Review of Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online

I feel like SAO gets more flack than it should. Yes its subpar writing and questionable character choices leave a lot to be desired, but given its impact on the anime community by popularizing the medium during its run in 2012, it's time we let up on the abuse, right? No? Ok... Alright how about this, we have an alternative version to one of the more disappointing arcs in the series that's actually good. Sound good? Story: Rather than focusing on the series's resident (insert adjective here) god of gaming, Kazuya Kirigaya, GGO alternative instead focuses on Kohiruimaki Karen, a nineteen year old college student who has aheight complex due to being abnormally tall compared to most girls her age. After being told by a friend the magic of VR and how you can become anything and anyone you want, Karen finds herself playing GGO with a short and cute avatar named LLENN, and in a plot that sort of goes to the wayside in her journey towards self-confidence.

The big thing to note here with GGO alternative is its sense of scale. Written by Keiichi Sigsawa of Kino's Journey fame, Alternative dials back the death plots and substantially larger scale stories that SAO was known for. No more die in the game die in real life, no more people trapped in a game, no death plot with a string of murders; just a simple story about one woman trying to find self-confidence in herself and preventing a psychopath from committing suicide. What? Despite having a different author and different characters, Alternative still manages to be an entry of the SAO franchise by throwing in a massive curveball halfway through that hurts the overall product as a result. It's because of this that Alternative shoots itself in the foot and ends up with an easily predictable outcome that does kill the suspense of the climax the closer it gets to it.

Despite that, Alternative still manages to be a massively entertaining show, bringing forth the largely unexplored world of GGO and providing gunfight scenes in a battle royale scenario that're focused more on tactics and skill rather than running in with a lightsaber and cutting down hordes of mook players. The gunfights for the most part feel exciting and it was way more fun seeing LLENN and her comrades fight using as many resources as they could, manipulate game mechanics, all in the name of coming out on top. Admittedly there are certain moments that I fail to understand the logic behind (What the actual hell happened in Ep. 11), but the fights are definitely exciting and it's nice to see the world of GGO get more depth as to how the FPSVRMMOVG works, as details like that were absent in the original.

Alternative is a definite improvement over the original in terms of story content. The plot is simple and doesn't have ridiculously high stakes so things are grounded, and the fight scenes are much so the action feels tense and smarter, as tactics play a big part. Not only that, but the divide of "Game" and "The Real World" come up quite often, which is a plus since its parent series never seemed to put much emphasis on that divide till much, much later. However, its flaws with plot predictability, weird curveball in the middle, and a bunch of strange plot progression choices do leave some things to be desired.

Overview:
+ Smaller scale makes for more personalized story
+ Very nicely tactical fights
- Weird plot points sometimes
- Obviously predictable at times

Characters:

Kohiruimaki Karen, or LLENN, is a character who despite being the protagonist, doesn't really get the attention I think she deserves. As someone who has anxiety as a result of being too tall for her age and sex, her escape to GGO builds up her confidence over the course of the series, which translates to the real world as LLENN starts to bleed into her personality. That being said, Karen doesn't really get the level of development that I would've preferred, as though she's the protagonist, she's thrown to the wayside in the second half in favor for development of showing off the series's antagonist, a choice that while helps develop the other side, hurts Karen by having a character arc that plateaus. The show does make up for this by giving Karen a lot of personality when she gets screentime, and that does actually make up a fair chunk of what she ultimately misses out on development.

On the opposite side is our antagonistic character, Pitohui, who is (in layman terms) FUCKING INSANE. And I love it. First seen as a more eccentric character, Pito's madness with her personality slowly feeds itself into the series, maxing out at the climax to give us a level of sadistic bliss that, while terrifying, really explodes with the amount of character she has. Her obsession with death is the cornerstone of her personality, and Alternative goes to great lengths in order to show this. This, coupled with her desire to have a no holds barred fight against Karen makes for such a nice rivalry that the show used for a brutal climax that felt more impactful than it honestly should've been. (Though I suppose e-sports does get pretty hype.)

Side characters are an interesting bunch. Alternative's side cast includes an entire team of players that goes by the name SHINC, Pito's lackey, M, and Karen's friend, Fuka, who got her into VR. Rather than character development, these characters have personality, enriching the cast by their interactions with Karen and overall contribution to the story. Other characters matter less, as they're mostly mook teams for the battle royale, and get less attention as a result.

Overview:
+ Fun cast
- Karen gets thrown to the wayside in the second half

Art:

For once we have an entry of the SAO series was not produced by A-1 pictures, and as such, we don't have the usual shine and shimmer that came with the beautiful world of Aincrad once upon a time. In the hands of Studio 3Hz, known for Sora no Method and Flip Flappers, Alternative in simple terms, is a watered down version of the SAO artstyle.

The quality of the show is average, and the usually muddy world of GGO that was previously established doesn't leave much to be desired. This however is counteracted by the different arenas used in the battle royales, which give us different environments in one giant stage that ups the diversity we get with the show's colors and backgrounds. Exceptions include the detail of the guns used on closeup (and there are a lot of guns), as well as a face shot for any character who's down sniping. Because these still look objectively better than everything else.

I think the real star though is the animation. It's not sakuga, but the action is so quick with the rapid bouts of gunfire from Karen's P-90 and the unusually massive amount of brutality with the combatants fighting up close that I thought at times it was better than most of the swordfights from SAO. The show is constant action from the plot consisting of two battle royales stacked back to back, and while the art is nothing to write home about, just seeing what was happening and moving on screen was really exciting to watch.

Overview:
+ AMAZING ACTION
+/- Average art quality

Sound:

Eir Aoi's "Ryuusei" is a perfect representation of the series, a moderate tempo that slowly builds up to a drop that echoes the amount of fighting and action that occurs in this series. It's very SAO sounding, and its high energy prepares the audience for what's to come and actually rivals in quality with any of the OPs that its parent had. By comparison, we have "To see the future", sung by Karen's VA, which is by comparison less energy and a lot...happier. It's a weird counterpart to the OP that would feel out of place if it wasn't for Karen wanting to have a cute avatar to rival her stature in the real world. It's not a bad piece, it just feels out of place, especially when presented after a cliffhanger.

Personal Enjoyment:

I think SAO has been beaten enough. After the franchise had its first season, its raved popularity was then subjected to abuse for both the series and those who liked it because its protagonist of a blank slate with plot armor and unfulfilled world building left it to critical criticism that while deserved for its less than stellar aspects, is not nearly as bad as what so many people make it out to be. (There are worse things out there, people.) As such, when Alternative was announced, I prayed, hoped that this would be a redemption the series desperately needed and that people would let up on beating one of the most influential series of the 2010 era.

And THANK GOD IT WAS. Alternative while still bearing a lot of traits that is commonly seen with the rest of the SAO series, was exciting to watch and had so many things about it that makes me feel happy that for once, people actually praise an entry of the SAO series. Its mix of personality and action gave it its own identity, and as someone who is a fan of more tactical fights than two powers duking it out with massive power spikes, I found myself invested in the loadouts and strategies the characters' used, which made the series all the more exciting to me. Like seriously, these people manipulated the game's mechanics. All Kazuto did back in GGO was run headfirst and lightsaber deflect stormtrooper aim and hack into the mainframe to basically 'cheat the system'.

As a recommendation, this show is definitely worth the price of admission. It takes SAO and (for lack of better phrasing), actually makes it objectively good. The irony of this is the fact that a completely different author and not the original creator is pretty much the sole reason why Alternative trumps the original, but if that makes the series better, than that's a necessary evil that has to be done.