Dec 10, 2018
First first off, this is like the third time I am posting this because "I didn't watch enough episodes before."
Okay, so first off, let me tell you that I have been an SAO fan for a while, as it will always have a social place in my heart, so if you take my review with a grain of salt that's fine.
STORY - 9
So far, the plot looks enticing, and with A-1 Pictures giving SAO Alicization 4 cours instead of 1 or 2, I don't suspect nearly as many plot jumps to happen as there were in SAO season 1. The working principles of the new
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VR device, the Soul Translator (was in the trailer, not a spoiler), do open up a lot of potholes, however, but so did the concept of the Nervegear. I mean, microwaves?! As we are now 10 episodes in, I see that the story is flowing very nicely, and everything feels well-paced. Episode 10 was a shocker, and it's bumped my story grade up to 9.
ART - 10
The animation in the entirety of the SAO series as well as other animations by A-1 is always very good. Originally, I thought A-1 could only hold the first episode's animation quality for one or two episodes, but boy, was I wrong. This season is rivaling even Ordinal Scale's quality! On a WEEKLY basis, mind you! Maybe they can keep this up for a year (or longer, if the cours are split), and maybe they can't, but even still, I don't expect anything to look worse than an 8/10 by the end.
SOUND - 9
Likewise with the animations, the music in SAO is top notch. Somewhere in the middle of the first episode, it did sound kind of funny when Kirito waved his photon sword in front of the camera (almost like a fart, maybe it's just me), but other than that, I didn't notice any anomalies. As for the soundtrack, it does not disappoint, and fits relatively well with the scenes shown, even if a lot of the soundtrack is reused from previous seasons. After episode one, the soundtrack has been staying solid as well, and so have the sound effects.
CHARACTER - 8
Okay, so to a lot of people, the characters were the worst point of SAO, so I will try and be impartial here. During the first episode, I did not know which characters would get more time in the spotlight, but it still seemed as though Kirito was OP as always in VR, and Asuna was all over him. No, seriously. I nearly died laughing when she showed Sinon the thing about the heartrate, mainly because of her expression at that point. Bit creepy, but the reasoning behind it is cute, I guess. After three more episodes, I can already tell this will top even the Aincrad arc. For one, Kirito is not unbearably OP, and we get to see his struggles. To not spoil anything, I will just tell you to watch the series yourself. As of episode 10, I can say that characters are developing well, and everything is going great! Antagonists are EXTREMELY hate-able!
ENJOYMENT - 10
Like I said, SAO has always had a special place in my heart, and the first ten episodes have not changed that. If they have, they have made me like it even more! This season is sure to be great, and these first ten episodes (the first one being 47 minutes) definitely did not disappoint. I found myself waiting every week, wanting to know what would happen next. Even if you dislike SAO, I am literally urging you to try this new season out to, at the very least, neutralize negative feelings towards it.
OVERALL - 9
TL;DR - Definitely worth a watch, even if you are not an SAO fan. If you have not watched the previous seasons, you will definitely be lost for some parts, so watch them first.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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