Note: As this week was a recap episode, there will be no Herald Anime Club next week.
Meeting Date: 5/5/2018
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 Anime Club! I’m Samantha Ferreira, and I’m here with L.B. Bryant this week
L.B. Bryant: Hello!
Samantha Ferreira: Today, we’re going to be going back to GGO for another week of Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online. Last week, we saw LLENN giving the absolute best “what the fuck” expression while M. pleaded for his life after a moment of betrayal.
L.B. Bryant: This was a really action packed episode. I enjoyed it quite a bit despite some minor quibbles which we’ll get into eventually.
Samantha Ferreira: indeed… the gunplay and general action was fantastic. (Also loved the subtle MGS 3 reference)
Samantha Ferreira: The choreography was tight, and there was enough to keep you on edge the whole time.
Samantha Ferreira: We also got a lot of great insight into Pito
L.B. Bryant: Indeed. The only part of the action that I had a minor issue with is when LLENN was pinned down and was only saved because she had her scanner in her pocket which turned out to be an immortal object. That struck me as pretty ridiculous.
Samantha Ferreira: It was pretty silly.
Samantha Ferreira: Of course, we’re saying this directly AFTER that moment where we had adorable talking P-90
Samantha Ferreira: So I’ll give it a pass.
L.B. Bryant: Other than that, the action really flowed well though I also just saw this on Twitter a few moments ago… https://twitter.com/iblessall/status/992842971967041539
L.B. Bryant: So there are people out there who are seeing LLENN as OP :)
Samantha Ferreira: Haha.
Samantha Ferreira: Meh, screw ’em. I liked how they handled that moment. It was a great climax after four episodes of buildup
L.B. Bryant: So, let’s talk about a point you brought up briefly earlier… it seems that there’s more to Pito than we were led to believe.
Samantha Ferreira: Yeah. She’s pretty psychotic
Samantha Ferreira: apparently
L.B. Bryant: Yeah, I had a feeling they were going to turn her into some kind of villain.
Samantha Ferreira: It makes sense, really
Samantha Ferreira: I kind of wonder how that’ll develop.
L.B. Bryant: Yeah, just the way she has been presented in the OP animation made me think she was going to be a villain.
Samantha Ferreira: Indeed
L.B. Bryant: It seems as though we’ve reached the end of the first arc so next week is a great chance to start fresh.
Samantha Ferreira: Definitely. I’m curious to see how things develop.
L.B. Bryant: Any speculation on where they are going to go next with the story?
Samantha Ferreira: Hm… My guess is that we’ll have another major competition, given how the show structures itself
Samantha Ferreira: We’ll likely see it culminate in a final showdown against Pito
Samantha Ferreira: probably at the end of the next tourney, be it a solo, a squad jam, or the like
L.B. Bryant: I think they are going to go the opposite direction and we won’t see another competition for awhile.
L.B. Bryant: They need to start sowing the seeds that they planted in eps 1-4
Samantha Ferreira: Mm, Por que no los dos? Remember: Episodes 2-4 were told entirely as a flashback
L.B. Bryant: True.
Samantha Ferreira: I could see similar happening here, or a few episodes of downtime then another event
Samantha Ferreira: We have seven episodes left, I believe, so we could see a couple devoted to just character and world building agin
Samantha Ferreira: *again
L.B. Bryant: Yeah, I suspect we’ll be seeing some character building for awhile.
Samantha Ferreira: Random thought: People are giving shit to the climax, but they’re not saying a word about how Eva literally caught a clip in her gun because badass? Like… I found the latter to be more plausible, truth be told.
L.B. Bryant: Yeah, of all the things in this climax to give shit to I don’t think catching a magazine in a gun midair tops the list.
L.B. Bryant: But overall I really enjoyed the climax so I’m not going to give it too much grief.
Samantha Ferreira: Yeah… it was over the top, and it really was just a lot of fun. It was stupid in the best way possible… that includes amazing Animu Eyes P-chan
Samantha Ferreira: and “Berserker Rage Mode” LLENN
L.B. Bryant: Yeah, P-chan talking to LLENN made me giggle
Samantha Ferreira: Likewise. It was just so silly that it worked.
L.B. Bryant: Wonder what she’s going to replace P-chan with
Samantha Ferreira: Q-chan?
L.B. Bryant: ba dum ching
Samantha Ferreira: Hehe.
Samantha Ferreira: Seriously, I’m not sure
Samantha Ferreira: Could be something as silly as “Oh yeah, your weapons repop after the SJ”
L.B. Bryant: It would be fun to see at least part of the next episode focusing on her going gun shopping lol
Samantha Ferreira: That would be great, lol
Samantha Ferreira: So, any other comments about this week?
L.B. Bryant: I think we hit all the major talking points. I’m really excited to see how next week turns out.
Samantha Ferreira: I have one more thing, actually – kind of like how the second-place team were literally the polar opposites to Karen/LLENN. that was a cute detail.
L.B. Bryant: Agreed. I thought that was a fun little twist to end the story arc on.
Samantha Ferreira: It was. That and the whole “I accepted who I am” bit – we didn’t see much of Karen, but she did grow a lot in her little bits
L.B. Bryant: Yeah absolutely.
Samantha Ferreira: But, yeah… this week was a great arc finale. I really hope they can start the next one as strongly.
L.B. Bryant: As do I.
Samantha Ferreira: Aniwho, that’s all the time we have this week. Thanks as always for joining! ’til next time, remember that P-chan is officially best girl.
L.B. Bryant: Later!
