Sword Art Online: Alicization Spanish dub episodes 2-4 review

Sword Art Online: Alicization

Spanish dub episodes 2-4 review

    ¡Bienvenido! Welcome back to Learning Spanish With Anime, and Happy SAO Day! According to the story's timeline, this is the day when 10,000 players logged into Aincrad and discovered they couldn't log back out until beating the game. I had originally planned to post this episode review towards the end of last week, but there's a special kind of irony in spending the weekend leading up to SAO day without an internet connection (or electricity).  

    Following my review of the first episode of Sword Art Online: Alicization covered in my previous blog entry, these episodes dive right back into the Underworld, where Kirito ultimately ended up after his fateful showdown with Johnny Black.

    Thrown back into the Underworld after his near brush with death, Kirito spends the first part of the episode trying to discern where he is now, wondering if this new world he finds himself in is a game ("juego") or a dream ("sueño"). These scenes were easy to understand and a joy to rewatch in the Spanish dub, with Kirito contemplating what exactly happened and, once he accepts that this is in fact a virtual world, how to log out while examining his new surroundings. 

    As Kirito follows the nostalgic sound of an axe slamming against the massive Gigas Cedar tree and meets Eugeo again, six years older than the last time we saw him in the opening episode, we hear the voice of Kirito's new friend and partner on this long journey. Fans of the English dub will be pleased to know that Eugeo's voice as a teen in the Spanish dub perfectly captured his soft, gentle tone and sounded so similar at times that it was almost like listening to the same person just speaking a different language. 

Kirito just discovered the Underworld equivalent of the black bread from Aincrad's first floor

    Due to the nature of the experiment, Kirito doesn't remember his previous time-accelerated dive into the Underworld, so everything is new to him. Luckily, he has Eugeo to bring him up to speed. Kirito's apparent memory loss shares enough in common with the stories of a naturally occurring phenomenon in their world - for this reason, Eugeo believes he is "un niño perdido de Vector", or "a lost child of Vector", someone who suddenly appeared in another place with no memory of how they got there or where they came from. This is convenient for Kirito, but one has to wonder what Rath (the organization which created the Underworld) is up to if this is a fairly common or at least well-known thing. The name "Vector" itself will come up again in later episodes in a big way, shedding some light on the truth behind the myth created by the Underworld residents. (It's notable that the Spanish dub seems to use the name "Vector" here, from the light novel translation, rather than "Vecta" in the spoken Japanese and English dubs.)

    Kirito also learns about some of the more game-like features of this world, such as the Stacia window - literally called "la ventana de Stacia" in the Spanish dub - which displays the status of an item or person, and receives a bit of a crash course on the laws of the land. After Eugeo's day of work at the tree is complete, he kindly brings Kirito back to his village.

    One of the things I've noticed about this dub of Alicization (and War of Underworld as well) is that the easiest scenes for me to understand as someone still learning Spanish all take place in Rulid village. This is perhaps because the dialogue is more focused on the day to day activities of the characters, using familiar vocabulary and a relaxed pace. I've always liked Rulid village for its beautiful design, peaceful background music, and the people who live there. This gives me yet another reason to enjoy revisiting these scenes. 

    During Kirito's time in the village, he learns about Alice, whose name still fills him with a painful sense of nostalgia despite his blocked memories, and the journey Eugeo took with her to the cave. The quiet determination mixed with a sense of deep remorse is clear in Eugeo's voice here when he expressed his wish to rescue Alice but laments that he is tied to his seemingly impossible calling. Thanks to his perceived status as a lost child of Vector, Kirito is allowed to stay at the town church, which is also an orphanage. This is where he meets Alice's sister, Selka. 

    Selka's voice actress portrayed her emotions so well in these scenes, from her quiet sadness when she spoke about the effect losing her sister had on everyone, about how Eugeo was always happy but now he was different ("Eugeo siempre estaba feliz, pero ahora es diferente"), and the desperation she expressed to Kirito when she said "Pero no es mi culpa que no está aquí" ("But it's not my fault she's not here"). The part where she gets flustered by Kirito's observant remark, "Tú lo quieres mucho, verdad?" ("You like him a lot, right?") was adorably well played as she insisted, "Sí, pero solo cómo amigo." ("Yes, but only as a friend.")

    Right before she leaves the room, Selka asks Kirito if Eugeo told him about what happened with her sister, Alice, all those years ago when she was taken away by an Integrity Knight. Kirito's honest reply was clearly a catalyst for change in Selka, in the same way his playful encouragement had been for her sister in the past, and sets them on a path that will change all of their lives forever. The next morning, Selka is missing, and Eugeo is certain she went to retrace Alice's steps into the cave they visited as children.

    When they find Selka, she's been captured by goblins and it's up to them to save her. It's been a while since I watched these beginning episodes where Kirito fought the goblins, and I had forgotten what an awesome battle this was. During this scene, Kirito's tone of voice became deeper and more serious, like a warrior preparing to fight, which I thought was a nice touch. His threat to the goblin horde while holding up the head of their leader was executed perfectly.  

    Eugeo's voice actor also did well in this scene, from the timid tremble in his words at the beginning to his absolute desperation towards the end of the battle when he declared, "Esta vez lo protegeré!" ("This time I will protect him!") His brave stand gives Kirito the chance he needs to take down the goblin chief, but Eugeo was badly wounded. As Selka and Kirito rush to save him, Kirito hears the voice of Alice calling him to the Central Cathedral at the capital of the Human Empire. The tone of little Alice in this scene is somewhat ominous, and so different from her cheerful, carefree voice in the premiere episode that it sounds almost like a different person.

    The battle against the goblins was a major turning point for Kirito and Eugeo. With their stats boosted from life-or-death combat experience, Eugeo can now easily wield the Blue Rose Sword, which he previously spent three months just dragging it from the cave back towards the village, and quickly finished cutting down the tree that he believed would never fall in his lifetime. It was a turning point for Selka too, who admits to Kirito with remorse that she can't be like her sister ("No puedo ser comó mi hermana"), and then receives his encouragement that there are things only she can do.

    As the town celebrates, Eugeo declares in front of everyone that he has decided to become a swordsman with the same determination in his voice that he showed when he protected Kirito in the cave. The next day, they begin their journey to the capital to find Alice. 

Kirito is carrying a branch from the Gigas Cedar tree, which will later be used to craft his new sword

    Check out my translation guide below for common and key phrases from this episode, and stay tuned for more weekly episode reviews of Sword Art Online: Alicization's Spanish dub. Next time, I'll be covering episodes 5-8, which switches focus to Kirito's friends in the real world for a while and then jumps back to the Underworld to show us what Kirito and Eugeo have been up to in their time-accelerated virtual reality adventure. ¡Hasta luego! 

Voice Acting: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Translated Script: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Recommended Proficiency: Moderate

Key Words & Phrases: 

• Espadachín - Swordsman
• Soy espadachín - I am a swordsman
• Un mundo virtual - A virtual world
• Ventana de Stacia - Stacia Window
• Un niño perdido de Vector - A lost child of Vector
• Llamada de los dioses - Literally, "call of the gods", the Spanish dub uses this phrase in place of "sacred language" from the English version
• Sierra Fronteriza - A combination of the words for "mountain range" and "border", this is the Spanish dub name for the End Mountains
• El estilo Aincrad - the Aincrad style
• Un efecto de luz - A light effect (identifying a sword skill)

Common Words & Phrases: 

• Hermana menor / Hermana mayor - Younger sister / Older sister
• Ven - Come 
• Ya entiendo - I understand
• No estoy seguro - I'm not sure
• Despierta/Despiertate - Wake up (We'll be hearing this phrase a lot in later episodes!)
• Te prometo - I promise you
• Te necesita - He needs you 
• Mucho gusto conocerte - Nice to meet you
• Personas del pueblo - People of the town
• ¿Qué fue eso? - What was that?
• ¿En serio eres tú? - Is it really you?
• ¿Quieres comer? - Do you want to eat?
• ¿Puedo preguntarte algo? - Can I ask you something? 
• En serio eres increíble - Seriously, you are incredible
• ¿De verdad lo crees? - Do you really believe it? 
• ¿Cuál es tu trabajo? - What is your job?
• ¿Qué estás pensando? - What are you thinking? 
• ¿Dónde estoy? ¿Qué es este lugar? - Where am I? What is this place?
• ¿No te lo dije, verdad? - I didn't tell you, did I? 
• No se por qué - I don't know why 
• ¿Eso fue suficiente? - Was that enough/sufficient? 
• No recuerdo qué pasó después - I don't remember what happened next
• Pero que no será fácil - But it won't be easy 

*All images are from Sword Art Online: Alicization episodes 2-4, screenshots taken by me