First Impressions / Sword Art Online

「バレット・オブ・バレッツ」 (Baretto Obu Burettsu)
“Bullet of Bullets”

After a couple episodes of setting the stage, this week’s episode finally kicks things off with a huge boom.

Death Gun

Unlike the previous antagonists we’ve had in this series, I’ve become fairly interested in this Death Gun fellow. Instead of being some omnipotent being who everyone including the bad guys want to bring down, Death Gun feels like the embodiment of both Kirito and Sinon’s struggles and fears. Essentially he’s both a constant reminder of the sins they’ve committed and someone they need to stop to really find peace with themselves. While it’s clear in Kirito’s case just why he needs to deal with Death Gun, I can’t wait to see how Sinon finds some meaning in defeating Death Gun. Who knows, maybe it’ll be Sinon who actually takes him down? In any case, it was cool to see Death Gun in action this week. With some superb skills to back up his death threats, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not that handgun of his really has the power to kill people.

Sinon Is Kawaii

After discovering just why everyone loves Sinon so much last week, this week was a fresh reminder that she’s a whole lot more than just a tsundere who has (had?) trouble dealing with guns. Besides being super cute when she’s being honest with herself and her feelings, I just love how she acknowledges not only her flaws but her strengths as well. As this episode highlighted, it looks like she’ll drop the stone cold face when the situation calls for it. All of which helps her give off an air of confidence without seeming cocky — the embodiment of a “cool beauty”.

Bullet of Bullets & Looking Ahead

I don’t know about you but I was super afraid that we’d have to wait until next week for the actual competition to start. Seeing how that wasn’t the case, I had a fantastic time watching the beginning of the competition play out. With the show remembering to show us some players besides the main three it helped the competition feel as grand as I thought it would be. That said I do hope the whole Death Gun issue gets hashed out pretty quickly. Seeing how the stage is set for an epic battle to go down, it’s hard to see Kirito losing with Sinon backing him up. But you know what? Wouldn’t it be hilarious if Sinon ended up sniping Death Gun straight out of the competition?

See you Next Week! Also I think this is my favorite shot of Sinon.

76 Comments

  3. I’m impressed by the quality of the adaptation. 🙂 Very cool to see the LN followed so closely.

    I like the futuristic drink/ordering tables and the 3-d scanner map. 😀

    It’s been a while since i read the GGO chapters, but when it said Kirito took off his equipment to swim in order to avoid sinking/drowning, I didn’t expect him to de-equip his clothes too. ^^;
    I was also impressed by the movements of AGI guy who got stunned.

    When Kirito suddenly snuck up on Sinon, honestly I was surprised.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Chloesong
    Reply

    1. I liked seeing Kirito jumping a little both times a drink popped up out of the table.

      And regarding that spoiler, either they’ll show it eventually or they’ll just leave it out saying it’s already in the OP so it’s not necessary to show (which I doubt).

      Hanabira.Kage
      Reply

    2. This probably isn’t too much of a spoiler, so I won’t hide it, but it has been hinted at so far. Death Gun is using better equipment than most if not all people people in BoB competition, stats don’t mean much when you pay for perks, even in VRMMOs. His sniper riffle rival’s Sinon’s and arguably is better, as it is silenced. They also said target doesn’t see trajectory of first shot, hence no warning, as it isn’t a passive bonus.

      Seraph
      Reply

      2. Not even a spoiler, since the gear rarity is mentioned in the episode itself. Stating what the rest of his gear is and does would be a spoiler, but rarity and purpose of the Sniper Rifle been mentioned by Sinon to Kirito.

        Drasca
        Reply

      4. It’s a very good sniper rifle in real life, arguable better then the Hecate II, even without the silencer. Not only does it currently hold the world record of the longest confirmed sniper kill, but it’s also very rugged and easy to use as it’s part of the Arctic Warfare line originally developed for the Swedish military to use in sub-zero, showfall and while wearing mittens. Nowdays it’s used by a lot of forces, even in deserts just due to being a good sniper rifle.

        Znail
        Reply

  12. how did Sinon qualify for the BoB main tournament when Kirito beat her in Block F? did i miss an explanation a few episodes previously? she mentioned to Kirito before the qualifiers that since they were in the same block, they had no chance of both advancing. any help in clarification would be appreciated.

    KuuMA
    Reply

  13. I keep saying that Kirito is confirmed for Best Girl. ….. it oddly never occurred to me that “Kirito” is a unisex name!

    And of COURSE they had to end the episode there. Is there NO episode in this season that doesn’t end in a cliffhanger?

    starss
    Reply

    1. Because Deathgun like him has a huge amount of experience stats. But unlike him he couldn’t have carried it over from SAO. So Deathgun had to have earned it inside GGO. But since noone recognized him when he killed the characters in the first episode, he must have recently changed his character.

      turin
      Reply

      1. If memory serves me, I believe it was because Kirito correctly interpreted that Death Gun was a shell character (Not a character intended to be used, except for a certain purpose), that was not his main and intended as a misdirection. The name he uses in GGO isn’t his SAO name. The rationale is that he would be recognisable and wouldn’t be ‘Death Gun’ were he known as the character more so than the persona.

        Seraph
        Reply

  15. Those guys who have bet on Kirito annihilating beating the competition have made the right choice, you can never fail placing your life savings into the hands of the Gary Stu, blessed be him 😛

    Pretty amazing how things improved significantly in the latter part here when you remove the overbearing focus on Kirito’s trauma too, if anything showing that the previous one and a half episodes of singular focus on it wasn’t needed. As already discussed in depth before, the way Kirito’s PTSD was belatedly brought up and the intense focus on it does little more than overshadow Sinon and her personal demons, and with it one of the first serious attempts at secondary character development in SAO. The excuse that Kirito buried his trauma (until now) holds little value IMO as we have seen him struggle (internally and externally) little, if at all, the main reason why you would want to contain your fears and moral conflicts.

    What was needed to properly handle Kirito’s trauma at this stage in the SAO universe was exactly how this episode dealt with it: short, to the point, with no lingering focus, and the main emphasis quickly shifted onto more relevant story advancement. A huge chunk of material could have been cut out from the preceding episodes, Sinon would have better focus upon her as a unique character, and Kirito would possess a critical piece of developmental information. It wouldn’t eliminate the annoyance at how Kirito’s trauma should have been dealt with during the SAO arc, but it would have toned down some of the–arguably–melodramatic aspects (due to its late appearance and rapid, accentuated focus upon it) of its handling.

    Pancakes
    Reply

    1. Yeah, at the start of the episode, I was afraid it was going to be even more PSTD spotlighting on Kirito, but it thankfully got back to the general story and to interesting fighting and learning more about GGO.

      HalfDemonInuyasha
      Reply

  18. I don’t think Sinon is really a typical definition of a tsundere. At least not yet. Kirito is just REALLY annoying. Seriously the way he clings to her for information would make me “sigh” fifty times in one episode too. I don’t particularly like that she’s being used for expedition dumps like this but it’s not annoying enough to be unforgivable.

    leatherhead333
    Reply

    1. Well Kirito is trying to quickly digest all the information he needs about the game so he can isolate the killer. I think it makes sense that he harasses her for information. They have a nice, plutonic sort of relationship budding. Very refreshing! Last season, I got kind of burned out on everything female character being predictably in love with Kirito

      Rick Anime
      Reply

    1. Well, since we don’t even know which one Sterben is yet, there’s no way to tell. Sinon listed three she didn’t recognize: Pale Rider, Gunner X, and Sterben. Assuming Pale Rider is the acrobatic guy who got stunned there, that still leaves two choices for Death Gun before we even start speculating about his equipment.

      Wanderer
      Reply

    2. The “invisibility cloak” the dude is wearing is supposed to be a Gille suit. I guess they changed it so that he looked more like the laughin coffin guys in SAO. Him not being noticed makes more sense with a Gille suit though.

      Znail
      Reply

  22. Doing that hair flip Kirito? “Sinon-neechan?” Becoming more and more girly each episode. O_o

    “You guys…Cheer for me!” Good job Kirito! You had them fooled. Bwahahaha, wishing…fans to cheer for…him. Really good trap there. xDDD

    Gee, I wonder who these Gunner X, Pale Rider, Sterben could be?!

    Pining down Sinon? Watch out, Asuna is stalking ya’ll.

    “Going underwater and swimming naked lets you avoid being tracked. Taking note.”

    Wow, DG has a sniper with a silencer, interesting.

    Netto
    Reply

  23. This new season of SAO is even better than I thought it would be. Been looking forward to each episode (such a treat). I did enjoy this episode a bit better than last week I must confess. I guess I just dont get the scenes between Kirito and the Nurse.

    This season just feels so tense! I am actually afraid for these gamers with Death Gun running amuck! And that cliffhanger! Brilliant pacing this season has been. It just takes it’s sweet time, explaining everything to us in detail. Great character development too.

    So great! Go Sinon! Go Kirito!

    Rick Anime
    Reply

      1. Or you could stop being silly and note that his in-game gender has already been identified in his profile as male, which means no matter what silly fantasies you think up when looking at the picture of him naked, he’s still male.

        Wanderer
        Reply

      2. OH yea, because this p://i.imgur.com/oF6O4Lu.p totally looks like a male chest with a male body, you’re the one with the fantasies and is in denial for whatever reason about his character

        Dwarg
        Reply

      2. Pale Rider is a reference to Death – the Rider of the Apocalypse on his pale horse.

        Death Gun is Gunner backwards [Gunner: ‘ジュウシ’ (Jyuu-shi), Death Gun ‘シジュウ’ (Shi-jyuu)], and X can refer to the cross that Death Gun draws.

        Cyouni
        Reply

    2. I’m guessing he will be “Pale Rider”, the Opening of the anime shows Death Gun riding a horse .. which is kinda strange because we didn’t see any horses in GGO nor would it make sense to have any … so i suppose that was meant as a hint to the viewers .. that and the horsemen of the apocalypse angle too (i.e horseman of death) .. that feels like the best possibility.

      Hunter-Wolf
      Reply

  31. https://randomc.net/image/Sword%20Art%20Online/Sword%20Art%20Online%20II%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2020.jpg Takaii you perv! https://randomc.net/image/Sword%20Art%20Online/Sword%20Art%20Online%20II%20-%2008%20-%2018.jpg She got you in her sights now Takaii! lol

    https://randomc.net/image/Sword%20Art%20Online/Sword%20Art%20Online%20II%20-%2008%20-%2014.jpg Looks like the mom from Beyond the Boundary/Kyoukai no Kanata. So this is where she spends her time when she isn’t harassing her son.

    magoiichi
    Reply

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