SAO: War of the Underworld | Episode One through four.

Yes, we’re finally back at it again. Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld here we are.

So what were my thoughts on the first two episodes? They were different to say the least. The biggest thing that I have to adjust to is that Kirito who has been a longstanding character of the series, someone who has always been vocal and well, moving. Is neither one of those things as he’s now confined to a wheelchair and is unable to speak.

Having that regular figure who has always been influential not there anymore (in the physical scene) is strange. It makes you wonder who will now shoulder the anime. From every indication, it’s going to be Alice, in this virtual world and Asuna in the real world. Although I would assume that all action will eventually be happening in the Underworld. Hence the name of the season.

But anyway, what I found mildly confusing was that in the first few episodes, they were showing the lead up to the attack on the oil rig they were all on. All while also showing the events happening in the Underworld at the same time. This constantly jumping into the past then back into the present, this back and forth wasn’t something I particularly enjoyed because it made the timeline more complicated than it needed to be.

Anyway, moving on.

Gabriel Miller (Vector) also seems to be like a better antagonist than the Administrator because Vector seems a lot more crazy and more cruel. This dude killed his childhood friend *in game* so he could see her soul. Then proceeds to kill another person to ‘analyze’ their soul in episode three. The way Vector reacts when he collects the souls of those he’s killed seems to give him an euphoric feeling which is honestly really creepy.

He’ll be a formidable antagonist for Alice and company because he seems to be insanely powerful. Let’s be real here, if you look back at all the main antagonists of the SAO Series, the only way they were defeated was because Kirito entered another cheat code to become a god. I assume that SAO: War of the Underworld and part two will follow the same sort of deal. Our characters struggling and almost losing only to be saved by Kirito.

Besides all that has happened so far, can we take a moment to recognize that all the various groups are interested in this virtual reality technology that we’ve seen grow and develop over the years.

These systems created by large entities seem to be, on the surface atleast, controlled by countries. It’s almost like a modern day spying and information gathering mission and while all that is going on you have Kirito chilling. Eventually finding ways to break, exploit and overcome these systems that seem highly complex because somehow, some way, Kirito is smarter than all of them.

I’m looking forward to what the second arc of the third season has in store.