Sword Art Online: Alicization | Episode 3 and 4 Review

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It’s crazy how some of the supporting cast resemble those from Kirito’s reality, like Selka looks weirdly similar to Asuna. But at this point, I do not know if he remembers her or anything from his past however, because the dude really gripped a sword that he had in SAO but he didn’t make that connection. I wonder just how much Kirito remembers.

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Episodes three and four were great episodes in that we’re immediately jumping into the swing of things. We are given more context regarding the small Kirito, Eugene and Alice we saw in episode one; and we got to see an awesome fight scene. Something that I have been craving for a long time now as none of the anime I watched this season (Summer 2021) has provided me with a fight scene that was actually entertaining or epic.

Believe it or not, that was one of the reasons why I decided to watch SAO again, because I knew I could comfortably rely on the anime to provide extremely well animated fighting.

So what did I really learn/think of episodes three and four? I learned that in this world, although it’s a simulation, it’s a very realistic simulation because Kirito feels pain, something he’s never really felt before in the other games that he’s played. These episodes have also presented us with something very interesting, if we were to go off of what Eugene (I know it’s Eugeo) had told Kirito, that the three of them, Alice, Eugeo and Kirito had grown up together. How would that be possible if the Kirito that’s there now is presumably from the ‘other’ world, otherwise known as our reality. I think that implies that Kirito’s memory was alter to fit within whatever world he finds himself in. But then that doesn’t explain the fact that we had the small Kirito, Eugene and Alice of episode one, which was something Kirito had dreamt of the days before he was attacked?

If anything to me, it plays into that theory that life is just one big simulation and that there’s someone else pulling the strings controlling every move on the board that we call life. Which in itself is one big mind trip.

We also do not know who this ghost like figure was that Kirito saw but from what my brain could piece together based on how her sentences were worded. I assume that she’s Alice letting Kirito know that she’s still alive and well. But that doesn’t explain how this figure was able to find and come in contact with Kirito unless there’s like a life energy sort of deal happening. Similar to how Chakra works in Naruto, or to a lesser extent, Force Ghosts from Star Wars.

I liked episodes three and four because it gave us something to root for. While I’m rooting for Kirito to return to the real world and reunite with his wifu, I’m also rooting for Eugene and Kirito to bring home Alice. It’s a valiant goal and one I can definitely get behind, as long as there is action along the way.

Great episodes!