And now, onto to the Mother rosario Arc.
I suppose that most SAO fans hate Alfheim online is because of the somewhat incestuous relationship between Suguha and Kirito. They're cousins, so maybe the interest she has in him is deemed somewhat 'disgusting' in a way, but honestly I don't really care about that. The reason I disliked it was the fact that it was just pure filler; it was obvious that they were trying to milk the show till it was bone dry. But not only that, the addition of that nasty new villain just left a bad taste in my mouth, especially with him threatening to rape Asuna every scene he was shown in.
I don't find that particularly good as a plot device, and not forgetting this scene where Asuna escapes her cage and gets caught by these blob-like tentacle monsters. I half-expected it to transform into some tentacle hentai, and that is juts...bleh. No thank you. The story and action sequences were decent, but the characters were just largely annoying, whiny and plain creepy. But enough of me whining about ALO, let's get to the real meat of things.
Story - 8/10
The second Arc of SAO 2 is extremely well done, though the build up to the main story of that arc was kind of slow. Kirito and his harem- ahem, I mean team, set out on a fetch quest, and though that part was somehow lacking in logic whatsoever, the excalibur part ended on a rather decent note. There's also a few Kirito X Sinon scenes littered throughout the episodes, and you can't help but wonder why Asuna isn't feeling even the tiniest bit jealous.
And then comes the true meat of the story, where Asuna meets Zekken. I was pleasantly surprised and a little shocked at how the story panned out. Asuna (finally!) steps into the limelight and the rest of the arc plays out from her point-of-view. Asuna finally gets some long awaited character development in this season, and it reveals her strict upbringing and militaristic mother who's hell bent on living a new game plus through her daughter. Don't worry if you don't catch my meaning, you'll find out when you watch it. No sense in me spoiling it for anyone!
And besides Asuna having to worry about her real life problems, she is also 'recruited' by Zekken and joins their small guild named 'The sleeping Knights'. There, she tries to help the guild with a seemingly impossible wish, to defeat a level boss by themselves. For the most part, this part of the story was generally likable, tragic, and quite touching. The anime ended on a brilliant bitter sweet note with a good message to be had. Awesome!
Characters - 8/10
Step aside Kirito, and say hello to the new stars of the show. Zekken, also known as Konno Yuuki, is the most interesting character to have been in the SAO franchise. I remember when her character was first revealed, and it made some pretty big waves. She was fleshed out, likable, and like Sinon, has had a harsh childhood. That's all I'll reveal for now, but I can almost guarantee you that Yuuki will bring life to every scene she is in, and bring out feels that you didn't know could exist in SAO.
On another note, I also want to say that I think it was quite a brave step to show the 'OP' Kirito get beaten by Zekken (aka Yuuki) In a way, it humanises him and makes him seem less like the badass, godlike player he was portrayed to be in season 1 and GGO. It doesn't give him any better or worse, but it does manage to knock him down from the pedestal that most characters seem to have placed him atop off.
Asuna finally, finally becomes more like the Asuna of the first season, and god am I happy to witness it. Her dynamic with Yuuki is a delightful one, and there are definitely some yuri vibes between the two ladies. Those moments were decidedly cute and endearing, and it made the Yuri fan in me squee with unsubtle delight. But despite me saying this, I think that their relationship would probably never delve into the romantically involved type of relationship for obvious reasons, but hey. It would make a good fanfiction I guess?
All in all, I was very pleased by the character development in the second arc, and would be right to say that it surpassed my expectations.
Animation - 8/10
One thing about ALO, is the absolutely gorgeous scenery. It did a good job in improving the atmosphere of the anime, it was bright and cheerful when need be and dull and melancholy when it wasn't. I wouldn't have expected less.
The opening and ending for this arc did not impress me much, but it was probably because it wasn't my type of music. The final ending song though, did hit me particularly hard. But that was also the by-product of the last episode so I can't really comment much on that. I think I still much prefer 'Ignite' and 'Startear' from the GGO Arc.
Recommendation - 3/5
As a whole, SAO 2 doesn't break any barriers like SAO. But, it was extremely entertaining and deserves credit for being a decent sequel. If you didn't like sword art online, I doubt that the second season would change your perception toward it, but SAO 2 is a definite must watch for fans.
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