STORY:
To clarify you have to watch season one of SAO to understand anything that is happening in this season. We have a new VR game called Gun Gale Online or GGO. In this world there is a player by the name of Death Gun going around and shooting players in the game, but after he shoots them they die in the real world. Kirito is called into help solve the murders as he has experience dealing with this kind of thing in SAO. He meets a highly skilled player named Shino and she gets to tag along to help solve this mystery.
Personally this arc of the story (Phantom Bullet) is very well done. It has a sprinkle of conspiracy and mystery too it that really freshend up the series to me. While it may be a little far-fetched it remains in a reasonable realm of possibility that it didn’t become a big distraction. There weren’t any times during this arch were I thought, “Wow this is so unrealistic and stupid” I was more wondering “Why is this happening and how is it happening.” Can’t believe I am saying this but it reminded me a little bit of Death Note in a way.
The second arc is about trying to get a legendary sword and honestly it is not worth talking about as it is mostly a filler arc that felt a lot more “game like” and was not entirely interesting to me.
The third arc however… wow. To me the third arc of this season was one of the most touching moments I have experienced in my short anime watching experience. In this arc Kirito passes the protagonist torch to Asuna and it was a much appreciated change. We are back in ALO and there is a player named Yuuki who is trying to find a strong player to fight. Asuna ends up helping a guild called The Sleeping Knights, their quest is to defeat a floor boss and get their names inscribed on a monument to be displayed forever. Asuna also has to deal with her mother who is disproving of her school and of Kirito. The rest of my analysis will be spoilers.
[THIS SECTION CONTAINS MAJOR SPOLIERS MOVE ON IF YOU HAVEN’T WACTHED]
As it turns out Yuuki is terminally ill and plays VR MMOs as a way to interact with a world and feel important. The rest of the guild has similar problems as well hence the name, Sleeping Knights. Yuuki has been in a dive for over 3 years. To me this arc is very touching. Many people have health problems or social problems and use video games as an outlet. This part of the story feels extremely realistic to me and relatable. Yuuki and her friends want to leave a mark on the world, something that people will remember about them and this is their way to do it. Phantom Bullet arc also touches on games as a coping mechanism as Shino uses GGO as a way to get over her fears of handguns. I felt that these themes made this show much better than it’s prequel.
CHARACTERS
Kirito is relatively the same as before. He is prevalent in the GGO arc but becomes a side character in the later arcs. Asuna gets some good development, I enjoyed the tension between her and her mother. That felt real and semi-relatable. Shino is an interesting character. She gets plenty of screen time in the GGO arc and her backstory while somewhat far-fetched really helps explain her personality and actions. Yuuki while having a late appearance in the show makes a great impact and is honestly the most realistic character in the entire show.
ART/ANIMATION:
Little has changed in the animation department from last season and it still holds up very well. GGO looks good and the fight scenes we very good. The art style is still good looking and holds up to some of the recent releases. No complaints in this area, see my review of season one for a larger dive into the art and animation.
SOUND:
I skipped the OP most of the time, not this it was bad but it just wasn’t really my thing. I really enjoyed the ED of this series. Insert songs were good but we repetitive especially in ALO arcs but they are great sounding. I was impressed at the action sounds in the fight scenes and the detail that they went into with making different sounds for eat sword clash and steps even to the moving of armor. I watched this show dubbed and it was very well done. The cast of the first season reprise their roles here. I do believe that Bryce Papenbrook is becoming the new JYB as he is getting typecasted as every young angry teenage hero (which covers 90% of all action anime but I digress)
ENDING/CLOSURE:
To me the ending is paramount as I like closure in the shows that I watch. This ended with a short of “guess what I found something” If the story ended there I would be ranting right now however the story has a movie that was announced that will take place after this season so that makes this section irrelevant.
CONCLUSION:
I enjoyed this season greatly, while I had many complaints about the first season this season made up for a lot of those gripes by continuing with great action and giving us a story that seems realistic and characters who are more relatable and just better written than in the first season. This show was good, and I recommend to continue watching this series.
