Sword Art Online: Alicization Episode 15 Review: The Relentless Knight

Another epic fight with amazing effects in this week’s Sword Art Online: Alicization episode. Eugeo’s Perfect Weapon Control skill looked absolutely amazing, and as for those little shits, they got what they deserved.

Japanese Original Episode Title: 烈日の騎士

Plot

Fizel and Linel, have appeared in front of Eugeo and Kirito claiming that they are the Axiom Church’s sisters-in-training, but as it turns out to be that they are not. They are actually Integrity Knights that have used their age and appearance to their advantage and tricked Eugeo and Kirito. After stabbing them with blades soaked in paralysis poison, they take them to the 50th floor where they meet with the Integrity Knight Fanatio and the Four Whirling Blades. Trying to mock them and take their glory by killing the intruders, Fizel and Linel are caught off guard by Kirito, who has seen through their plan way before and are poisoned by their own blades. After giving the antidote to Eugeo, he tells him that he should start reciting his Perfect Weapon Control skill without the rest of the knights noticing as he begins fighting with Fanatio. As it turns out, Fanatio is a female Knight that thinks less of herself just because of her genre but is also extremely powerful and uses a special weapon called the Heaven Piercing Blade which uses the power of the Sun God, Solus. As Kirito is taking a lot of damage, Eugeo activates his skill but as he is filled with rage and can’t focus clearly, it doesn’t have much effect on Fanatio, which makes Kirito starting to recite his own skill to finish the battle.

Episode Highlights

Those little shits: Okay, needless to say that I saw that coming from miles away, but damn those two little girls and their sneaky moves. Poor Eugeo is too kind-hearted for this shit. So the Administrator made them part of an experiment on resurrection and just because they were really good at killing and a little bit fucked up in the head, she made them Integrity Knights? Nice one.

They seem to have fast traveled to the 50th floor: Fizel and Linel were honestly the most convenient possible way for Eugeo and Kirito to fast travel to the 50th floor without filling it with filler content and without making us feel like they have skipped too much.

Eugeo thinks himself as a monster: So Eugeo has been holding a grudge against the system since he saw Alice being taken away and now that he has freed his mind out of the taboo index, he is just filled with rage that also comes in the way of giving his full potential out in the battle. I don’t really know how Kirito will be able to make him handle it, since it’s not something easy to get over but making him channel his power and energy from his love for Alice will definitely make him stronger.

Enough of this shit: Seriously, I am getting so sick and tired of how girls are presented in this anime. I mean come on Kawahara, this is ridiculous. Every time they fight a powerful opponent that happens to be female, the same shit happens over and over. Yes Kirito tried to be all PC by making it sound like she was the one that was bringing herself down and by mentioning that he has been beaten countless of times by female fighters (I guess Asuna and Sortiliena), but again this whole portrayal of wrong stereotypes needs to be stopped.

Themes & Trivia

Your screen monitor is not broken: You might have noticed, especially in the last few episodes which are quite action heavy, that the screen tends to get darker and a bit blurry in some fights. The reason this happens is not because of your screen but to prevent seizures during TV broadcasts. It’s an anti-epileptic measure that has been obligatory since the renowned Pokémon incident, where in one episode, Pikachu destroys some missiles and the whole screen flashes red and blue for a few seconds and a couple hundred children ended up having seizures. This is the edited footage: Epilepsy Warning.

Comments

Once again the animation and sound in the battle were stunning and in this episode I have to mention that the character details were off the roof! So well done! The way they turn their eyes, their hands’ movements, their hair, and the overall flow of the characters is just unbelievable. Every week I feel like I am watching a movie.

None of you know what justice is.

I mean Eugeo, I don’t blame you for hating them and the whole system. I would feel the same if I were to found out that there is no actual justice and that everything comes from a crazy lady that governs a nation while doing everything she wants (which is not far from the truth for many real-life cases but let’s not get political). Let’s see what Kirito’s powerful skill is going to be!

NEXT TIME: The Osmanthus Knight