Alicization's one of the most underrated strengths lies in its thematic layering, particularly its references to Alice in Wonderland. While SAO has always been at the center of debates in the anime community, Alicization quietly embeds a powerful homage to one of the earliest "other world" stories in modern literature. The genius of this move lies not only in its subtlety but in how it bridges two legendary pieces of media across time and culture. In doing so, it reframes SAO, not just as a blockbuster anime, but as a self-aware commentary on the isekai genre it helped popularize.
Many fans argue about whether SAO is even a true isekai. Technically, it isn't. The characters don’t die and reincarnate in another world, nor are they summoned to a fantasy realm by divine beings. Instead, they’re plugged into virtual worlds through futuristic technology. But that distinction is largely semantic. The core premise, a protagonist escaping from reality into a richly immersive alternate world where new rules apply, is functionally identical to most isekai stories. SAO’s success in 2012 sparked a wildfire across the anime industry. It opened the floodgates for an entire generation of series like Re:Zero, Konosuba, Tensura, and more. Even though SAO didn’t invent the genre, it proved there was mass-market appeal for it, and studios followed in droves.
Enter Alicization, the third major arc in the SAO franchise. It introduces an artificial world called the Underworld, built not just as a game, but as a simulation meant to grow real human souls. This world operates under its own logic, filled with knights, sacred arts, and a society molded by a mysterious force called the Taboo Index. At the heart of this arc is a girl named Alice, a name that instantly evokes the classic Lewis Carroll tale. And that’s no coincidence.
Like the original Alice in Wonderland, Alicization is about questioning reality. In Carroll’s novel, Alice falls down a rabbit hole into a strange world governed by nonsense and dream-logic. In Alicization, Kirito is thrown into a world where his memories are fragmented and the truth is buried under layers of programming and illusion. Both stories follow protagonists navigating warped realities in search of identity, agency, and truth. The Underworld, like Wonderland, is a place that challenges what the characters know to be real. The characters, particularly Alice, begin to break free of their programmed limitations, just as Carroll’s Alice questioned the absurd rules of the Queen of Hearts' domain.
By choosing “Alice” as a central figure, the author wasn’t just picking a pretty name. He was reaching back to the roots of portal fantasy, nodding to the literary tradition that birthed the isekai concept long before the term existed. Alice in Wonderland is arguably one of the earliest isekai stories: a young girl transported to a fantastical land, where she must navigate trials and absurdities. It's a template that modern anime still echoes.
So when Alicization places “Alice” at the center of its story, it’s not just coincidence or flair. It’s a legend tipping its hat to another. SAO, the anime that made isekai a mainstream genre, is paying homage to the story that arguably started it all. That’s not just clever writing, it’s a brilliant commentary on the lineage of escapist fiction. It’s a statement that says, “We know where we came from.”
