[Buckeye]

Even though Kirito beat Sugou in the game, he still is out for blood in real life, but his gouged right eye is messing with his aim. Kirito's skills from SAO came through this time to show Sugou not to mess with him to save Asuna. It's back to life at school where everybody is a former SAO player. It's the end of the VRMMO industry as they know it. It's time to celebrate everybody's return to the real world with a party at Agil's tavern. Thanks to Kirito, the VRMMO was revived and ALO is back, and Kirito and Sugu are dancing in the air all while Aincrad is reborn. This time, Kirito is clearing all 100 floors in a new SAO game, the way it was meant to be played.

And so, this series comes to a great end seeing the players getting together in real life to share their experiences in the games, and to reconnect with those who were not seen ever since SAO was cleared. And it's a great thing this episode does not spend that much time about Sugou, who is still as misguided as ever.

Overall, this is one of the best shows of the simulcast this season. It's a tale of two very different halfs with the first half being about the characters being trapped inside the game where dying in the game means death in real life, and the second half where it is more about Kirito and Sugu in their journey to rescue Asuna from some greedy sleazeball who us using the situation for himself, and with Kayaba being in the middle of everything. Here is a game that is not just a game, and the story does an excellent job in developing the characters. The ALO arc started off slow, but everything was buildup towards the climax, which would not be the same without it.