Sword Art Online II Review — D+

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Kirito continues doing swordplay with girls.

Well, I honestly thought the first half wasn’t that bad. By itself it would probably get a C+. It was sure dumb, and I made fun of it a lot with my fanfiction, but it was a big improvement over the first season. We actually had a conflict with some stakes again, and Sinon was a decent character. Even if her fear of guns was retarded and there was an unhealthy fixation on her ass and she fell in love with Kirito for no reason… But hey, I was mostly entertained for the first half.

Then the second half of the series came along. Good lord. What a waste of everyone’s time. First we had a completely pointless arc back in fairy land. And then we have this arc with the girl getting AIDs. They were both pretty pointless. I guess the AIDs arc added to Asuna’s “character development” but they easily could have found a better, less heavy-handed way of doing so. Plus, it mostly just makes Asuna seem like a spoiled brat. She’s oppressed by her mother because her mother wants her to stop playing video games and eat dinner with her. And we’re supposed to be taking Asuna’s side here…? What? They try to make it less “ambiguous” and have us see Asuna’s side more by having her mother look comically evil and try to force her into an arranged marriage but come on… these are separate issues…

Basically, it sucked. Although the first half was surprisingly decent. Can’t wait for Season 3 and more fanfics!

  • Storytelling – D – Decent in first half, then fell apart.
  • Voice – D – Lots of sexual innuendo?
  • Characters – F – Certainly not this show’s strong point…
  • Attention Grab – D – Ok in first half, boring in second.
  • Production – B – Looks fine.
  • Overall – D+

Recommendations – .Hack//Sign, Guilty Crown, Log Horizon

12 thoughts on “Sword Art Online II Review — D+

  1. “Sinon was a decent character. Even if her fear of guns was retarded and there was an unhealthy fixation on her ass and she fell in love with Kirito for no reason… ”
    So she was a terrible character. I can’t really see how the 1st half can be considered entertaining, it’s full of ridiculously long info dumps/cringeworthy dialogue and the dilapidated setting of GGO is boring to look at.

    “Plus, it mostly just makes Asuna seem like a spoiled brat. She’s oppressed by her mother because her mother wants her to stop playing video games and eat dinner with her”
    She was trying to seperate her from her friends and husbando by sending her to a different school, that’s why we’re supposed to feel for her. Still makes for a dull conflict though.

    Overall I think it’s just as shitty as the first season, albeit for different reasons. First season at it’s worst was just plain offensive, but this was just pointless.

    1. She was a terrible character but compared to Yukki and friends she was decent.

      I don’t feel for Asuna at all, I agree with her mother. She shouldn’t be playing video games all day and this school only encourages it.

      Plain offensive is entertaining though (or at least good fanfiction material), pointless isn’t.

      1. that’s true, if you think of it from an entertainment perspective this was a far worse season. I guess you can chalk that up to less things happening per episode

    2. She was trying to seperate her from her friends and husbando by sending her to a different school, that’s why we’re supposed to feel for her. Still makes for a dull conflict though.

      Isn’t that how MMOs… hell the internet works? Even with distance and time people can still hang out and be the friends and shit? It would have been something hella meaningful if the SAO harem cult live far away from one another and connect through the VRMMO because distance and time and stuff. Hell, .hack// did that idea better on that idea alone.

      But no. The SAO Harem Cult all go to the same school, live sorta in the same city limits, and meet with each other IRL every single day but prefer hanging out in VRMMOs doing mundane things like homework and watching Kirito fight in another VRMMO through the VRMMO. (It’s like the VRMMO is a serious part of their life that without it they would wither and die) Hell, all they do IRL anyway talking about Vidya and how much Kirito is so awesome.

      So overall… Asuna still has her VRMMO and Gaming, just in a different location and time from the others. Maybe the reason Asuna is too worried that with her separating herself from the cult, Kirito would lose interest in her and settle for the next girl in line. Maybe Sinon or Leafa depending on who can stroke his ego more.

      1. Exactly. They meet up in the real world and just talk about what they do in the video game. Does it really even matter if she moves? Kirito and Asuna are more intimate in the video game world than in real life anyway.

  2. I have no idea about the second half, but man, did GGO suck hard! I actually dropped it sometime at the cave scene. I just couldn’t stand any more of this bullshit, contrived trauma, puke-worthy tsundere antics and retarded storytelling. I’m not going to come back for the third series, if it’s ever made, that’s for sure.

    1. Yeah, but GGO was soo much better than the first season and the second half of this one. Surprised you didn’t drop it last season…

      1. Your jokes are not funny. SAO S1 could at least be watched without yawning. It’s also pretty well animated all throughout. UNLIKE GGO where the animation is almost non-existent, nothing happens on screen for episodes on end and the two mains become ridiculous caricatures. For the viewer it’s either a slow death from boredom or a slow death from irritation.

  3. Dunno. I actually found it quite a reasonable arc with Asuna’s conflict with her mother. Wouldn’t you resent someone if not just be downright rebellious because your mother tried to hook you up with a corporate douche who tried to rape you in his own video game? Of course her mother probably was not aware of those details but still….

    I’d say this season overall was a marginal improvement from the first. At least it wasn’t all about Kirito pubstomping everyone.

    1. I can understand Asuna forging her own future. I LIKE that she wants to. But it’s that for one… her world simply just revolves around Kirito. I have yet to see her carry on things herself and made something of a future using the VRMMM she got. At least with Kirito, he actually did something for his future that was linked with his VRMMO obsession and social justice. Asuna? No. I can understand her drive if Asuna became her own character outside of Kirito… maybe using her cooking skills to become a chef, or maybe something involving being a tech-savvy businesswoman.

      But her only wish is to make her uncaring husubando (who probably only is using her for VR connections) and her uncaring husubando’s back-ups happy. I’m gonna say it now. She is fine that she wants to forge her own future. She just has a crappy future and her obsessive selfishness is getting in the way.

    2. Maybe, but I would actually tell my mother about it and then maybe she’d think twice. When Asuna treats her arranged marriage as equivalent to her mom telling her to stop playing video games and eat supper with the family I don’t have much sympathy.

      Yeah, Kirito was a bit less annoying in this season.

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