No One Can Stop Asuna

Sword Art Online: Alicization Episode 5 Review/Recap

I’m just going to come out and say it: Karandi, you were right. I had high hopes for Sword Art Online, and I still think that the show’s going to get a lot better. Especially considering what’s going to happen in the second half of the season. For now, though, it’s going to going at a slow pace.

There, I said it. That said, I made a promise to review every episode of Sword Art Online: Alicization in dub form, and I aim to keep it. So, LINK START!

Recap

Remember when Asuna was the main heroine of the anime? Yeah, good times. Say what you will about the dub, but I think hearing a character be voiced by a VA you’re a fan of can make a dub better. In this case, Asuna’s voiced by Cherami Leigh.

I’ve been a fan of Cherami Leigh since I first heard her play Lucy Heartfilia in Fairy Tail, and I’ve followed her work ever since. Next to Lucy, I think Asuna’s one of her best characters. She brings about a feeling of confidence and strong-willfulness, but also has a sweet and caring nature to her voice. It’s why I was so quick to like Asuna, and Sword Art Online.

Asuna’s taken a back seat in some of the series adventures, but she’s still my favorite, and this episode focuses entirely on her efforts to help Kirito.

After Johnny Black attacked Kirito, we learn that he was taken to the nearby hospital where he was stabilized. Thanks to the drug, his heart stopped for more than five minutes.

In the medical field, five minutes is the limit that the brain can go without oxygen. After that, brain cells begin to die. If Kirito’s to make a full recovery, he’ll need the best treatment in the world. That’s where his acquaintance from the government, Kikouka (who I just realized is voiced by Matt Mercer) comes in. He’ll take Kirito to the best medical facility in the world.

Only, Asuna and Suguha can’t get to him, because he’s not where they said he would be.

Realizing quickly that something is up, Asuna and the others start digging around, and they confirm that Kirito had been loaded onto a helicopter that then traveled outside of Japan.

The group nearly gives up, but then Asuna remembers someone that Kirito had spoken to: Rinko Koujiro,, Akihiko Kayaba’s former research partner and lover. Rinko had been getting emails from Kikouka to work with him on the big project Kirito was a part of.

A few days later, Rinko arrives at Rath’s main location: a giant ocean facility called the “Ocean Turtle”. Her and her assistant, May- Asuna. It’s Asuna in disguise.

As soon as she’s onboard,d Asuna ditches the disguise and flat out tells Kikouka “Take me. To Kirito. RIGHT. NOW.” And then the episode ends.

Review

I will be honest with you guys: I do not think that this part of the story really requires more than one episode to finish. Whereas the last episode was focused more on the action, this one was all about the exposition. Moving the plot forward with dialogue is important, but if it’s not interesting, then we get bored quickly.

Hell, if SAO: Abridged were to get to this part, they would probably skip all the way to Asuna ditching her disguise and then give us a quicker answer like she used her and her boyfriend’s contacts to track him down. That, or they’d make a joke about that heart monitor app doubling as an actual tracking device. Abridged Asuna would do something like that.

My point, this and whatever’s going to happen in the next episode could have been placed inside a single episode.

As for the show itself, as long as the second half of the arc is epic, then I will put up with whatever they throw at us. Granted, I know what’s going to happen (read the light novels) but I still want to enjoy it.

I give this episode 2.5/5

Karandi, I hope you’re reading this!

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