What’s the show? Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online, Episode 11.
Seems like Squad Jam 2 has been going for an eternity, does it wrap up in this episode? Nope! It’s the Squad Jam that never ends!
Is that a bad thing? Hell no! Especially not here, this episode has probably the best action set piece of the whole series (so far). It’s bold, it’s loud, it’s over-the-top and it’s just so well animated!
High praise, but haven’t you complained in the past that this series’ action is at times implausible. That’s because early on I was approaching this series like it was a video game—and therefore thinking about the limitations of the current generation of video games. But that’s the absolute wrong way to look at the action in this series—this is more akin to a ludicrous Michael Bay action film, just with cute anime girls in the roles usually reserved for some generic white dude.
So in changing how you approach the action scenes you’ve appreciated them for what they are rather than what you ~thought~ they should be? Exactly! And at just the right time too, it’s difficult to articulate how terrific the action scene with LLENN on foot versus Pito and M in a military vehicle is!
Well it’s your job to articulate it, so try your best! Right! So it’s one close call after another as LLENN uses her fast and fancy footwork to dodge M’s driving and Pito’s wild firing, until LLENN’s luck looks like it’s about to run out as she’s struck by a bullet and lays bleeding out in a lake. But it ain’t over til it’s over as Fuka has recovered from her previous injuries and comes to rescue LLENN in a military vehicle of her own—accompanied by a couple of cheekily suggestive comments about “not going home tonight” and “love hotels”.
Okay, well explained, but why mention that last part—doesn’t really seem like it has any bearing on the action? In my Episode 9 review I hypothesised that Karen (the irl LLENN) may possibly be queer, or closeted. Maybe this was just a cute little joke, but I like to think that the writer is hinting at something by having Fuka make these suggestive ‘jokes’.
Sounds like ‘head cannon’ to me, but hey this is your review, you can talk about whatever you want. So what happens after Fuka’s rescue of LLENN? More action! Chases, explosions, ramming, running, out of bullets, face-to-face, cliffhanger ending!
So pretty positive all things considered then, anything you didn’t like about the episode? I love how crazy Pito is, and I know this series needs an ‘antagonist’ of sorts, but I don’t get the reaction a lot of other players have towards her—acting like she’s a monster or she’s evil because she’s enjoying killing other players. Last time I checked, it’s a video game; none of the people she’s killing are actually dying in real life. If they all knew the external circumstances around her actions and what her end goal was maybe I could understand their hostility towards her unique brand of crazy but as far as they know she’s just a sadistic player—hardly worthy of such ire.
But other than that a great episode? Yup! Maybe a bit lacking in the character development department and I miss not having scenes in the real world as they’re my favourite but being that this is the penultimate episode I’m not going to complain too much about that, it was an action-packed extravaganza and I can’t wait to see the conclusion to that cliffhanger ending!
Previous Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Reviews:
Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 5.5 Review
Episode 6 Review
Episode 7 Review
Episode 8 Review
Episode 9 Review
Episode 10 Review
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