ANIME MONDAY: Sword Art Online – ” Land of the Fairies” Review


Previously on Sword Art Online:

Kazuto Kirigaya AKA Kirito has returned to the real world and tries to reacclimate to life. However Asuna is still trapped inside the game, having only a week to save her before she marries another man, he makes plans to save her from her virtual prison. Spoilers Ahead.

After receiving a picture from Agil of a virtual avatar that looked like Asuna, Kazuto decides to pay his old friend a visit. When they meet up Agil tells Kazuto of the origin of the photo. It came from a new VRMMO called ALfheim Online (ALO for short), suspecting that Asuna is trapped in the game, Agil gives Kazuto the game. Kazuto installs it , once again donning the moniker of Kirito as he braves a whole new world in order to save his love.

Things start rolling this episode as we now have a new game with a new goal rescue Asuna. Agil makes a nice reappearnce as he now runs a bar, in some town it’s never really explained where, and he tells Kirito the mechanics of ALO. Initially i had a problem with this game being explained and made. seeing as how the last time a VRMMO trapped over 2000 people in it for 2 years you think others would be a little hesistant to play but I digress. The game primarilly focuses on magic skills and player ability as opposed to SAO’s reliance on swordplay. Two af the big draws of the game are the ability to fly and the freedom to player kill, but Kazuto attacks this with his usual swagger by stating that “playing a game where you can die is too easy”. Another standout feature of the game is that it was made by RCT, the company that Sugou runs and the chief reason why Asuna is alive. Agil also explains that the goal of the game is to climb the “world tree” which is where Asuna is being kept (she’s being held in a cage).

One of the best aspects of the episode is that Yui makes a return in the game. When Kazuto plays the game he is supposed to be transported to the Spriggan hometown (the game has 9 different races, each with their own attributes, abilities, and starting points) but a glitch occurs (of course) and he is transported to a forest and apparently all of his stats and items from SAO have been transfreed to him. It is here that he brings up the item that he stored Yui’s essence in in episode 12 and brings her back.

This is good seeing as how now Yui plays more of a support role in the story as she helps Kirito by becoming a “Navigation Pixie” and shows to still care for her “parents” as she is eager to help him save Asuna. She also explains to him that ALO uses the same servers as SAO did, although the Cardinal system is a bit outdated. This explains why his data had been transferred seeing as how his avatars from both games are similar to each other. She also teaches him how to fly, although he falls on his face twice.

Last we meet a couple of new characters, a blonde haired fairy named Leafa and her friend Recon. They are being persued by a group of other players who intend to kill them, Recon being killed before Leafa is sent crashing to the ground. Although Kirito obviously comes to her defense in the end.

Leafa

“Land of the Fairies” is a nice introduction into the next arc of the series. The new game is explored the world looks more lush and expansive, and we are also introduced to a couple new characters as well as re-introduced to some older ones. The quest to rescue Asuna continues next week as Kirito learns to play ALO.

4/5