Story: 3/10
A very generic plot. Kirito is hunting down a muderer in another VR game. That's pretty much it. Yet, we have another fake love story featuring Kirito. So, how many times is Kirito going to get in suggestive relationships with other female teenagers? He already has a girlfriend, yet he still manages to get himself into incredibly awkward relationships with Lisbeth, Sinon, and even his own cousin, Suguha. The plot twist for the Gun Gale arc was cringingly predictable. I easily guessed everything that was going on like 3 episodes before we got down to the main battle between Kirito and Death Gun, and afterwards, I had to drop the anime because it was just way too unexciting to just sit and watch for a full review on MyAnimeList.
Characters: 3/10
Kirito was just being his usual self: a male character who's the smartest and one of the most badass characters in the show, the common anime hero (namely Naruto, Goku, Luffy, and tons others). Sinon was more interesting than Kirito, whilst seeing her backstory and struggle with her past, but like a said before, she's just another primary female character who won't get off of Kirito's nuts. From Kirito wrapping his hand around Sinon's waist to Sinon lying on Kirito's lap, you just knew that these two wanted to hit, regardless of both of them already having mates. The big mistake that the developers of SAO II made was trying to build a fanbase without use of a plot, like having Kirito spawning in Gun Gale as a female avatar, having Sinon slap Kirito when finding out he's a dude, which was very similar to when Asuna punched Kirito, and making long and awkward shots of Kirito staring directly at Sinon's ass and instantly figuring out something major to the main mystery of Death Gun. Is Asuna involved in this anime? I'm just gonna go on a line and say "no, she really isn't". I mean, of course she was in but she was left out so much that Sinon has practically taken her place as Kirito's girlfriend. Asuna's just there to support Kirito from a distance. You know what would've made things better? If Asuna joined in Gun Gale and caught Sinon lying on Kirito's lap in a cave and then breaks up with him. You might as well just eliminate her from the entire anime if she, supposedly being a major character, barely gets any screen time. Other characters didn't get much screen time, as well. It was all just about Kirito and Sinon, and that's all you need to know.
Art: 9/10
One of the stronger aspects of SAO II. It's not the most unique animation, going as far as something like Afro Samurai or Attack on Titan, but it still maintains very great detail in everything. The animation is overall very smooth, although it did slow down a lot in the fight between Kirito and Death Gun, which was a very underwhelming 1v1. Other fights scenes, though, are very well-animated, but incredibly short, which also was another huge fall point of the anime. So you guys make the side fights short as hell and you make the longest boss battle suck? That's absurd. Other than fight quality, the animation of SAO II is great.
Sound: 8/10
Yet another strong point of SAO II. I found the OST of SAO II to be more appealing than the OST for the original, as some of the songs used in SAO are remixed to be more hybrid and high-tempo (most notably "Gunland", which is a remix of "Swordland"), which I love more than the traditional orchestra music. The theme song of SAO II is also a very good track, and I surprisingly like it more than the original theme. In most of the anime I watch, I hope to get some good music, and SAO II utilizes that trait.
Enjoyment and Overall score: 3/10
Unlike the original SAO, SAO II was very underwhelming and boring to watch. With a reuse of innuendo, a small cast, and a setback on action sequences, SAO II is way to sloppy for me to even finish watching.
