Rather than writing a traditional start-to-finish review of the entire show, I’m going to show you my actual notes I took as I watched this show. Usually these become the basis for a full review as I preen the paragraphs to root out fluff and hyperbole, but this time I'm pasting my raw notes divided into 3 acts. That way, you’ll know exactly what it’s like watching the maddening stumble from genuinely good character study revolving around player-character dissonance; to plot-hole ridden, horribly characterized, nonsensically stupid shit-show that is Sword Art Online Gun Gale Online Alternative.
(there's a TL;DR at the end if you just want a summary or want to avoid spoilers)
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What makes Sword Art Online Gun Gale Online Alternative Architecture 3.33 You Can (Not) Kirito superior to everything else in the franchise boils down to mainly 2 things:
1. The main character is not a harem master like Kirito that always wins out in the end and is the best at everything. Kirito is the king of all Mary Sue characters because he never loses, never struggles for more than a few minutes, and has all the underage girls riding his jock. He is an unbearable main character I always rooted against. He has nothing going for him, he's a boring skinny white boy, and he seemingly has never had to work hard to accomplish anything in his spoiled little life.
What sets Karen apart, however, is that she actually seems to have things she doesn't like going on in her life. Specifically, she's developed a complex due to her height. Karen is unusually tall, and just as little shithead kids do, her classmates make fun of her and treat her like a freak. It isn't much, but this goes a long way in making sure she isn't a soulless protagonist like Kirito. Her in-game avatar reflects the dissonance between who she is outside the game and who she wants to be, realized inside the game. It's unusual for Sword Art Online to attempt to tell a story deeper than "mary sues fight the evil guys", so this is a very refreshing change. (if only I knew what was to come…)
As a result, I wasn't bothered as much when Karen became one of the best players in the game in what felt like a couple days. I don't care! It's about context in this case, and not having Kirito around to pander to the babies that like power fantasies made the journey far more tolerable.
The main characters in SAO seasons 1, 2, and the movie are basically your most boring Facebook friends. I found it really hard to care about any of them, as their bland personalities kind of all felt the same and none of them were really any fun to watch. Karen on the other hand is actually pretty entertaining. She's upbeat, expressive, and silly. She breathes life into what is otherwise a rather generic story. It's even better considering her online behavior is basically the opposite of who she is outside the game. In the real world, she's anxious, reclusive, and quiet. Online, she's bubbly, loud, and extremely flamboyant. It's another nice way of showing how Karen is able to express herself online in ways that she's unable to in real life.
2. This plays off the previous point, but SAO GGO Alternate constantly toys with the concept of online-irl disconnect.
Also on the topic of analyzing the playstyles and in-game lifestyles of players, it also discusses the illusion of skill in online games. The conversation between Karen and skinny wetsuit boob lady about the aiming circle was interesting, partially because it implies there isn't one way to play the game. More importantly, it isn't done in a way that might lead you to believe the writing staff is a bunch of middle schoolers, like having one player use a fucking sword in a shooter. So god damn stupid. It further reminds the viewer that while it may try to convince you the drama and shooting in the game feels real, it's ultimately just a simulation that's gone through rigorous play-testing to feel as real as possible. You aren't a skilled shooter because you can shoot people accurately in game. It's a fantasy, and SAO GGO Alternative's commitment to separating the two is absolutely fascinating.
Seasons 1 and 2 and the movie seemed to think that just making Kirito good at everything constituted good character writing but he lives a fantasy both inside and outside of the game. Nothing about him is grounded in the reality of the universe he lives in (impeccable charisma, irl harem master), or the games he plays (always wins, is always the hero). GGO Alternate's subversion of a consistent problem its predecessors had is mind-boggling, as this show nails it and it's a fucking spin-off.
It is no exaggeration to say that Karen is the best character in the entire franchise. she wins too easily, which appears to just be mandatory for SAO protagonists, but overall she's the only character that I feel any emotion from. You know, other than irritation, loathing, or boredom.
EPISODE 5: IT BEGINS
Why can her gun talk? Why did her teammate lose his mind like that over pretty much nothing? What the fuck was that?
It's difficult to justify how a well-practiced player managed to miss Karen from point-blank range twice. Why did she try to shoot at Karen's head? That's the only thing that Karen can move! Also how did she miss at point-blank range if she's so good with guns she can catch a mag in the loading chamber THAT SOMEONE THREW AT HER?
I guess at episode 5 it suddenly remembers its SAO and starts throwing in all the bad writing and schlock that characterized the first 3 entries in the franchise. I mean this is getting REALLY stupid, REALLY fast.
I feel like that cover thing is kinda broken. if that dude can just wear an invincible shield, then everyone would use one. It would basically neutralize any bullets that aren't extremely high-caliber. As a result, no one would use lower-caliber bullets, and everyone would run around with high-caliber rifles. After all, why bother with a pistol when it can't pierce anyone's chest? You'd have to be a headshot master. In which, case snipers would rule. That shield thing really shouldn't have made it past playtesting. it would've fucked up balance within a couple matches. He didn't say anything about it making the user unusually slow or it being very heavy so it makes their carrying capacity lower to give it an associated trade-off, so I have to assume it’s a totally broken mobile bulletproof shield.
EPISODES 10-12: CRESCENDO OF MADNESS
If Shino took damage from blood loss after losing her hands, why didn't Pito take blood loss damage from getting shot in the head? What kind of fucking sense does that make? Are you telling me that if you're shot in the head and magically survive with 1 hp left, you don't take blood loss significant enough to kill you within 5 minutes? Yet Shino lost a quarter of her health within 1 to 2 minutes. And don't tell me it's because her foot and hands were shot off. You can survive longer without your hands and feet than you can if someone punches a bullet sized hole through the middle of your skull. So do you only take blood loss damage if you aren't shot in the head? Isn't the idea behind that that you would just die instantly rather than bleeding out? If your hands and feet are shot off, you'd die of blood loss but the rest of your body can still function. If you're shot in the head, uh you still bleed a lot. Also it kinda severely damages the brain, which you kinda need to send signals to the rest of your body to move your muscles, breathe, and produce blood. So how does it make sense that you don't suffer from blood loss from getting shot in the head? CAN YOU SAY PLOT ARMOR?
WHAT IS WITH THE TALKING GUN AND WHY DOES IT ONLY HAPPEN IN 3 EPISODES? ALSO WHY DO MULTIPLE GUNS THAT ONLY KAREN USES TALK? WHAT???
Every other character we've seen get shot in the head died pretty much instantly. Pito surviving that is the definition of plot armor.
I guess if you have a villain that's crazy for no reason, you can justify them destroying their own vehicle by saying "well, they're crazy." That's not a valid defense! There's no logic behind anything she does! Pito is a villain that is a villain because the writers said she was a villain. Nothing she does makes her evil. She didn't actually kill anyone like the guy from SAO 1 did (he was at least responsible for every death even if he didn't kill anyone directly). She just said she would. If she was actually that crazy, she probably would have murdered several people irl by now. Why would she wait until now and hinge it on the outcome of a tournament? Because the plot says that is what happens. It doesn't make sense and nothing she does is motivated by anything because her character has zero development.
Everything we know about her is told to us rather than shown. I haven't seen her do anything that I'd call evil. Killing her allies in a game isn't evil. It's stupid, but there's no crime being committed. Her character is a complete shitshow of bad writing, bad plot structure, bad storytelling, and hackneyed tropes that only seem to rear their head when a poorly thought out villain is in play.
Also at around 16:48 (I apparently forgot to note which episode, but its almost certainly episode 11 or 12), Shino is shown to have recovered nearly all her health despite losing ALL OF HER HANDS AND FEET. HOW THE FUCK DID THAT HAPPEN?
Why would you lose HP when you're lying in water not deep enough to even cover your ears? Is the water full of flesh-eating parasites??
OH MY GOD HER FUCKING TALKING GUN BLEW UP IN THE ENEMY'S HANDS TO PROTECT HER. IT IS SENTIENT, CAN TALK, AND CAN BLOW ITSELF UP TO PROTECT ITS USER. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
The main character's talking gun blows itself up in its enemy's hand so Pito can't shoot Karen with it. This is obviously retarded. It's also never explained. This show just has a sentient talking gun and doesn't think to explain it.
There's no deeper reason for Pito being crazy. She just is that way. Usually in a show that wasn't written by a bunch of chimpanzees, there's some event from the character's past or childhood that traumatized them and made the way they are. This is not so for Pito. The writers couldn't be bothered to even do that much.
Also, everyone and their mom could have guessed who Pito was outside the game. It was too obvious.
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TL;DR: SAO GGO A is bad. But, the first 4 episodes are genuinely good. Watch the first 4 episodes and then bail.
Episodes 1-4: 7/10
Episodes 5-9: 4/10
Episodes 10-12: 1/10
Overall: 4/10
