Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online S2

Key Takeaways

• In each episode, surprising twists grab viewers' attention and keep them on edge.
• Pitohui's ruthless array of characters leads to shocking betrayals and twists in the story.
• Concerns have been raised about the longer tournament duration and lack of variety in Season 2.

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Episode 20, “The Showdown,” now streaming on Crunchyroll.

One of the biggest strengths of the second season is Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online─For simplicity, we will call it GGO from now on. ─ is the ability to surprise the audience. Episode 1 introduces a very dynamic map, Episode 2 turns everyone against the main character, Episode 3 diverts attention and focuses on some secondary characters, and introduces shocking rules that increase the stakes and excitement of the tournament in Episode 3. do. 4 and 5.

There's always something new happening in every episode. Something new that caught the attention of viewers. There aren't many series that can do that. And as you might expect, they did the same thing in this episode. This episode is full of twists and turns. This is certainly interesting, but I have some concerns about the trajectory of the story.

Pitohui leading the charge

Before discussing the pitfalls, let's first talk about the good things about this episode: Pitohee's character alignment and twist. In this section we will focus on Pitohui, and in the next section we will describe two major twists.

Have you forgotten who I am?

As one of the most recognizable players in the game, everyone knows how ruthless Pitohui is. After all, every player has seen the unpleasant yet effective tactics she used in previous Squad Jam tournaments. So while many people admire her abilities as a player, they can't help but be wary of what she will do next.

Needless to say, everyone on Team Betrayals feels the same way. But as they engage in battle, they realize that following Pyto's instructions is their best chance at winning the tournament. Yes, her decisions can be quite strange sometimes, but they always end up working out in their favor in the end. So naturally they began to trust Pyto. It turned out to be their biggest mistake. Spoiler alert, in this episode Pito kills two of his teammates. For a moment, they forget who Pitohui is and how ruthless she is.

“I just sent him to be with his friends at the bottom of the sea. That’s all.”

Pitohui's character alignment

in dungeons and dragonsThere's a cool tool called Character Alignment. This tool can help both writers and players quickly identify a character's moral alignment, which in turn can explain the thinking behind their actions and decisions. In the character sort chart, characters can be divided into nine categories. I won't go into each category in detail, but it's pretty interesting so you should look it up. Pitohui belongs to a group known as Chaotic Neutral.

Chaotic neutral characters follow their own values ​​and put their freedom above all else. They are free-spirited and unpredictable as they can be either good or evil depending on which interests them most at the time. Pito is the embodiment of these qualities. This is also why he is the most interesting character in GGO.

There are fraudsters among us

There are two big twists in this episode, both of which involve Pitohui. The first is his shocking decision to kill his own team members. The second concerns the identity of Pitot. It turns out she's not part of the betrayal team. This means that there are scammers on both Team Betrayal and Team LPFM.

twist on twist

GGO is no stranger to twists. In fact, Season 2 was full of twists and turns from the first episode. However, the twist in this episode, unlike the previous twists, is actually a twist carefully prepared by Pitohee himself. You could say the twist was part of her plan.

As soon as he heard of the new rules, Pyto immediately planned to infiltrate the traitors with the goal of eliminating them one by one. So far, her plan has worked as intended and she is only a few steps away from achieving her true goal: an unstoppable fight against Llenn.

Never reveal your next move

In this day and age, it's hard to come up with something new that can surprise your audience. We consume so much content every day that we can guess what will happen in the story. But GGO surprised us several times in the same episode. GGO seems to think the mantra for this season is “never let them know what your next move is.” Thanks to this, we can watch each episode with great anticipation and excitement to see what surprises will come next.

It's good, but…

As we've said for the millionth time, GGO has been absolutely fantastic this season. Every episode is fantastic and there is no reason not to watch this series every week. However, there are some concerns that need to be addressed. Please keep this in mind. It's not a major weakness or drawback or anything like that. These are just concerns.

It's been dragging on for a while, hasn't it?

My first concern concerns the current tournament arc. Make no mistake. It was really great and a lot of interesting things happened. But now it's seven episodes later and we're only halfway through the final stages of the tournament. If this continues, we can expect the third Squad Jam Tournament to conclude around episode 10 or even episode 11. Doesn't it feel like it's been dragging on for a while now?

Of course, presenting new and surprising things keeps the story fresh and makes viewers want to see every new episode. But it also means a departure from the main theme, which inevitably extends the tournament. There are dangers in overstaying your welcome. At the very least, people will get tired and abandon what was once so interesting and loved. Will this happen to GGO too? Only time will tell. I hope not, though.

Is this it?

The second concern is still related to tournaments. Or the fact that there are only tournaments this season. One of the best things about the first season was actually the Squad Jam tournament. There's no doubt about it. Another undeniable fact is that Season 2's tournaments are an improvement in every way compared to the first season.

But there's something about the first season that we haven't seen in the second season so far. manifold. The first video saw Llenn spending time in the real world, interacting with friends and talking about his worries and insecurities. I saw her at GGO, not a tournament. She went on missions, explored desolate cities, and even went shopping to find the best weapon for her. None of these exist in the second season. Yes, the tournament is awesome. But is this the end? Hopefully not.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online S2 is available to stream on Crunchyroll.