Sword Art Online Alicization Episode 22 Review
While I’ll get to reviewing the episode in a moment, I just want to look at the opening act of this episode which addresses the fight between the Senator (only barely introduced a few episodes ago) and Eugoe (no longer brainwashed), Kirito and Alice. Mostly because there was a lot of build-up around a character only just introduced, a cliff-hanger as the fight got started, and then we spend the opening scene rewatching his power up. Only to essentially one shot kill him. Alice distracts his flame creation with little difficulty, Eugeo diverts attention from Kirito by half-heartedly attacking the administrator causing the senator to look away, and then Kirito light beams him to death. The end.
In the words of the Administrator herself, that was boring.
All that build up and a week’s wait and nothing. Barely even a whimper.
Then without any further discussion, the Senator’s body is flipped against a wall and promptly forgotten. Discarded as the bit character he was but he essentially served no purpose. None at all. Not even a cool fight sequence and diversion. Literally he just put the breaks on the story for a build up that never delivered.
Following this the episode gets back into exposition and sermonising mode. They did at least draw parallels between whether the game world and reality are similar in asking whether humans live their lives in fear of being reset by some unknown creator, so points for thematic linking back to the original SAO. However, again, this is a lot of back and forth covering content we already knew. The only real take from this is that Eugeo now knows Kirito isn’t just someone from his world (which I’m left wondering why Kirito hadn’t told Eugeo this by this point, but whatever).
However, the Administrator then decides to reveal her ultimate weapon that will replace the incredibly flawed system with the integrity knights. It is shiny and golden and really large. So cool. In a matter of seconds it impaled both Alice and Kirito and left them bleeding on the ground and Eugeo shaking in his boots.
Of course, after a spider vs sword golem moment that makes about as much sense as it sounds like it should, Eugeo stabs the special dagger into the floating platform and somehow that lets the Cardinal appear. In an instant Kirito and Alice are healed, we get some more exposition while the Administrator just kind of floats and gloats, and then the episode ends.
Affiliate Link![SWORD ART ONLINE: HOLLOW REALIZATION [DELUXE EDITION]](https://i0.wp.com/s.pacn.ws/640/uj/sword-art-online-hollow-realization-deluxe-edition-549889.9.jpg?resize=150%2C106&ssl=1 "Anime Characters Should Not Review Their Own Episode 10")
This show makes me want to face palm so badly almost every week at this point.
Nothing is having any consequence at the moment. Eugeo brainwashed – fixed next episode. Senator guy is really powerful – killed in one shot within minutes. Kirito and Alice stabbed and bleeding – instantly healed including their clothes and bloodstains.
Meanwhile, the Administrator seems to just have whatever power they decide to give her which makes you wonder why she doesn’t just rewrite the world’s code to disappear the floor and send Eugeo, Kirito and Alice back to the bottom and ignore them. Why bother fighting at all? As to the Cardinal, who knows what she’s up to?
I’m almost all for letting the humans outside of Underworld hit the reset button at this point. It couldn’t make it any sillier.
Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
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Karandi James
- Alicization Series Review
- Sword Art Online Series Review
- Sword Art Online Abridged Review
- How Does Kirito’s Belief in Himself Cause Success?
- Images from: Sword Art Online Alicization. Dir. M Ono. A-1 Pictures. 2018.
But I like the administrator’s fashion choice!
Godiva hair is certainly a choice.
Mine wouldn’t be long enough. Maybe I could be shrouded in a tiny bit of mist?
Just don’t tell me what generates the mist.
Somebody said it! Yes! This episode was so weak it’s laughable. I was hoping for more, but was given nothing. The only part I enjoyed was seeing Kirito’s Aincrad outfit when he used his beam ability or whatever that was supposed to be–which is in itself confusing since we haven’t seen anything near that in this story.
I’m really wanting to see the good in this, but objectively, the way this story is playing out at the moment is pretty terrible. A very faint nostalgia for the Kirito I used to enjoy is keeping me hopeful but realistically, I’m not expecting much at this point. Alicization just keeps rolling out warm up acts and exposition and 22 episodes in that really isn’t good enough.
I know what you mean. I’ve been expecting more for weeks now and the show hasn’t delivered. 22 episodes in and the warm ups should be done.
I don’t know what you’re hoping for, but even the dual wielding Kirito that we saw in Aincrad would be a blessing at this point (at least for me). I don’t know where the story is even going at this point. An invasion they’ve brought up? Great? Something needs to happen…
I’d really like them to stop talking about each and every thing over and over again and just get on with doing things. Kirito didn’t stop and chat with Gleam Eyes before taking him on and amazingly enough that fight was incredibly cool. Alicization has kind of forgotten that SAO could just be fun with the high stakes riding in the background while Kirito just hacked his way through his enemies. It may not have made a lot of sense, but it was certainly more entertaining.
“I’m almost all for letting the humans outside of Underworld hit the reset button at this point. It couldn’t make it any sillier.”
Have to admit to chuckling at this comment… Because it’s so on point.
People keep saying once the war gets going this picks up, but to be honest, I’m not caring enough about anyone here to care if a war starts or not. They are going to have to work hard to draw me back into this story at this point because I’m really disengaging despite having started it wanting to like it.