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Sword Art Online #15
Sword Art Online, Vol. 15: Alicization Invading
Adminstrator's defeat has come at a heavy cost: The death of Eugeo as well as the mental decline of Kirito. Six months after the epic battle atop Central Cathedral, Kirito spends his days in the Underworld wheelchair-bound; bereft of emotion or even a will to live. Although Alice and Bercouli do what they can to help him, it isn't long before the armies of the dark territory are start to move in earnest. The "Final Stress Test" has begun. But will Kirito be ready?
248 pages, Paperback
First published August 9, 2014
82 people are currently reading
1074 people want to read
About the author
Reki Kawahara
284 books911 followersKawahara Reki (川原礫) is the writer of Sword Art Online and Accel World. He also uses the pen name Kunori Fumio. His hobby is cycling.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
December 14, 2018
Wow! That thing in the dark territory was amazing! I was wondering if the breach for true A.I. was off when that happened. We finally get to see a big part of what is and was happening in the real world and some real psyco is introduced as the main villain with a strike team and all, then I remembered that Kirito wanted to go somewhere else because he believed that the tech development was better there… fool! That place is coming hard for him. We get a book where Kirito is there but he’s not the focus and I truly loved that. The main character is someone else and that was great, it’s stablished that Kirito is a Deus Ex resource but that’s the way it is. Asuna is finally joining the underworld and the final stress test is imminent.
January 4, 2019
this arc is SOUL CRUSHING
"Don't cry, I'll always be here."
leave it to Kawahara to continue with amusing comments in the afterward after leaving us in tears - yes, Great Kawahara, the most ominous event of all in this volume was Kikuoka in a Hawaiian shirt instead of a yukata. I admit it was something of a surprise, although Asuna's violence towards him was, of course, definitely not - that's our girl.
"Don't cry, I'll always be here."
leave it to Kawahara to continue with amusing comments in the afterward after leaving us in tears - yes, Great Kawahara, the most ominous event of all in this volume was Kikuoka in a Hawaiian shirt instead of a yukata. I admit it was something of a surprise, although Asuna's violence towards him was, of course, definitely not - that's our girl.
February 19, 2019
Well, I have to admit the new villain the added is awesome. He is a complete psycho, totally crazy, and for all intents and purposes, lacks emotions and feelings which make for a great monster. The part of the Dark Territory was good, I loved Shasta and his character, he is amazing and I'm surprised he wasn't considered a true A.I. before Alice considering how many emotions he displays. The way he loves utterly, how he is not constricted by the law of "take what you want by force" but really wants peace and such. And his strength... man, I did not see that coming.
But the rest... ugh, it was boring. Nothing much happened with Alice and I was expecting for her to develop more. I mean, now that Kirito is out of commission (and don't get me wrong, I'm loving this), she had a chance to shine and do more, but nothing much happens in this book. She looks after him, and then goes to the army that awaits the invasion... and then the book ends, no fight at all on that side.
We've been told Kirito will ultimately save the day, and that annoys me. For once I want Alice to save the day. Or Asuna. And where is she by the way? Wasn't she suppossed to get into the dive as well and save her man. Come on Asuna! I want her there.
But the rest... ugh, it was boring. Nothing much happened with Alice and I was expecting for her to develop more. I mean, now that Kirito is out of commission (and don't get me wrong, I'm loving this), she had a chance to shine and do more, but nothing much happens in this book. She looks after him, and then goes to the army that awaits the invasion... and then the book ends, no fight at all on that side.
We've been told Kirito will ultimately save the day, and that annoys me. For once I want Alice to save the day. Or Asuna. And where is she by the way? Wasn't she suppossed to get into the dive as well and save her man. Come on Asuna! I want her there.
March 1, 2023
This sub-arc of the Underworld arc provides an interesting new direction for Sword Art Online. Initially or perhaps through the course of it is a controversial direction to take since it pushes our protagonist to the side-line and leaves him in a fragile, vulnerable, and down-right pitiful state. Indeed, he is left heart-broken in crushing despair at the loss of his closest friend and partner of most of his life. Perhaps destroyed over feelings of guilt he is left to do nothing but grip the only memento he has left of him for six long months.
What that means is the point of view switches to Alice Synthesis Thirty as she cares immensely and deeply for the one who brought light back into her life and who defeated the one that she thought could not be defeated. Paying the ultimate life, she appears to both bear the guilt of being the only one to survive the greatest battle of all time. Those feelings as well as ones of admiration and ones of wanting the savior of the human realm to come back and finish the job empowers her to take care of him and to do all that she can to bring him back. That said, she also knows her role in the coming days and has to rationalize how to do her calling as well as to care for him.
I liked the change to seeing Alice in her daily life, as well as the perspective of the antagonists. Though it was largely set-up, it provided us a glimpse of the Dark Territory. The antagonist appears to follow the same vein as Fairy King Sugou, Death Gun, and Humbert and Raios, so it should be expected of what may happen to some character. I do wonder if Kawahara may change things up in future novels, as only Akihiko Kayaba appeared to follow a different line of thinking.
This was a good volume.
What that means is the point of view switches to Alice Synthesis Thirty as she cares immensely and deeply for the one who brought light back into her life and who defeated the one that she thought could not be defeated. Paying the ultimate life, she appears to both bear the guilt of being the only one to survive the greatest battle of all time. Those feelings as well as ones of admiration and ones of wanting the savior of the human realm to come back and finish the job empowers her to take care of him and to do all that she can to bring him back. That said, she also knows her role in the coming days and has to rationalize how to do her calling as well as to care for him.
I liked the change to seeing Alice in her daily life, as well as the perspective of the antagonists. Though it was largely set-up, it provided us a glimpse of the Dark Territory. The antagonist appears to follow the same vein as Fairy King Sugou, Death Gun, and Humbert and Raios, so it should be expected of what may happen to some character. I do wonder if Kawahara may change things up in future novels, as only Akihiko Kayaba appeared to follow a different line of thinking.
This was a good volume.
September 11, 2019
This book retains it's 4-star rating for one reason... Asuna's BRIEF appearance. And not just because she appears but because of what she does.
Okay so that's a bit of hyperbole. But in all honesty, the first 80 pages or so of the book -- 2 stars. It gets better after that. A lot better. It starts with the aforementioned Asuna.
Kirito being out of commission for me was a detriment since SAO has always been about him, but being able to learn some more about others wasn't wholly bad. And seeing some of the Dark Territory was pretty good. Certainly this was a buildup to the next volume (or the way the Alicization arc has been going the next 5).
Can't give it a 5 since I really was bored silly for he first third of the book. But it picked up enough to still have 4 so that's pretty good.
Verdict: Worth reading, especially if you want to know what's going on in SAO. If you're reading Alicization and haven't read the others, start at the beginning, it's a fun ride.
Okay so that's a bit of hyperbole. But in all honesty, the first 80 pages or so of the book -- 2 stars. It gets better after that. A lot better. It starts with the aforementioned Asuna.
Kirito being out of commission for me was a detriment since SAO has always been about him, but being able to learn some more about others wasn't wholly bad. And seeing some of the Dark Territory was pretty good. Certainly this was a buildup to the next volume (or the way the Alicization arc has been going the next 5).
Can't give it a 5 since I really was bored silly for he first third of the book. But it picked up enough to still have 4 so that's pretty good.
Verdict: Worth reading, especially if you want to know what's going on in SAO. If you're reading Alicization and haven't read the others, start at the beginning, it's a fun ride.
May 4, 2015
Gah!
I was expecting this to be the last in this arc, but there is apparently another - it is longer than Lord of the Rings!
I was expecting this to be the last in this arc, but there is apparently another - it is longer than Lord of the Rings!
February 25, 2023
I'm really glad I only have access to one more of these in English.
I can finish it and still feel a sense of completion without feeling obligated to keep on reading.
The further I get, the more I dislike the original novels and the whole idea of Aincrad and Sword Art Online. I guess I think there can be too much of a good thing, and this series has been taken way too far.
That, or I've matured in the last 2 years and now this book is just too childish and I can't handle it anymore. I'm not entirely sure which it is but, I'm getting irritated. The author knows that you cannot separate the soul from the body. Even though he has specifically said that the soul does not need a body to exist, he then unsays that through his writing, and he hasn't figured it out yet. He keeps using physical attributes as a way to explain differences in souls. But if the soul is all that matters, why would it matter if a soul is placed into a giant's body or an ogre's body? Why would that affect the soul to the point where it becomes 'mentally unstable'? And there you go again, mixing up what a soul is, with what a body is, with what a mind is.
In real life, that's not a problem. We are embodied creatures. We are wedded to our physical self and have no way of differentiating between where it and our soul begin and end, let alone adding in the third factor of mind. We are spiritual, physical, and mental, all in one. That's the mystery of human life. But he has divorced those three things, he has ripped away the soul and placed it into a machine, then raised it to create new virtual human beings, who somehow grow even though they have no bodies, why would they need a physical representation of growth if they have never seen it or experienced it? Why couldn't they just expand in size as an amorphous blob? Why should the soul, divorced from a body, relate to a human body any more than it does to a blob of slime?
Because that's what it's used to? But it's not! He took these copies of souls from babies, they've never inhabited an adult body, how would they know that's what they're supposed to do? Does the growth of the soul trigger the growth of the body? Or does the growth of the body trigger the growth of the soul?
He elides these questions, and the digital souls grow no problem with whatever body they are given. You've got Asian souls growing up in Caucasian bodies, no problem, but you stick them inside of a humanoid body that's bigger than average, a giant's body, and suddenly an entirely different culture is born because the soul cannot get used to the body and it creates a cognitive dissonance?
Why?
That doesn't make sense in the setting he's created.
I'm to the point where I won't recommend these to anyone anymore.
I wonder if the Japanese version is as terrible as this is?
I can finish it and still feel a sense of completion without feeling obligated to keep on reading.
The further I get, the more I dislike the original novels and the whole idea of Aincrad and Sword Art Online. I guess I think there can be too much of a good thing, and this series has been taken way too far.
That, or I've matured in the last 2 years and now this book is just too childish and I can't handle it anymore. I'm not entirely sure which it is but, I'm getting irritated. The author knows that you cannot separate the soul from the body. Even though he has specifically said that the soul does not need a body to exist, he then unsays that through his writing, and he hasn't figured it out yet. He keeps using physical attributes as a way to explain differences in souls. But if the soul is all that matters, why would it matter if a soul is placed into a giant's body or an ogre's body? Why would that affect the soul to the point where it becomes 'mentally unstable'? And there you go again, mixing up what a soul is, with what a body is, with what a mind is.
In real life, that's not a problem. We are embodied creatures. We are wedded to our physical self and have no way of differentiating between where it and our soul begin and end, let alone adding in the third factor of mind. We are spiritual, physical, and mental, all in one. That's the mystery of human life. But he has divorced those three things, he has ripped away the soul and placed it into a machine, then raised it to create new virtual human beings, who somehow grow even though they have no bodies, why would they need a physical representation of growth if they have never seen it or experienced it? Why couldn't they just expand in size as an amorphous blob? Why should the soul, divorced from a body, relate to a human body any more than it does to a blob of slime?
Because that's what it's used to? But it's not! He took these copies of souls from babies, they've never inhabited an adult body, how would they know that's what they're supposed to do? Does the growth of the soul trigger the growth of the body? Or does the growth of the body trigger the growth of the soul?
He elides these questions, and the digital souls grow no problem with whatever body they are given. You've got Asian souls growing up in Caucasian bodies, no problem, but you stick them inside of a humanoid body that's bigger than average, a giant's body, and suddenly an entirely different culture is born because the soul cannot get used to the body and it creates a cognitive dissonance?
Why?
That doesn't make sense in the setting he's created.
I'm to the point where I won't recommend these to anyone anymore.
I wonder if the Japanese version is as terrible as this is?
April 28, 2025
The start of Part Two of the Underworld arc. It does a great job starting off, particularly in how it develops the new villain, Gabriel Miller.
This volume practically treats him as the protagonist. It starts with his prospective. It shows his origins as a child, the start of his obsession with souls, the desired result of his Evil Plan, and the actions he takes to make it happen. It does other stuff as well, but, wow, Gabriel Miller may be a sociopath with a god-complex, similar to previous SAO villains, but he does NOT want for depth of character. Really, what was his dad thinking? Your kid asks you a simple question about insects, and you respond by showing him a mating pair of praying mantises, including what happens to the male? No wonder the kid got weird ideas about human souls.
We also see what has been going with Alice Synthesis 30. It is a proper denouement for the previous arc that simultaneously sets her up for the next arc. The anime really does not do this justice; while it does an adequate job of providing information, it comes off like this All The Other Reindeer sort of plot, lacking the complexity in the novel.
Alice is not some victimized outcast (well, sort of, it’s too much for the scope of this review). She deliberately went to Rulid because it was far away from the capital, where voices were clamoring for Kirito to be executed. He did, after all, kill the absolute ruler of the Human Empire, and he was a criminal before then, too. So Alice took him into hiding, and furthermore, she’s going through an existential crisis, which is too much to go into here. Suffice to say, taking care of Kirito and the younger sister of Alice Zuberg are the only things she cares about. This doesn’t change at the end of the novel; she only choses to defend the Human Empire to honor Kirito’s wish to protect others.
We also get our first real look at the Dark Territory. That is some good worldbuilding.
Trickster Eric Novels gives Sword Art Online volume 15 Alicization Invading an A+
This volume practically treats him as the protagonist. It starts with his prospective. It shows his origins as a child, the start of his obsession with souls, the desired result of his Evil Plan, and the actions he takes to make it happen. It does other stuff as well, but, wow, Gabriel Miller may be a sociopath with a god-complex, similar to previous SAO villains, but he does NOT want for depth of character. Really, what was his dad thinking? Your kid asks you a simple question about insects, and you respond by showing him a mating pair of praying mantises, including what happens to the male? No wonder the kid got weird ideas about human souls.
We also see what has been going with Alice Synthesis 30. It is a proper denouement for the previous arc that simultaneously sets her up for the next arc. The anime really does not do this justice; while it does an adequate job of providing information, it comes off like this All The Other Reindeer sort of plot, lacking the complexity in the novel.
Alice is not some victimized outcast (well, sort of, it’s too much for the scope of this review). She deliberately went to Rulid because it was far away from the capital, where voices were clamoring for Kirito to be executed. He did, after all, kill the absolute ruler of the Human Empire, and he was a criminal before then, too. So Alice took him into hiding, and furthermore, she’s going through an existential crisis, which is too much to go into here. Suffice to say, taking care of Kirito and the younger sister of Alice Zuberg are the only things she cares about. This doesn’t change at the end of the novel; she only choses to defend the Human Empire to honor Kirito’s wish to protect others.
We also get our first real look at the Dark Territory. That is some good worldbuilding.
Trickster Eric Novels gives Sword Art Online volume 15 Alicization Invading an A+
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 18, 2017
Para que Kirito y Eugeo le hayan podido poner fin al reinado de Administrator se tuvieron que sacrificar cosas muy importantes: uno perdió su alma y uno de sus brazos, y el otro perdió su vida.
La Integrity Knight Alice decide hacerse cargo de un Kirito que apenas es capaz de comer por sí mismo, recluyéndose a las afueras del pueblo que la vio nacer y que la rechaza por haber roto el Taboo Index. Me gustó ver cómo era su trato con él y lo agradecida que estaba por haberla salvado a pesar de que ella haya querido matarlo.
Hay que ver este libro como un inicio de saga porque es una nueva fase en la historia de Underworld. Un nuevo villano encarnado en el Dios de la oscuridad, Vector, aparece desde el mundo real para iniciar la invasión hacia el Mundo Humano y llevarse a la inteligencia artificial Alice . Reaparecen personajes que no veíamos desde hace tiempo como Ronye y Tiezé. Ya he dicho que el par de chicas no me terminaron de agradar pero con este libro me di cuenta de que no tenía una razón para no quererlas. Fue muy triste ver cómo tomaron la muerte de Eugeo y la situación actual de Kirito.
La guerra contra el Territorio Oscuro empieza y este libro fue como para ponernos en contexto de lo que se viene. No ha sido de mis libros favoritos pero tampoco es que no me haya gustado. La saga acaba dentro de tres libros y yo no voy a tener paz hasta que la termine.
La Integrity Knight Alice decide hacerse cargo de un Kirito que apenas es capaz de comer por sí mismo, recluyéndose a las afueras del pueblo que la vio nacer y que la rechaza por haber roto el Taboo Index. Me gustó ver cómo era su trato con él y lo agradecida que estaba por haberla salvado a pesar de que ella haya querido matarlo.
Hay que ver este libro como un inicio de saga porque es una nueva fase en la historia de Underworld. Un nuevo villano encarnado en el Dios de la oscuridad, Vector, aparece desde el mundo real para iniciar la invasión hacia el Mundo Humano y llevarse a la inteligencia artificial Alice . Reaparecen personajes que no veíamos desde hace tiempo como Ronye y Tiezé. Ya he dicho que el par de chicas no me terminaron de agradar pero con este libro me di cuenta de que no tenía una razón para no quererlas. Fue muy triste ver cómo tomaron la muerte de Eugeo y la situación actual de Kirito.
La guerra contra el Territorio Oscuro empieza y este libro fue como para ponernos en contexto de lo que se viene. No ha sido de mis libros favoritos pero tampoco es que no me haya gustado. La saga acaba dentro de tres libros y yo no voy a tener paz hasta que la termine.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 7, 2019
Strange that a story would get better without our main character. I actually enjoyed more the side characters getting their time to shine and was really sorry to see the end of Vixur ul Shasta. Alice really grew as a character for me in this volume. She became more than the one dimensional being she was. She struggled to find who she is and accepts herself as not Alice Zugberg but Alice Synthesis 31 or whatever. The volume felt short even for Light Novel or serial novels as I think we would think of them on this side of Japan. The villains in SAO are really, really shallow. No matter how hard the author tries, Kayaba that made SAO a death game, was really the only villain that doesn't feel like a Saturday Morning cartoon character. Miller is the worst. Even when we have an awesome character die to show how evil and empty the villain is, even with his background as some psychotic serial killer, it just feels forced. I can't be the only one that hoped General Shasta would kill Demon Lord Vecta yadah-yadah and make the Dark Territory people be more than story fodder. Too bad what we get instead is some 1D villain that doesn't have a soul that will have to face Deus EX Machina Kirito that will somehow be aroused from a self-induced pity comma by the power of love and Asuna's plot powers.
January 17, 2021
This is another pivot point / ramp up type book, but thankfully it's pulled off so much better than the last one (the conversation with Cardinal). There's just as much new info, but it's spread out in a meaningful way across multiple scenes and characters, so we're saved from the massive exposition dump from last time.
Reading this as someone who's seen the anime adaption already, I'm blown away how much more information and detail is in here. All the characters feel larger, more fleshed out, and better. The new big bad in particular is way more menacing compared to his show counterpart. But I actually feel more invested in the characters; the book did great introducing so many new cast and making them feel meaningful.
Reading this as someone who's seen the anime adaption already, I'm blown away how much more information and detail is in here. All the characters feel larger, more fleshed out, and better. The new big bad in particular is way more menacing compared to his show counterpart. But I actually feel more invested in the characters; the book did great introducing so many new cast and making them feel meaningful.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2015
Right. This is going to be a review for all of Alicization so far (volumes 9-15), since the volumes really aren’t independent enough to warrant separate reviews, and 15 is the latest volume.
I’m going to start this off with my biggest issue with the series, not even limited to just Alicization. Kawahara-san, when the hell are we going to see an arc where Kirito and Asuna actually do something together? Because literally every arc since Aincrad, from Volume 3 to Volume 15, has had either one or the other doing something completely on their own (often in a different world altogether), while the other either sits on the sidelines or rescues them in some way.
I was really happy for the first half of Alicization Beginning. It looked like we were finally going to see some actual Kirito x Asuna relationship development! And then, you guessed it, Kirito gets plunged into an alternate world, and completely separated from Asuna, for the next seven (and counting) volumes.
Thank fuck, it looks like Asuna is finally going to dive into the Underworld in Volume 16, and we might actually see some plot development that involves both of them. Maybe we’ll even have them draw their swords within one kilometer of each other for once (for the record, the last time they did was in Mother’s Rosario, Volume 7, and in Aincrad before that).
If it sounds like I’m a bit pissed, that’s because I am.
I also don’t like how Kawahara-san handles the mystery/reveal cycle with the Underworld. He basically builds up the mystery over several volumes, and then reveals everything in such a massive infodump that it literally has to span two volumes. Of course there was much to reveal, and we didn’t find everything out right then, but I can’t help but feel that the reveal could’ve been handled more gracefully.
This seems to be a general issue that Kawahara-san struggles with - holding in a turning point in the plot, and then ridiculously overcomplicating it once he gets to actually writing it. Alicization Uniting is pretty much the perfect illustration of this. Nearly the entire volume is occupied by literally a single battle. Granted, it's important, and there's a lot to absorb, but not _that_ much.
My other, unrelated problem is more with Kirito’s character rather than a complaint about Kawahara-san’s writing.
I can’t possibly be the only one who’s noticed how easily Kirito practically stops caring about his relationships in the real world, including the one with Asuna. Aside from a couple of scenes, he basically never even thinks about them, at least as far as the reader can tell. Hell, it takes him until he hears Asuna’s voice through the system console to truly react to being separated from her for the past two fucking years.
Could this be the embodiment of the warning Yuuki gives to Asuna on her deathbed – that Kirito is separated from reality in a different way from Yuuki? Or, in other words, that his true passion resides in virtual reality, and that any relationships he forms in the real world come second to that.
I really, really, want to be wrong about this. It’s also why I couldn’t be more grateful that Asuna will finally be seeking Kirito out in the Underworld in the next volume. Ignoring the fact that his fluctlight is effectively a vegetable at this point in time, if there’s one person who can remind him of what he left behind in the real world, it’s her.
Well, that’s quite enough complaining for now. Believe it or not, there’s also a lot of stuff I did like in this arc.
Second only to Asuna and Sinon, Alice is probably the awesomest female protagonist in the series right now. Compared to the harem of old, this is definitely something that Kawahara-san has improved on over time. That’s not to say that Lisbeth, Silica and the rest aren’t awesome characters, but having literally every major female character fall in love with Kirito upon meeting him was a bit silly in retrospect.
I'd also like to take this moment to express the massive amount of respect I have for the writer, for having the guts to cripple one of the series' two main characters (and arguably the more important one, at that) so thoroughly. I was already impressed when Kirito faced permanent brain damage after the attack in Volume 9, but threatening Kirito's life and actually following through with the threat gained the author a lot of respect from me.
The new development in VR technology is really interesting, if a bit too handwavy for my tastes. Considering that consumer VR tech in this universe has only regressed since the Nerve Gear, the massive leap with the Soul Translator, though made obvious that you won’t be playing ALO with it anytime soon, is really great.
The Underworld is genuinely fascinating, especially if you look at it from the angle of the perfect culmination of the sort of world Akihiko Kayaba once sought to create. Given that he’s still alive in the form of an uploaded consciousness, It’d be really interesting to see what he would say if he found out about it at some point.
Gabriel is possibly the most genuinely evil antagonist SAO has seen to date. Heathcliff/Kayaba (who is, in retrospect, a pretty cool guy), Sugou and Death Gun have absolutely nothing on Gabriel. The man is literally an emotionless demon whose only purpose in life is stealing souls. How do you even compete with that?
I haven't been very heavy-handed with my star ratings for this arc because I just don't feel like I should judge the arc as a whole until it's actually over. So I suppose I'll be revising them a few volumes from now.
I’m going to start this off with my biggest issue with the series, not even limited to just Alicization. Kawahara-san, when the hell are we going to see an arc where Kirito and Asuna actually do something together? Because literally every arc since Aincrad, from Volume 3 to Volume 15, has had either one or the other doing something completely on their own (often in a different world altogether), while the other either sits on the sidelines or rescues them in some way.
I was really happy for the first half of Alicization Beginning. It looked like we were finally going to see some actual Kirito x Asuna relationship development! And then, you guessed it, Kirito gets plunged into an alternate world, and completely separated from Asuna, for the next seven (and counting) volumes.
Thank fuck, it looks like Asuna is finally going to dive into the Underworld in Volume 16, and we might actually see some plot development that involves both of them. Maybe we’ll even have them draw their swords within one kilometer of each other for once (for the record, the last time they did was in Mother’s Rosario, Volume 7, and in Aincrad before that).
If it sounds like I’m a bit pissed, that’s because I am.
I also don’t like how Kawahara-san handles the mystery/reveal cycle with the Underworld. He basically builds up the mystery over several volumes, and then reveals everything in such a massive infodump that it literally has to span two volumes. Of course there was much to reveal, and we didn’t find everything out right then, but I can’t help but feel that the reveal could’ve been handled more gracefully.
This seems to be a general issue that Kawahara-san struggles with - holding in a turning point in the plot, and then ridiculously overcomplicating it once he gets to actually writing it. Alicization Uniting is pretty much the perfect illustration of this. Nearly the entire volume is occupied by literally a single battle. Granted, it's important, and there's a lot to absorb, but not _that_ much.
My other, unrelated problem is more with Kirito’s character rather than a complaint about Kawahara-san’s writing.
I can’t possibly be the only one who’s noticed how easily Kirito practically stops caring about his relationships in the real world, including the one with Asuna. Aside from a couple of scenes, he basically never even thinks about them, at least as far as the reader can tell. Hell, it takes him until he hears Asuna’s voice through the system console to truly react to being separated from her for the past two fucking years.
Could this be the embodiment of the warning Yuuki gives to Asuna on her deathbed – that Kirito is separated from reality in a different way from Yuuki? Or, in other words, that his true passion resides in virtual reality, and that any relationships he forms in the real world come second to that.
I really, really, want to be wrong about this. It’s also why I couldn’t be more grateful that Asuna will finally be seeking Kirito out in the Underworld in the next volume. Ignoring the fact that his fluctlight is effectively a vegetable at this point in time, if there’s one person who can remind him of what he left behind in the real world, it’s her.
Well, that’s quite enough complaining for now. Believe it or not, there’s also a lot of stuff I did like in this arc.
Second only to Asuna and Sinon, Alice is probably the awesomest female protagonist in the series right now. Compared to the harem of old, this is definitely something that Kawahara-san has improved on over time. That’s not to say that Lisbeth, Silica and the rest aren’t awesome characters, but having literally every major female character fall in love with Kirito upon meeting him was a bit silly in retrospect.
I'd also like to take this moment to express the massive amount of respect I have for the writer, for having the guts to cripple one of the series' two main characters (and arguably the more important one, at that) so thoroughly. I was already impressed when Kirito faced permanent brain damage after the attack in Volume 9, but threatening Kirito's life and actually following through with the threat gained the author a lot of respect from me.
The new development in VR technology is really interesting, if a bit too handwavy for my tastes. Considering that consumer VR tech in this universe has only regressed since the Nerve Gear, the massive leap with the Soul Translator, though made obvious that you won’t be playing ALO with it anytime soon, is really great.
The Underworld is genuinely fascinating, especially if you look at it from the angle of the perfect culmination of the sort of world Akihiko Kayaba once sought to create. Given that he’s still alive in the form of an uploaded consciousness, It’d be really interesting to see what he would say if he found out about it at some point.
Gabriel is possibly the most genuinely evil antagonist SAO has seen to date. Heathcliff/Kayaba (who is, in retrospect, a pretty cool guy), Sugou and Death Gun have absolutely nothing on Gabriel. The man is literally an emotionless demon whose only purpose in life is stealing souls. How do you even compete with that?
I haven't been very heavy-handed with my star ratings for this arc because I just don't feel like I should judge the arc as a whole until it's actually over. So I suppose I'll be revising them a few volumes from now.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2019
I flew through this book. Kirito is out of commission throughout the whole book. But the story goes on and I enjoyed the book so much that I flew through it. Asuna and Alice take over story wise. They are both strong characters that I didn't feel bored at all. Plus Asuna is logging in. I am so excited. The new bad guy creeped me out. I can't wait for someone to take him down. The next book can't come soon enough.
October 27, 2019
Adminstrator's defeat has come at a heavy cost: The death of Eugeo as well as the mental decline of Kirito. Six months after the epic battle atop Central Cathedral, Kirito spends his days in the Underworld wheelchair-bound; bereft of emotion or even a will to live. Although Alice and Bercouli do what they can to help him, it isn't long before the armies of the dark territory are start to move in earnest. The "Final Stress Test" has begun. But will Kirito be ready?
June 6, 2019
Continuing my favorite arc since the first
I wasn't as big on Phantom Bullet or Mother's Rosario. This arc is definitely like experiencing the first again, but in a new light. Also enjoying all the ties with Accel World, even though I see a lot of stuff saying they're different universes, etc. Enjoy the book.
I wasn't as big on Phantom Bullet or Mother's Rosario. This arc is definitely like experiencing the first again, but in a new light. Also enjoying all the ties with Accel World, even though I see a lot of stuff saying they're different universes, etc. Enjoy the book.
August 24, 2018
Excelente este volumen, a pesar de que la historia avanzó lentamente. Lo mejor es que no todo se centra en el protagonista, hay muchos personajes geniales alrededor comenzando por Alice; es una lastima lo que sucedió con Eugeo, y más que no pudo cumplir la promesa que le hizo a su vallet.
November 14, 2018
La historia progresa en base a la batalla próxima que el imperio del dark territory va a realizar. Se ve un Kirito diferente al de siempre y una Alice con cualidades de su nueva y vieja faceta. Un volumen de preparación para el hype que se aproxima.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 11, 2021
Started here after watching Season 1 of alicization arc. It was super hard to read and super boring unless you really like the character of Alice for some reason. Worth a skip, Kirito is in a coma the whole time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2018
It keeps going and going, but unlike Grimgar, it's well written in distinct arcs that don't leave me wanting. My only wish is that they could speed up the release schedule.
March 2, 2019
I really love this arc, however, I was really hoping for a bit more from this story. After the big climax of the previous book, this one felt a bit like filler.
March 9, 2019
I feel so bad for Alice! Also, we can’t have normal villains anymore I guess.
May 22, 2019
Good story continuing alicization arc.
August 17, 2019
3.5 ⭐️
September 21, 2019
While it is understandable that the begining of a new Arc might slow things down a bit, this volume was just boooooooooring. I would have 1 star it, but the new villain was interesing.
January 16, 2020
Well, a bit boring, but the story development here could be tolerated.
January 21, 2024
I really am loving the Alicization arc. I'm so close to finishing it. I really can't wait for the next volume! Thank you, Reki Kawahara for all the emotions this volume has provided me.
September 29, 2016
3.5 stars.
This book was an interesting addition to this series. I feel like Alicization is something that is created by combining VRMMORPGs with the Matrix and Inception. ( Especially the time dilation from Inception and hanging in Limbo train station from the Matrix) Which is not a bad thing. I like it.
This book was an interesting addition to this series. I feel like Alicization is something that is created by combining VRMMORPGs with the Matrix and Inception. ( Especially the time dilation from Inception and hanging in Limbo train station from the Matrix) Which is not a bad thing. I like it.
August 10, 2016
Este libro se me paso muy rápido como el anterior.
Iniciamos con Gabriel Miller, quién fue el que derroto ha Sinon en el último torneo realizado en GGO; Gabriel es un ciudadano Norteamericano, cabeza de un gran compañía, que esta obsesionado con "El Alma" y es un psicópata, el cual recibe una misión en su compañía para robar la tecnología STL de "RATH" y a la primera Inteligencia Artificial "Alice", por lo que teniendo la oportunidad de alcanzar lo que siempre le ha obsesionado decide infiltrarse como parte del equipo de ataque contra "RATH"; de esta manera se presenta al villano de esta segunda parte del Arco de Alicization, el cual es un hombre desquiciado y con poder.
Devuelta en Underworld, kirito se encuentra en una especie de "catatonia" en el que su alma ha sido dañada gravemente y se encuentra bajo el cuidado de Alice, de quien depende para todo; Alice se dirigió al pueblo de Rulid donde ella nació, ubicada a las afueras de la ciudad y con la compañía de su "hermana", pasa sus días cuidando a Kirito; pensé que estas escenas me iban a resultar cansadas, pero fueron muy bien llevadas, me encanto, como Alice defiende la Aldea, el encuentro con Eldrie quien desde un principio siempre me agrado.
Cuando Alice decide ir al campo de batalla con Kirito y se encuentra con los demás Integry Knigth, y luego con las aprendices de Kirito y Eugeo; fue tan triste cuando las aprendices ven a Kirito en ese estado y se enteran de la muerte de Eugeo, si bien durante todo el libro sentía una puñalada cada vez que nombraban a Eugeo, aquí fue demoledor, otra vez a llorar.
En el Dark Territorio, la aparición de "El dios Oscuro Vector", cuya cuenta fue tomada por Gabriel Miller siguiendo el plan que formularon después de tomar la parte baja de la nave de "RATH" para capturara a Alice, pone en marcha la batalla contra los humanos. Lo sorprendente fue que no todos los habitantes del Dark Territorio son malos, si no que hay muchos que desean paz o tienen una gran integridad.
Por lo que con Asuna decidida a ingresar a "Underworld", Vector dirigiendo al ejercito oscuro a la guerra y Alice y el ejercito humano en rumbando a la batalla, la gran guerra esta por empezar.
Iniciamos con Gabriel Miller, quién fue el que derroto ha Sinon en el último torneo realizado en GGO; Gabriel es un ciudadano Norteamericano, cabeza de un gran compañía, que esta obsesionado con "El Alma" y es un psicópata, el cual recibe una misión en su compañía para robar la tecnología STL de "RATH" y a la primera Inteligencia Artificial "Alice", por lo que teniendo la oportunidad de alcanzar lo que siempre le ha obsesionado decide infiltrarse como parte del equipo de ataque contra "RATH"; de esta manera se presenta al villano de esta segunda parte del Arco de Alicization, el cual es un hombre desquiciado y con poder.
Devuelta en Underworld, kirito se encuentra en una especie de "catatonia" en el que su alma ha sido dañada gravemente y se encuentra bajo el cuidado de Alice, de quien depende para todo; Alice se dirigió al pueblo de Rulid donde ella nació, ubicada a las afueras de la ciudad y con la compañía de su "hermana", pasa sus días cuidando a Kirito; pensé que estas escenas me iban a resultar cansadas, pero fueron muy bien llevadas, me encanto, como Alice defiende la Aldea, el encuentro con Eldrie quien desde un principio siempre me agrado.
Cuando Alice decide ir al campo de batalla con Kirito y se encuentra con los demás Integry Knigth, y luego con las aprendices de Kirito y Eugeo; fue tan triste cuando las aprendices ven a Kirito en ese estado y se enteran de la muerte de Eugeo, si bien durante todo el libro sentía una puñalada cada vez que nombraban a Eugeo, aquí fue demoledor, otra vez a llorar.
En el Dark Territorio, la aparición de "El dios Oscuro Vector", cuya cuenta fue tomada por Gabriel Miller siguiendo el plan que formularon después de tomar la parte baja de la nave de "RATH" para capturara a Alice, pone en marcha la batalla contra los humanos. Lo sorprendente fue que no todos los habitantes del Dark Territorio son malos, si no que hay muchos que desean paz o tienen una gran integridad.
Por lo que con Asuna decidida a ingresar a "Underworld", Vector dirigiendo al ejercito oscuro a la guerra y Alice y el ejercito humano en rumbando a la batalla, la gran guerra esta por empezar.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 25, 2021
I am amazed at how Kawahara makes this fiction feels all believable and true. Then again I am a simple reader who most often than not easily follows the direction in which the author is leading without much fuss or questions. I mean, I don't know how I am fully able to believe that a person with brain damage can fully recover by staying in a fantasy world full of AIs who don't even know that they are AIs in the first place.
Kirito is catatonic throughout this book which strangely doesn't severely affects the enjoyment factor of the book. Alice is an interesting character to follow. And she got enough time to shine in this book. I didn't notice how her personality was changing in this arc during watching the anime. But after reading this, after seeing her jaded side and seeing her asking herself why she needed to save this stupid and greedy people who were nothing to her, I am starting to like her more.
Also was sad to read about Shasta and his lover. It would have been so much interesting and fun to see Shasta and Bercouli interact. They are so similar in their personalities and attitudes.
Hoping to finally see Asuna dive in the underworld in the next volume.
Kirito is catatonic throughout this book which strangely doesn't severely affects the enjoyment factor of the book. Alice is an interesting character to follow. And she got enough time to shine in this book. I didn't notice how her personality was changing in this arc during watching the anime. But after reading this, after seeing her jaded side and seeing her asking herself why she needed to save this stupid and greedy people who were nothing to her, I am starting to like her more.
Also was sad to read about Shasta and his lover. It would have been so much interesting and fun to see Shasta and Bercouli interact. They are so similar in their personalities and attitudes.
Hoping to finally see Asuna dive in the underworld in the next volume.
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