Review of Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online
Sword Art Online or SAO for short is the most polarising anime series of all time. It is the definition a series that you will either love or hate. Like with many people on net I have a very low option of Sword Art Online because it was a terrible series. While I don’t completely despise the series anymore mainly because I have seen anime that are in my opinion worse than Sword Art Online it is still a series that I really dislike with a passion When I first heard about this series being announced a couple moths back after I watched the painfully subpar SwordArt Online movie I was really excited to check it out. The main reason why I really excited for this is because that they are completely removing three of the nasty SAO elements that made the franchise such a piece of shit.
The first nasty element of SAO which the spinoff removed was the Gary Sue preaching idiot Kirito who is by far one of the worst anime protagonists to ever exist from this medium.
The second nasty element of SAO which the spinoff removed is that it was going to be done by A1 Picture aka the EA of Anime. There’s honestly not much to say on this part because if you have seen any almost anime from A1 Pictures you would know incompetent the studio and the staff are.
The final nasty element of SAO which the spinoff removed is that it was going to be written by one of the worst writers ever Rei Kawahara which was honestly the best part about that anncoument because the spinoff is actually going be done a more talented writer Keiichi Sigawa who also did the Kino’s franchise.
With all of these nasty elements of SAO killed off in the spinoff I thought the spinoff could how a different and more appealing light to a series where many other such as myself hate. Now watching all 12 episodes of this spinoff as well the hilarious recap episode I have to say this
This show is a terrible SAO spinoff however on its own Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online is a pretty good anime its own right that barely functions as typical SAO product. Now with that all said hello everyone this is Shawn aka KurataLordStage and welcome to my review of Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online and with that out of the way let’s begin.
Story.
The story follows a Tokyo university student named Karen Kohiruimaki, who's insecure about her height and an introvert. One day, she decides to join GGO on the advice of a friend in order to improve her self-esteem, using the name LLENN. Along the way, she makes friends as she plays the game with other GGO players and fight against hostile players aka PKers and monsters.
Not gonna a lie I thought the story was pretty good for the most part.
Right out the gate this anime makes a great first impression by introducing our main character Karen or LLENN who is trying to adapt to her new surroundings in the Gun Gale Online where instead of being this overpowered Mary Sue she actually takes her time to understand the game as trying to find escapism from the real world thanks to her height complex.
The one thing that really loved about this anime is how it was able to present all of it’s game machermise to the audience to a point where anyone can understand the game machemes as well what it has to offer to the player.
Unlike the original SAO series were all the games that were featured in that series were fundamentally broken thanks to poor world-building and poorly explained game mechanics Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online actually takes it’s time to build its world in the game of Gun Gale Online where it actually propley explains the games mechanics from battle locations, weapon types, weapon attachments, battle tactics, etc. This alone really makes the world of Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online feel alive. It’s not just worldbuiding though. The dialogue too is great as it prefects captures the tone of the battle royal setting where character are seen actually communicating with other and working together instead of being edgy solo players in a battle royal game.
Also the way the characters in the show interact while playing the battle royal game is great as they all feel like actually gamers who would like to work together to accomplish they goal from talking about stragicly, saving teammates from death, actually honouring squad mates deaths with respect etc. These are the type of stuff that I want to see more in a anime that has a MMORPG/ Battle Royal Setting.
Another thing that I liked about SAO Alternative Gun Gale Online it how self-aware it is. VR Gaming being overall better it still has that issue where the game uses RNG to create an avatar that’s she want by failing with hilarious results thanks to her height.
As much I want to continue praising the show with its solid writing and theme exploration I have now address some of the show issues. While the problems in Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online not series breaking issue still had a couple of issues that I couldn’t ignore at all.
Issue 1. Plot armour. I will admit the plot armour is not as a big problem here when compare to the original Sword Art Online series by Reki Kawahara there were some plot armour moments in the show that kinda upset me. For example in episode 5 after Eva shooting down P chan she literally gets angry and fight backs hand to hand combat Kirito style killing Eva in the progress. I understand that the show want’s to showcase the aggressive hand to hand combat in the series but this was just a cheap and lazy to do it.
Issue 2. Weapon damage constantly. Like with Issue 1 it wasn’t really a big problem however they was a certain battle that bother me and that is one of Fukaziroh Grenade Launcher bullet’s did not explode the target’s face on impact. Grenade Launcher bullet’s don’t work like this. Unless she has some special type of grenade launcher that would not explode on impact where the show never tells us that she has bullets like that her shooting out the bland grenade launcher was an asspull and never explained.
While issues 1 and 2 were minor problems that the issue 3 one really made me upset quite a bit of how the show even kept one of it’s SAO elements from the Aincrad arc and that is if you die in the game you die in real life bullshit.
The moment when M said that in episode 5 the show kinda lost me because as a person who dislikes main original series of SAO I went into to this series expecting a fun battle royal spinoff that doesn’t feature any of the shitty SAO elements. Luckly that shitty SAO element only affects one to two characters and while everyone is safe from dying in real life by a video game. Speaking of episode 5 the whole episode was out of context and contrived. This was defiantly a low point from this spinoff but least it’s not as bad as any arc in the original SAO series.
Overall I thought the story was pretty above average. It may have some issues but I don’t think they were series breaking like in the original series.
7/10
Characters.
When it comes to the characters of Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online I thought they were pretty good. They may not be well written but they were all fun, interesting and entertaining characters that I liked.
Karen is a pretty solid protagonist overall. Unlike Kirito her reasoning to escape into video games is more justice as she doesn’t like her own height in the real world so to counteract this she goes to GGO and upon surprise the game let’s her be that cute small girl that she’s always wanted to be. This doesn’t stop there she also discovers that she is genuinely enjoys being in that game and because of that GGO becomes her escapism from the real world. This is how you write a character who wants’ escapism in the real world through video games. Also unlike Kirito she actually a interesting character who develops quite a bit in the show by meeting new friends, and rivals that are in GGO.
The rest of characters were pretty solid overall and while they are not excually well written characters because come on this is SAO after all but least the other characters in this show are fun, entertaining and at time interesting compare to any character in the original series.
8/10
Visuals.
Visually Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online is pretty good overall. Yes it may have it’s art failures every now and then but least this show for the most remained consistent.
The characters designs are good for what they are as they look like avatars that you will see in a MMORPG games that features heavy use of guns. The background scenery for both in the game and real world is very polish and well detailed.
The animation is on the other hand is well animated and unlike the original SAO series there was no instance of messy animation.
Sound.
The may come off as unpopular opinion here but really like the soundtrack in SAO Alternative Gun Gale Online more than the original series mainly because apart from swordland, confront battle and some others tracks the soundtrack for original series were not that memorable but that just me.
The soundtrack for Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online is great that is filed with techno, Sci-Fi and gaming tracks that blends well with the overall setting and scenes of the show.
The opening theme Ryuusei by Aoi Eir is a fantastic and catchy opening theme that was a joy to watch.
The ending theme To see the future by the Seiyuu of Karen Tomori Kusunoki is a great ending theme despite being different in tone.
The voice acting in this show is top notice as you expect as every Seiyuu in the show did a great job with the roles that they were given.
Hopefully this show will get an English Dub sometime in the future.
10/10
Final Thoughts.
I was honestly shocked of how good Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online. Yes it had quite a bit of issues alone the way but they were not constant problems that plagued the original anime to the bottom. The story while having some issues was still fun and entertaining. The characters ranged from good, entertaining to decent, the visuals were great and the soundtrack was awesome. As a person who doesn’t like Sword Art Online this was a good and fun experience that showcased a bit of light from this rabbit hole of a series that people like to make fun off.
If you haven’t seen anything Sword Art Online releated or if you hate the Reki Kawahara side of SAO then I recommend Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online. It may not be one of the better animes of the year but it was still a fairly good show that I liked for the most part.
Final Score 7.5/10