Sword Art Online: Alicization Spanish dub episodes 22-24 review (finale)

 Sword Art Online: Alicization

Spanish dub episodes 22-24 (finale)

    ¡Bienvenido y Feliz Año Nuevo! Welcome back to Learning Spanish With Anime, and Happy New Year! This is the final batch of Alicization episodes before War of Underworld, and it's been a lot of fun rewatching my favorite series again in my second language. 

   The battle against Chudelkin that served as a cliffhanger at the end of the previous episode came to a swift end shortly after this one began in a beautiful show of special effects, but the main focus of the episode is a confrontation with Administrator. Alice's voice actress excells in scenes of raw emotion like this, and Kirito's cool and clever dialogue provided a good balance. However, Administrator realizes the truth about Kirito as well and makes an accusation of her own - "Eres un humano del mundo exterior." ("You are a human from the outside world.")

    Kirito tried to reason with her, warning her about all of the things that would be lost if the Dark Territory's invasion is successful due to her own arrogance - "Las montañas. Los rios. Los pueblos. Las ciudades. Todas las personas incluyéndote." ("The mountains. The rivers. The villages. The cities. All people including you.") Instead, Administrator reveals a creation of her own intended for this very purpose, The Sword Titan. Kirito recognizes it for what it is, an automated weapon ("un arma automatizada"), but Eugeo is the first to realize it's connection to the fragments of memory embedded in the ceiling of the cathedral. Administrator boasts that it's a machine of death and destruction ("una máquina de muerte y destrucción"), and when it proves too much to handle, Cardinal steps in to protect them.

      Administrator takes pleasure in the fact that Cardinal can't fight the Sword Titan due to the presence of its human soul, and her mocking tone and maniacal laugh fit her personality so well. Her VA really showed the depths of her character in this scene as Administrator acted amused by their struggle, like a game of cat and mouse, until finally losing her cool when she realized she might be in danger. Likewise, Cardinal's outrage upon hearing Administrator's plan and the sense of helplessness that followed displayed a good range of emotion for a character who is usually shown to be calm and collected. All of the voice actors in SAO so far seem to have great chemistry and play off of each other's performances nicely. 
    However, for anyone still learning the language, the detailed explanations related to the Sword Titan, fluctlights and the system itself during episodes 22 and 23 can be a lot to take in. Administrator and Cardinal's rapid fire dialogue moves from one big reveal to the next in record time, and may require multiple viewings to catch all of the important information.  

"¡Tus rayos no tienen efecto sobre mi!" ("Your lightning has no effect on me!") - Alice holding the line during Eugeo's transformation

    Through the same technique Administrator used to create the Sword Titan, Eugeo asks Cardinal to fuse him with the Blue Rose sword before she dies so that he can fight back. The drastic shift in Administrator's voice and speech when she realized she's in trouble is a good indication of her mental state, and her VA did a great job shifting from her former pompous attitude to her desperate shrieks of, "¡Te voy a matar!" ("I'm going to kill you!")

    Although Eugeo managed to wound Administrator, the grave injuries that he suffered shocked Kirito to his core. He sounds absolutely heartbroken in this scene when he tries in vain to heal Eugeo with sacred arts and cries out, "Por favor, funciona!" ("Please, work!") It was especially emotional when he said "Eres mi mejor amigo! Eres mi hermano!" ("You're my best friend! You're my brother!") because this line is different from both the English and Japanese dialogue - here, Kirito calls him "brother". 

"Ahora, salvemos a Alice juntos." ("Now, let's save Alice together.") - Eugeo

    This is one of the things I love about the Spanish dub. Kirito and Eugeo always say they're best friends in the English and Japanese versions, and in the Spanish dub as well, but hearing them call each other "brother" adds even more depth to their relationship and really drives home the reason why Kirito was so devastated by this loss. Eugeo was more than just a friend; he was like family, the only one Kirito had during his two years in the Underworld. 

    When Eugeo says goodbye to Kirito, he uses the phrase, "Hasta siempre, hermano" - also calling him "brother". Literally, the words "hasta siempre" translate to "until always", but the meaning behind it implies a farewell that is likely permanent (or at least implies a very long time apart). It pairs really well with the "stay cool" phrase Kirito taught to Eugeo, which he uses again here, and the way Kirito explained it's not used as a casual goodbye. 

    Kirito, snapped out of his shocked state by Alice jumping between him and Administrator to protect him and Eugeo's encouragement, proceeds to battle the ruler of the Underworld and wins, but not without taking significant damage himself. After a heartfelt goodbye, Eugeo and the memory of young Alice depart while reassuring Kirito, "Estaremos contigo para siempre." ("We will be with you forever.")

    Now that the battle is over, Kirito examines the control panel summoned by Administrator and establishes a link to the real world at last. However, he finds out that not all is well for the Rath team on the other side...

Two familiar faces from the GGO scene in the first episode - PoH (left) and Gabriel (right)

    A brief shift back to the real world gives us a glimpse of the assault team attacking the Ocean Turtle, along with the two main antagonists of the following War of Underworld arc. PoH's relaxed, confident tone of voice even as the sounds of gunfire ring out in the background fits the leader of Laughing Coffin very well. I loved the translation of his line for the Spanish dub - "Sí, yo lo se, bro. No es mi primera vez." ("Yeah, I know, bro. It's not my first time.") When compared to the lines used in the English dub ("I know what to cut") and the original Japanese version ("I wouldn't mess up like that"), all three are great and portray the same kind of cool confidence, but the fact that he basically brags about having experience with breaking and entering in the Spanish dub adds an interesting layer to their dialogue. Ultimately, their actions in the real world result in a power surge which causes Kirito to fall unconscious.

    This concludes Sword Art Online: Alicization's Spanish dub. Check out my translation guide below for common and key phrases from this episode, and stay tuned for my next blog post, which will begin weekly reviews for the War of Underworld arc. ¡Hasta luego! 

Voice Acting: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Translated Script: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Recommended Proficiency: Intermediate/Advanced

Key phrases:

• El titán de la espada - The Sword Titan
• El fin del mundo - World's End (the place where Kikuoka tells Kirito to go with Alice, same name meaning as in English)
• Llamada al sistema. Remover protección del núcleo - System call. Remove core protection (this command is used before the synthesis ritual and before Eugeo's transformation)
• La técnica de cuatro golpes - The four strike technique (description given for multi-hit sword skills; number depends on the technique)

Common phrases: 

• Descansa - Rest
• ¿Esto es para mi? - This is for me? 
• Es mi oportunidad - It's my opportunity
• Entonces, vamos a pelear - Then let's fight
• Por fin termino - Finally finished
• O mejor dicho - Or rather/Or better said
• No te atrevas - Don't you dare
• Por supuesto que lo sabía - Of course he knew
• ¿Ahora lo entiendes? - Do you understand now?
• Levántate una vez más - Get up one more time 
• No importa las veces que cayas - It doesn't matter how many times you fall
• Dime, ¿quién es esta persona? - Tell me, who is this person?
• ¿Cómo puede ser tan insensible? - How can you be so insensitive?
• No puedo matar un humano - I can't kill a human
• ¿Eso es todo lo que tienes? - Is that all you have?
• ¿Qué crees que estás haciendo? - What do you think you're doing?

*All images from Sword Art Online: Alicization, screenshots taken by me