Meeting Date: 4/21/2018
Disclaimer: The Herald Anime Club discusses shows as they’re airing. Naturally, there will be spoilers for a given episode. You have been warned!
Samantha Ferreira: Hi everyone, and welcome to the Herald Aniime Club! I’m Samantha Ferreira, and I’m joined by L.B. Bryant
L.B. Bryant: Hello!
Samantha Ferreira: Tonight, we’re continuing our journey into MMO addiction with Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online episodes 2 & 3.
Samantha Ferreira: And really, this episode gave us a lot more to latch on to compared to last time
L.B. Bryant: Indeed. I really enjoyed learning about the girl behind the avatar.
Samantha Ferreira: Likewise. She’s an interesting character in her own right.
L.B. Bryant: Indeed. It’s nice to see an SAO related series where the main character isn’t a godly character but rather just a normal girl with a complex.
Samantha Ferreira: Oh god yeah. She reminds me of Azumanga Daioh’s Sasaki, in a dramatic context
Samantha Ferreira: And that’s a good thing
L.B. Bryant: Yeah I can see that comparison.
Samantha Ferreira: And yeah… I do have to agree that it’s good to get away from the uber-god gamer. I could never get into the mainline SAO series because of the cast… this spinoff, though, I’m really liking everyone so far
L.B. Bryant: There were just a lot of fun things in these episodes. Not the least of which was the call back to the original SAO with Pito talking about the characters in BoB who worked together until the very end.
Samantha Ferreira: Indeed
Samantha Ferreira: Speaking of, I’m betting $10 that Pito is the idol that LLENN likes so much
L.B. Bryant: lol That’s entirely possible
Samantha Ferreira: It’s just a hunch given the way they’re leaning into the idol, and the way she keeps bringing it up to Pito
Samantha Ferreira: Chekov’s gun
L.B. Bryant: Though I’m curious, do you think we’re eventually going to get an overarching plot/villain or are we going to stick with this mostly simple/episodic story?
Samantha Ferreira: To be honest? While I expect an eventual villain, I would be 100% cool with the way we have it now.
L.B. Bryant: I’m actually leaning towards Pito being a villain at some point based on how she’s portrayed in the opening animation.
Samantha Ferreira: I can see that
L.B. Bryant: I sense that there will some kind of competition between them.
Samantha Ferreira: I could see that, too.
Samantha Ferreira: Especially given the vow in episode 2
L.B. Bryant: That’s just me speculating though.
Samantha Ferreira: “Beat me and we’ll meet in real life” or something
L.B. Bryant: I had almost forgotten about that.
Samantha Ferreira: Hehe.
Samantha Ferreira: Honestly, a lot happened in these two episdoes
Samantha Ferreira: I felt genuinely bad for LLENN when she was trying the various games, getting super tall or buff guys and just experiencing dysphoric attacks each time. :|
L.B. Bryant: Yeah but it was a fun sequence especially with the payoff of seeing her get all hyper cheery when she finally got a cute, small avatar.
Samantha Ferreira: Very true.
Samantha Ferreira: I still want that hat.
L.B. Bryant: hehe wait about six months, it’s going to be EVERYWHERE.
Samantha Ferreira: Hah. Point taken.
Samantha Ferreira: Side note: Did you know that this was a SONY production with SONY MUSIC branding and SONY electronics is SONY inserting some SONY branding?
L.B. Bryant: hehe that almost escaped my notice. It’s good thing that there were a couple of subtle reminders thrown in.
Samantha Ferreira: I know. I wouldn’t know that SONY was doing anything without SONY Xperia (TM) phones and SONY (R) Headphones and SONY (R) TVs everywhere
L.B. Bryant: Exactly, at least they were subtle about it :)
Samantha Ferreira: Indeed. Super subtle. Like a blood-curdling scream in the dark of night.
L.B. Bryant: Precisely.
L.B. Bryant: But yeah, the overall tone of the series is really interesting to me and I’m curious if they are going to keep it up. It’s like the complete antithesis of SAO.
Samantha Ferreira: Agreed. I give this show crap, but yeah… I’m loving everything about it. Even the stupid dialogue like “You have to hand-feed P-chan plenty of enemy blood.” “YEAH! I’ll do my best to kill!” just worked somehow.
L.B. Bryant: hehe you can’t spell slaughter without laughter.
Samantha Ferreira: Sure thing, Strawberry Sweetcake. :V
Samantha Ferreira: But yeah… it seems those lines are pretty common, now that I think about it. I wonder if the Tokyo Metro Police are camped outside of 8-Bit *just in case*.
Samantha Ferreira: I couldn’t help but laugh at the part in episode 2 where they had this goofy, cheerful music playing as LLENN just crushed her enemies over and over again.
L.B. Bryant: Yeah, I remember seeing discussion about this point in another chat. Basically it was kind of confusing that the tutorial was encouraging her to be a complete dick PKer lol
Samantha Ferreira: lol It was and it wasn’t, given the nature of GGO
Samantha Ferreira: I kind of liked how much of an asshole the trainer was, though. “This is a sniper rifle. Let’s see what you can do. … … … you should never fire a sniper rifle again”
L.B. Bryant: lol Yeah that was fun
Samantha Ferreira: It really was.
Samantha Ferreira: That and the way they introduced M. er… again.
L.B. Bryant: heh
Samantha Ferreira: “I have to be less formal or Pito will punch me” had me laughing
L.B. Bryant: That was good.
Samantha Ferreira: I kind of love that about the series – they’re actually human – these are just randos.
L.B. Bryant: Yeah I can see that point :D
Samantha Ferreira: Hehe. I kind of wonder where that’ll take us next week, though… we’re at the start of the Squad Jam again
L.B. Bryant: Indeed. I suppose they’ll pick up where they left off at the end of ep 1
Samantha Ferreira: That’s what I figured… but this *is* SAO…
L.B. Bryant: Oh! I wanted to ask; do you know who they were referencing when they talked about the author who sponsored SJ? I *think* they were talking about the author of Kino’s Journey (who I believe is the gun consultant for this series) but I’m not entirely sure. I know they were referencing someone real though.
Samantha Ferreira: Without a freakin’ doubt!
Samantha Ferreira: Have you ever seen Sigsawa-sensei?
L.B. Bryant: Not in person.
Samantha Ferreira:
L.B. Bryant: lol totally him ok.
Samantha Ferreira: Yep!
L.B. Bryant: Ok, I thought as much but I wasn’t 100%
Samantha Ferreira: That was a great reference, to be honest… Most people wouldn’t get it
Samantha Ferreira: But it’s like… “Yeah, that’s totally him” when he pops up on screen
L.B. Bryant: lol coolness
Samantha Ferreira: Makes sense because he wrote the original novel.
Samantha Ferreira: And the manga.
L.B. Bryant: Yeah truth
Samantha Ferreira: One last thing I did notice in this case, which struck me as interesting. Nothing big, but… interesting. The credits on this show are in English
L.B. Bryant: Hm, I hadn’t even thought about that.
L.B. Bryant: I hadn’t even noticed.
Samantha Ferreira: It’s a detail that most of us miss… but I caught it while doing the screens for last week’s meeting
L.B. Bryant: hehe coolness.
Samantha Ferreira: Yeah. It was just a neat detail.
Samantha Ferreira: So, before we wrap up: any predictions for next week?
L.B. Bryant: Our plucky heroine is going to lose the SJ due to a nefarious plot that is being hatched even as we speak to undermine her. :)
Samantha Ferreira: Haha… fair enough.
Samantha Ferreira: I’m saying “she’ll lose, but it’ll be due to some weird PUBG luck mirroring Pito’s loss”
L.B. Bryant: hehe sounds good
Samantha Ferreira: Aniwho, that’s all the time we have for tonight. ‘Til next time, remember that SONY this is a SONY show that SONY has endorsements by SONY
L.B. Bryant: Night!
