Sword Art Online II

Sword art online has become a love hate sort of situation for so many fans. The first half of series one was amazing. Character development, Asuna and Kirito’s relationship, and the storyline were just great. Nothing we have really seen before and yet the second half was so underwhelming. But we still watched it though. It was worth watching but of course there were so many unnecessary elements. The largest, most ridiculous was Sugu of course. Every fan was tired of her. We all needed more Asuna but you know, you can’t get everything you want out of life. But alas, out of the blue, there has emerged Sword Art Online II.

One can only wonder, “What could possibly happen now”. Before watching and noticing the trend of things, we know that there has to be something going terribly wrong in the virtual gaming world. But, “what” is the question. My hopes for the second series are that, (1) it doesn’t become Shojo/ Slice of life like. That would be way to dull and I cannot handle childish relationships in anime. Just makes me feel uncomfortable. I have no idea why though. (2) Petty friendships cannot come between Asuna and Kirito. There should be no confusions between them. When I say this, I only have one person in mind and that’s Kirito’s cousin/sister Sugu. We don’t need her. No one needs her. Just stop. Also, (3) the progression of the anime needs to be moderate. Things need to be happening. It needs to remind us of the fanciful and have the sort of action and objective a video game has. Too much time spent in the real world will become too dull and the very title will just be reminiscent of something that once was and will never be again.

So I did in fact, reluctantly, watch the first episode of Sword Art Online II. I know I was going to have mixed feelings about it from the very beginning so I am trying my hardest not to be too critical. ForneverWorld rated the episode an 8/10 but I don’t think I could do that personally. All the old problems that the first season had are done away with for the most part, except that of death in a MMO. Kirito has nothing to do with it but of course, the first person to have seen him at the hospital after the whole debacle is there to make him involved. Besides that, the episode is comprised of catching up, talking on a bench, and future thoughts of Kirito and Asuna as they canoodle. I personally feel it was lacking. Mainly because nothing really happened. At most, we know Kirito will pretty much be acting as an undercover agent to go into an fps looking game to figure out the coincidences of players dying at gunfire within the game. I must wonder though, how will Asuna be a part of this? And how will the show balance his life within the game and outside of it. Not much to say really, I know. But like I said, “Underwhelming”.