmly established or else strongly suggested, so this is not a big surprise. However, the most interesting aspect of this is that it puts Sinon and Subtilizer on a trajectory for a rematch, since Sinon was in pursuit of Alice, and Subtilizer will doubtlessly try to appear in Alice's projected path towards the World End Altar. That's an epic battle just waiting to happen.

The Sub Control Room scene is maybe even more important for the big picture. While this gets emphasized more in the source novels, Kirito was shown having faint reactions to the arrivals of both Asuna and Sinon. Unsurprisingly, this registered on the Ocean Turtle, and it proves to be a key to reviving Kirito: use the images of Kirito in the minds of Asuna, Sinon, and Suguha to help him restore his self-image. This is some shaky science and psychology, and I have trouble believing that something like this could be done so (comparatively) easily, but the writing did box itself into a corner here. The minor problem with the scheme is that a risky decoy maneuver to allow Higa to get past the bulkhead to access the necessary wiring is involved, and the bigger problem is that the tech who volunteered to help him has been implied to be the mole. But hey, eight episodes remain, and how would they fill up that much time without complications, right?

In a pure adaptation sense, this episode covers most of pages 103-141 of novel 17, although it changes the order in which the scenes occur; Bercouli's fight against Vecta happened first in the novel, for instance. It also entirely deletes one scene involving a random supporting Japanese player, but that is a wholly skippable scene anyway and would not have fit in well with the timing here. (For anime-only viewers, it describes the Japanese player being convinced that there was something special about Underworld based on interacting with its denizens.) The one change is that ghost-Becouli originally departed from Administrator rather than taking her along, hence making the “loved her” impression greater in anime form. The episode ended exactly where it should have, so from an adaptation standpoint, it works quite well.

Rating:

Sword Art Online: Alicization War of Underworld Part 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll, HIDIVE, Hulu, and Funimation .