Under The Scope Anime Review: Sword Art Online II
Under The Scope Anime Review: Sword Art Online II
Today, under the scope, I take a look at Sword Art Online II, sequel to the hotly debated SAO. Enjoy!
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I use two rating scales for each review. First is the approval rating. A show will receive one of five approval ratings based on my recommendation. They are BEST OF THE BEST (for shows I find to be masterpieces), WATCH (for shows I find really really good and recommend to everybody), TRY (for shows I find good but not great and will only recommend to some people), PASS (for shows I did not particularly enjoy and would not personally recommend), and finally BURN (for the shows that are so awful they have a special place reserved in hell).
The other scoring system is a 1-5 rating scale that I essentially give out arbitrarily based on how good I think the show is. The two ratings are not exactly related, but will obviously be similar.
If you have any other questions, comments, or want to rage at me for my rating of a show, feel free to leave them in the comments section below. My goal for every review is to give my honest opinion regardless of whether that matches the majority or not.
October 28, 2018 @ 6:58 am
Damn right the Excalibur Arc was the worst part. Thank god there were only 3 episodes. ^_^
October 28, 2018 @ 6:58 am
Saber-Chaaaan xoxoxxoxxoxox..I loved that reference !! I’m 100% agree. SAO scenario sucks, and this ruins the show. Too bad for the plot, it had potential. I like your reviews btw.
October 28, 2018 @ 6:59 am
Awesome reviews.. Subscribed.
October 28, 2018 @ 7:04 am
Eh fuck you!! SAO 1 is pretty good. Your overrated
October 28, 2018 @ 7:04 am
I wouldn’t even call the Excalibur arc an arc. It’s just 3 episodes of pure subsequent filler, no significant development whatsoever …
October 28, 2018 @ 7:07 am
aight lets rate dem sao arcs:
aincrad 5/10
fairy dance 3/10
phantom bullet 4/10
calibur 2/10
mothers rosario 8/10
October 28, 2018 @ 7:10 am
8:08 AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHH! I’m sick of you fucking SAO critics always recommending that! Log Horizon is not better! Log Horizon is actually far stupider! It’s main characters are all manchildren, there is no tension or consequences since they respawn when they die, there’s no active goal of getting out being persued and to top it off, it’s aethestically boring! SAO’s the best we’re sadly going to get out of this subgenre until someone gets it right. And LH is not getting it right!
Oh and NGNL is just flat out trash with visuals that make my eyes bleed.
October 28, 2018 @ 7:10 am
Unfortunately the anime really screwed up explaining what Kirito was doing with the laser sword in GGO. The game literally gives you a line that shows where the bullets are going to hit you, instead of dodging, LN Kirito uses the sword to block only the bullets about to hit him. In the anime, it looks like Kirito has gone full on Jedi with a ton of unnecessary spin flips and shit that wasn’t in the LN, and doesn’t show the prediction line.
October 28, 2018 @ 7:11 am
can you have a bad anime without tentacle porn?
October 28, 2018 @ 7:13 am
"Objective Standpoint" instant dislike. I might think SAO is terrible, but you should know better that there is no "objective" anything in a review (aside maybe giving basic wikipedia info about the show).
October 28, 2018 @ 7:15 am
I like the This season only for Sinon hats all
October 28, 2018 @ 7:15 am
while i mostly agree with what you have stated, i find "if your a fan of MMORPG’s" in the watch if section to be complete bullshit. Every MMORPG SAO has shown would be complete trash if they were actual games. SAO the game itself has INCREDIBLY limited gameplay, having only one class and only two primary means of combat (with a shield or without a shield). While magic isnt necessary for an MMORPG, ranged options is, and SAO has no true ranged weapons at all (bows, staves, crossbows, etc). I understand its called SWORD art online, but thats no excuse since the game also includes maces and shields, neither of which are swords. And only one person, ONE PERSON, in the entire game can dual wield (well if you dont include that one guy in episode 4 who was DUAL WIELDING AXES), even limiting the gameplay more. This heavily limits gameplay and forces players to only have one means of combat, up close and personal. While the switch function seems to primarily support teamwork, the final hit bonus completely contradicts it, encouraging players to try and steal kills from teammates. Most of the dungeons are incredibly bland, seemingly only having one aesthetic and never trying to mix it up too much, as well as being terrible at world building as bosses have NO reason to be there besides just being a boss to be defeated. Alfiehm online fixes some issues, such as adding magic (ranged options) and classes. However, the way classes are implemented is horrendous. In Alfiehm online, classes are treated as races, similar to game like skyrim where your race determines what you are good at. While normally this wouldnt be so bad, Alfiehm online made it so that all of the races are in factions against one another and in competition and war. This HORRIBLY skews game balance between the factions. The salamanders have access to fire magic and have the highest attack stats in the game, while the sprigan race can only cast illusions. Imps only really have night vision. Leprechaun’s are only good at blacksmithing. Imagine an imp or leprechaun fighting a salamander, it would be horrible unbalanced. In GGO, classes are gone again and now the imbalance comes from weapons. Energy weapons are HORRIBLY underpowered, with so many ways to simply ignore them brings no meaning to using them at all in a competitive level (which most shooters, regardless of being an MMO, are). Sniper rifles are rarely used despite the fact that they are broken to all hell. A sniper rifle is guaranteed to give the player at least one free kill, as the first sniper shot does not have a prediction line. Bosses can be cheesed EASILY with just a sniper rifle and enough ammo, further leading into its bullshit. Sniper rifle users should have been a lot more common, but even the excuse that sniper rifles being difficult to use would be bullshit, because high level players enjoy using tougher weapons as a means of showing prestige, especially if that weapon is broken to all hell. Blade weapons are also never used until kirito picks one up. I guarantee you, if that was a real MMORPG with a sword weapon capable of stopping a bullet (or cutting in half, the show never really decided which it wanted to go with) and almost one shotting people, EVERYONE WOULD USE IT. It would be like the energy sword from halo, but BETTER as it can block incoming fire. GGO offers no fast travel system, only offering free vehicles that are apparently incredibly hard to drive (except for lord and savior jesus-kun, may he forever hax on). This means that, in an incredibly large city within an incredible large world, the only means of travel is to either walk/run everywhere (which will still take forever), or try you luck at an unnecessarily difficult vehicle to drive around. Not to mention the legal gray zone explanation is absolute bullshit. Either the game developers have either set up a long term market place (such as steam) where in game items can be traded for actual money, or they are literally paying the players out of their own pocket. I doubt its the steam like open market, as players were rewarded money, not trading anything, and the game would have had to be out for a handful of years before it could build up its market. So this means the game developers must be paying people to play their game, otherwise the money is coming from nowhere or the game runs off a subscription fee (which also doesn’t make sense when players are getting payed).The author has gone on record that he has zero experience with high level play, only knowing low level play because he is a casual piece of shit who does nothing but pander to his retarded fans for free money. The author has no clue on how to write a good, or even passable MMORPG.
October 28, 2018 @ 7:15 am
What’s the song at 6 minutes in?
October 28, 2018 @ 7:16 am
So when are you going to review Log Horizon and not trying to be mean but Elder Tales from Log Horizon was not a VR game they just got sucked into the universe of Elder Tales
October 28, 2018 @ 7:18 am
Overrated the animation
October 28, 2018 @ 7:19 am
So when does SAO 3 come out ?
October 28, 2018 @ 7:19 am
how the hell this series keep on growing but series like monster or Berserk doesn’t even get anime series
October 28, 2018 @ 7:19 am
No, it’s a 2/10
October 28, 2018 @ 7:21 am
What I hate about SAO is that it took the "trapped in a videogame" I dreamed of making a story about and wasted its potential making it a mediocre shonen trope.
October 28, 2018 @ 7:23 am
Under the
SCOPE
GET IT
*SCOPE*
October 28, 2018 @ 7:25 am
Yuuki died of her cancer before I could remember her name.
October 28, 2018 @ 7:26 am
Yep SAO is utter nonsense. If Cowboy Bebop is Citizen Kane , then SAO is Transformers. I still enjoyed it though. Hay, we all have our junk food!
October 28, 2018 @ 7:28 am
I honestly can say I love SAO does it have problems yes , I still love the Aincrad arc the most because it’s the one arc I wish there was more of , GGO could have been slightly longer the Excalibur arc was a decent length after all it was just one quest in an already established world and the mothers rosetta arc was impactful at least for me I thought Yuuki was a computer program and was surprised when I found out she was a real person (I like the fact that they made her strong but I absolutely hate it when they made Kirito seem weaker but at the same time making it seem as if he was just messing around some what) I liked the length of this arc it didn’t drag on to much it was rushed but it still managed to deliver personal the only thing I think it needed was maybe 3-4 more episodes just to show Yuuki and asuna bound so that there friendship doesn’t seem so rushed I would have done maybe something like 2 more episodes before they beat the Boss then another 2 more with after split between the real and virtual world.
If you like SAO watch , no game no life and grimgar no ash especially if you liked Aincrad grimgar no ash is very Aincrad feeling also the art is amazing
October 28, 2018 @ 7:30 am
If worse than tentacle porn then tentacle porn has its merits.
October 28, 2018 @ 7:30 am
Watching them systematically destroy any possibility that Sinion could get a well developed character was annoying.
Welp at least the PGM Hecate is an awesome looking rifle, let’s see if I could get one (1 google search later)
…only 3 in the usa…$10,000-14,000!? wtf
October 28, 2018 @ 7:30 am
You are right,this season and the first are just "meh",but I think you should watch the SAO Alicization arc when it comes to anime adaptation,it’s by far the best arc of the series and in a completely different scale of the other arcs (I’m not a SAO fanboy,but I think this arc it’s just perfect)
October 28, 2018 @ 7:32 am
at 10 seconds, does she say "ecchi harem"? sums up the show i guess
October 28, 2018 @ 7:34 am
I find people tend to be to quick to write off the Exaclibur arc. I actually really like it because its the one time they actual treat the game as a game, and I like how it shows the world of Alfhiem is like Yui slowly becoming self aware. However the Mother’s Rosario arc is by far the best because it takes Kirito out of the spot light in favor of Asuna, and it makes it so when Kirito does come in and does his badass thing its actually kind of cool and not boring. It also has the only good fight scene in the entire series with Asuna vs Yuuki.
October 28, 2018 @ 7:35 am
Gun Gale is best arc!
October 28, 2018 @ 7:36 am
Honestly I would argue that another’s Rosario was the best arc by far.
October 28, 2018 @ 7:38 am
I really enjoyed the GGO arc. Also, Yuuki best character <3
I hate harem anime, but this just isn’t harem to me since, idk, it doesn’t focus on the girls and romance? I guess. ww
Btw; I really like your reviews! *subs*
October 28, 2018 @ 7:42 am
why did they had to fuck sinon up with harem men, she’s my favorite charecter in the entire series and she was going so well in the start, WHY WRITTERS, WHY!!
October 28, 2018 @ 7:42 am
Still better than one piece
October 28, 2018 @ 7:44 am
I dont really know why people complain about the Excalibur arc. As if they expected some sort of development from it. People, thats why its called a filler.
And i woudnt call it bad. You actually get to see them go play a normal alfhaim quest, it shows us some interesting aspects of the game that we didnt see before. I dont really see whats there to hate.
October 28, 2018 @ 7:45 am
STOP HATING SAO, maybe for you that already watch a thousand anime you will continously find the failure of this anime. but for the FIRST WATCHER OF ANIME its actually the best anime to watch rather than watch anime that has PERFECT PLOT but it is so complicated and have awful song and picture like STEINS GATE that will make people more uninterested and disgust in watching anime.
SAO has that point of interest that will make all kind of people love anime and feel interested about it. that what made this anime became very popular. so dont underrated it.
October 28, 2018 @ 7:46 am
what the hell up with woman in Harem genre i can understand Why griffith from Berserk is liked by so many but this series main protagonist is just retarded to begin with to be liked as a character
October 28, 2018 @ 7:46 am
Just to make sure I checked out another one of your review just to make sure it wasnt just this one. (steins gate) Sorry you should just stick with your normal commentary.
Edit: So which is it, SAO II not need sequel or rushed? >.>
October 28, 2018 @ 7:47 am
I liked sao I & II very much, that’s just because i’m a sucker for this kind of anime. Even tho i don’t really agree with your opinion i can still understand your critic viewpoint. Good review 🙂
October 28, 2018 @ 7:49 am
I found the first arc to be the weakest, but I have not had to deal directly with PTSD. The arc seemed to do a poor job tackling just about everything it tried. Either something was completely predictable or felt like it came from no where; there was no organic growth. Reactions did not just feel artificial to keep the plot going, but nonsensical. Gun Gale Online had a lot of issues as well. I mean, the theoretical virtual game. Combined with all the shots of Sinon’s posterior, it distracted from the true eye candy of SAO, the action scenes.
Mother’s Rosario was for me the best arc, which is not saying much. Also cliché with a side order of ham-fisted, it still managed to work for me. The filler arc was the second best and actually the true calling for SAO. The creators cannot handle depth, so why try? Just give us the VRMMORPG-as-an-excuse for a colorful setting and action packed scenes.
October 28, 2018 @ 7:49 am
they could have showed Kira killing that dude insead of the guild
October 28, 2018 @ 7:52 am
3:43 I actually sort of liked the Excalibur Arc. My only problem with it was that I honestly couldn’t force myself to care about it. Jesus Christ man, you can’t just go from Death Game, to Rescue Mission, to Murder Investigation, and then expect a fan base to give a shit when all that’s at stake, the entire emotional weight, is a game map. (And they’re never really in danger of failure. It was never "will we succeed", it was always, right from the start " will we succeed IN TIME", right up until the boss battle. And even then, something that was barely not Deus Ex Machina happens. They could have at least made that battle genuinely hopeless. But no. They quite clearly would have won, just not in time. No one even goes down.)NO ONE CARES!! Now, if by some miracle the arc actually had a reason beyond some friends playing a video game, it might be a decent watch. But it didn’t. It just… didn’t. The only relevance it has to me is that Klein finally has a date. And I only marginally care about Klein’s survival, much less his relationship status. Back in the beginning of the first arc, I actually enjoyed SAO. Quite a bit. Then they gradually forgot they were in a Death Game, and suddenly it wasn’t an anime about going home and surviving long enough to do it, when the only way to get home is through combat, it was an anime about a boy flirting with his hot co-worker. With swords. And a harem.
October 28, 2018 @ 7:52 am
Thank you for shitting on SAO ! Fuck this anime, so overrated.
October 28, 2018 @ 7:52 am
i have no problem with harem anime if and only if the main character deserves the love from all the girls but kirito … oh kirito you just suck and the worst thing is that you dont even know it 😛
October 28, 2018 @ 7:55 am
You know, I wasn’t a fan of SAO (like omfg the abridged wrecked the crap out of it) but I thought the first and third arc were very well written. I thought the first arc went incredibly deep and the third hit me right in the feels. I’m not sure if your thoughts have changed on this subject since you made this video (probably not, but I guess it doesn’t matter) but I feel like it wasn’t quite as bad as you were making it out to be. I agree that the stupid 2nd arc took up valuable time from the last arc, but for 7 episodes, it did really well for what it was given.
October 28, 2018 @ 7:55 am
GGO arc was great if you ask me and I liked the reveal of Death Gun, although Mother’s Rosario was better! Mother’s Rosario made me cry so I guess it had enough episodes for me to get involved. Although I do agree with you about the Excalibur arc.
October 28, 2018 @ 7:55 am
I got bored with Log Horizon, it was intriguing at first but it’s enjoyment factor is weighed down by an over abundance of characters and a seemingly never ending plot. It’s really a preference thing if you enjoy, SAO or Log. Objectively Log is a better written show but with its lackluster animation and drawn out story it can lose alot of it’s appeal. If I had to choose one show to watch 1000 times over I’d choose SAO cause I know it would at least keep me entertained