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Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 9 “An Invite to the Battlefield” is mostly a cute slice of life look at the irl lives of our gamers. Mostly, that is. We do get to see the premise behind the next dive into GGO, as well as a slice of that action. This includes right at the beginning of this episode, in media res style.
Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 9 “An Invite to the Battlefield”: Details
Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 9 “An Invite to the Battlefield” is the ninth episode (you can read my reviews of Ep. 1, Ep. 2, Ep. 3, Ep. 4, Ep. 5, Ep. 6, Ep. 7, and Ep. 8 here) of the second season of this science fiction, adventure, comedy-drama, and gun-filled 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
Ryōsuke Azuma is the director behind Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 9 “An Invite to the Battlefield”, with Kenichi Kawamura as the storyboarder. 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. 9 “An Invite to the Battlefield” 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. 9 “An Invite to the Battlefield” made its airing and streaming (read: simulcast) debut on November 29, 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. 9 “An Invite to the Battlefield”: Synopsis
Alas, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II is still an ongoing anime. In fact, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 9 “An Invite to the Battlefield” only premiered 11 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:
A month has passed since the fierce SJ3 battles. Karen returns to Hokkaido and tells Miyu she can’t decide whether to continue playing GGO. However, Miyu figures out that Karen’s actually concerned about the pure rivalry with Elza and Saki.
Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 9 “An Invite to the Battlefield”: The Good
Despite the reduced intensity of the action, it’s still the story that’s what makes Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 9 “An Invite to the Battlefield” a treat to watch. Yes, there is less action in this episode than usual, but that’s to make room for some character exploration in the real world outside of GGO. It’s seeing the game players outside the video game that’s what makes this anime a treat to watch, since it effectively gives us two different worlds to explore. One is the bloody, violent glory that is GGO, and the other is the quiet, peaceful lives the characters actually live. The contrast is the key here, while also showing that Keiichi Sigsawa has a good grasp on how video game work. Plus, the implied yuri between Karen and Miyu is deliciously sweet.
All with the quality animation from A-1 Pictures complementing that wonderful story, no less. Once again, they prove that they’re the animation studio behind the Sword Art Online anime that this anime was spun off of. It has that same crisp, clear animation combined with the very well-animated gun action. It’s seeing chunks of wall being blown off by anti-materiel rifle fire that really brings me into the gunplay here.
Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Ep. 9 “An Invite to the Battlefield”: The Bad
Honestly, if you only want action all the time and nothing else, then the slice of life and implied yuri might bore you just a bit. You know, while you’re waiting for the gunplay to start back up. In that case, might I suggest watching Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Solo Leveling, Kaiju No. 8, DDDD, and/or DAN DA DAN? Those anime should tide you over action-wise until it starts back up again.
Tune back in to THS to find out more about Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II and other anime when we do.
