Well guys, this is it. The final episode. It's been a long time since we first started this journey, and a lot has changed over the course of it. Seven straights weeks and here we are. As the Season 2 finale, how's the episode hold up?
Amazing.
Beautiful.
The best of the whole season.
If there aren't tears welling up in your eye, or a lump growing in your throat where you want to kick and scream because of sadness, you probably haven't grown as close to the character of Yuuki as you expected. It's so heartbreaking to see her leave, but, the fact that she was able to do so after she'd accomplished all she wanted leaves us satisfied.
It's a shame to see such a strong character go, but her overall effect on the show will be felt for probably the remainder of it all. Her aid in developing the technology for herself and Yui to interact with the outside world will make the real and virtual world easier to connect should their be a need for it.
Once again, Yuuki was the standout character of the episode, going down swinging to the disease. She carried the whole episode, showing us why she is such a strong character and why we should love her like we already do. Her smile lit up the screen and her confident and happy attitude to the very end was an amazing touch to all of this.
Unlike the last time we had major character "deaths," this one manages to keep everything light. Yuuki dies at sunset, the most beautiful of all SAO visuals as I've gone over the entirety of this run, and there is no part of the episode that takes place during the night. I think this done to show us that Yuuki will always make things better for our characters, that there can really be no dark times with or without her because of what she's done for our heroes.
The episode is dramatic and very emotional, and uses both elements to culminate Yuuki and Asuna's character in the best way possible while also tying up the main backbone of the season: strength. We've seen it with Kirito, Sinon, Yuuki, and now, Asuna. This final episode brings it all together, and even wraps up Kazuto's final thoughts on how to connect the real and virtual world. It even gives us a huge cliffhanger right before the credits roll (even though there is a post-credits scene).
It starts with all of our major characters throughout the entire series meeting up at the house in the forest to celebrate meeting the Sleeping Knights. It's great to see all the characters after so long, and to see them interact with the Sleeping Knights makes it feel like this is a crossover episode. They even go on a Boss raid, and while I do wish we'd see what the fight was like, it doesn't really matter.
From there is goes into a montage of various events, such as Kirito and Yuuki having a duel that Yuuki narrowly manages to win (like, just by a second) as well as Suguha, Liz, Silica, and Asuna going out of town along with Yuuki.
The montage is very jovial and helps to set up that kind of tone as well as show the fun times that are characters are all having together over three months. Though it is a short amount of time to show that three months have passed, it still works effectively. That all ends, however, when Asuna gets a text saying that Yuuki's condition has drastically changed.
She rushes to the hospital and goes into Yuuki's room, where the doctor tells her that Yuuki's heart stopped momentarily a while ago, but they were able to revive her. The next time it happens, they won't be able to revive her. Suddenly, Yuuki wakes up and tries to say Asuna's name, which Asuna takes as Yuuki wanting to see her in game. The doctor grants her this wish.
That one little moment, where Yuuki wakes up and tries to speak to Asuna speaks volumes of Yuuki's character. We see she is just a fragile little girl, yet she's fighting with all of her strength to wake up and say one word to meet with Asuna in the world that they share one last time. Dang.
Asuna meets with Yuuki on the Zekken island, where Yuuki performs her Original Sword Skill before falling over, and then gives Asuna the Original Sword Skill, seeing as how she can't use it anymore. Asuna promises to hold onto it, and when it comes time for her to leave the game, she'll make sure to pass it on so Yuuki's strength will persist forever.
The Sleeping Knights arrive and promise Yuuki that they won't be separated for too long (as their time is coming, too), but Yuuki makes them promise to wait a little while longer, and then she can tell them all about the new world she is going to.
When the Sleeping Knights show up is probably around the time that's going to be the breaking point for the tears. Seeing them together, promising to see each other again, knowing that none of them are afraid of what's coming, is rough. In a good way, as it adds to the emotion of the episode. Yuuki, still, is smiling, happy to see her friends one more time.
Our main heroes arrive to pay their respects to Yuuki before thousands of players from ALO come to pay their respects for the greatest sword wielder the game has ever seen. Yuuki then delivers one of the strongest speeches I've ever watched:
"I always wondered, I was born to die, so what was my reason for existing in this world? Without creating anything or giving to anyone. Wasting so much medication and medicine. Causing the people around me so much trouble. Suffering, worrying. And if I were just going to disappear in the end, it would be better to die right now. I thought that so many times. 'Why am I alive?' I wondered for so long. But...but...I feel like I've finally found the answer. Even if there's no reason, it's okay for me to be alive. Because my last moments are of such fulfillment. I can end my journey surrounded by so many people, in the arms of the person I love....I tried my best to live. Here, I really lived!"
Oh. Man. I don't even know if there are any words to justify the moment. I'm not even going to try.
With that, Yuuki passed on, dying in the world she loved, surrounded by people she loved and who loved her in return. In the end, Yuuki wasn't just a symbol of hope, power, or confidence. She was those things. She was a little Imp who fought all her life for the meaning of life, and in the end, realized it didn't matter. She was alive, that was what mattered. Dying with a smile...there's no better way for her character to come to a close.
Not that her character will ever truly be gone. Her influences will be felt forever, and her memory will persist in anyone that had the privilege to watch her. It's truly the most emotional moment in all of SAO as we see a young woman, a hero, pass on to another world.
RIP Yuuki Konno.
A week later, at Yuuki's funeral, Asuna meets up with Siune in the real world, who is happy to report that her condition has cleared and she is fully cured of her illness. Another member of the Sleeping Knights is also doing much better. Siune guesses that this might be Yuuki's way of saying that she isn't ready to see them just yet, making them wait a bit longer before they can all be reunited.
Seeing Siune in person is yet another powerful moment as we get to see her realize the true strength she had inside all along. All she needed was for someone like Yuuki to come along and make her realize it. Though the Sleeping Knights are still disbanded, they'll still get to live on in legacy and memory.
Kazuto arrives with the doctor, as apparently they have been working together on Medicuboid technology. The doctor reports that the trial run is over thanks to all of the data Yuuki was able to provide for them, and because of this she will live on in medical history as the first successful trial run of it. Before he leaves, he reveals to us that the one who first worked on the Medicuboid was a doctor who Kazuto recognizes as the partner of Kaiyaba, which means one thing: Kaiyaba was the one who first developed the Medicuboid and it is heavily implied that he is still alive.
I know things are revealed a little more in the next arc but I really don't want to know.
The credits roll, frustrating us, but then we're left with more tears as the credits are extended and we fade out from them on an image of Yuuki's sword lodged into the ground before the tree with her little headband wrapped around it.
A post-credits scene sees all our main heroes gathering in the real world to have a picnic, and Yui is there too, using the same device as Yuuki, perhaps with some enhancements since she can feel a breeze. Kazuto notes that perhaps it is a little better that the two world stay separate, but that he will continue his work nonetheless until he discovers its true meaning. Asuna and Kazuto profess their love to each other before rushing off to join the others, ending both the episode and the season.
Well, what else can I say about the episode? It's fantastic. It's a beautifully done episode that puts a perfect cap on this arc and leaves us wanting much, much more. Yuuki's final moments are some of the strongest in the entire series and the strength she gave our characters in her passing is one that will not soon fade.
As for the season as a whole? It may be because I just watched it, it may not be, but I'd say that it's actually better than the first. Both of the main arcs provided a ton of drama and action while growing our characters and exposing them to some horrifying events that they ultimately grew out of and were the better for. Kirito grew out of his past and learned to deal with it while helping Sinon do the same, gaining a friend along the way. Asuna learned how to reach out to people and make them see themselves for who they truly are, as well as learned how to live her life for the fullest through Yuuki. The animation for the season wasn't drastically different and the music was similar in most departments, but I just think that the various characters were overall better and I had a great time breaking down this season's themes. The first season is also hurt quite a bit by the second arc, with its plot holes and all that.
The series as a whole is fantastic, though. Even the second arc of the show isn't bad, it's actually quite good. But compared to the rest, it may seem a little worse for wear. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in anime, or just anyone in general. You might hate me because the show plays with your emotions so much, but still, it's a ton of fun and you'll have a great time with it.
Until next time, I suppose! See you then.
No comments:
Post a Comment