Sword Art Online II

Introduction:
Sword Art Online II is the anticipated (or for others, unanticipated) anime sequel to the ever popular 1st series. Despite hopes being high for this series, it didn't quite deliver in some cases.

Story: 6
The "Gun Gale Online" arc, and the "Mothers Rosario" arc were as good as I would have expected, but sadly the (Ex)"Caliber" arc was reminiscent of the second part of the 1st season. In other words, bad and unneeded. This brings the story down to a 6, from 8.

Art: 9
Nothing much has changed in the art, but the 1st glimpse of the cyber-punk world of GGO left me in awe, and I ... truly wished that there were any amazing game worlds like that. Overall the are is still very good, and offers a lot of colour in the "fantasy" world

Characters: 8
Still the same band of characters, with exceptions to Shino and Yuuki, and I feel that both these characters have good depth, and development. The latter had a huge impact on me, as I also have a friend who suffers with the same condition (Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)).

Enjoyment: 8
If you rule out the horrific third arc in this story, this series was not bad, and in fact quite enjoyable. I did enjoy seeing the Log Cabin and Aincrad again, and the lovely world of GGO.

Last thoughts:
This could have been done better, but it was not bad at all. Thank you for reading and feel free to message me with your comments

I was not a big fun of the first SAO season. But it was good enough to make me watch the next season. So what can I say about it? Was SAO 2 true to the ''hype'' that all the fanboys were expecting? In my opinion it managed to be better from the first season in some parts while in some other it was exactly the same (and maybe worst? We'll see.)

Let's start with the story. It's divided into three arcs. Gungale online (GGO), Excalibur arc and Mother Rosario. The first arc was also the most interesting in my opinion not only from the ... other two story arcs of this season but from all the other arcs of the previous seasoncs also. It was really enjoyable and I would really pleased if the anime stopped right after when this arc ended . But of course if A1 Pictures made an SAO season with only 14 episodes it would have been burned down by the fanboys. Also another part that bugged me off a lot was the kinda rushed and unsatisfying ending of this arc. But with only this exception I can say that I enjoyed GGO very much. The second arc was really small (only three episodes) and boring, it didn't actually had any meaning. And the third arc, well the third arc was trying to hit the viewers right in the feels. It wasn't as boring as the Excalibur arc because it was trying to build up more Asuna's character and it closes with a bitter-sweet ending but still I personally have seen too many sad anime to be moved by an SAO arc. The problem that this season had though in comparison with the previews one was the fact that the drama scenes was really ridiculous. Exactly because now no one would die for real if he was killed off in the game the characters shouldn't have any worries at all. But still I don't know why but we see some characters taking this game like it's a matter of life and death.One strong example is at precisely episode 2 we see an adult loosing his temper and going nuts because he was loosing a fight!!! It seemed like the writers tried to put some of the at least excusable drama that the first season had into this one without making it though.

Let's move to the sound section. I literally hated the first opening and because I am a masochist I listened to it many times with the hope that it would at least grow into me but I ended up hating even more. But the second opening was good at it made up for it's horrible predecessor. The voice acting was really good and I have to give credit especially to Asuna's voice actor for her really good performance especially in the third part. The endings were really uninteresting for me but they weren't bad.

And now let's move to the character section. It seemed like the writers understood that the first season had the words character development completely out of it's dictionary and they decided to put at least in some of it in the first arc. And yeah they tried to manage the impossible. Make the completely overpowered Kirito show weakness. That happened too the first arc where he discovers that an enemy from the original SAO came into GGO to kill him. This would be interesting but it didn't manage to do anything in the end because Kirito remained the overpowered protagonist who gets ''unintentionally'' (?) all the girls at the end. so yeah the kinda well built character development that appears initially eventually dissapears bringing back the Kirito that everybody knew and loved (except from me it seems). BUT to be fair the new characters that appeared in this season were really interesting. Especially Sinnon was an interesting character with an interesting back story and Deathgun... well you can't hate this guy even though the anime ruined him in the end. The other thing I want to point out was the good character development that Asuna had in the mother Rosario arc. Yes this arc is completely about Asuna and how she deals with her problems not only in the virtual but also in the real world, because of the (overall uninteresting) character of Yuki a character that appeared in this arc.

And closing I have too say this for the SAO season 2. It was certainly more enjoyable than the first season because it was more character driven. It would be better if the last two arcs didn't exist at all but I know I can't ask for anything. I will give it a 7 because it understand it's mistakes and didn't try to repeat them on it's predecessor's scale. Should you watch it? Well if you liked SAO then you will probably like this it proved that it can make some good stories if it wants it badly. Of course this is only my opinion. Feedback and also your opinions will be gladly accepted. Thanks for reading.

Now, this season of Sword Art Online, I thoroughly enjoyed! Some stuff, yeah, okay, blah blah, we don't care. But... it was worth the watch!

Story: The story for this was very good to me, especially the first arc. The first arc, which was about a sixteen year old girl, who played a game called Gun Gale Online. One question, though? Why can she hold a gun in the game, but is terrified of them in real life? Well, that's not my story to tell, but I assure you, it's a good enough to make you shake your head in understanding.

Likes:This arc shows that even ... if you did something horrible a long time ago, it helps to move on and not be stuck in the past. Enjoy life in the present and not what's been left behind. It gave very good morals. Ones that could help in life.

The second arc was short, but very nice. Might make you cry in the end because it left me a little, not a lot, just a teeny bit sad. It shows that even if you knew a person for only a little while, you could come to care for them just as much as you care for your friends and family.

I really didn't have any problems with the story at all like I did in the last season. The main female protagonist had a step up and one of the arcs was about her, so you got to know her more and she wasn't the whiny girl we had come to know at the end of the first season.

Dislikes: There wasn't anything I really disliked about this season. Everything was fine.

Art: Like I said before, the art is decent. I've seen better and prettier art, but this season, the art did stand out a little. In a good way. :)

Sound: I enjoyed some of the music of this season. Especially the first opening which is called Ignite and is sung by Eir Aoi. You might not like it at first, but it grows on you until you start tapping your fingers on the desk and ending up knowing some of the lyrics.

Characters: The new characters had very good background stories and development. They were also likeable, too. Except for the batshit crazy ones, though... You'll know what I mean when you watch it. That is, if you watch it.

Enjoyment: I enjoyed it so much more than the last season!

My overall is, though..... An 8! Two points higher than what I gave the last season! It was enjoyable. Some of the stuff you could roll your eyes at, but nevertheless, I applaud this season. You have my approval, Sword Art Online II! ;)

TLDR: Tried too hard to be good

Story wise, SAO II improved upon SAO. There were three arcs in SAO II. GGO, Calibur, and Mother Rosario. GGO was my favorite out of these, being an unexpected change of pace from the fantasy setting. Introducing a fun, new world to explore was great; the only let down was a poor execution for the ending. 7.5/10 for GGO. The second arc was really shitty. We were set back into the usual world, but with new scenery. It felt just plain bad when compared to GGO and even the past seaason's poor arcs. 3/10. Mother Rosario was all the ... hype. Everyone that had read the light novels had said that it will be the saving grace of SAO. Turns out, it was just a bunch of sentimentality and a bad excuse at trying to be "deep". 7/10. Overall, SAO II's story was still more than mediocre, I'd even admit it was good.

The animation quality was improved; SAO has it's own edgy style that's nice for action sequences, but not so nice for stills and day-to-day life. The characters look decent, and the land's look quite good; however, SAO II has no amazing quality that you'd expect from newer anime. It still sticks to what it has going for it, and strongly at that. 8/10

The sound quality was quite good. Not much stood out to me except the intro songs that were pretty catchy; nevertheless, each scene had a fitting soundtrack that set the appropriate atmosphere. 8/10

The characters in the first arc that were introduced were Sinon, Death Gun, and his brother, whatever his name was (ASADA-SAN!ASADA-SAN!ASADA-SAN!ASADA-SAN!ASADA-SAN!, that guy). Sinon had plenty of development and backstory. She was a good character and became best girl (after Asune became too dere, not enough tsun). Death gun was an awesome villain, because we knew almost nothing about him and he had an otherworldy power of sorts that nobody else possessed. ASADA-SAN!ASADA-SAN! wasn't so good, really shitty at that. For Calibur, we got some shitty AI characters and that was all. For Mother Rosario, we got a realistic mother, and Konno Yuuki. Her friends don't matter, but Zekkan was an important character. However, the sentimentality there was obviously forced. Without spoilers, I didn't feel anything for her situation, and didn't like her as a character. The entire series (both seasons) our MC is the best. That's what made him Kirito. We've all accepted this a a truth, but all of a sudden this bitch walks in and one-ups MC. Asuna (his faithful lover) responds by taking Kirito's role as MC and ditching him and making him her bitch. All Kirito had to do was stand up and defend his pride as best character in the game, but no. Zekkan comes in and fucks everything up. 7/10 for characters. (also Asuna's mother was in the right, Asuna's a little bitch that can't accept reality. But really, I thought her mother was a good character)

Enjoyment- well I did enjoy this, but not as much as I initially enjoyed SAO I. GGO would be a 8/10 for me, Calibur a 2/10, MR a 5/10 (would be a six if Kirito stood up and smacked a bitch in that last episode). so 6/10 for enjoyment.

Overall, I'd rate this 7/10, as it's action packed and full of extremes (both good and bad). It is more entertaining than many other seven/ten's; nevertheless, it is heavily flawed, but enjoyable. The ending was ok, and I will be watching a third installment (because you know this shits gonna get one, with the stupid amount of popularity it gets).

This is gonna be my first review of like anything ever, so plz no judge if it happens to get a little bit...POOPY...*badum tss

When I first hopped onto the SAO train after the first season had already aired completely, I was hooked. The idea that you could jump into virtual reality and play an mmorpg (I happen to be part of the mmorpg hype) was astounding to me, and that both realities could blend in such a horrifying manner where dying in one meant dying for real drew me into the story even more. Looking at the overall ratings for both the original and its ... sequel, I can understand why SAO I was much higher, and even then it's not too much of a surprise given the overall trend that sequels of anything tend to get a bad rap.

Well without further ado, here are my thoughts. The first arc of the season was O.K. Not O.K. as in seal-of-approval-worthy, but O.K. as in...average. Although the concept was different in some respects, overall, it was just the same concept with a different costume on. The same theme of virtual reality in an mmorpg was continued (I can't say I didn't ENJOY that decision though) but, combined with the reuse of the concept that death can occur while playing a game in virtual reality, the story simply got a little stale.

The second arc is where I see most of the problem with this anime. Honestly, ending it right there in the middle of the season before the filler summary "half-episode" might even have been better. Long story short, it lost direction. I was confused after the first episode of the new arc aired, and proceeded to get more and more confused as more episodes came out as nothing more than what seemed like filler. (*SMALL SPOILER HERE*) Like cool, he gets a new sword. Big deal. Now what?

My "now what?" was never answered. The story finally decided to go in at least some direction after a few episodes, but the sudden shift (again) confused me even more and left me thinking that it might just be another short filler coming up. This new part did go to the end of the series though, which I guess would have been better than if the whole thing was just a series of mini-arcs with no overall direction whatsoever. And so, the story gets a 5 from me. This is the main issue which you all should consider before continuing your SAO journey, and even if you do decide to, consider ending it halfway through or skipping the fluffy filler at the beginning of the second arc, unless you're as dedicated as me. Now for the other stuff.

Art: The art astounded me as it did in the first one, with characters and costumes and scenery and animations as fluent and beautiful as ever. Solid 9 here, not a 10 because there really wasn't anything TOO special or unique.

Sound: Good, again nothing too special, although the OP and ED songs were catchy and fit the theme well.

Character: I think an integral part of the SAO series lies within its characters. The character development is not so fabulous as to bring me to tears, but it works and it works well, and I do like how the characters were brought back and were consistent, unlike certain other animes with some undue personality changes. HOWEVER, I do not like how certain characters are basically completely left out in both arcs of the series--Asuna and the others in the GGO arc, and the new character Shinon in the second arc. A very weak attempt to keep Shinon in in the second arc was made, which made it even worse as her character basically completely vanished and she had like one line in the last episode. HOWEVER HOWEVER, I absolutely loved the character of Yuuki, a new character who is the center of the season's second arc (disregarding the first couple of fillers). Hope and friendship amidst inevitable tragedy and despair really touched me in many different ways. If there's any reason to watch the second arc it's to watch it for Yuuki.

Enjoyment: I enjoyed GGO and would probably rate my enjoyment of that arc an 8 or a 9, but I didn't exactly enjoy the second arc for the reasons mentioned about the story. Overall, a 7.

I think that quantitatively I may have even been a little generous in some respects, and I feel as if character can be love-it-or-you-don't and can be argued both ways. But overall, I would recommend anyone who watched SAO and loved the series and the overall theme and concept to continue on the journey and perhaps consider not going past the first arc. Thanks for reading!

Here is my review of Sword Art Online II
Abstract: After having reviewed the first set I could not review this one.

We start from the plot:
The plot is similar to the first setting in the sense that occurs in games augmented reality Full-Dive and in particular in two games: GGO and New ALO that also includes New Aincrad.
I will not dwell too much about the plot to avoid spoilers.

Attention from here may be spoilers.

... Characters:
I state that I will speak only of the new because I think it is impossible not to know Kirito and Asuna if it has come to see Sword Art Online II. So:
- Sinon: a girl like that character is really interesting both as history and as a skill as it is a great sniper skills even defined infallible. As for the character as a character is very particular, we start from the fact that from small had a trauma that leads to psychological problems also in time in which there is the series that is many years forward to the time of the incident, that the will also have a desire to find the true strength that she sees in Kirito after a fight he has with him but we do not go into detail to allow even those who have not seen the series to read this review.
- Yuuki: a girl who has a serious health problem that is the basis of the narrative arc Mother's Rosary but even here we remain vague to allow anyone to read the review. It' s'a very strong sword fighter and will have a very strong bond with a particular character in the series.
Considerations of characters:
- Kirito: design of Kirito of GGO I loved it as very innovative and I was also impressed by his use of the sword, which shown in a series of stunning animations gives indescribable sensations! As for its design in New ALO is fantastic, much to compete with that of Aincrad, I personally do not know between the two to choose! The new swords are truly magnificent, the Holy Sword Excalibur particularly impressed me but the Long Sword is epic!
- Asuna: i prefer her with orange hair in ALO But even with blue hair is very comfortable and the rapier very nice and especially also his being "Healer" is innovative and I like it, it adapts to his new side of the character we are shown in this second series, very different from that his strong side that shines in the first series!
- Sinon: look good, I liked it a lot as a female character and its contrasting character in real and in GGO makes it adorable. His skills have impressed me and it's really nice to see a sniper in souls mostly done so well as a character and a story very interesting.
- Yuuki: I did not like as much character but even I was disappointed, his story is very moving and tears a few tears, for those most sensitive to prepare. Moreover, its presence is things that are also connected to reality, you will understand seeing, and which are shown in a very beautiful and meaningful.

Consideration on arcs:
GGO:
My favorite in this series, very different from the usual with a psychological side beautiful, intriguing and painstakingly detailed with a twist that you never expect, and other small twists! The speeches are significant and interesting, do not ever get bored. The fighting shows especially Kirito Vs Death Gun, and a portion in particular makes me shudder and stunned! Definitely fantastic. The resolution is very significant and at times very moving moving!

Caliber:
Only three episodes, I was skeptical but I was very impressed especially the fighting and new skills Kirito, explained well and intriguing addition to some revenue in scene Asuna and Sinon and the beats of Klein with his behavior always unpredictable! A dose of laughter mixed with fighting beautiful and epic legends evoked in the form of souls. Very nice! Also the beautiful "Holy Sword Excalibur"
Mother's Rosary:
Very different from all the story arcs ever presented by SAO and very moving, focused on Asuna Yuuki and often leaves the sadness in my heart but leaves a beautiful memory and above all so much emotion in addition to talk about subjects that just are treated, argued with a feel incredibly suitable to keep it from weighing too much while telling things as they really are! Beautiful and moving, if you have the tear easily as I prepared handkerchiefs!

Conclusions:
Sequel beautiful, loved by many and very special, with character design and much improved graphics more than excellent!
Keeps you glued to the screen and makes you want more and new episodes and never disappoints expectations!
Final rating:
I was torn between 9:10 as it was a 9.5 but graphically made me point to 10.
So the final grade 10 and and recommended to all.

Well I was scrolling through the reviews here and noticed that most people didn't have a lot of positive things to say about the second installment. Because of this, and the fact I just finished it today compelled me to write a review about it as well, maybe giving a contrasting opinion to a lot of the others.

Story: 10
There are three distinct arcs in Sword Art Online II. Without going into too much detail, the first one was good I enjoyed it about as much as the Aincard saga in the first season. The second arc was more filler than anything else but it ... was still okay. The third arc, that was the one that really got me. It was by far my favorite section of the entire Sword Art Online story so far. It gave the character that had been done the most injustice throughout the series a true chance to shine instead of being overshadowed by Kirito.

Art: 9
I don't really have much to say about the art, it's about the same as it was throughout the story. I did enjoy the combat scenes in the first arc.

Sound: 10
Season 2 kept up SAO's tradition of having great intro and outro music.

Character: 10
I really enjoyed the character development that happened throughout this season. Not only that but the new characters they introduced were great, especially in the final of the three arcs.

Enjoyment: 10
In case you haven't noticed it in the previous sections, I really enjoyed this season. It was exactly what the series needed after Alfheim online, which I found a bit disappointing.

In conclusion I hope I'll have helped at least a few people check out this story. It was one I really enjoyed, especially the final arc.

So this is my first review on this site, so be gentle on the rating lol.

ok so,
I was pretty disappointed with the second season of SAO. The GGO idea was ok, but like some of you [I'm sure I'm not the only one] feel like SAO should have ended at season 1. I'm a romance anime kind of guy so I try to pay attention more the the characters then the plot, but all the same I've got a few problems with SAO2's plot&characters.

Sinoon
I didn't like her from the start. She's your typical gun girl holding that giant piece of hardware and wielding it ... like she's the bad ass they would have you believe she is. She isn't. She's just some girl who Kirito bumps into in GGO, and happens to have PTSD after a run in with some random who was holding up a post office. You heard right, a post office. It's these types of cliche's that made SAO2 unattractive to me in the first place. She's there as eye candy for the first half of the season then fades into the mist of Kirito's harem.

Kirito
The man we all know and love. Not this season ladies. He was very underwhelming unlike in season 1. He felt weaker and less like a hero. Despite all the logical flaws in sending a kid in to do the governments dirty work, and magically develops PTSD. He manages to overcome his PTSD, and defeats the bad guy with little to no plot at all. So what? He beat some mini game that supposedly is impossible for everyone else. He buys a light saber [sword] and continues to be a sword user even though he's playing a game that involves the use of guns. Makes sense right? The writers didn't seem to care enough to give much plot to the bad guy other then to kill kill kill! Whats worse off though, Kirito beats this guy in the biggest tournament in the game. Tell me how Kirito manages to get into a tourny this big without any kind of prerequisite other then having played the game for 5 minutes, and manages to stay alive long enough to beat him in a match with the biggest gun slingers on GGO? I think the writers got lazy and just wanted to make a quick buck riding off the fame of the first season. The second part is about a small quest to find the legendary weapon Excalibur. I can accept this little story somewhat, but there was almost no plot to it. they had 2 hours to complete some story that should have taken WAY more episodes to develop plot to. Then Kirito manages to fade into the mist as the baton was passed to Asuna.

Death Gun
Very under rated bad guy. He literally was just some nut they could have picked up off the street given some nerve gear and was told to start killing peeps. That's how little this bad guy meant to this part of the story. So ask yourselves why did they spend half the season with this guy when he had little to do with it. Other then Death Gun himself, you find out his little brother was that creepy kid who was close friends with Sinoon. Oh but the way they reveal that was soo origional. Hey, I heard you won so I came over to celebrate. SURPRISE RAPE! Bam, we find out he was one of the guys and then they get caught and it's all over. What the hell was the point of this entire season am I right?

Asuna
Not much to say other then I'm glad she was given a little more air-time with her personal life. I kind of wish Kirito would have been more relevant to her problems [makes for a more cute romance], but we can't always have what we want now can we?

The girl I forgot the name of and you will too
Yes, I literally just finished watching this season not even 5 minutes ago, and I already forgot her name. That's how little she meant to this season. Why do writers add characters who last for no more then 5 episodes then kill them off? I'll tell you why. It's because they either realized they screwed up big time with this or they figured they had your money by this point so who cares [or they are really stupid]. I honestly can't say much about this character other then she was random and stronger than Kirito. WHAT? FOR REALSIES? Unfortunately that was the case. I hate when an anime has some random character show up then kill them off like it was nothing. I hate it even more when this character plays a significant role of some kind. Seriously though, all I remember is that she was stronger then Kirito, then died. The relevance is astounding.

The Harem
Little relevance to the story other then introducing the last arc to the season by mentioning the super powered player that no one say coming then all of a sudden cared that they died. Still wants Kirito's babies, Klein is the guy who can't catch a break with girls [insert typical lonely loser jokes].

Story 1/10
Nothing good can be said about the story. I've already read the majority of comments. So I'm not alone in this one. I don't agree with all the hate on SAO season 1, but I will say this much. I had heard that there was a choice to either make SAO season 2, or Accel World season 2. They chose the wrong one. I remember telling myself season 2 of SAO won't be very good, and I wasn't wrong. I'm just glad that season 2 of Accel World might still happen.

Art 9/10
Just because the story sucked doesn't mean it's not SAO. The origional art was beautiful, and SAO season 2 is no different. I fell in love with how beautiful the art was. How visually stunning the fights/background/etc. was.

Sound 8/10
Some new songs, but the same old fight sound track as before. I was hoping for a new more epic "fighting sequence" song, but that doesn't mean the old one was bad. I was okay with it, but like I said: could have been a new more epic song.

Characters 3/10
Little is to be said about the new characters. Literally little to be said. The one that stuck around become another harem candidate, while the other died before falling into the same role. No real development for the new character's other then learning that Kirito had another hidden run in with the laughing coughin guild, and magicly has PTSD out of nowhere from it.

Enjoyment 2/10
It's another SAO. That's pretty much it. Nothing else really. If I enjoyed anything, it would be the art and sound. So 2 out of everything else.

Overall 2/10
SAO vs. SAO2
I won't deny it. I loved SAO. SAO 2 ruined that for me. I think less of SAO now because of SAO 2. It's like that nice candy you liked until you ate too much of it and got sick. Now you can't eat it anymore without remembering that you got sick from it. Let's face it. SAO2 flopped, and HARD. There was one tolerable arc and it didn't even last more then what? 2 episodes maybe? The quest for Excalibur, and it wasn't even that good with how little plot it received. I wish Asuna and Kirigaya's relationship got a little deeper, infact at the end of all that crap I found myself hoping that he would maybe propose to her to indirectly save her from her mothers tyrannical betroths, but I was sorely disappointed.

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who was a hardcore fan of season 1, but I'm not an expert anime critic. I'm just some dude who likes what I like. If you liked SAO2 then good for you. I'm glad you liked it, but I for one am dreading a season 3, if they are stupid enough to make a season 3 that is.

In the year 2012, before Kill la Kill or Attack on Titan were even a thing, the world was taken by storm by a different anime. An anime that became so incredibly well-known, that the entire anime community was divided into two parties, each waging war on each other, disproving whether this show was even to be considered "good". That anime was Sword Art Online. And so, in the year 2013, A-1 decided to create another season of this show, furthering the story that many people think is utter shit.

Story (7.75/10): The story of SAO II continues off from where we ... were from the fairy dance arc. Employed by a government agency, Kazuto Kirigaya, aka Kirito, is sent to a new virtual reality massive multiplayer online role playing game, or VRMMORPG in order to solve the mystery of these murders within the game.

The story this time in SAO II's 24 episode run time is split into three arcs rather than two in the previous season, with each arc getting varying amount of screentime, each one getting a different amount than the other. Continuing on from the story, SAO II goes further into the light novels and tells the story in the Phantom Bullet Arc, the Caliber arc, and finally, Mother's Rosario. I was a bit apprehensive as to whether doing three arcs would be beneficial to the series due to how much story they had to tell, but honestly, I was pleasantly surprised with the results.

What I personally think about SAO II's story is simply this. It's a huge step up from what we saw in SAO, its first season. Yes, the stories that they convey aren't perfect, and some of the surprises/mysteries that you're given are quite predictable and easy to figure out, but when you compare what this season used its runtime for to the previous season, there is definitely a big gap in quality, a good gap. For one thing, the story through basically the entire series is actual legitimate plot. Big shocker, I know. The series progresses through two VRMMORPG's and has the characters that we know already interact with newcomers to the series.

As a quick overview of the series with the Phantom Bullet and Mother's Rosario arc being the main arcs for this season, we have both Kazuto and Asuna, the main two characters in this series, come to terms with their both their lives and mistakes as they journey with the new companions that they meet. Personally, I found this way of storytelling incredibly beneficial, as the show creates a decent amount of character background for these two characters, making them feel a little bit more like characters rather than the Overpowered hero and the generic Tsundere.

As for flaws with this season of SAO, there were a few that were quite obvious to note. The first being the Caliber arc placed right in between the two more important ones in this season. The caliber arc sort of is what many people didn't like about the first season, side stories. The caliber arc is essentially a side story in every sense of the word and honestly could've been scrapped to begin with, or maybe set as a trio of OVA's, since it took away screen time that could've been used for something better.

Another thing that the series fumbled on was introducing some character background, particularly in the Phantom Bullet arc. When SAO II introduced character background, the show told basically the entire backstory beginning to end. It didn't build up any real drama to what would be considered as the important backstory because they spilled everything out there without word or warning.

In the end though, SAO II did a good job with fixing the the SAO series in several degrees. It tied in things from the original SAO into its story, giving it relevance and significance. In addition, the show did provide plots and character stories that had meaningful impact rather than whatever happened last season. Overall, the story of SAO II may not be perfect, but it was a drastic improvement from the first season, no doubt. Still kinda pissed on that abrupt ending at the end. Kinda killed the mood.

Overview:
+ Great stories
+ Decent pacing (little rushed in some areas)
+ Meaningful character stories
- Unneeded middle arc
- Mother's Rosario needed a little bit more time.
- That weird ending

Characters (7.55/10): In the last SAO, you could sum up the characters of this show in one word, platonic. There was really nothing significant about them at the time because there really wasn't much to talk about, seeing as how they were all one-note. (Not to mention the forced romance) Thankfully, this season did do its character justice by not only improving on their old ones, but giving us some new ones that are honestly, quite cool.

Up first is our overpowered protagonist, Kazuto Kirigaya, aka Kirito. Transitioning into this season, Kirito is in a sense, basically the exact same character as he was last season. When entering the game known as GGO, or Gun Gale Online, Kirito displays his insane skills at playing videogames, and proceeds to whoop anyone's ass even though he's never fired a gun. It's boring to see this particularly because he did this MANY TIMES last season, and it was kind of a big facepalm moment to see when that actually happened. That being said though, the show gives us Kirito in a different light, as we see him try and come to terms with what he did back in the two year death game that was SAO. This development does feel a bit forced and completely out of nowhere when telling it, but it does give him something more about him, and some traits which does some improvement onto his character.

Then we have Asuna Yuuki, our "main" female protagonist in this series. From what we saw last season, we have a basic tsundere. From this season, we see Asuna herself. With her main arc being the mother's rosario arc, we can see her growth as a person when she comes to terms with her life and the troubles she has with her mother. We can see what kind of person she actually is and how she tries to fight to have her own life. Similar to Kirito, the problems that she's given does feel a little bit forced, as the entire backstory for the character's problems do come abrupt and are just given to you all at once. It's not wrong for the series to do this, it just feels a bit forced is all.

Apart from these two, we have two new characters that get the main character roles. Those two being Sinon and Yuuki, with their stories and development being told in the Phantom Bullet, and Mother's Rosario arc perspectively. Now, without these two characters, this show would be nothing. Literally, without these two characters, this show wouldn't have deserved the praise that I've given it. Reason being is the fact that they both create character development for themselves as well as give development to the already existing main characters. As for their individual characters and stories, there really leaves little to be desired. They each fit perfectly with what arc they are placed in, and they do fit perfectly alongside the already existing characters. That being said though, I personally would've liked to see Yuuki a little bit more, seeing as how her arc is supposedly more impactful and her thing got less time than Sinon's arc.

For supporting cast, the show sports the characters that we've all seen before in previous seasons. Those characters being characters we've seen in both SAO and the Fairy dance arc involving Suguha, Silica, Liz, Agil, Klein, and a couple others that make cameos at the end. There really isn't much to say about them, other than the fact that you get to see these characters a bit more. There isn't any development to them, and they just serve as characters we've seen before above all else.

Overview:
+ Good improvements on main characters
+ Great new additions
+/- Supporting cast plays little to no role
- Backstories feel forced
- Some characters didn't get the full development they needed

Art and Sound (8.08/10 and 8.88/10): Now, if there's anything that SAO is really known for, it is its aesthetics in art and sound.

For art, A-1 takes the reins again and produces once again, the very stunning and beautiful visuals that SAO is known for, giving the new world of GGO a very grungy and smoggy setting that makes that world much more different and interesting. In addition, the series does go back to the world of ALO and SAO as well, giving us new perspectives and world areas that we as the audience have not seen before.

In addition, the series does boast some beautiful character designs that are both stunningly detailed, and well-made, with action scenes involving these characters being as fluid and well-done as all hell. (I mean seriously, dat 11 hit combo though.) However, one slight flaw that bothers me about these series is the fact that the quality of the series seems to have dipped slightly; it doesn't seem as great as before. In addition, these season didn't have any particularly memorable moments that I could think of which made the animation really standout. Don't get me wrong, the animation for this series is well above many others, it's just that in general, the series just wasn't as good as it could've been.

As for soundtrack. Well, there's nothing else to say aside from how freaking memorable it is. Like last season, SAO II gives us two sets of openings and endings, each with their own separate tone and flair to make them unique. With GGO, we have Ignite and Startear as its opening and ending, which are honest to god, some very memorable tracks. Ignite, giving off a very harsh, agonizing, and battle-like tone with Startear to compliment it by giving a depressing and hopeful sound makes this duo a good combo. For the second half, the show sports its opening Courage, another song that gives a depressing and hopeful tone, making it what I would consider to be on par with its opening counterpart, Ignite. That being said though, the endings for the second half didn't seem to be as memorable as I would've liked them to be. I didn't find myself wanting to listen to them time and time again like I do with all the other SAO tracks, but they were still good tracks nonetheless, even if not as memorable.

What I like about SAO as well, if how the series doesn't just put effort into its opening and ending songs, but its mood fillers all around. Several of the tracks from the original series makes it way back into SAO II such as the casual flute theme, and above all, the battle music. Swordland (aka, the coffee, soda, coffee, pasta song), makes its proud return as well as being the main battle theme for Kirito, giving a great and empowering song to listen to while he pwns noobs. In addition, the show boasts a new battle theme called Aerial Fight, making it the battle theme for Asuna as well as a great and very memorable track.

Overview:
+ Great aesthetics
+ Fantastic soundtrack
- No standout art
- Art quality seemed to have dipped slightly.

Personal Enjoyment (8.88/10): SAO has always been a bit of a back and forth for me. On one hand, I love the series because of how beautiful it looks and how ear-gasm worthy the soundtrack is. On the other, I was impartial on both its characters and how the story played out, so I was a bit worried about how this would turn out. And honestly, I was quite surprised for the turnout.

Did I like this series?

The simple answer is yes. It was a good recovery from the mess that was the fairy dance arc and definitely improved the series in a positive sense. I thoroughly enjoyed the series, as it made its characters a bit more than just plot devices with bodies, as well as made me shed a few tears in the mother's rosario arc. In addition, the show also had a central theme of virtual reality vs. actual reality, which made the show a bit more thematic than just a bunch of people clashing swords in a game. Plus, Kirito gets a lightsaber. A freaking lightsaber. It even makes the lightsaber noises. Why is that a thing?!

What didn't I like about this series?

For one thing, the series did rush a little bit in terms of story progression. Some of the more important things in this series honestly didn't feel as significant on account of the fact that the show really didn't build enough tension in order to make the full reveal. In addition, the show was a bit predictable at times, as the mystery of GGO was a relatively easy find as to who the culprit was. Finally, we didn't get to see as much Yuuki as I wanted to. She was a character that had quite a lot of significance to this series in general, and I was a bit sad as to how she only got like 8 episodes about her. Not to mention her arc felt slightly rushed.

Would I recommend this series?

If you watched SAO at all, then watch this. Even if you hated SAO, I would still recommend this because this really was a good step up for this series. While not perfect, the show did try and fix the mistakes it made in the first season, many of which came in a good success. It provided character development to both old and new characters of the series, and was quite an enjoyable experience to watch.

Overall Score: 7.89/10

Author's Note: Just because my avatar is Kirito, it is in no way shape or form mean that I am an SAO fanboy. It's just a nice piece of art that I found, and really liked. (Also, fucking AIDS. T^T)

The sequel to the beloved Sword Art Online animated franchise which seemed to be a hit to many within the anime community may find that this particular continuation may not offer many of the same elements that the original was fond of. SAO II offers only the new and can come as the biggest disappointment for those that are just looking for a continuation of the last season, however if you are willing to understand that life goes on, or just be accepting of new development than this may be the show for you. Anyways this is my review.

Story: 5/10

Let's be honest, anyone ... who has seen this show can find out pretty quickly that very little story development takes place relative to the original SAO. For the first major arc of SAOII we get small continuations from the first season but as it would appear that the main focus of the devs was to provide story development for new characters rather than the story overall. These characters would include the highly anticipated Sinon that appeared in the trailer and another by the name of Yuuki. As I will get into during the character paragraph the new characters that do provide development both character-wise and story-wise is rather limited.

Art: 8/10

The art of the SAO sequel is very similar to that of the first and no stunning visual improvements were noticeable. That being said the art for the first SAO was pretty good if not above average at the very least. OP and ED animations are also greatly notable. It does a good job of creating pleasing background images and character art, I only wish some of the 3D animation integrated was done more smoothly.

Sound: 8/10

Steel on Steel, in sync voice acting, and great soundtrack. For a title such as this it would be hard for A-1 not to have decent music and sound effects and as a result many OPs and EDs were shown throughout the duration of the anime. This can keep you interested for the most part and very little qualms were met here. An astonishing double Bass and piano was also very pleasing to the ears during each emotional sequence that the show had to offer.

Character: 6/10

Like the story, the old characters were largely overlooked in development with Asuna being the exception. This was much needed since it was mainly her relationship with Kirito that is stressed rather than her personally life as a whole. Character development in SAO II wasn't bad at all, but if you're expecting the characters you are familiar with to be expanded then you will be disappointed.

Enjoyment: 7/10

I liked to an extent, really not much comments I have about it personally. Ask me if you want more details on how I personally felt.

Sadly, as many others have already said, I wonder ... how great it would have been if the entire series relied on the relationship between Kirito and Sinon rather than the always lovely couple KiritoXAsuna? An anime that started so promising only to disappoint so hard is a rarity among rarities. Well, lets get down to business.
Story - 6 The first part had its flaws ( I mean the first 14 episodes), like how Kirito was given an avatar that looks way to much like a woman. Until then the always frail Kirito was acceptable, but now its to much of a stretch. Still, the ... plot was interesting and it made me anxious about how its going to end. I have read previously the light novel, so I knew the plot, but I was interested in how the animation will make it better. And yes, it was better. The gun fights were awesome, the stressed Kirito was a refreshing add to the boring love story. Don't get me wrong, I really like love stories, but only if it does not damage the mood. This love story had a huge impact on the dramatic mood, way to big in my opinion. The antagonist was also a great pick because of his connections with both protagonists. The end was acceptable. If it had ended here, I would have been so happy. But well my biggest fear was that they would actually include the filler volume from the light novel in the rest of the anime, Mothers Rosario, instead of the next arc. Well, as we already know, it has happened. After the first episode, I already felt like a stepped in some deja vu. It felt like instead of taking a step further with the story we were forced to go back. Instead of seeing something new, we go back to Aincrad. I won't go in details, if you have seen SAO first season, believe me, it's mostly the same. One change is that at some point Asuna is the protagonist.
Art - 9, I never had something to complain when I watched SAO. The level of details was high and the movements were awesome, especially in some fights. The only draw back is how most of the characters seem like they jumped from a shoujo manga in a world of action.
Sound - 9, SAO had always good tracks, especially the opening and the ending which were outstanding. The action themes were also well synchronized making the battles more exciting. There are a few flaws like how they are sometimes using a super dramatic song on a scene where they are just talking, but well, a small mistake.
Character - 7, Sinon was a great character. Her past had a strong connection with the present and the trauma that came from it made her sometimes lose her ability to function as a normal human being. The drama that this setting induced was awesome. Kirito was also presented as a veteran of SAO. Because of this we are given some answers about his feelings now that everything ended. What he truly feels. The antagonists weren't anything special, what impressed what was their style of fighting and also their obsession with killing. The rest .. well, sadly, the disappointment as always comes from the second part. The huge coincidence that led to a fateful meeting between Asuna and some "old" players only to create drama was one of the most annoying things ever. It felt like there were tons of Asuna clones everywhere.
Enjoyment: 7 Half of it was great, it was something that I waited every week only to see how the story evolved and the action scenes of the dual user in the gun world. Half of it was .. well, more or less, crap.
Overall: 7, I can't say that I won't recommend this anime. Some may enjoy bot parts which would make this anime complete, while others would agree with me that only the first part was great. Watch it if you have not done it yet and try to enjoy it as hard as possible.

I'll be honest here. When SAO first premiered its anime adaption, I was still a wide-eyed novice entering the Japanese side of television . As a result, watching SAO, my second anime, made be latched onto anime from then onward. In that sense, SAO is a huge success, as it has for several years successfully captivated audiences, all who may find aspects of it to be very appealing.

Now let's cut to the chase, and talk about the second season- Sword Art Online II. Is it a hit, or a miss? Improvement, or a decline? From my own observations, and my own input, here is what ... I offer. I gladly will accept that others hate this anime, and other absolutely cannot let go of it out of love, but I'm here to ask for a bit of your time regarding what I have found in this anime.

Story: 7.1
Sword Art Online II has a solid, if not great story, much like its predecessor. The series covers three stories: Gun Gale Online arc, Caliber Arc, and Mother's Rosario Arc. Gun Gale Online, the longest of the arcs, actually does a solid job of development, as the characters are slowly inserted into the story and allowed to breathe and grow before making any action, unlike the first season. The weakness' of Kawahara are still apparent, as there are instances of sudden character deductions and effects, causing for stilted changes in the story, but they are handled much better than in the first season. Caliber arc, is unfortunately the weakest. Bringing together both original SAO and ALO characters, and bring a GGO character, could have allowed for a great story to play out, where each person could alter and make significant effects on the mission on hand. Instead, an overblown quest has awkward pauses, overextended dialogue, and very overbearing and serious characters, even though they no longer are in a death game. Though it was a very short side story, I expected much more considering its popularity on the internet. The strongest arc is Mother's Rosario. By removing the super-powered Kirito, Asuna is thrust into the role, and has an amazing arc for herself. The setting of ALO is finally redeemed, as it truly shows how a VRMMO should have been, where fun and games occurred unlike any other. The seriousness of the story begins halfway through the arc, where the other female lead, Yuuki, has her true form exposed, and reasons for wanting to win with her friends so seriously. This is where this arc shines. By packing emotional moments with Asuna's character development, as well as putting the seriousness of SAO into situations other than death-games, Mother's Rosario, a single light-novel, finally shows Kawahara blossom as a writer, which fortunately continues in his writing for the Alicization Arc. The only weakness, ever so small, was Kirito's touch for knowing everything was still evident, but since he was out of the view, it didn't harm the story.

Art and Sound: 9.5
A-1 Pictures has done a really excellent job in the series, as it had done with the last. The animation, while very fluid and awe- inspiring at times, was also able to pack the grittier, dirties and more "realistic" fighting in the Gun Gale Arc. The music themes also fit well with the show, which, as far as I can tell, is often considered along with the art to be best, if not only, aspect of the series. There is little to be said for the other arcs because they occur in ALO, which itself was done well in the first season, but props to A-1 for maintaining the quality.

Character: 6.7
Ah, characters. What a mixed bag, and perhaps the reason why SAO is considered to be terrible to many people. While I do not believe that to be the case, I do admit the series has a huge fault when it comes to them. Fortunately, in this season, the characters have all improved, for the most part. Kirito and Asuna both undergo adaption to the real world after the SAO incident, and both have a fair amount of growth. The difference is Kirito's seems more forced. He faces PTSD at the most random moments in GGO, and none in the later arcs, which I believe should have occurred in the ALO arc to even out the meh half-season it aired. Asuna, on the other hand, reveals her social and political tensions, and how VR has caused her to long for the separation from such worlds, which at one point captured her, but now is her only means of escape and resistance. In ALO and up to Mother's Rosario, Asuna loses her heroic stature and power, and becomes a damsel in distress, before ultimately becoming an at-times whiny, lovey dopey girl. This is all fixed in Mother's Rosario, where her interactions with Yuuki and the Sleeping Knights successfully shows her character change and evolution. Sinon, the GGO lead female, faces PTSD like Kirito, but instead because of a real-world incident at an early age. For her, GGO is where a stronger persona has emerged, and she hopes to become stronger in real life through GGO. Though she breaks down in front of Kirito, her character as a whole was the second most developed behind Asuna's this season. Sadly, Leafa, Klein, Agil, Silica and Lisbeth are all virtually ignored, even in the Caliber story arc, allowing for no development of proof of the strong friendship they all had with each other.

Enjoyment: 9.2
While not a 9.5 like the first SAO season, which shocked many , like me, and instantly became a hit phenomenon, SAO II was and is (especially in Mother's Rosario) a fun show to watch. Regardless of how I felt about the show at times, especially during the weak scenes of writing, I was drawn to the concepts, the basic plot, ideas, VR worlds. and near-future world that were successfully shown in this season. Seeing as how Mother's Rosario is where Kawahara writing really begins to shine, the only way I feel this season could be improved is if he continues his SAO: Progressive light novels and further strengthens the stories, continuing all the way up to Alicization( which is very, very long), and, if the money and success continues, allow for a reboot of the series in vein of the Progressive series. It is my firm belief that it would fix many of my disappointments and make SAO a tolerable series to many in the future. But until then, I am very satisfied by SAO II.

Overall: 8.3
SAO II made strides in its second season, and though it failed to hit some key changes, it did position itself as a very strong sequel to the exciting, yet controversial first season. If more seasons are produced, I expect that SAO will be regarded more highly, but until fixes are made and stories are expanded, SAO II as it is now firmly stands as a very good, flawed, but high enjoyable anime. Thanks for reading all of this, if you did, and have fun with anime!

Quick review/not well thought out.

I think the GGO arc was a bit childish (in the anime ofc) Sometimes i couldn't take it seriously at all, even more when (SPOILER) Kirito was a trap, i mean come on thats just a dumb idea that almost all the animes nowadays are doing. (Most of the people who watch a lot of anime and know there stuff would understand this)
SAO 2 was a let down, the 2nd arc was alright and nice to watch, but the mother rosario act wasn't that great as everyone said it was, i kinda stopped caring for the plot halfway in and ... then just didn't care for the ending really. Like most animes this year, this was a let down

A lot of people watch this after season 1, but they find they can't really get into it that much. It's not that exciting. Let me tell you why I think that is.

I think the main problem with SAO is the source material. If it weren't for the terrible writing they had to base the show on this anime could have really shone. Production values are excellent, both sound and visuals are very good, the voice actors gave it their all, and there was a lot of potential in the premise and the characters. People say the second season is the weaker of the two. ... It's obvious why that is the case: the second season relies on the story a lot more than season 1. SAO was about pure badass awesomeness and heaps of cool fight scenes, not to mention Asuna's oh-so-desirable er.. cooking skills. Season 2 is more about the relationships between people, less about badass awesomeness, and since the source material is so infantile it fails to capture any depth in the drama. The story feels like its trying so hard to manipulate you into caring about the characters that in the end it fails simply because it pushed too hard.

For me the highlight of season 2 is Shino's Japanese voice. I thought her performance was outstanding, especially during the duel and the cave scene. The dialogue may have been clunky and cringe-worthy, but she did it all the justice a lady could do.

The rest of the season is a dull grey blur to me. The badass awesome action comes back occasionally, but the fact that this is all that helps drag the viewer back is a pretty severe indictment. If you want that just watch season 1.

At first I was impressed by the treatment of PTSD and the portrayal of how Kirito helps Shinon deal with it, but after a while a few questions started to pop up in my mind. Why does Kirito bond so quickly with this chick he has met only a day ago? How does he know what to say when he hasn't properly dealt with his own trauma? How is it Shinon has no support network after what happened? Why does Death Gun want to kill her? Why does she so quickly forgive Kirito for leading her on? Normally you could forgive them for skipping over those issues but since the whole point of the GGO arc is about PTSD and relationships they really need to explain it. They could have done away with all the shots of Shinon's crotch to make time for a proper story, heck they could have tossed the rest of the ALO nonsense, but the fact that they didn't says they don't care that much about the story or their audience.

I honestly don't understand the hate for SAO 2. I'll admit that I was a little disappointed in the first story arc simply because Kirito was really the only big character from SAO 1 with side appearances from Asuna and the gang, but I really did enjoy the Mother Rosario arc. For me, SAO has become about the characters that we grew attached to in SAO 1 and continuing their story. If you're looking for another "play or die" deal, it's not here and honestly if it were done again people would complain about that too. However, if you're looking to see what happens to ... our heroes after SAO 1 then give it a try.

Warning this review may contain spoilers.

First impressions, so let's get back into my favorite train wreck anime
And see what's that hook this time.
What mystery and guns hmm this sounds interesting.

Also quick side note this review was made with the help of a few ideas that a Skype friend named zeph brought up.

Story, 4/10
...
Side note I am going to brake the story parts into arcs so i am going to talk about the story in detail arc by arc.

first arc which I call the
(The death gun menace)
So one year after the kirito Escaped and freed the people
from the death game of Aincrad and the defeat of darth rape fairy.
Kirito and his girlfriend Asuna Decide in Taking some much needed
down time after There PTSD
inducing adventure.
But while that is happening
a new evil is starting to take root that
threatens the balance of his
Harem and video gaming life.

So Kirito is then called into action By the high gaming council.
Who order for him
To investigate a string Of mysterious deaths
On a new game
Knowing as gun gale online.
That seems to be
Cause by a mysterious
Player named death gun
Who has the power to kill you in real life.
So while investigating the incidents
He comes across a lone
sniper named simon
Who decides to help him On
His quest to bring down death gun or darth gun.
And solve the mystery behind these deaths.

So the first arc pretty much try's to play out like some sort of video game
murder mystery with psychological
elements with kirito getting the temptation to join the dark side with the whole Laughing Coffin incident
which gets quickly rec-con and Simon back story where she killed a bank
robber which was played in probably the most hammy way possible.

One thing Which was kind of interesting in some way
Was the whole mystery of is it possible to kill some one in a game without a real gun and is better writing wise because there was no Random time skips.
And it was this arc that had the most going for it.
In turn of something of interest.
Like with kirito being in a game where they use a different game mechanic with guns and not just fantasy swords and magic .
Which would have lead him to learn a new style of fighting or exploreing a new game mechanic,
wouldn't it be more interesting to see kirito as a rookie learning how to use guns.
Then why the fuck is he using A lightsaber in a game thats all about gun fights.
I thought this game was called gun gale online,
And the mystery element of the show pretty much solved it's self because kirito has actually meet death gun before and the only reason that he didn't solved the mystery quicker is that he forgot death game actual name.
So after defeating death gun.
simon is then welcomed into kirito harem club and the arc ends.

Second arc
( attack of the really bad filler)

So a few months after the events of Gun gale online

Kirito finds out the location of a powerful Sword,
He then gatherers a small team in order to get
Back a powerful sword known as Excalibur.
After batting powerful monsters they then retrieve the Excalibur.

And I am thinking to myself why those this arc exist exactly.
I mean why dose kirito need Excalibur.
He doesn't need to get any stronger
he will win any way.
It doesn't Matter what sword he using.
So what's the point exactly of
This arc.

Third arc
(Revenge of the sick-th)
So while the winter break is going down
Very one is chilling together in game and doing home work
Together because way the fuck not.
And while that going down Asuna
Is having problems with her home life
With her "not one dimensional" rich mother

Who doesn't want her to marry into
poor aka kirito even though he is smart and saved your child from the gay fairy rapist Because that's not good
Enough.
(free will and love what the fuck is
That if worse comes to
Worse we could always
Marry her to someone while
She in a coma like we did with that
First guy that seemed to work)
And is basically forcing Asuna
To meet all these quote on quote
Of course not rapists.
So while this shit is going down Asuna comes across a powerful player
Who is that leader of a group of Players that want To be the first To clear a boss room.
So I am like thinking to
Myself.
Well this is quite nice. It better the evil Mother crap We getting.
Of course the show then
Decided to take a turn for the
Worse. So after they finish the boss.
And the group sadly brakes up.
We find out that the leader of the
Group Has AIDS and is close to
Death and that the rest of her group
Are also in the similar boat.

So basically this entire arc is this show
Poor excuse to try and milk emotions
Out of you.
Now I know that some found this pretty
Sad and heart braking.
But I personally couldn't find a reason to care
About any of these characters.
And before you people in the comments say oh your so
Heartless biogundam why don't you care.
well let me just say that for one
Have been in a similar situation
That these characters have been in.
And if they presented it properly then
Maybe I could have cared a little
About what was happening.
But what really bothers me about how
They did it. Is that is seems like that this was just Added in because they couldn't think up any more interesting storylines
At the time and so they just wrote it up this mallow
Dramatic bullshit
And hoped that most people would bye into it.
So after the AIDS girl dies things go back to normal
And that Asuna mother is now fine with her
Dating kirito.

Characters, 4/10

So the mian character kirito
Is pretty generic
he is basically Jesus-kun.
But one thing which they tried
With his character which was kind of interesting

Was for him to Get PTSD
which he should have got last season.
But never mind he got in now.
And what do they do with it.
Nothing
basically what happened is that he gets over his PTSD in about one episode.
And then he back to kicking ass again.
Wait what shouldn't it take more than one episode to
Get over PTSD. Well I am sorry but this is sword art online
Where one thing is bought up to be ended by the next episode.

The side characters are pretty basic.
Yet again.
With the old cast coming back
And the only ones who seems to stand out was

The new characters
Simon and the ADIS girl.

That where I wouldn't say better but I would say
More interesting.
And they could have been even more interesting
If they where presented properly.
And the quote on quote bad guy death gun was probably The most dispontment I have felt in my life when it comes to anime. Because they build him up as some sort of bad ass and then it turns out he is a rapist.

Art, 7/10
Animation looks pretty nice.
The animation has a lot of polish it.
Now there are a few inconsistencies
Here and there.


There also some very good use of color scheme.

The art style is generic it's pretty much standard light novel fare.
The character designs are also pretty generic.
I think that only thing that stood out was probably the
Designs because it was like a mix of post apocalyptic mixed with Japanese RPGs

Sound, 7/10

The first op song and ending song where quite good and nice to
Listen to at least for me.
I thought the second op and ending wasn't as good as the first op and ending
It just that the second op and ending didn't really click with me personally.
But I do think it worth a listen.
The ost was quite nice as well to listen to as well.

Enjoyment, 6/10

So what I enjoyed about this show is pretty much what I liked about it in season one
So basically I enjoy the fight scenes even though it would have been nice to see more gun action instead of kirito using a lightsaber, but in retrospect it was pretty cool to watch
Him flip around and do cool shit.
I also enjoyed the ost.
So pretty much What I enjoyed about this show are all for superficial reasons.

Overall, 4/10

So if your looking for an anime and you just want entertainment them sword art online is for you. It is nothing more nothing less.

But if your looking for more than just entertainment then probably look for something else then.

2 years after the phenomenal success of SAO, we have the sequel series SAO2 which doesnt actually take place in SAO for some reason. Welcome to the show where everyone loves Kirito and thats about it.

This season saw Kirito enter a brand new game called "not Sword art Online", new characters were introduced and i didnt really care. Lets find out why shall we? (SPOILERS) kinda.

Plot: SAO2 starts with a murder mystery and sees Kirito enter Gun Gale Online. The arc is way too long. The pacing once again sucks in this season, they are in this fucking cave for about 2-3 episodes and nothing ... happens and its hard to get invested into it.

Sword art Online isnt subtle at all and constantly reminds you about the first arc in Aincrad and re-using animation which kills the mystery.

Since the arc is too long it constantly flashbacks to when Kirito fights this death guild in the first SAO and figures out that Death Gun (yeah thats his name lol) was in SAO and a member of the guild. Constanly reminding you remember this. pfft subtelty who cares about that.

The show is very obvious when plot devices are going to come back. For example, Sinon explains for about 10mins this money transferring and personal info and you are thinking sarcastically "hmm they are spending so much time on this I wonder if its gonna come back later" and sure enough it fucking does.

GGO completely implodes on itself towards the end. Now Sword Art Online is absolutley vile in how it treats women going through sexual assault.

The antagonist who imprisoned Asuna in Alfheim Online places her in chains and attempts to molest her in front of Kirito at the end of the first season so that we detest the villain but it came off as insulting.

Here in GGO, one of Sinon's friends reveals himself to be Death gun (haha), the show goes through some stupid flashbacks from previous episodes to throw a poor wa-hey we gotcha and attempts to molest her.

He actually starts saying her name over and over and starts touching her without her consent. However he actually starts foaming at the mouth like a dog with rabies.

She just becomes a damsel in distresss to make us hate this guy so that Kirito can jump in out of nowhere and save her. This episode really insulted me personally and I was disgusted by it.

Excalibur arc is pointless and tupid. They spend one episode throwing all this exposition at you and none of it fucking matters. Then a girl turns into Thor and its hilarious and then it ends. So stupid and boring. It wouldnt be SAO without jokes about an additional harem with Sinon now would it?

Now Mothers Rosario, this was easily the best arc....of Sword Art Online, that doesnt make it a good arc. I like that Asuna had a connection with someone other than Kirito and actually forget about him.

Her connection with Zekken is so refreshing and I didnt expect it since this is a harem show. However it suffers from cliche like when Zekken is dying everyone in the game comes around and sees her off which i laughed at as it was so ridiculous but it was betetr than the rest of the season.

Character:

I will just mention 2

Sinon could have been good if the show was not so overdramatic. I thought this girl would have been praised for saving a post office but then everyones frightened of her for some reason. But still Ill take any characterisation I can because this show gives me nothing.

Asuna is ignored for msot of the season but she gets better in MR and opens up without Kirito which is amazing, for SAO of course. Except when Kirito bursts in for a deus ex machina in MR cos fuck it he is Kirito.

Art: Pretty bland and forgettable. Landscapes are again nice

Sound: 1st op not great but the 2nd op is much less pretentios and I liked it.

Overall: SAO2 is bland, insulting, one-dimensional and boring. If you are an avid fan of SAO then you will have probably see it but for others maybe check out Mothers Rosario 18-25 as its slightly worth watching but other than that skip everything else.

I would understand why a lot of fans didn't like the 1st part of the 2nd season. A huge part of that was because they got rid of (or at least, simmered down) one of the few things that made Sword Art Online stand out and that is the survival theme of the series. Now the survival theme in an anime isn't very new (if you were watching anime for even at least a year before you heard about SAO, you would know what I'm talking about). But see, being trapped in this world where you can do anything (practically) because of video game logic, ... this creates a very interesting template for a story of unexpectancy. Sword Art Online was a chaos lingering in a Dream World (Yume Sekai *see what I did there*), Gun Gale Online was a tamed beast.

I said "simmered down", "tamed" and "unexpectancy" because in SAO, everyone could be a PK-er. Just the thought that anyone (by anyone) could actually be killed in this game is enough to put you in the edge. In Gun Gale, only Death Gun could kill anyone so it downgraded from everybody to one.

But that was where Gun Gale Online "changed the name of the game" (My last one, I swear.)

I think it's safe to say now (after giving my unprejudiced thoughts about the show) that I hate the 1st season. It's only saving grace was it's first 3 episodes but everything prior was just *eh*. Yes, GGO was slow-paced and had very few action scenes (I mean what fist-pumping action do you expect from a story that has a sniper as one of the main protagonists?......... except for the for the 1st action scene?), but all that just so I can see a story (A FUCKING STORY, LADIES AND GENTS), not to mention A CHARACTER I CAN ROOT FOR, then that's a small price to pay (minuscule even). They provided time so that you can actually get to know these characters and they've actually included something that happened in SAO which is plus points for continuity.

For me, the greatest decision they've ever done for the story was to not make it a love story. All the girls (except Asuna) that have been swooned by Kirito were cast aside as friends. Even in the Excalibur (?) arc they didn't drop any hints of their love for Kirito. There wasn't even a lot of time where Kirito and Asuna would be seen together. So to the guy/s who thought this was a good idea, God bless you, you magnificent bastard/s.

You might say that I'm forgetting something here and yeah, Mother's Rosario was great too. But for me, GGO was better, even in terms of story. As to why I appreciate Gun Gale more, we have to go back to the 1st season. See, what made a bigger impression of me on what SAO is all about is not the fact that it takes place in a video game or it's colorful, bodacious animation and art but rather how they tackle the human psyche (what little quality it may have). If you can do anything SAO-related for me to erase my memory of that rape scene from Alfheim Online arc then by all means. While the Mother's Rosario arc's tone was reminiscent of the aforementioned first 3 eps of SAO, GGO felt more like SAO (a better version might I add) to me because not only did they went to the survival theme again, but they added more by ACTUALLY GIVING THE ACTIONS OF THE BAD GUYS SOME JUSTICE. Also, a lesson that we didn't really need Mother's Rosario to repeat to understand (that whole "We make our own world" speech Kirito did).

Art is also one to blame on why didn't fans like GGO. It's not because it's ugly in any way, but how it presents itself. GGO's theme was these dystopian cities where there were a lot of grays, blacks, and not many other colors─completely contrasting to what Sword Art's and Alfheim's theme were (Maybe that's why they're doing Aldnoah.Zero now). A-1, just stick to magic fantasies. We like you better that way. And as I've said before, there are fewer action scenes in GGO so they weren't given a chance to flaunt out their animation (Mother's Rosario should help you out with that problem) but other than that, they have pretty much the same quality the 1st season has. Nothing to complain about.

Soundtracks in second seasons tend to be just the soundtrack of the first season but with some new tracks thrown in. Yuki Kajiura reprised the role of being in charge of the OSTs but alas, I still don't have a song from the OST that I would listen to (or maybe I just don't remember. My memory's vague when it comes to this shows' OST). But what shines though are, as always, the OPs and EDs. I don't think I need to say anything more about them.

Characters. This one's another lengthy one. Let me just say this: Shino Asada carried the WHOLE GGO arc. I say that with no remorse what so ever because SHE IS THE MOST RELATABLE CHARACTER IN THE WHOLE SERIES (even extending to the first season) and for that reason, SIMPLY THE BEST. In those 14 episodes, we got to know why she plays GGO and why she wants to win the Bullet of Bullets─because her life is shit. She wants to escape reality─like most of us do. She wants to have a second life online─like most us do. That's why she wants to win, and YOU want her to win because you see yourself in her (or at least, understand where she's coming from). This kind of character was a long time coming so it was really rewarding that I FINALLY got to see it. And as for the argument of Yuuki being a better character, well her character wasn't developed that well. Mother's Rosario's arc had more action so there wasn't enough time for her character to be known. It would've been nice if we got to see more of Yuuki's past so we can get more of her background.

Now I got the idea that they wanted Kirito to develop character because Kirito's character is a bigger mystery than the creation of SAO. And their "attempt" on giving him a character was to say "he's caring, he's brave, he will always have your back" and 13 other lines from the book "How to Write a 2-Dimensional Character." Kirto's character, sadly, did not show any progression despite it being the 2nd season (I have a feeling they're saving this for the 3rd season). They tried to link his background to Shinon's, like they have a common past, but that's just like making your friend remember a joke you've never even told him/her. His life in the real world is as perfect as his life online so it's REALLY hard to feel invested to this character. However, they decided to give Asuna some background (thank God) AND, she's kicking ass in the field again.

So, after all that rambling, how do I sum all this up? Is it worth the watch? If you're a fan, of course. You might be bored of the slow-pace GGO has but it's fine if you get past that. If you're not a fan, then probably not. While there are some things that they did change and add, it's not that big to keep you interested and that's probably for the best. Changing too much would make them lose some of the loyal fans that were there from the start. But if you're like me who was deeply disappointed from the 1st season but still wants to see the show get better, then it's good for a look. The reason this review is so long is because the second season presents you 2 seemingly different kinds of story. It's almost as if they were experimenting on what kind of story they should do. I'm not saying you should finish watching this series but it's worth to think about.

Some Spoilers Ensue:

As a huge fan of the first season, I went into this expecting a lot. Granted I was a little let down in part 2 of the first season, but it seemed the writers might be able to get back on track here...so SAO2 is broken up into 3 parts and I will review each separately.

Part 1: GGO

This arc started off pretty cool...I thought we were going to get an awesome new villain and the same death in the game/death in real life drama from the first season. I was looking forward to Asuna and Kirito kicking some ass in a new world, ... but sadly, that isn't what happened. Instead, we were introduced 2 eps in, to a new character called Sinon. It was actually more like we were thrown into her life blind, but anyway, she comes in as the new lead and we get Kirito as her sidekick. That's all. None of the other characters are even relevant throughout this whole arc (and it seems to be an ongoing theme this whole season). I stuck with it and even began to like Sinon a bit, and then the big awesome reveal came: that the killer in GGO was someone from SAO. Once it hit this mark, I was hooked. Again, sadly, this didn't last long. The problem with this show has always been the pacing. In this arc especially, we deserved much more action. Especially during BoB. Instead, we got longwinded conversation episodes and weird ass shots of Shion laying on Kirito's lap though he clearly stated he's with Asuna. It was all just a mess. The reveal of who the bad guy was was also underwhelming. What was brought up as an awesome twist initially petered out quickly when you realized Death Gun was just some random from Laughing Coffin. On the plus side, there were a few parts I liked when Kirito and Sinon were first together and when she stood up for herself, but I called it that her friend was evil like 4 eps in...disappointing. 3/10.

Part 2: Excalibur:

One of the most useless and boring bouts of filler episodes I've seen yet. There was no plot here. It seems like the writers just had too many episodes to fill, so they just threw together some messy world, put our characters in it, and gave them (almost) action sequences to run through. I did LOVE Tonkii though...probably the only good thing to come from this arc. Also, I hate how Kirito has become a typical harem guy...it ruins his charm IMO. 1/10.

Part 3: Mother's Rosario:

The only reason why this season is getting 4/10 is for this arc. It isn't perfect by any means, but Asuna is my favorite character and I was happy we got to look into her life. This is another time where we got thrown a ton of new characters who we were supposed to care about. Again, this put old favorites on the back burner and, though this arc was sad, I was disappointed by the end. Sure, Yukki was interesting and cool so her death was difficult, but I would have much preferred, if they were going to do a character death, kill of someone we know. It would have felt much more devastating and would have hit much harder than a new character. True, what happened to Yukki gave Asuna strength which was rewarding to see, but the interaction between her and Kirito was what I was looking for all season, and they literally skipped over it all season until and awkward moment in the last episode where he tells her he wants to be with her forever. Also, the funeral scene when they were figuring out who created the Medicuboid was horribly placed and took away from any feeling I did have at that time. Bad form. On the plus side, the scenes with Asuna and her mom and Asuna and Yukki were a good watch so I didn't hate it. 4/10.

Animation and Sound:

As always, SAO looks gorgeous. The worlds are intricate and the character design is lovely. GGO was a little bland, but I guess it was supposed to be. Most of my favorite animated moments with in the last arc. Honestly though, the highlight, as with last season, was the sound. All the openings and endings were awesome (especially op1 and ed3). They pumped you up and it was great so bravo LiSa and Eir Aoi for dazzling us again here. The OST also is a definite highlight for this show. It worked perfectly during every scene as did the amazing voice acting. If anything else, I can't fault this show at all for it's sound.

Characters:

I touched on this already so I won't write too much here, but if you read my review of the first series, you would know I loved the characters a lot. I think that was the most disappointing thing this season: the fact that they didn't get a lot of screen time...even when they did, it wasn't really together which pissed me off. Everything that happened this season could have happened between these characters without introducing new ones. Having said that, Sinon and Yukki were worthwhile, if useless additions. I liked them when they were on the show, but ultimately, could have done without for a better experience. I really just wanted Kirito and Asuna together more. They were amazing in the first season.

Overall:

A disappointing and long-winded season. I'm hoping the inevitable season 3 will bring back the fun that was season 1, but I won't hold my breath. Some fun parts sprinkled throughout did not give me enough to overcome many boring and plotless episodes. Sorry guys, I'd skip it.

4/10.

Let's get real here. I'm reviewing this from the perspective of your average dude and I'm not going to get all philosophical about the meaning of everything that happens. If you wan't a down to earth review with realistic expectations in mind then look no further.

Story: I'm giving it a 9/10 because I think it flows well. If you liked the first season then you'll like this too. If you didn't like the first season then why are you even looking at the second one? New season, new problems to deal with and I think the way that they managed to still fit in ... tension is great. Not going to spoil anything but along the way shit gets real and tickets on the feels train are handed out which surprised me when it all turned out to not be just a gimmick but a pretty decent low blow to my hearts testes. Plots got some holes in it sure, but so does swiss cheese and that shit is delicious so who cares. In the end it's satisfying as a good anime should be.

Art: Whole world is pleasing to the eye and the characters are well designed. Art on this series is spot on as far as I'm concerned. Maybe you disagree and think I'm stupid to which I say yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.. 9/10

Sound: Soundtrack is solid, characters are well voiced, and there isn't a boing sound every time a breast is in the frame. What more could you ask for? 10/10

Character: Characters are pleasant to watch and that's really all you need to know about them. They are all designed well, there isn't a prissy useless male main character but he also isn't a total bonehead with muscle, the girls aren't just massive tits with a body attached for the purpose of semi-realism, and there is a variety that ensures everyone will have a favorite character. you won't be getting crazy in depth character development here but that's not necessarily a bad thing. You know everything you need to and there is still story and depth to all the main characters. 9/10

Enjoyment: 10/10 And I have no problem saying that. Anime is made for entertainment same as any other type of T.V. show and SAO II entertained me greatly. Was it perfect? No. but perfection is overrated and for me SAO II was just great to watch. There's some romance (but not a completely unrealistic harem with no conclusion on who gets picked), action (but not meathead madness where it's just fight scenes for hours on end), suspense, comedy, and even some points that really make you sad. What made both seasons of SAO so great to me is that the world created in this anime draws you in so strongly that you don't wan't to leave. The themes in the anime also have to do with our future as it could be and some of the more serious (positive and negative) effects our quest for more realistic virtual worlds are

Overall I'm saying 9/10 because this has been one of the most enjoyable series I've watched in awhile. Sure I'm a bit easy to impress, but it's because I stay open minded going into anime and I just always remember to have fun watching it.

TL;DR - Ignore the pretend critics and nitpickers, if you like fun, feels, and some decent suspense then watch this and at worst you'll think it was good and move on. However if you're basically an anime hipster that only thinks non mainstream anime that is all artsy is all that is good, then go somewhere else cause you're just going to ruin the fun.