Sword Art Online: Alicization Episode 24 Review: My Hero

Wait. DID EUGEO JUST DIE? I refuse to accept the events that took place in this week’s episode of Sword Art Online: Alicization. Kirito lost a hand and a friend, plus it seems like things are getting quite intense in the real world as well. First Charlotte, then the Cardinal, now Eugeo. Why Eugeo? WHY? He was the best bro for Kirito. Unbelievable.

Japanese Original Episode Title: ぼくの英雄

Plot

Kirito continues to face off Quinella by himself, as he ‘transforms’ into the Black Knight from his SAO days. Eugeo assists him with what little power he has left by recreating his sword in order for Kirito to be able to dual hold. Kirito loses his right arm during the fight and manages to cut off the Administrator’s other hand, leaving her helpless. She then decides to exit the Underworld and as she summons the system console, Chudelkin regains consciousness and begins to latch on to Administrator and beg her to not leave him behind. With his fire elements still active, Chudelkin and Administrator catch fire, killing them both. Meanwhile, Eugeo, who is fatally injured, says his goodbyes to Kirito and passes away while remembering the past. Kirito then walks over to the system console and accidently starts a communication line with the real world where he discovers Ocean Turtle is under attack. Kikuoka instructs Kirito to take Alice to the World’s End Altar, located in the Dark Territory, but he is cut off. Before he could process, Kirito sees a bright flash that makes him see Asuna for a second and then lose consciousness.

Episode Highlights

Kirito Vs Quinella: There was a lot of build-up for this fight and I honestly thought that Quinella would do better than this, but let’s be frank here, the girl was fighting naked after all. Anyway, Kirito’s sword as well as Eugeo’s looked amazing during the fight. What put me off a bit was that Quinella used her hair when she didn’t have any hands or weapons to defend herself. If she could do that all along, why did she decide to fight Kirito fair and square and didn’t use it from the beginning? I would have never taken her for a person that sticks to morality.

The feels: I cannot believe that Eugeo is dead. Not only did he die, but he even said to Kirito that he was envious of how skillful and lovable he was compared to himself and that even Alice might have feelings for him. He was left alone with his childhood memories to watch over the other two. I swear to God, if we have any sort of romance (even one sided) between these two, I will be furious. Eugeo died for you, Alice; please appreciate this poor little snowflake a bit more. Also, how is it possible that every time a character really needs to be healed the rest of them cannot use enough of their powers to save them? What am I saying, the SAO universe has been very unforgiving since day one, so it shouldn’t be a surprise at this point.

War in the Underworld and the Ocean Turtle: Things will get very heated from the following episode, since it seems that we will be following the conflict between the Ocean Turtle people and their attackers (probably something to do with Laughing Coffin once more) as well as the struggle of Kirito to survive and succeed into taking Alice to the World’s End Altar in the Dark Territory. Boy oh boy, aren’t you excited for what’s about to come?

Themes & Trivia

Alicization will carry on later than expected: As you probably know by now, when Alicization first came out, Aniplex announced that it would run for four cours (around fifty episodes), covering the volumes nine to eighteen of the Sword Art Online light novel series. But there has been an announcement from the official Sword Art Online Twitter account that the anime would continue on October 2019 as ‘Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld;, covering the second half of the Alicization arc.

Sword Art Online: Alicization Releases Teaser Visual and PV for 3rd Cour

Comments

The aesthetic of the burning scene blew my mind. I did not expect the animation to get any better than this, but honestly they outperformed themselves. I totally loved the uniqueness in the design and the element of fire. Once again, well done.

Love is not something you seek, but something you give.

R.I.P Eugeo. You were by far the best of the best. Even though it will take some time for the next episode to come out, it seems like the next part of the Alicization arc will be quite heavy on the action. Until then, stay cool and mourn for our boy.

NEXT TIME: Fall 2019