[Akito Kinomoto]

I'm rewatching this show, and despite its faults, it's still good. Then again, I remember not liking ALO, and the anime should have ended here.

On to this episode. The hospital walk was simply very moving. There's something powerful about seeing a veritable Neo wake up from the dream only to find his real state in shambles. Throughout the show we have reminders of SAO not being real, from murderers laughing off their acts saying there's no proof someone would die, to Kirito and Asuna worrying over the state of their bodies, to the feelings of characters changing for the better or worse, to the power in this world not meaning a thing; everything was authentic but nothing was real. This combined with the world building made this fantasy-land feel so real, but soon enough, this finale reminds us that only emotions are retained from a dream while the faux accomplishments are fleeting.

I honestly forgot this show was ever about a video game and just accepted it as an alternate-reality fantasy story. A fantasy grounded in reality with simple but believably charming characters. The time skips stop here, and that's what really grated on me throughout these 14 episodes the most. This is as positive as I'm going to get, though, because I'm really not looking forward to ALO, but I'll do what I must.