Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 5 “BTRY’s Choice”: Meet The New Gang [Review]

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 5 “BTRY’s Choice” is basically the cast dealing with the aftermath of the previous episode’s plot twist. Starting by having the new traitor team introduce themselves to each other and by extension: the audience. Then following that with the next logical step: introducing themselves to the other teams, and in style, no less.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 5 “BTRY’s Choice”: Details

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 5 “BTRY’s Choice” is the fifth episode (you can read my reviews of Ep. 1, Ep. 2, Ep. 3, and Ep. 4 here) of the second season of this science fiction, adventure, and comedy-drama anime. Said anime is the anime adaptation of the Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online light novels and manga by Keiichi Sigsawa (Kino’s Journey, Tale of a Single Continent).

Originally, 3Hz (Dimension W, Princess Principal, The Devil Is a Part-Timer!!) was the animation studio behind the first season. However, for this second season, the animation studio is instead A-1 Pictures (Black Butler, Sword Art Online, Solo Leveling).

Production Cast

Unfortunately, we don’t know who specifically is behind Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 5 “BTRY’s Choice”. However, as for Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II as a whole, we do still know that Masayuki Sakoi remains the director behind the anime, with Yōsuke Kuroda as the writer, and Yoshio Kosakai as the character designer. Starving Trancer (aka. Yusuke Seo) is the one who composed the music you hear in this second season.

Speaking of which: the opening theme song for Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II is “GG” by ReoNa. Meanwhile, “Little Dancer” by The Jazzin’ Park is the ending theme song for the same.

Voice Cast

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 5 “BTRY’s Choice” features the voices of Tomori Kusunoki (Reba Buhr in English dub) as LLENN / Karen Kohiruimaki, Yoko Hikasa / ReoNa (singing) (Allegra Clark in English dub) as Pitohui / Elsa Kanzaki, Chinatsu Akasaki (Faye Mata in English dub) as Fukaziroh / Miyu Shinohara, and Kazuyuki Okitsu (Ray Chase in English dub) as M / Gōshi Asōgi.

When and Where to Watch

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 5 “BTRY’s Choice” made its airing and streaming (read: simulcast) debut on November 1, 2024. You can watch this episode only on Crunchyroll. In fact, you can only watch this season only on Crunchyroll due to this second season of the anime being an exclusive there. However, you can watch the first season not only on Crunchyroll, but also on Hulu or Prime Video.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 5 “BTRY’s Choice”: Synopsis

Alas, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II only relatively recently began its run. In fact, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 5 “BTRY’s Choice” only made its debut five days ago as of this writing. Thus, I will present to you Crunchyroll’s official synopsis for this episode instead of a spoiler-filled plot summary. You can read that synopsis below:

The organizing team of the game announced a shocking, special rule to be implemented. One “betrayer” will be selected from the six remaining teams to form a new team. Pitohui is selected from LPFM, and the team leader of SHINC, Eva, also joins. With this new rule implemented, Pitohui is happy that she can fight against LLENN. Eva gracefully leaves her team, hoping to fight against LLENN, too. All of the “betrayers” meet up on a luxury cruise ship set up in UNKNOWN, forming a most intimidating team named “BTRY”!

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 5 “BTRY’s Choice”: The Good

There’s still no doubt about it. It’s the story of Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 5 “BTRY’s Choice” that’s the best part of this episode, and it’s pretty obvious why. The entire fallout from the devs’ decision to introduce that betrayal mechanic is just fascinating to watch, especially seeing how the various characters and teams react to it. It really does feel like watching a first-person shooter game tournament in anime form here. It’s yet another indicator that Keiichi Sigsawa has a far better grasp of video games and the players who play them than Reki Kawahara does.

The other aspect of why this episode is so good is the animation quality. As you can see in the screenshots, A-1 Pictures shows once more that they are the animation studio behind Sword Art Online, which is noted for having gorgeous animation. This episode and by extension this entire anime clearly carries their mark of quality. When you can see the reflections off of telescopic sight lenses, and watch dust clouds from lifeboat impacts rise up, along with watching the wires holding up those very lifeboats flail around after being severed, you know that you’re watching some peak animation.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 5 “BTRY’s Choice”: The Bad

Alas, if you’re a fan of the gunplay this anime is known for and only that, then Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 5 “BTRY’s Choice” will probably bore you just a little. There is no gunplay in this episode. It’s all inter-character dialogue and exploration here, which I definitely approve of, but might not be for everyone. If you want high-intensity and/or bloody action, then might I suggest watching watching Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Solo Leveling, Kaiju No. 8, DDDD, and/or DAN DA DAN? Those anime series should have more than enough action to satisfy any action junkie.

Tune back in to THS to find out more about Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online and other anime when we do.

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Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 4 “A Special Rule Launched”: Plot Twister [Review]