Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online

I'm still fairly new to anime, and from everything I've gathered this might be a bit of controversial one. What I mean by that is that at time of writing and the current state of SAO I think that this spinoff is better than the main show.

*Ducks the slings and arrows*

A twelve episode spinoff from one of the major anime franchises this is another story within Gun Gale Online and features none of the main shows characters.

This was no doubt a gamble, with little to tie it to SOA other than the setting it could have fell flat and from everything I've heard from the anime community many think it did.

I however really enjoyed it, a short single story spread across a dozen episodes really worked. It tells the story of a girl who ventures into the online game and becomes a whirlwind sensation with her abnormally tiny and overwhelming cute avatar.

The story is oddly dark in places but softened up with cutesy visuals and Lenns sickly sweet voice. The action is excellent and frequent and it's very well paced which is something you certainly can't say about SAO!

I really enjoyed this and would love to see Lenn and co back. A rollercoaster ride, an emotional story, great characters and a really nice surprise of a show.

The Good:

Action packed

Well scripted

A lot of fun

Great story

The Bad:

Nothing springs to mind

This anime is basically Sword Art Online, but with a better director and writer. While it definitely felt different compared to SAO as it kinda throws away the vibe that the original had estabilished to focus on the slice-of-life side, it still does a good job for being what it is. The characters are relatable and likable especially the main character, the script is actually good, and the visuals have more variety added to it thanks to Studio 3Hz who, by the way, did a really great job at it and deserves credit. That being said, I'm not a fan of the plot twist towards the end, but that was just me being nitpicky. Overall, not really that impressive all-round, but it's a good anime that are worth checking out especially if you watched SAO before.

I watched this before ever knowing about SWO. Something about the image of a strange pink munchkin wielding an also pink FN P90 grabbed my attention I guess. I didn't compare it to anything and enjoyed it a lot! If you are going into it thinking it will be SWO then you'd best manage your expectations. Treat this like a spin off series with all new characters. Yeah it probably should have just been called "Gun Gale Online" but I guess the guys in marketing thought it would be better to have some brand recognition.

Karen Kohiruimaki always felt out of place in the real world. Due to her extreme height, she found it hard to make friends with other girls her age. Everything changes when she's introduced to VR and Gun Gale Online. In GGO, Karen is free to play the cute, chibi avatar of her dreams. Can Karen find friendship in this bullet-ridden MMO...?

In terms of origin I would say Llen has a better origin since Kirito is just some kid playing a video, where as Lelien in real life is a sexy woman who is surprisingly tall to most characters and is a college student. However, as a protagonist she is annoying but only in the game.

It is overall a good side story but I prefer the other series. That is all i am going to say about it.

The protagonist once again is someone using a close range weapon with super human speed and reflexes. She's almost an interesting character that forms inexplicably strong attachments to weirdos in an RPG. Speaking of, this is a shooter but the writers randomly portray antagonists that enjoy the killing as immoral. It's a shooter, toying with the other team and enjoying the kill are intrensic to the genre. But protagonists that enjoy the killing are not portrayed the same way. And the worst part is that in real life the protagonist would have reported the antagonist to the police and that would have been that. It's not a bad anime, and many people will enjoy it but I found the story and characters to be elementary and shallow.