Login! Gun Gale Online - Sword Art Online II (Ep 1-4) Review

Genre: Cyberpunk/Fantasy/Action Adventure
*Minor Spoilers*

Sinon GGO (anime.anonforge.com)

It has taken a fair amount of build-up for our protagonist, Kazuto 'Kirito' Kirigawa, to finally log into the cyberpunk cesspool known as Gun Gale Online (GGO). The first three episodes of this story arc were mainly exposition to explain why Kirito was converting to the virtual massively multiplayer role-playing gun game. The reasoning: players from GGO are being found dead in real life after being shot in-game by the mysterious villain known as Death Gun. Who or what Death Gun truly is remains a mystery.

The first three episodes have also introduced a new character into the SAO story, a skilled female sniper named Shino 'Sinon' Asada who plays GGO in order to overcome her real life hoplophobia, or fear of guns.

Kirito SAO (animevice.com)

In episode 4, Kirito finally logs into the new cyberpunk world and, knowing nothing about the specifics of the game, enlists the help of a passerby--Sinon. Sinon shows Kirito around the marketplace, where he is unable to afford any of the weapons, and then introduces him to an impossible game-of-chance where Kirito might earn some extra credits. After analyzing one round of the game, Kirito employs his celerity to overcome all odds, impressing Sinon and onlookers by winning the game-of-chance in a single shot (pun intended).

Kirito then chooses his new weapons and goes through some firing practice before heading out to sign up for the ranked GGO tournament: Bullet of Bullets (BoB). By participating and succeeding in BoB, Kirito hopes to attract the attention of Death Gun so that he might solve the mystery of player deaths.

As stated above, the first few episodes mainly provide exposition for the upcoming GGO story arc and also give viewers evidence of Kirito and Asuna's continued relationship.

The introduction of Sinon, voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro (possibly better known as Canaan from "CANAAN," Celty from "Durarara!!," or Suruga Kanbaru from "Bakemonogatari") saves the first three episodes from being completely slow and dry, but it is not until Kirito, voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Titus Alexius of "Magi," and Kaede Makabe of "Oreimo"), finally steps into GGO that things seem to really begin ramping up.

I am a fan of this anime series as a whole and have watched each arc. It will be interesting to see how Kirito handles himself in a new and unfamiliar VMMORPG genre where guns are the norm and the skill of the players is higher due to the ability to earn real-world money by being skilled.

Rating: 3.75 out of  5
+ room to grow
+ good voice acting
+ cyberpunk-fantasy
+ smooth action animation
- slow to start early on
- heavy exposition early on

Sinon and Kirito in GGO (i-azu.deviantart.com)

Refreshing Ghoulish Delights: Tokyo Ghoul

Genre: Psychological, Horror, Action

Ken Kaneki (8track.com)

In modern entertainment, the preponderance of macabre, fictitious, and supernatural entities is apparent. To say the least, zombies, vampires, werewolves, and ghosts have entered into mainstream entertainment seamlessly. The tales of terror of yesteryear are born again for our viewing pleasure.

And yet, there are still many myths left mostly untouched, such as the Arabic-born ghūl or 'ghoul'. At least, that was true until this fresh mid-summer batch of anime released the first episode of "Tokyo Ghoul" by studio Pierrot and was licensed by Funimation.

The story of "Tokyo Ghoul" follows Ken Kaneki, your typical Japanese-anime high school boy. He is quiet, bookish, an orphan, and is foiled by his best friend Hideyoshi Nagachika, a loud and excitable teenager with a hidden keenness. In their city of Tokyo, ghouls are known to exist and there has been a sudden outbreak of ghoul attacks on humans. It is suggested that the number of the prey has risen beyond reason, as though some ghouls appetite for human bodies has become insatiable.

Ken, being an impressionable young boy, is manipulated by a beautiful woman who turns out to be one of Tokyo's most violent and dangerous ghouls. With some luck and possibly some help, Ken is saved from a savage attack, but he is left on the edge of death.

Ken Kaneki (8track.com)

The medical staff who handle Ken's surgery save him only by transplanting the organs of the dead girl who is also brought into the hospital with him. She, of course, is a ghoul. Following his surgery and recovery, Ken finds that something is amiss with his body. He finds his favorite foods disgusting and there are hunger pangs in him which he simply cannot satiate.

"Tokyo Ghoul" is a danse macabre which employs the voice acting of people such Natsuki Hanae ("Diamond No Ace," "Hamatora," "Aldnoah.Zero," and "Sword Art Online II") and Sora Amamiya ("Log Horizon," and "Akame No Kill"). They might be better recognized as Haruichi/Inaho and Lilliana/Akame, respectively. The show incorporates the harsh realities of existing as a sort of outsider in school, the dark and terrifying supernatural, and smooth, eye-pleasing action animation.

"Tokyo Ghoul" represents a genre which is often underwhelming in anime and it turns that genre into a terror thrill-ride. Warning, this show is quite gory.

Rating: 4 out of  5
+ good animation
+ good voice acting
+ GHOULISHNESS
+ horror/psychological genre