Already made this suggestion somewhere else, but I'll put it here.

The problem with animation lock is not the animations, but the way in which damage from skills is applied. They are always applied all at once, even for multi hit skills.

Apply the damage in tandem with the animation, then simply remove the lock and allow players to move. The movement interrupts the animation and the damage, but you are free to choose whether to sacrifice damage and live while not having the current alpha system which is far too silly.