Story - 6/10
Spoiler Alert ahead as this may spoil Sword Art Online 1.
There is 3 Arcs in Sword Art Online 2, and I would say they were definitely better stories than the second half of Sword Art Online. The first arc is an investigation murder mystery arc, which sort of continued over from the previous season. The arc in between us more a light-hearted adventure with friends arc. And the 3rd and final arc is a coming of age story. All these arcs, in my opinion were better than the second half of Sword Art Online, which left me a sour taste in my mouth after finishing it.
The first arc is based in a multiplayer shooter online game. Virtual Reality Gaming has taken another step in the future. Players can compete in an online game competition and earn in game money, and they can use that in game money and convert it to real money, thus making it a profession, the main game being Gun Gale Online. Some people have taken an offense to this, particularly the people who were trapped in Sword Art Online, and now one of the members from the Laughing Coffin, a guild back in SAO, that use to kill other players is back to show the people playing what’s it’s really like to die. Now when you die in all these games, you don’t die in real life, however this Death Gun goes around killing players, so it’s a mystery on how these players actually really die. Kirito is bought back and he’s been given the mission to find this killer, so it’s a crime investigation story. He meets a player name Sinon along the way, and gets her to help him learn the game, I’ll go more into Sinon later.
The story for this arc grips you, because you’re going to stick with it, to find out who the killer is, plus finding out how they pull it off in a game where you’re not supposed to die, is kind of exciting. However I do find one part of the story rather annoying towards the end of the arc, where they were stuck in cave talking and talking about themselves and Death Gun, it was really a dragging conclusion.
The second arc is much shorter, than all the other arcs, it’s only 3 episode long. However it really brings back what the gaming genre is about, having fun and playing with friends. It follows the ensemble cast of the series, and they go on a quest in ALfhiem Online, that quest is to gain the most powerful sword in the game known as Excalibur. It’s a really light hearted story and actually felt like a true game was being played, however it didn’t have the epic scale the first SAO had. But I did like how some minor characters got some good attention during the arc, especially Klein and Sinon, even though if they were minor.
The third and final arc has a similar theme with the second as it’s more about playing with friends. However the arc does not focus on Kirito at all, and focuses on Asuna. Yes possibly the most annoying character in the series, however she was sort of redeemed in this arc. But anyway she is asked to join this guild to beat a boss and get their name engraved on a memorial, because these group of people only have a small time to beat it before they move on with their personal lives. Asuna is also given the decision to either continue with her gaming or continue on with her life as her mother suggest. She doesn’t know what she wants to do outside of gaming, and plays the theme gaming and personal lives.
What this arc does really well is how emotional it is. It really is a much slower pace arc, and that could appeal to some people, but then cannot. However if it’s making you feel emotional, that’s doing something right.
Even with these great stories and interesting arcs, it never solved the one problem SAO left us. Why did Kayaba Akihiko trapped the players in Sword Art Online, what was the reason behind all that. These stories are great as a standalone, but the overarching story had no progression. This whole season of Sword Art Online 2 just felt like filler. The stories were good, but I didn’t feel that epic scale the first half of Sword Art Online gave us. And to slap us in the face, they teased something about Kayaba Akihiko at the very end to just cut in abruptly.
Characters - 8/10
Kirito makes a return as the main protagonist, and he’s still op as hell even in a new game. The game being played is a shooting game, and he owns all the players with a sword/lightsaber. He is pretty much a jedi. He’s job is to find who the killer of Gun Gale Online is, of course as a newbie in a new game he should be a novice at it, fixing his overpowered status from the previous SAO, wrong. Apart from being the agent, he’s given the role as the person with the same similarity as the killer and the second protagonist. There’s still not that much character development for Kirito, even in the later arcs, he sorts of comes off as a power hungry gaming arrogant douche. Also why the hell does Kirito look like a girl in GGO.
Finally we get to the main star of the second season, not only the second season, but I think overall the most interesting character SAO has come up with, that is of course Sinon. Now Sinon has a messed up past, as when she was kid she killed someone with a gun, and hence has developed Hoplophobia. That even gun shaped objects frighten her. However to overcome it she plays Gun Gale Online to get use to holding a gun, and she’s very good player at that. What I love about Sinon is her development, while she’s in game she’s a calm and cool and a badass, only to be outshine by Kirito here and there…yeah still disappointed with that fact. However in the real world Sinon is actually a vulnerable girl, and you can actually see the confidence and development she gains by playing more GGO, and it’s not an instant development as well, even in the end, you can see that smooth development. It wasn’t the instant oh I’m over guns now. Her character literally carried Sword Art Online 2. It’s ashamed she was pretty much to Kirito’s harem during the second half and played a minor bit.
Asuna takes the role as the main protagonist for the 3rd Arc of series. And I would say she is slightly redeemed in the Mother Rosario arc. She’s much more enthusiastic about her new friends she makes during the arc and learns a lot from them. Which becomes a journey of self-discovery, she still starts off as whiny brat, but during the arc she comes to find out what she wants to be as she grows up.
Yuuki is the other protagonist of the Mother Rosario arc. While in game she’s a very go lucky happy player, but she has a side to her that is rather dark. And it’s because of that side, she helps Asuna make a decision on her coming of age story. She is also the only player to have beaten Kirito in duel as well, to somewhat prove he’s not the most overpowered character. Her character is engaging and if you are to feel emotional towards her story, you know they’ve done something right
Sure there were a lot more focus on some of the characters this time around. Espcially Sinon, however all the other characters are developed less. Doesn’t help the fact there is no overall story progression.
Animation and Sound - 8/10 - 8/10
The animation and art style is really the same from the first Sword Art Online. What it does really well is the dark eerie urban atmosphere of Gun Gale Online. It really suits the setting, and makes that world feel more alive. The art style for ALO is still very bright to suit the gaming world, and the action scenes are still great as they were back in the first season. Little details a back such as in game hud and effects make it more like a real game.
The sound is really top notch as well with bullet sounds really matching when they are shooting and their gun counterparts, plus Kirito’s sword in GGO really sounds like lightsaber. And each soundtrack for each arc really suits it style and theme. The opening and ending songs for this season however, is not as fun to listen to from the previous season, they’re good but not that good.
Enjoyment - 6/10
The enjoyment factor was less this time around, because I didn’t feel the stakes or epic scale the first season delivered. The stories were good but didn’t progress or answered any of the previous season questions. Sinon’s character kept me going, I was really interested in her development, not to say the other characters were bad, but they weren’t as developed as Sinon. The second half made me feel emotional, but it’s not the most emotional thing I’ve felt in anime. The first half is a hybrid crime thriller, while the second half is more about gaming with friends. As story progression, I felt I was slapped in the face, because after all that happened this whole season I felt cheated because it felt like filler.
Verdict - 7/10
I’m going to do something different about my review this time around. For the story, I’m going to give it a 6, as I believe the stories were good, but they didn’t have the huge of a dramatic scale feel from the first season, and plus not progressing or answers questions from the season before.
For the art and sound I give them both an 8, because, I reckon it’s the same quality art style we got from the previous season, hence there wasn’t really any major improvement. It’s still very good to look at.
For Characters I’m giving it an 8, literally because Sinon carried that first half, and Yuuki being an interesting character as well. Asuna got some minor attention and development and same goes for Kirito, but they weren’t developed as much or as interesting as their co-stars their respective arcs.
And for my own personal enjoyment I give it a 6, as I didn’t really enjoy the 2nd season as much, because it didn’t really keep me on my feet with an epic high stakes death game. And plus watching it all made me feel kind of cheated as it felt like filler after the end.
So after rounding that all up, I give Sword Art Online II a 7/10. I recommend only watching it if you’ve watched the first season of Sword Art Online, and want to see more of that universe, just don’t expect too much change for the better from the previous season, it doesn’t blow me away.
