Episode 5 – Gun and Sword
Gotta admit, I still can’t get used to Kirito’s new look. Weirding me out.
So they’ve made it to the Battle of the Bands on time. Er, Battle of Bullets. Whatever. And because Kirito looks like a chick, Sinon undresses in front of him and anime gets all anime-y and they’re awkward and yep.
Cool. Now that that inevitable moment is over…
After that Sinon is bitter at Kirito. And then he moves into his first round of the BoB.
Which he wins. Am I surprised? No.
But holy Hell I missed this animation. The battle plays out exactly how you expect it to. But when Kirito leaps into the line of fire and starts deflecting bullets with his photon sword, it’s hard not to be wowed. Everything from start to finish is seamless and it shows once again that SAO is the cream of the crop for animation.
Out in the lobby, Death Gun approaches Kirito. And this is where we get our big reveal of the episode: Death Gun is a survivor of SAO and someone who has met Kirito before. He is also a member of Laughing Coffin, the player killing orange guild from the Aincrad Arc.
Personally, this is huge for me. GGO seems to be focusing on calling back to Aincrad as opposed to Alfheim. They’re bringing us back to the way the anime is supposed to feel. Dangerous, exciting, and, above all, cool.
I hope Death Gun ends up being a notable character from the first season, which would up the stakes for Kirito and the audience. But I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
9/10
+ Death Gun’s reveal
+ Kirito’s first battle