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When I heard SAO was getting a second season, I was excited. Yes, SAO is one of my favorite animes, but I try not to let that cloud my judgement for how I would score it.

Story: 6
As you can read in the series description, a player of a shooter VRMMO is killing people in the game. This is the first arc (Phantom Bullet). Kirito gets sent into the game because he's apparently the closest thing to a professional gamer at the disposal of the company trying to solve the mystery of how the player is killing people. Sinon is a sniper in that same ... game and she's trying to overcome some trauma from her past by 'becoming strong' in the game. It felt a bit drawn out at times, but it still kept me interested as I waited to see how the arc would end.

The second arc (Caliber) is more of a filler arc than anything. Kirito and his harem go on a quest to get excalibur in ALO that takes three episodes. It was a fun little adventure, but it didn't expand the characters in any way, and the overall quest itself was a bit of an odd draw on Norse mythos.

The third arc (Mother's Rosario) involves Asuna taking the role of MC and going on an adventure with a new group of characters, namely Yuuki, to try and clear a New Aincrad floor before anyone else. It was a lot of fun to watch, with plenty of sword art sword play and the new group, the Sleeping Knights guild, had a secret that made me care a bit about them (I think I cared about the Sleeping Knights more than I cared about the majority of Kirito's harem).

Art/Sound: 9
The main things I love about SAO return in its second season. The music sounds fantastic and the art is amazing. Not much more needs to be said there.

Character: 6
The usual shortcoming of SAO is its characters, and its second season isn't really an exception. The third arc has Asuna trying to face her own weakness in the real world compared to her strength in VRMMOs, but it's kind of a side-note to the story. Most of the attempts at character development are seen in the first arc. Kirito finally starts to deal with the trauma that comes with the fact that he killed people in Sword Art Online, but that's about it for his character. Sinon, the other MC for the first arc, is given more depth as she tries to come to terms with her own past. However, her interesting character is practically dismissed in order to turn her into the missing tsundere component of Kirito's harem, which was rather disappointing to see. She was a strong character who was reduced to a mess when her trauma followed her into the game, leading her to completely rely on Kirito in the most tsundere ways she could.

I wasn't really a fan of how much of a prodigy Kirito became out of nowhere in this season. Hacking SAO itself back in season one to save Yui wasn't enough to prove his technology prowess; he now makes little cameras that make it so game characters can see the real world without any difficulty whatsoever. The only explanation given to his mechanical genius is that he has been on the internet.

Enjoyment: 8
Even though I was REALLY disappointed to see Sinon merge into Kirito's harem without a second thought, it was still a fun season to watch. The art and sound still kept the scenes alive for me and I managed to forgive the shortcomings in the characters and story just because I was still having fun. It may have been ridiculous, but it was fun watching Kirito basically turn into a jedi to deflect bullets in a shooter game.

Overall: 7
It's still SAO. Kirito has his harem and still cares for Asuna. Sinon unfortunately becomes a part of the harem, but had a good char before that. Art and Sound still carry the show past its shortcomings for me.

Aldnoah.Zero was an interesting anime, to say the least. It had plenty of unexpected turns that made it so I couldn't predict the end halfway through.

Background:
The story revolves around the concept that a long time ago a bunch of people left Earth to colonize Mars. There, they found a mysterious power called Aldnoah that advanced their technology immensely, but could only be used by the select few that swore fealty to the royal line. After some hubbub a decade or so before the story takes place, Mars and Earth got on some pretty bad terms. The story actually begins with the princess of Mars coming ... to visit Earth in order to establish better relations between the two races. Unfortunately, not everyone wishes for peace and, one attack on the princess later, Mars declares all-out war on Earth in order to exact its vengeance.

Character: 7
The story focuses around two main characters, each on opposite sides of the war. Inaho, the Earth-side hero, is a calm, level-headed tactician who appears to be an expert at taking down advanced technology no matter how much his companions panic. Slaine, the other main character, doesn't really fight for Mars so much as he fights to protect the princess from those who want her dead, which is rather difficult given that friend and foe aren't clearly defined for him. The characters of the show aren't really mold-breaking, but that didn't stop them from growing on me.

Art and Sound: 7
The show looked good and sounded good. The kataphrakt (mecha) in the show are animated well and watching them fight in closer proximity can be terrific to watch.

Story: 6
Here's the main falling point I found with the show. The show did its best to break away from the predictable mold of what you would expect to have happen. This certainly made each episode interesting to watch and difficult to predict. Unfortunately, sometimes characters seemed to be making decisions on a whim that existed solely to make sure that the show didn't follow a typical occurrence.
Ex: Char A meets Char B and they should be enemies, but instead they buddy up and eat dinner instead of hashing it out right then and there.
Also: the story ended in a somewhat unfinished way, which is fine since they intend to do a season 2, but it's quite annoying to see such an interesting show decide to leave itself in a cliffhanger.

Enjoyment: 8
Even with the story occasionally making some convoluting decisions about where to send its characters, it's never really a dull ride. Characters might be somewhat tedious at times, but they grow on you over time and the show's unpredictable nature makes it so no one has perfect plot-armor. This imperfect-plot armor makes it so each encounter at least provides some tension as to whether or not a character will make it out unscathed. The fights between different Kataphrakts are entertaining to watch, and provide well-timed breaks from inaction.

Overall: 7
I think I'd hold off on recommending this anime until the second season is underway. The show is certainly good enough to watch, but its uncertain ending makes it somewhat hard to recommend it in good conscience.

I was fishing around for anime to watch and this one was recommended to me in a rather off-hand manner. I didn't really pay much attention to it at first, but the characters and the animation really drew me in quickly.

The story follows a young boy named Renton who ends up falling for the mysterious girl named Eureka after she crashes a mecha called the Nirvash into his house (that's a relationship off to a good start if I've ever seen one). He then sets off on a journey with his childhood idols on the ship, Gekko-Go, because he conveniently has a special connection with ... the Nirvash.

The art style/animation is definitely one of the best things about this show. Mechas riding the wind on giant metal surfboards sounds rather silly to watch, but they spin and spiral around countless missiles fluidly and make the show's combat feel like a roller coaster of explosive awesomeness.


The characters are really where this show shines. Each of the characters (even the ones that don't seem immediately important) are well-rounded and have legitimate concerns about the world and their situation:

-Renton sets out on his adventure thinking he's going to go experience an amazing world. His happy delusions are quickly smashed to bits and he's forced to mature throughout the show's duration. His initial declaration of love for Eureka undergoes some evaluation as he has to really learn what it is to love someone. He's prone to occasional bouts of self-doubt or depression, but that's usually because of the fact that the world is still hell-bent on smashing his happy delusions.

-Eureka starts off as a rather stoic character, caring mainly about the Nirvash and a group of kids that she sort of adopted. Over time her backstory is explained and her character quickly becomes central to the plot. She has some of the best character development in the show (in my opinion).

-Holland, the leader of the Gekko-Go and Renton's childhood idol, ends up being a total jerk for some of the most justifiable reasons (like trying to keep everyone on the ship alive), but at times he seems to act like a petulant kid with less justifiable reasons.

Renton and Eureka are the main couple for the story, and it's fun to watch their relationship change throughout the show, especially when world-altering consequences begin appearing and you have to start wondering if they're even going to make it to the end.


The main thing I hold against this show is its pacing. Sometimes the pacing will slow down a bit to emphasize how the characters are feeling or to add some bits of information about the world. This expands the world and fleshes out the characters well, but it's rather boring to spend time watching a character eat bag after bag of potato chips because they're depressed when you'd rather be watching surfing mechas blow stuff up. Anyway, I'd definitely recommend this show to anyone who hasn't seen it.