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Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 1 “What Happens Twice Will Happen Thrice” is the result of over six long years of waiting. Yes, it really has been that long. The last episode of season 1 of the anime aired all the way back on June 30, 2018. There has been nothing since, even though the original light novels by Keiichi Sigsawa are still ongoing as of this writing. Now though at last, we finally have a second season of the anime, and even just on Ep. 1, it’s already looking to be just as good as the first.
Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 1 “What Happens Twice Will Happen Thrice”: Details
Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 1 “What Happens Twice Will Happen Thrice” is the first episode 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
Alas, we don’t know yet who specifically is behind Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 1 “What Happens Twice Will Happen Thrice”. However, we do know that all of the main staff behind the first season are returning for the second. This means that Masayuki Sakoi remains the director behind Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II in general, 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. 1 “What Happens Twice Will Happen Thrice” features the voices of Tomori Kusunoki as LLENN / Karen Kohiruimaki, Yoko Hikasa / ReoNa (singing) as Pitohui / Elsa Kanzaki, Chinatsu Akasaki as Fukaziroh / Miyu Shinohara, and Kazuyuki Okitsu as M / Gōshi Asōgi.
When and Where to Watch
Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 1 “What Happens Twice Will Happen Thrice” made its airing and streaming debut (read: simulcast) on October 4, 2024. You can watch this episode only on Crunchyroll. In fact, you can only watch this season only on Crunchyroll due to this 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. 1 “What Happens Twice Will Happen Thrice”: Synopsis
Alas, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II only just began its run. In fact, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 1 “What Happens Twice Will Happen Thrice” only just made its debut three 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:
Three months after LLENN won second place in the team battle, “Second Squad Jam” (SJ2), “Third Squad Jam” (SJ3), was announced. Soon after, news broke out that Pitohui, M, Fukaziroh, and LLENN formed “LPFM,” considered the strongest team in the game. Clarence is obsessed with LLENN, and Shirley ignites her fighting spirit to kill Pitohui. All members of SHINC hope to take revenge as they lost to LLENN in SJ1. A heated battle surpassing SJ2 is about to begin…!
In fact, because this is the first episode of the new season, I also have Crunchyroll’s official synopsis for Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II as a whole for you all. You can check that synopsis out as well below:
Now finding themselves entering a new battle royale death match tournament that was announced out of the blue. LPFM is eyed as the top favorite candidate team to win, but the team will have to endure several rigorous ordeals to get there: a playing field that sinks into the ocean with the passage of time, an [UNKNOWN] area hidden in the middle of the map, and an anonymous team conspiracy. In addition to all of this, all players will have to follow some shocking special rules if they want to play the game and win…
Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 1 “What Happens Twice Will Happen Thrice”: The Good
Fans of the first season of Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online (myself included) will definitely find no small amount of satisfaction in Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 1 “What Happens Twice Will Happen Thrice”, especially in terms of the story. Even though three months have passed by in-story, said story barely gives any indication of that at all. It start out straight in the gun-firing action in a classic in media res style. This makes the whole story feel like it just jumps to the next tournament without any rest in between, aside from brief moments of slice of life fun to cool things down a bit.
Funnily enough, there’s even a reasonable in-story explanation for this: the main characters either just didn’t have the time to play the game, or was busy playing other games. Exactly like what would happen in real life gaming. It’s Keiichi Sigsawa’s knowledge of and familiarity with gaming that makes him a most excellent writer for this anime. Far better than the original Sword Art Online story by Reki Kawahara, in my opinion.
Complementing that story is the amazing animation from A-1 Pictures. Sword Art Online fans will recall that this is the same animation studio, and oh boy, does it show. The animation is just as gorgeous as in SAO, especially for the backgrounds. Those backgrounds look like they could be masterpieces by renowned artists going off of their quality alone. That combined with the highly detailed character art makes this anime pure eye candy to watch. Just like the first season was.
Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 1 “What Happens Twice Will Happen Thrice”: The Bad
Honestly, if you don’t like guns or anything even remotely military-related, then Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II is probably not for you, let alone this episode. This entire anime is basically all about guns, and the people who love them, with a surprising amount of yuri in it to boot. If you don’t like any of those, then you might want to check out a different anime. If you do, then may I suggest Black Butler -Public School Arc-, DDDD, and/or Senpai is an Otokonoko for something entirely different?
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