The first arc of this season is OKAY. It drags probably a bit longer than it needs to and the writing is sometimes pretty lackluster. Death Gun is a lame name for a villain to begin with but when you pair it with awful lines like "My name is Death Gun. This is my gun, Death Gun" it gets pretty eye roll inducing. It's also a bit convenient and hard to believe that Kirito would dive right into another game, not tell Asuna wtf is going on and she'd not follow him or have any strong objections. Asuna felt very underrepresented in this arc as a whole. However, there's a good amount of action, a likable new character and the same solid animation, visuals and music we've come to expect from this series.
It's a bit frustrating that the relationship between Kirito and Asuna, which was far and away the most important and most emphasized aspect of the first season, seems to take a major step back in this arc for whatever reason. Kirito lets another girl lay on his lap without thinking twice about it, he promises this same girl he will think about her every time he uses his weapon and he then proceeds to introduce this girl to Asuna and refers to her as "my friend Asuna". I don't know about you, but if my wife introduced me to one of her friends or coworkers as "my friend" I'd definitely have a thing or two to say about it... However, as if they never skipped a beat, the relationship is back in full swing in the final arc of this season, which in a way makes it feel a bit disjointed.
Many secondary characters that were at least somewhat important in the first season take a major step back in Season 2. Kirito's sister, Lisbeth and Agil might as well not be there at all. They have very few lines and close to zero relevance this time around. I understand as the cast grows there's simply not enough lines or screen time for everyone, but again, in a disjointed kind of way, why did we bother developing these characters in the previous season if they just don't matter at all going forward?
What I loved about the final arc of Season 2- and is likely my favorite arc of the entire series thus far- is that it has way, way more emotional depth than I would typically expect from anything in the shounen genre. I definitely got hit in the feels and was tearing up a bit near the end and I thought they did a lovely job telling a compelling, emotional story that was at least within the realm of believable within the context of this world, albeit perhaps a bit convenient.
All things considered I felt Season 2 had better pacing and more emotional depth than its predecessor and was a worthy and enjoyable follow up to a series I liked the first time around. I'm looking forward to watching Season 3 sometime soon.
+Emotional depth
+Yuki Kajiura soundtrack
+Action/fights
+Strong voice acting
-Sometimes feels disjointed
-Several characters fade into the background
-Questionable moments in the Kirito/Asuna relationship
OBJECTIVE RATING- 8
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING- 8.25
