In no small part due to the efforts of Kirito alone, he and the several thousand other survivors managed to clear Sword Art Online, and have to some degree been able to go on with their daily lives as normally as they can. While if this were any normal person, being trapped in a video game for two years in a life-or-death situation may turn them off the virtual reality titles for several years at the very least, there remains one more mystery to solve… and that lies in the new popular video game ALfheim Online. While most of those who survived the two years trapped in SAO were able to awaken with their lives… 400 people still appear to be trapped in a coma including Asuna. With word that Asuna and the others may be trapped atop the end-game “World Tree”, Kirito sets out to free them along with new allies.
As mentioned in my earlier reviews of the Aincrad arc, I really do enjoy the concept of Sword Art Online as a series, bringing a more modern-day anime twist to the .hack series which also found success in the Japanese and international markets. Unfortunately the Aincrad arc while interesting, lacked the in-depth detail that it could have potentially had if they opted to make it a 24 / 26 episode season rather than the fourteen it had. While it is too early to tell if the same fate awaits the Fairy Dance arc, with completely new concepts to introduce and for the first time an actual in-game event / war to deal with…. I am not getting my hopes up.
Volume 3 published by Madman Entertainment this month focused on the first five episodes of the Fairy Dance arc (15-19), which served as an interesting introduction to the new, more fantasy / mythical inspired world of ALFheim Online, the real life ventures of Kirito and his sister Suguha and setting up the scene for the final half of the arc. Ultimately while having an enticing setting and sequence of events… this at the very least needed to be part of a full-arc volume as alone it doesn’t really amount to much.
As there is very little to go on with this volume and the end close approaching, I will be doing a full review of this arc next month when Volume 4 is available for purchase. For more details on the visual and audio quality of Sword Art Online, check out my Volume 1 review linked below, with many of my original statements holding true at this point in the series.
Check Out My Earlier Sword Art Online Reviews!
- Sword Art Online Volume 1: Aincrad Part 1 – Anime Review
- Sword Art Online Volume 2: Aincrad Part 2 – Anime Review
