Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online

Episode 8

With this episode, Squad Jam 2 gets down to business. Based on the pacing of the battle's first episode, I'm expecting it to last four episodes, perhaps five if the aftermath isn't given a full wind-down week. This episode focuses on the preliminary battles, next week will focus on the impending group battle, and the last two will involve the surviving contenders picking each other off as the final confrontation develops. Of course, there's always a possibility that something will shake up this course of events, but Keiichi Sigsawa has yet to deliver any truly startling plot twists in this story.

The battle's start plays out with relatively brief bursts of action separated by lulls where characters consider tactics or vent their frustrations about having to be patient before the next confrontation. Each of the top contender teams gets at least some attention. The MP4 team doesn't see any action, as they are staked out on the map's highest ground, so all we see is Pito complaining about being bored and M trying to keep her in line with practicalities. (I'm guessing that they will make up for that next episode, though!) The Memento Mori guys are staked out in the snow-covered forest, and while we're shown the aftermath of them confronting someone, we don't see the actual fight. The same goes for the team with the green-haired girl, who we now know is named Shirley. Her heart doesn't really seem to be in this battle, and the other guys seem to be treating her with kid gloves, which raises several questions about her character. I'm going to guess right now that she won't be a big player in this arc but could have a featured arc later in the series, as her appearances so far give the feeling of setting up for something later. The machine gun guys are also back for another brief cameo.

The two most established teams naturally get the most attention. SHINC gets a partial battle scene, but their downtime moment where the girls get on Boss's case for using dirty language might actually be more entertaining. They do make a good point that you have to be careful of in-game behavior accidentally leaking out into the real world, but the way she tries to restate “you don't have any balls” in a more ladylike fashion is good for a chuckle. So is a lot of Fukaziroh's behavior, as she has taken to her role with zeal and seems to be having fun spouting off action movie one-liners. When she isn't getting her legs blown off by a booby trap – which allows the story to work in the curious rule about lost limbs recovering in a couple of minutes if you're not dead – she's quite the clever tactician, as she's already figured out how to devastatingly exploit her grenade launchers for indirect fire. We definitely haven't seen the last of that ploy, since not needing to see the target and being able to ignore horizontally-positioned cover sounds like the key to dealing with M and other top snipers. LLENN naturally gets the star treatment in the other battle, as she uses her speed and mobility to deftly take most of one six-man team on her own; this is arguably the crispest and most exciting sustained action scene yet in the series, knife-through-the-crotch attack notwithstanding. Only the limits of the series' animation budget keep that fight from being a full-blown spectacle.

The visuals do shine in other ways, however. The background terrain is nicely rendered, and the camera seems particularly fond of panning over Pito's sexy curves. The design of that mysterious sports dome-like structure is also eye-catching, though why it looks fully intact when everything else in the town is decrepit raises some intriguing questions. Overall, the story could stand to pick up the pace a little, but SJ2 is generally off to a good start.

Rating: B+

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.