Sword Art Online II

Episodes 1-8

I have mixed feelings about Sword Art Online II.

It didn't used to be this way. With the original Sword Art Online, it was easy. Kirito and nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine other unlucky gamers get trapped in a virtual world, if you die in the game you die in real life, defeat the game to escape the world. A simple, engaging premise that the series then proceeded to squander through a variety of damaging missteps - by diverting from that core narrative to dance through a series of unrelated vignettes, by failing to build tension in its central action scenes, and, most importantly, by refusing to let Kirito be an interesting character. Though the show initially defined him as “good at games, but bad with people,” the narrative itself ended up defining him as “god-savior of all beings, charming in peace, terrifying in battle, a force of pure dramatic victory.”

And then the second half of the season actually made me miss the first half, by losing whatever dramatic tension the first half had and replacing it with… lots of sexual assault scenes. Sword Art Online has always had a problem with both ogling at and denying agency to its female characters, but the Alfheim arc really doubled down on that instinct. Asuna, the love interest who'd actually expressed some real competence in the first half, was reduced to a literal princess in a cage, a goal/victory condition for Kirito. The story included at least one prolonged tentacle-assault scene, and concluded with a villain who literally licked the tears off her face. A villain that Kirito then proceeded to torture to near-death, a scene that was framed such that the audience was supposed to enjoy it.

In short, things got pretty bad.

In light of that, my expectations at the beginning of season two were somewhat muted. Fortunately, so far it seems like season two is actually trying to make up for the original's mistakes. In contrast to Kirito's shapeless personality from the first season, he's now directly grappling with the trauma of season one's events. As opposed to the vaguely defined fantasy world of SAO, Gun Gale Online is a clearly articulated shooter, with rules established such that the audience can actually follow the action scenes. And instead of the show vaguely alluding to themes of digital identity that are never meaningfully explored, season two is consistently reflecting on its big central questions. How “real” are the choices you make in a game? Are they reflective of your fundamental self, or something apart from it?

The meat of those questions is primarily illustrated through the conflict between Kirito's philosophy and the feelings of new heroine Sinon. While Kirito has entered Gun Gale Online in order to track down a cyber-killer (Japan's cyber-crime department apparently makes a habit of relying on emotionally damaged teenagers), Sinon plays in order to get over the real-life trauma of shooting a man in self-defense. Whereas Kirito has always believed that virtual worlds are valid “realities,” and that your actions in them are reflective of who you are, Sinon enjoys games specifically because she can imagine there is a distance there. They are a place where she can adopt the persona she wants to inhabit, and safely use the weapons that terrify her in the mundane world.

This is a compelling conflict! Themes that are both relevant to the real world and reflective of innate character beliefs are generally a very good thing! This is a tremendous step up from the first season, and actually gives the viewer something tangible to latch on to. The main problem is that, in spite of Sword Art Online's attempts to reform and elevate its material, the original material it's elevating is pretty hard to lift. Kirito dwells on post-traumatic stress based in events we never knew about, while ignoring his single most terrifying action - that time he tortured a man for imprisoning his girlfriend. Kirito's prior characterization hangs like an albatross around his neck, making emotional investment in his current, out-of-the-blue issues a difficult thing to manage. Additionally, the dialogue is still shaky throughout, a problem that can be highlighted by the sometimes melodramatic direction.

But there are other things to enjoy here! Sword Art Online has always been a visually engaging show, and this season has definitely stepped it up on that front. In addition to the usual gorgeous backgrounds and solid animation, the show's action scenes have improved significantly, featuring energetic direction and just enough exposition to provide necessary dramatic context. Sinon's introductory episode in particular is pretty much a perfect action vignette, but the show in general instantly improves whenever it transitions into an action scene. As pure entertainment, Sword Art Online tends to work even when its hackneyed writing is otherwise dragging it down - it's a mixed bag of parts, but the shiny ones generally justify the ones that pinch your fingers.

So that's where we're at right now. Sword Art Online II stands as a work attempting to escape the shadow of its predecessor - flawed in many ways, but also possessing a legitimate ambition I have to respect. Its character drama is questionable and sometimes overstated, but its action scenes propel it forward, and there's always the hope that it will pull together into something legitimately affecting. It's an uphill battle, but I'm rooting for SAO. And at the very least, it is certainly always pretty.

Rating: C+

Sword Art Online II is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Nick writes about anime, storytelling, and the meaning of life at Wrong Every Time.