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Year: 2014
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science fiction
Episodes: 24
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
What is your love for video games? If you lived in a game for two years and managed to survive, would you keep playing it? Would you be able to adapt back to the real world, or would your senses always be drawn to that world?
After a year of adapting back to the real world, would you decide to take the ultimate leap back into a new game? A game that is entirely different from the one you played. One that now has guns as the central theme. Would you still play it, or would you decide to stay away? What would happen if one of the players had the power that if he killed you in the game, it killed you in real life? Would you still play it?
What if the said player was someone from your past, and you were the only one capable of stopping them? Would you leap at the chance to finally stop evil once and for all?
Overview:
A year after escaping the world of Sword Art Online, Kazuto Kirigaya has settled back in the real world with his girlfriend Asuna Yuuki and the rest of the survivors he met in SAO and Alfheim Online (ALO). Kazuto’s peaceful life suddenly changes when a government agent asks him for his help with an investigation and a new game.
A new game called Gun Gale Online has become a new popular game in Japan. Players use all types of guns to take out their challengers. After one of the most famous tournaments in Gun Gale Online, the winner gives an interview. A player named Death Gun appears in a bar while watching the broadcast. Death Gun points his gun at the TV screen and pulls the trigger in front of the bar. The winner suddenly logs out of the game. A few days later, the winner is dead in the real world.
Kazuto is approached by the government to assist in investigating the murders. Kazuto decides to help with the investigation and becomes his persona of Kirito and logs into Gun Gale Online, intent on stopping the killer. Once logged in, Kirito meets Sinon, a highly skilled and respected sniper afflicted by a traumatic past. She is soon dragged in the chase of Death Gun. Together they enter the Bullet of Bullets, a tournament where all the top players are sure to appear. As Kirito tries to stop Death Gun, little does he know that his past is from his life in SAO will finally stare him in the face until only one survives.
Series Breakdown:
The story of Sword Art Online II picks up a year after where Sword Art Online left off. Everything seems simple, as many of the characters are trying to get back to normal life even though they still play the game that they were trapped in. The overall story of Sword Art Online II is split up into three arcs. The first arc deals with the new game Gun Gale Online and Kirito’s quest to stop a murderer. The second arc deals with Kirito and his group going after the legendary sword of Excalibur. The third and final arc deals with Asuna befriending a named Yuuki, who is suffering from a terminal illness.
The first arc of SAO II was terrific. The storyline was great and captivating. The idea of a person in a game killing a person who played the game but dies in the real world, was very entertaining. I like the aspects of using guns as the theme game. It gave it the Call of Duty feel to the story. The element of Kirito’s past coming back to haunt him was a great tie into the previous season. Things went downhill in the second arc. It took the feel of life and death out of the story. It replaced it with a story about finding a legendary sword that Kirito already had access to from the previous season. Waste of time. The third arc was sad because it dealt with death in the real world and how a team of terminally ill kids wanted their names to be remembered forever. I like how the focus shifted from Kirito to Asuna. If it wasn’t for the middle arc, this would have been a nice little sequel. The middle arc felt like it slowed down and even stopped the overall development of the story. I would’ve either added more episodes to the Gun Gale Online arc or the Yuuki arc because those stories actually had a ton of emotion in them.
Even though many of the characters didn’t change, the introduction of Sinon, Death Gun, and Yuuki were great additions. Sinon’s character was perfect for the Gun Gale Online. She is a badass in the game world but is heavily flawed in the real world. The reason she gives on why she is playing the game is perfect. Her backstory is pretty messed up, which adds to the overall story. Death Gun is the ideal villain for Kirito in the first arc. He is presented as a skeletal player with the power to kill people in the real world. His tie into Kirito’s past is tremendous and adds on the mysterious element to the story. Finally, Yuuki is a nice addition to put more light on Asuna’s story. She is a badass in the game world but finds out she has a terminal disease in the real world. Her only way of living life to the fullest is to play the game. The fight between her and Kirito is excellent if only Kirito went all out like his life depended on it.
The entire new characters in the Excalibur arc were pointless. From the flying elephant/moose like creature to the gods that battle to the program that introduced the quest, it was all pointless, and they were meaningless. Once again, the time in creating those characters could’ve gone to the backstories of the characters in the Yuuki arc. That would’ve been more entertaining but sad.
Overall, Sword Art Online II was a pretty good anime to watch and continue the original storyline. The Guns Gale Online Arc is a great arc to watch as it plays off of Kirito’s past while introducing a Call of Duty atmosphere. The Yuuki arc is excellent as it goes deeper into the world of Asuna. She deserved a series as she seemed to have put in a sideline role for several arcs. The anime could’ve done without the Excalibur arc, which is a waste of time and adds NOTHING to the storyline. If you can get through the second arc, it is a friendly and entertaining anime.
