Sword Art Online - Alicization - War of Underworld - Episode 19 - 10 Second Anime

Kirito revives himself in Underworld and confronts Vassago and Miller.

Episode 19 – “Awakening”

Hmm.

The new god,
Overflowing with life,
Strode upon the dark soil.
Two swords hung on his black clad back.

If we wondered what kind of new god for Underworld Kirito was going to be, he showed us he wasn’t going to be a vengeful one. Perhaps that’s because he has more important things to worry about in SAO, but his sense of justice solves problems in more than world. Forcefully logging out the beta players and then forcefully not allowing Vassago to log out ended the War for Underworld. Unfortunately, his idea of trapping Vassago in Underworld for two hundred years foreshadowed how Miller’s forces were going do their own kind of trapping.

I’m not sure how putting a bullet in a lock took off the time limiter for the synchronization rate between the real world and Underworld’s virtual time flows, but it was a stroke of genius to find a way to temporarily trap real players in the game. That plan was supposed to give us the fear of real suffering like the original SAO chapters, but we know Kirito has ten minutes to save everyone and Alice, so we’re back to looking at an interesting story like in ALO and GGO.

Besides, the opening credits already spoiled the ending anyway. Alice will be stuck in a killer satellite, but she might be able to join her friends in the other video games. Plus, there’s that walking robot that the Rath people haven’t used yet. The emotional suspense is over for me, but there’s still all the fun emotional satisfaction of Kirito destroying his enemies. I’m looking forward to all those scenes.

Heh.

And he’s back. Vassago is the happiest that Kirito woke up. Kirito is a Jedi now. Eh. Eugeo walking into the scene is just like Asuna “seeing” Yuuki. It’s not clear whether anyone else sees him or not. The new players have never seen an Ancient Item release its recollection. I’m not sure any of the present Integrity Knights know that technique either. Kirito just made his other sword. Time for dual-wielding action!

Hoho. Kirito logged them all out and only he can use their leftover material, something about loving life, or something. Thanks, Yuuki… Whatever the handwaving deus ex machina, checkmate, Vassago. Time for Kirito to suit up! Dude is all the way back in black.

That battle start sequence felt just like a video game. Lots of good tactical swordplay here, but Vassago has spent too much time in GGO lately. This fight doesn’t have the heavy lines like the earlier SAO fight between Bercouli and Vecta. Kirito has golden eyes. Why? Game over, man.

Vassago says he’ll just keep coming after Kirito and his friends after he logs out. Well, how about you not log out? Ha! Make like a tree and leave. Wait. Made into a tree and taken root. Oh, now we get those heavy lines. This was Kirito’s hero move. It took two hundred years for the original demon tree to receive enough ax cuts. It was supposed to take 900 years until Kirito came along. He hopes Vassago stays stuck in Underworld long enough for a village to grow and some kids to come and start chopping him down too.

The new Kirito god is a benevolent one. Everybody heals up. Haha. Klein bro hugs Kirito first before Asuna. The main character is supposed to take the spotlight way too much. Read the room, dude. And Kirito Jesus can fly! His buddies aren’t surprised, but the Underworld natives are. Lisbet’s face is all “sasuga na yatsu.”

Critter needs a key to make Underworld’s time go faster and desynchronize from the real time. His buddy holds up a gun, as if to shoot the lock? And then Kirito has fifteen minutes to save Underworld before they’re trapped forever? That can’t be right. Oh, jeez, he really did shoot that console! How stupid… Well, we’re near the end, so whatever.

The question I have is how many episodes will these 15 minutes take? SAO has entered Bleach mode. After the 15 minutes are up, disengaging from Underworld will feel like 200 years. Kirito might have some great conversations with Vassago the tree… Kirito has ten minutes to log out manually. Kikuoka claims a human soul has a maximum lifespan of 200 years. Says who?

Oh no. Alice is making her dragon companions throw up tons of death flags. So, Miller is going to kill those two dragons. No, he won’t! Kirito Jesus has descended! Alice made the same expression Asuna did. Of course.

Next time, Kirito versus Miller.