Instead what we get was an above average show that the talking heads of the western anime community can now bring up whenever they decide to repeat their common misunderstandings of the original series for quick cash.
I don't mean to suggest that SAOA: GGO was bad. It captures the popular trends and presents the type of story that people want to see. However, it has lost that one element that made the original so unique.
The original series presented an insanely complex and intricate world through the eyes of a few characters, without trying to highlight every detail, and give out every answer on a platter. It was an absolute masterpiece for those that enjoy thinking about the media they consume. By contrast, this is just an adventure story, very much like a dozen other stories every season. It's predictably hits the right story beats at the right time, it has a good mix of action and drama, and it plays out exactly as any other story of this type would.
This can't escape comparisons with the original at the technical level either. Neither the sound nor the art can stand up to the quality that was on display in the original series.
If you want a fun anime, you won't go wrong with this. It's the type of show that will leave you feeling decently satisfied. However, if you're looking for something unique, this falls quite short regardless on what side of the SAO debate you fall on.
- Story -
The story is well planned, following the traditional narrative arc almost to a tee. It pulls from the common anime tropes of "Friendship is great," and "Fight for what you believe in," but it throws just enough curveballs in the form of mental disorders and psychological stresses that were so prevalent in the previous series.
There are a few very clearly delineated arcs that help establish the flow of the story, each lasting a few episodes, and each revolving around a large battle. It's a popular pattern that has worked for many battle series, though it doesn't translate quite as well into such a short series. Due to the accelerated rate at which the story had to progress, there's was very little screen time given to anything that didn't directly serve the plot.
The did series manage to make very good use of the world established by the previous series (and created the hilarious situation where those that didn't like the original are now falling over themselves to convince each other that the game world is purely an accomplishment of this series). It understood quite well the source material that the original GGO referenced and managed to reproduce at least some of the common mindset of players of such games.
Another nice factor was the thought put into the tactics employed by the characters during the events in the show. Clearly some thought was put into creating a believable set of circumstances and establishing at least some level of reasoning for the way the various groups behaved.
However, for all those the story didn't manage to stick with me nearly as well as the original, save perhaps the final arc of the first season. Simply put, there wasn't enough substance in the actual story worth holding on to. It feels like it was made to be idle entertainment, all too quickly forgotten. There were some attempts at themes regarding having a healthy body image, and caring for the mental well being of others, but those didn't really come through very well at the pace that the story was presented.
In all, a decent story that can be enjoyed quickly, and forgotten likewise. I give it a solid 7 / 10.
- Characters -
I had trouble forming an opinion on the characters in the series. In all honesty, there are 3 or at most 4 actual characters to go around. Everyone else is treated as white noise necessary to pad out the VA list, and offer the feeling of a living world. The side cast was never used to communicate or accomplish anything. There were a few calm slice-of-life moments where the side characters worked reasonably well, but even those few moments were wasted to communicate the fact that the lead character had candy and cookies.
Of the actual main characters, only the two leads had enough personality to be more than caricatures. The lead character, Karen, was one of these two. This was by far the most entertaining character in the series, with some of the best lines, and a wide range of emotional responses. Through her we get to explore one of the few side themes of accepting yourself for who you are.
What more, she's the only character that actually acts in response to the situation. She thinks on her feet and overcomes her own personal demons to accomplish her goals.
The other female lead, Pitohui, is more interesting at first glance. When she is introduced, it seems like she has some major issues. Then it turns out that yes, she does in fact have major issues. Unfortunately, her development sort of stalls out there.
I applaud the attempt to highlight mental illness in such a way, but I would have found it more interesting to see her change, either in the positive, or even the negative side as the story moved along. Instead, we see the exact same behavior all the way through to the end, when suddenly everything is fine. The only saving grace is that the actual insanity is presented well, both directly and in an implied manner.
Of the other recurring characters, the one male character is rather bland. He seems to have a set of skills that is never justified, and his personality can be summed up in a few words. "Quiet. Obsessed. Masochist." The main character's best friend is in a similar boat. "Flirty. Gamer." Finally, the blob of amazons / rhythmic gymnastics girls is just that, a single blob not even worth considering as multiple characters.
Also, why did the gun need to talk? That was the most obvious attempt to create merchandizing opportunities I've seen in a while.
In all, despite a few extremely well executed personalities, I can't be very amazed at the roster for this show. I'll give it a 7 / 10, but just barely.
- Art -
The art took a negative turn from the first two series, with a slight drop in the character art, and a major drop in backgrounds.
The characters are bland looking, though I can forgive that due to the setting. There's not much you can do to make camo look appealing, even if you color it pink. I do feel like they could have added more fine details to some of the costumes, but that wouldn't have made that much of a difference. Fortunately, they put a lot of work into the range of expressions that all the major characters exhibit, and that work comes through very well.
The action scenes are also intense, with a good variety of maneuvers and movements that you wouldn't normally see. There's very real sense of dynamic movement during combat. Though the intensity is quite muted.
By far the worst was the drop in the quality of the backgrounds; constantly repeating patterns and textures, a limited color pallet, poor blending with the characters, little detail, and very simple composition.
The props and buildings all have the expected shape, with no actual personality, and even the vistas feel grimy and limited. Gone are grand sights of fantasy worlds, replaced with a quickly done forest landscape with some hills in the background, or some common buildings such as a school or a bar.
If it weren't for the work put into the characters, I would come down very hard on the series. However, the it's clear that the effort put into the show was focused in one area at the expense of another, which is an unfortunate reality of this medium. Because of that I will give it a 7 / 10.
- Sound -
If the art took a negative turn, the sound took a nose dive. The music continues the trend from the original series but doesn't have the epic world backing it to maintain such a level of grandeur. It sticks out in a very negative way, like playing a funeral march for a kid's birthday party.
The sound effects are not very impressive either. For the combat it sounds like they bought a bunch of stock shooting sound packs used for game development, and half of those fail to have the impact that you would expect.
The voice performances were likewise quite bland. With a few stand-out insane laughs and emotional moments it felt like they just went with the first take of every line. There's little emotional depth here, just saying things in sort of the right mood. As for the songs, I stopped trying to listen to them after the first two episodes.
With all these shortcomings, I think I'm being quite fair by giving it a 6 / 10 in this category.
- Enjoyment & Overall –
Despite the amount of criticism I have for the series, I can't pretend that I didn't enjoy it. SAOA: GGO was a fun romp through a loosely game-based world, with a few entertaining characters. Nothing gets resolved, no lessons are taught, but when you come down to it, the experience is still fun.
If you like the original SAO for the depth of its world and presentation, then this series will merely tickle the itch for more. It's missing most of the elements that made the original great, lost in favor of presenting a series that is easier to consume.
If you like the original SAO because all the characters were "so cool," then this show will be like that, only less pretty.
If you hated the original SAO because you felt the story was "too simple" then this show can offer you a brief glimpse into what keeps SAO genuinely popular, despite the wall of community hate.
If you hated the original SAO because someone on YouTube told you it was bad… Well, now most of those talking heads are singing the praises of this one, so good for you I guess.
As for me, I found this to be a fun show, an entertaining show, but not a show I'll remember or come back to, and not a show that I'll spend much time analyzing. In other words, this was a pretty good anime. A 7 / 10, with little question about whether it deserves the score.
