Geek Revolt
Home / Anime / Sword Art Online Episode 14 Micro-Review

Sword Art Online Episode 14 Micro-Review

By on October 6, 2012

Warning, Major Spoilers Ahead

Give me a second — I’m still trying to process everything. I’ve mentioned how fast SAO’s plot moves before, and this rings truest in this episode. It’s epic, but it’ll leave you saying, “Did all of that really just happen?”

I knew something was off when last week’s epic boss was beaten within the first 30 seconds. Well it turns out that the head knight is the creator of the game. Wait, what? Yeah, something was strange about him when he dueled with Kirito – but that was totally unexpected.

Now, I would have known this if I read the light novels, but the reveal wouldn’t have been as enjoyable. I’m the kind of person who can’t watch a movie if I’m too familiar with the source material.

Anyway, Kirito fights the creator, Asuna dies, Kirito dies, comes back to life, kills the creator, is reunited with Asuna, the creator reveals he just did all this for kicks, and then it’s game over. All of this happened way too fast, and yet this was easily the best episode of the series (so far). Everything was perfect, the action, the drama, the romance, everything.

Luckily this isn’t the last episode, it’s just the end of this arc. Although, it will be interesting to see where things go from here. I doubt it’ll just turn into a slice of life romantic comedy now that the game is over, so don’t get your hopes up. (Rating: 10/10)

I'm DeShaun Zollicoffer, and I approve this message/bio. "26-years-old, Proud Northeast Ohioan, a Gamer Without Loyalties, an Equal Opportunity Offender, Apple Evangelist, Apple Hater, Music Lover, Anime Junkie, Little Monster, Frequent Flyer, Dexter Fanatic, Title Case Addict, and Geek Revolt's Founder and Editorial Director."
Related Items
  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000172099718 Dominic Hunter

    Yep! Here’s the thing I said I “couldn’t tell you” about last week. I’m glad to see that this part of the story was as incredible for you as it was for me! The thing that “confused me” is how they’re gonna handle what happens next, and if they’re gonna end this where I think they are…

    • http://www.geekrevolt.com/ DeShaun Zollicoffer

      I see why you were confused, this was an abrupt and unexpected twist. Like, it’s hard to believe SAO (the game is over). I heard somewhere that this was supposed to be the end of the series, but the creator decided to keep going since it was popular. Makes sense because I don’t get why he’d call it Sword Art Online when that game only makes up part of the story.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000172099718 Dominic Hunter

        Yeah, the novel, which later became Vol. 1 in a series, ended here. It won 1st prize at a big light novel contest, and well, serialization ahoy!

        The only way they can possibly end this on a satisfying note is if they cover all of vol. 3-4 with the next 11 episodes. The “confuse” part involves which parts of the story they’ll inevitably have to skip to make this work. I can see it being done well, I just hope they DO.

        • http://www.geekrevolt.com/ DeShaun Zollicoffer

          Maybe they’ll save some for a second season lol

          • XavierLeromeLangham

            don’t you just love animations based off light novels

        • Jason Platt

          So you’re saying you think they will only make 24 or 26 total episodes and that will be it for the entire series??

          • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000172099718 Dominic Hunter

            It’s currently Scheduled for 25, and providing they do what I’m now sure they will, It’ll be a pretty satisfying and conclusive ending. There’s more light novel content to be adapted, but who knows if that’ll become a second season of anime or not.

  • Jason Platt

    As good as this is, I can’t help but to be a little disappointed. I wanted the game to last a lot longer, at least one season (24-ish episodes). I know nothing of the novel, but I can tell they could come up with enough story to add at least 10 episodes to that first arc. What about all the secondary characters that we barely spent any time with??

    This is still technically the first season, right?? I WANT MORE. Hopefully the rest of this season delivers.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000172099718 Dominic Hunter

      To explain that a bit, without spoiling anything, Vol. 1 of the SAO novel didn’t have any of those secondary characters (Lizbet & Silica, mainly). They were introduced in Vol. 2, which was a series of short stories taking place between chapters of Vol. 1. I won’t tell you more than that, for your own sake, but If it feels like they quickly popped in and out of the narrative, that’s why.

      Hope this at least clears your confusion a little~! Also, trust me, you’re going to be SO glad they ended the SAO arc here!