Sword Art Online II

A year after escaping Sword Art Online, Kazuto Kirigaya has been settling back into the real world. However, his peace is short-lived as a new incident occurs in a game called Gun Gale Online, where a player by the name of Death Gun appears to be killing people in the real world by shooting them in-game. Approached by officials to assist in investigating the murders, Kazuto assumes his persona of Kirito once again and logs into Gun Gale Online, intent on stopping the killer.

Once inside, Kirito meets Sinon, a highly skilled sniper afflicted by a traumatic past. She is soon dragged in his chase after Death Gun, and together they enter the Bullet of Bullets, a tournament where their target is sure to appear. Uncertain of Death Gun's real powers, Kirito and Sinon race to stop him before he has the chance to claim another life. Not everything goes smoothly, however, as scars from the past impede their progress. In a high-stakes game where the next victim could easily be one of them, Kirito puts his life on the line in the virtual world once more.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kirigaya, Kazuto Main

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Yuuki, Asuna Main

Tomatsu, Haruka Japanese

Asada, Shino Main

Sawashiro, Miyuki Japanese

Konno, Yuuki Main

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Yui Supporting

Itou, Kanae Japanese

Kirigaya, Suguha Supporting

Taketatsu, Ayana Japanese

Tsuboi, Ryoutarou Supporting

Hirata, Hiroaki Japanese

Ayano, Keiko Supporting

Hidaka, Rina Japanese

Shinozaki, Rika Supporting

Takagaki, Ayahi Japanese

Mills, Andrew Gilbert Supporting

Yasumoto, Hiroki Japanese

Miki, Kazuma Producer

Kashiwada, Shinichirou Producer

Futami, Yousuke Producer

Itou, Tomohiko Director

Reviews

Nov 1, 2024

chloethehuman11

Recommended

Being a fan of the series got me really hyped to start watching Sword Art Online II. The Phantom Bullet storyline was especially captivating with its action-packed scenes and interesting introduction of characters. The animation quality and combat sequences were so impressive that I couldn't look away from the screen.

Sometimes the flow seemed a bit off in parts of the story. Certain plotlines didn't resonate with me completely. Like the Fairy Dance arc wasn't quite up to par for my taste. Even though there were some scenes that brought back memories of why I originally fell in love with SA0; on the flip side ... there were also moments that felt less captivating and somewhat hurried.

Sword Art Online II was a bit of a mixed experience overall. There were definitely some highlights that fans of the series would enjoy. Also some disappointments along the way too. If you're a fan of the series though and looking for more SAO action to dive into; Its worth checking out despite the ups and downs you might encounter!

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jan 7, 2025

oKAIRIo

Mixed Feelings

Arc 1: Phantom Bullet (8/10) – Very action-packed with interesting world-building, especially for fans of the cyberpunk genre. By far the most entertaining arc.

Arc 2: Calibur (2/10) – Typical filler episodes that don't seem to contribute to the main storyline. It feels as though it just appears randomly out of nowhere.

Arc 3: Mother's Rosario (7/10) – Another side story, but a good one! Great character development, especially for Asuna. The only downside is that I only got hooked in the last 3 episodes; before that, it had a strong filler episode vibe. However, it’s definitely worth watching.

Overall, the story doesn’t connect well between arcs, and ... it felt disjointed during the second half. To make the experience more enjoyable, I’d recommend viewing it as separate arcs rather than a continuous storyline.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Nov 3, 2024

CaptainSalty

Not Recommended

The Gun Gale Arc was semi entertaining and had a decent amount of fun action with some character building for Sinon. Sword Art Online again presents a very unique world for us to immerse ourselves into. As someone who played the Fatal Bullet game, I do believe this is a contender behind Aincrad for the best world this series gives us. As for the substance of the season itself, the GGO part was by far the only real part that felt anything worth watching. Again, the second half is taken up by a filler segment and an uninteresting character story. So the review will be ... about what's worth mentioning.
What they attempted to do with both Kirito and Sinon sharing getting over their PTSD is interesting to explore, but at the end of the day it's nothing more than the surface level plot point. Kirito in particular suffers from them trying to explore his PTSD in the fact that he mercilessly slaughtered Laughing Coffin's guild in the first season, something we see nothing of. We have no attachment to this plot point by extension, and it feels like it was fabricated for this season and wasn't planned beforehand. There was plenty we could have delved into that was already there, but instead we focus on an event we didn't know prior to this season.
Sinon though does get some depth to her trauma, using exposure therapy to attempt to get over her fear. As someone who has tried exposure therapy, it is incredibly difficult, and I feel as though it isn't really given enough attention as Sinon usually has zero issues with using guns. Only the exact model that she shot is what triggers it which begs the question why she's playing in the first place despite not using the gun she has trauma with. The explanation of how the villain worked was also dumb and even though it was supposed to make me feel the tension more, I felt less tension for the illogical approach to the "die in the game die in real life." The villain himself doesn't make much sense as well, and a spoiler warning for this plot point, especially with their ties to the characters and how (one) of their motives doesn't seem to make much sense.
Plus there's still that one very uncomfortable rape scene which is extremely gross but fortunately we don't see much as the previous season. But it starts to beg the question why this is a reoccurring thing the author includes in his works. Seriously, what is wrong with you?
The idea of Kirito having PTSD from SAO was an interesting concept but it wasn't properly explored until the next season. And this is without mentioning again, the second half of the season which is both a filler arc and an uninteresting laid out story for a new character. Sword Art Online proving again that it has no idea what it wants to devote its time to explore. It was meh, and I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone who values their time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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