At last the second half of this episode developed more of what I was hoping for with the story- the return of Death Gun and the world of GGO.  Kirito’s display of charm towards the soldiers before Bullet of Bullets was very awkward- this would have been a lot more humorous if it were not for Sinon’s knowledge of him really being a guy.

The background visuals for this series have been quite appealing- I wouldn’t say its as good as Zankyou no Terror, Space Dandy, or even a P.A. Works anime but those designs in the competition were nice to look at.  Something the first season did really well was gradually create an intriguing virtual environment around Kirito- this time around there isn’t much of an explanation of VR as we’ve had that previously explained but here is where this is little to no structure to GGO.  Behind the colorful backgrounds it’s all competitions and no world-building.  Sinon has been there in the beginning to discuss specifics yet we haven’t seen much of Kirito experience situations by himself without his hand being held every step of the way.

However, it was great to see how he’s been affected by Laughing Coffin and what that does to him as a player as his reaction towards Death Gun stunning Pale Rider was more development than the last three episodes even provided!  What a cliffhanger one that I hope Dyne doesn’t get killed in the real world.  This was a big step in there right direction for Sword Art Online- hope to see more episodes enhance the plot like the second half of this one did.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 7/10

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