The most important thing is of course, characterization. They used one important theme around building LLENN as a character and that is insecurity. It is very shown that LLENN or Karen have an insecurity about her height that is far taller than anyone else. She thought that being tall was not cute at all. Hence, she hoped that if she entered the world of VR, she could become shorter and cuter. She hopped from one game to another just to get a perfect avatar for her to fulfill her insecurity. Pitohui on the other side used game to suppress her suicidal tendency and sadistic nature just for LLENN to enter the fray and snap her out of it. For me, I have the same way of thinking as LLENN. Game is somewhere that you should have fun because sometimes reality is harsh and you just want to run from them for a while.
While the original story itself has already made a good game mechanics, this spin-off really used them well and even added more things that really interesting. First, how the stats really pay off at the battles. LLENN have more AGI than most people it made her very insanely fast while Fukaziroh have more STR than most people it affected her ability to wield more weapons than anyone and of course, her power to do melee. Second, how they used the bullet line as a signaling system. Until now, bullet line just shown as a prediction line to avoid the bullets. To actually used them as an effective way of communication, it never crossed my mind until this adaptation came. They used it as a marking for party members to move stealthy or separately. And lastly, the immortal object. I think it is very smart to use dead bodies as shield as it was an immortal object that cannot be penetrated. It was a perk that is very interesting to be part of our strategy in a game about guns and bullets.
The music is certainly good. The songs that being sung by the voice of Kanzaki Elza have this vibe of Aimer in her voice making the songs feel deeper and better in my opinion. Of course, you should never miss the opening song. After a long time of hiatus, Eir Aoi came back and sang the opening for this anime. For me, it is fitting since she was the one who sang the first opening of SAO II and it was a great reunion for the fans of both SAO and Eir Aoi in general.
Overall, this anime has exceeded all of my expectations and rise above its original source, Sword Art Online. With how the anime ended, I do really wish to see this anime being continued into second season if the source material or the light novel still have more story to go. It is a huge kudos for the writer of both the source material and anime.
