「デス・ガン」 (Desu Gan)
“Death Gun”

Do you remember the goose bumps you got when Kirito first busted out his dual-wielding skill? While it wasn’t exactly the same, this episode did a great job at bringing back some of those feelings as I watched Kirito be a total badass.

Death Gun Makes his Mark

After months of anticipation, Deathgun finally reveals himself and unleashes some bona fide terror onto Kirito and Sinon. Even though it remains to be seen whether or not that unique handgun of his can really take someone out in the real world, it doesn’t make it any less scary thinking about it. I mean, in a virtual MMO, aren’t you supposed to find strength in knowing that dying has no effect on you in the real world? Which then begs the question, what do you do when someone or something bridges the gap and puts your real life in danger?

Kirigaya Kazuto

Of the many reasons I come back each week to watch this show, Kirito just being there is definitely up there. Back when he was first introduced, he was just this kid that was skilled at playing MMORPGs. But as we traveled alongside him and watched him push through every physical and emotional obstacle that blocked his way, I think we all formed such a strong bond with him that we can’t help but root for his success even when stupid things happen.

Which is probably why I always get a rush of adrenaline and happiness whenever I see him enter badass mode. Something we really haven’t seen of late, my eyes were completely glued to the screen the moment he whipped out his beam saber and started deflecting bullets better than a trained Jedi.

On a side note, I know there are a lot of haters out there who hate anything related to Kirito (and just about every other character in the series) and I’ll agree that some of their arguments make perfect sense. But just like any other show, I see anime as a form of entertainment. So if a show is pandering to all the things that drew me to it in the first place, you bet I’ll enjoy it.

SINON NOOO and Looking Ahead

With Sinon in a rather sticky situation and Death Gun staring her dead in the eyes I don’t know what I’ll do if Sinon actually ends up getting shot here. While I’m inclined to believe the amount of plot armor surrounding her should be sufficient to keep her safe (you don’t go and kill a character you spent 3 or 4 episodes developing unless you’re like, Kamina or something.). Besides that, I’m interested in seeing just how much Asuna ends up finding out after she contacts Kirito’s “employer” since I’m sure she’s not going to appreciate Kirito keeping her in the dark. Anyways, I’ll see you next week!

P.S. If you watch Barakamon and were wondering where this week’s post was, apparently there’s no new episode this week.

65 Comments

  1. R.I.P. for Pale Rider, even though he show up for like 35 second, it was cool character and it could have been someone important. Speculation, he was also a survivor from SAO.

    LastTywinFan
  2. Oooh okay. Asuna is only just now understanding what he’s doing too. But she doesn’t know about Death Gun… Also it’s about time we got to see the other girls (and Klein, I guess) watch the live feed, like they do in the OP. I want to see them host a lets play or do a podcast in that cafe!

    starss
  3. https://randomc.net/image/Sword%20Art%20Online/Sword%20Art%20Online%20II%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2024.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/Sword%20Art%20Online/Sword%20Art%20Online%20II%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2029.jpg
    –unintended A1-Pictures Joke–
    Ah…you screencapped Death Gun’s eyes,
    and the dead robber hallucination Sinon saw in Death Gun’s eyes,
    but I was really looking forward to a screencap of Death Gun with the dead robber’s eyes instead of the usual red..
    (Derp face, anyone?)

    Techim
  4. Been thinking it since last week, but now it can now be guessed that Death Gun is Sterben (considering Pale Rider isn’t him). Makes sense too as sterben is the German verb for “to die”.

    Liked this episode a lot more than the rest, less Kirito special snowflake syndrome, more action 😛 Some might try to argue the lightsabre antics but there’s no need, Kirito is the Gary Stu, he is going to kick everyone’s a*s. As long as things continue to be as fun as they were this episode I’m content.

    Also Klein needs to embrace his inner player and sit on the damn couch already. Four girls and an open spot in between them just begging to be sat in. The Gary Stu ain’t nowhere nearby, best get your digs in before he further NTRs your chances.

    Pancakes
      1. Using the trusty dating age rule of “half your age + 7”, only Leafa and Silica are out of range, Asuna and Lisbeth are fair(er) game. Hell Klein doesn’t even need to go for any of them, he just needs to use them to gain access their friends. Guaranteed one has someone they know closer to Klein’s age 😛

        Pancakes
      1. It’s a hint for the watchers of the anime. Anyone that does some extra research in Japan can conclude that the name is german and means ‘to die’ which makes them just a tiny bit special 🙂

        I like how all three of the potentials had a distinct hint that they might be Death Gun. Pale Rider references Death, the Horseman of the Apocalypse, GunnerX was explained (and the weakest reference, IMO) and Sterben was found out by all of us 😉

        SpacyRicochet
  5. “Do you remember the goose bumps you got when Kirito first busted out his dual-wielding skill? While it wasn’t exactly the same, this episode did a great job at bringing back some of those feelings as I watched Kirito be a total badass.”

    That’s exactly what I as thinking when watching this episode! Also, they had a variation of the theme song from Season 1 which helped add to the nostalgia. Really enjoyed this episode.

    But Sinon!!!! Oh my god what an evil cliffhanger

    Rick Anime
  6. I was thinking that this series was 2 cour but perhaps I read that wrong? 3 episodes certainly seems like what they need to finish this arc… Unless they are going to do some of the ALO side stories or Mothers Rosario (if the latter I will fucking die happy).

    Anza
    1. Nope haven’t read anything wrong it’s still slated to get 24 episodes. Full expectation from LN reader comments I’ve read is for the remaining cour to cover Mothers Rosario at the minimum.

      Pancakes
    2. Mother Rosario will defenitely be in this season, Caliber SS might be also. But in ALO arc in the first season, they didn’t cover the Niflheim adventure and Tonkii so if they decide to include it, that will be quite a challenge for them.

      Serapita
  7. As expected of the cash cow of the season, the production quality is top tiered. Kirito’s bullet blocking was so well made, I’ll bet that that few seconds alone costs about the same as an entire episode of a not so popular anime. Truly a work of phenomenal skill

    As for Sinon getting shot, i have no doubt that best girl will pull through. It’s a well placed cliffhanger but they wouldnt dare kill off best girl.

    Ginobi47
  8. What was Kirito’s original mission again? I’d think if he saw something like that he would report it somehow and they would take that character offline and arrest the user. It’s all kind of stupid, but I just gotta keep watching.

    sealouse
  9. My only complaint would be making Sinon into the damsel-to-be-saved girl already.

    Why couldn’t Kirito be shot when going to his location then have Sinon save his ass instead?

    HalfDemonInuyasha
  10. Death Gun provides true shivers this episode, not Kirito. Yes, Kirito plays his usal badass self, but we have grown accustomed to it so much it doesn’t really impress anymore. But Death Gun emanates such malice and killing intent that you can forgive him his metal skull face.
    Also, Sinon gets hit so much with nerfbat, first missing Death Gun, then getting herself sniped and being totally relegated to damsel in distress.
    BTW, Kirito and Sinon, knowing languages would save you both a lot of troubles, Sterben means “to die” in German…

    ewok40k
  11. so the death gun (the gun) is actually the same model as the gun that gave Sinon her trauma? … ok that is creepy.. it is either a really really bad coincidence… or Death Gun (the guy) knows Sinon…

    also how come he didnt show i the scan? or is that a visual satellite scan? would explain how it didnt see Kirito underwater… it would also wouldn’t see Death Gun un that optical camouflage cloak (he was using one rigth? that was camouflage..no teleport ..or logging in).. and not only Death Gun gets the special silenced sniper rifle BUT ALSO a termo-optical camo cloak? really? >.>

    Gosh… Kiroto gonna have to get there in time (Sinon cant die) …but can he run that fast? or lol hes gonna use his gun for the second time? xD (hes such a bad shot that he could land a random headshot in Death Gun!)

    inanis
  12. I admit I know zero about the programming underlying games, but you’d think GGO’s devs would look into this “Death Gun” (in quotations because this episode highlighted that Death Gun isn’t the avatar name) character using character logs. Then again, I guess “Death Gun” hasn’t actually killed the in-game character the traditional way, so he wouldn’t really have a kill-log to look at…

    Meh, I still think that the devs should look into the matter themselves since these deaths are bad publicity for GGO…

    …but then we wouldn’t have Sinon’s Ass Online! Curses! D:

    Beedle
    1. It might just be a handily/easily available gun in the Japanese black market, which is why he picked it as his death weapon. Making Death Gun have a specific obsession with Sinon is stretching it too far, I think.

      SpacyRicochet
    2. You can say that again, this guy scares me, really, really scares me. Without going into spoilers, I felt a chill down my spine the first time I read the Phantom Bullet novels, this guy looks and behaves like a monster created by Stephen King; in fact his appearance reminds me of the Man in Black, the nemesis of Roland Deschain from The Dark Tower saga and belive me, that´s terror and madness made flesh.

      haseo0408
  13. [i]On a side note, I know there are a lot of haters out there who hate anything related to Kirito (and just about every other character in the series)[/i]
    Hey bro, wtf?!!1 I just love that cute girl with that dragon on her head! And I love her even more that she gained those fucking cute ears! Best character in the whole show.

    Solaris
  14. You know, as soon as Sinon got stunned I decided to look at the time remaining of the episode and as soon as I did I went “…yep this is going to end in a gaddamn cliffhanger!”. So many of them, reminds me of Claymore lol

    Jason Isenberg

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