Every Sword Art Online Season Ranked Worst To Best

It seemed that SAO was always going to be a guilty pleasure anime, but the Alicization arc came along and showed fans that there was something better behind it. The shift to a more serious tone and the focus on AI was the right move for the series, as it went in a far more mature direction.

Alicization shows as Kirito is put into a land known as The Underworld through a machine known as a Soul Translator. Here, he works with his friend Eugeo and a girl named Alice to reach The Administrator.

Gone were the days of overly-sexualised characters - for the most part - and replacing it was a surprisingly gritty and honest narrative. It marks some of the show's darkest moments, and the slick animation combined with the new aesthetics helps give it a completely different vibe from the rest of SAO.

Plus, taking an entire 24 episodes to explore the arc meant that it could really take its time. Instead of going a mile a minute and shoving a lot at you, Alicization walks you through this new world at a leisurely pace before attacking you with thrilling action sequences and swordplay.

It was a genius direction for the series, but it would only get better...