Sword Art Online II is Really Good So Far

When Sword Art Online aired two years ago it left me disappointed and frustrated. As I’ve written before, the idea of focusing a story around video games and virtual reality is one that has fascinated me for a long time. Instead of using that idea to its strength, it merely seemed like an afterthought in Sword Art Online.

In episode after episode the game rules were smashed into an unrecognizable mess, making it feel less like a game world and more as a self-fulfilling fantasy world where anything could happen if it meant to spur our hero Kirito. Furthermore, the world was never very carefully crafted and the story felt haphazardly put together – jumping from side story to side story with no tangible relation to the overarching plot – along with characters with paper-thin personalities. It felt like the author Kawahara Reki never actually had played video games.

As such, the second season comes a bit of a surprise. After four enjoyable episodes in a row, I must admit that I really like Sword Art Online II at the moment.

My Most Anticipated Anime is “Log Horizon”

I do not normally write hype posts, but this time I cannot help but to do so. It becomes especially ironic since I earlier this month wrote “How Expectations Can Make or Break Anime”, in which I point out that I normally try to have low expectations so I am not let down.

But in this particular case I cannot help but let my expectations get ahead of me. The reason for all of this is Log Horizon, a new anime about people being transported to a video game world.

Sword Art Online #20 – Alfheim Online, World-building, Pain and Harem

Boy, dis gon be gud.

Marow: For an arc that is about saving Asuna as fast as possible, Alfheim Online sure likes to ignore the rescue mission and instead focus on fleshing out its world. This week it took the form of saving a meeting between two territory leaders, something that surely would not be on my to-do list if I had to save my girlfriend from the evil clutches of a pervert. Then again, I am not as busy as Kirito with gathering new members to my personal harem.

Sword Art Online #19 – Player-driven Adventures

Marow: This post got a bit delayed, to say the least. Originally, this was going to be a colloquium just as the other posts about the Alfheim Online arc of Sword Art Online by Myst and me. However, I believed Myst had written his part so perfectly that I would only make it worse, so I decided to completely let him do it by himself.

Head over to Through the Frozen Glass and read the full post HERE!

Sword Art Online #18 – Should We Recognize Each Other?

This episode captured the feeling of adventuring in MMOs – Marow.

Myst: Would you recognize someone close to you if you met them in a different body?