Sword Art Online II "Crimson Memories" Review

FULL EPISODE SPOILER

This is going to be a relatively short review for a multitude of reasons: 1. Not much happens, it's a "calm before the storm" type of episode. 2. Apex is going on right now, so, I'm writing this and listening in on the Melee Top 48. Gotta get this done real quick like.

Oh, and the Superbowl or whatever, but, I don't like either team nor the halftime performance choice.


Alright, so, like I said, sort of a quiet episode. It serves to help Kirito cope with his stress through both Suguha and his nurse, Aki, as well as introduce if you didn't notice/ further the romance for Sinon. It's yet another episode with a decent split between real and virtual world to brace us for what's coming in both.

The episode begins with Kazuto and Suguha eating breakfast. I know. After the wild events of last episode, the only proper way to follow it up is to see them eat breakfast. I couldn't think of ANYTHING else they could have done.

Suguha reveals to Kazuto that she knew all about him moving from ALO to GGO, and shows him an online article talking about Kirito's advance into the main Bullet of Bullets tournament. He tries to weasel his way out of talking about it, considering how touchy it is with Death Gun involved, but Suguha reassures him that he has everyone's support to complete the job and comeback safe. It may not be a lot, but, you can tell that for Kazuto, the fact that everyone is supporting him helps.

However, it hurts that he isn't telling them the truth. He isn't telling them about how Death Gun is an SAO survivor, and isn't telling them about the killings within the game. You'd think that if Suguha has access to that information about the rankings she would also see stuff about the rumors surrounding GGO and ask him about it, but,  no. It's kind of weird. I do get why Kazuto isn't telling them about it, as nobody would want him to go to GGO if that were the case, but you can't help but feel that if they were to find out without him telling them that the girls would be remarkably mad at him.

Also in the real world is Shino and Shinkawa, who are at a park and Shino is constantly berating how ridiculous Kirito is, like how he dressed up and pretended to be a girl. She constantly promises to take down Kirito in a fit of rage that is fun to watch from the typically quiet and controlled character. The most surprising part of the scene is where Shino pretends to point a gun at the nearby clock, swearing to take down Kirito. You could feel, though, that is was a very impassioned move, so she wasn't worried about the gun or anything like that. She was determined. Basically, she managed to find her temporary cure.

In a pretty random move, Shinkawa seemingly forces himself upon Shino, professing that he really likes her, but Shino friendzones him until after the tournament, should she win.

Kazuto heads back to the hospital where his nurse notes that something is up. He then tells her about the people he's had to kill in SAO and saves that he didn't deserve to be saved since he forgot the names of the players he killed, and had completely forgotten about the incident since he was released from the game a year ago. The nurse, though, tells him that perhaps he is meant to remember them. Not because they're haunting him or anything, but because a little part of him always wants him to remember so he can move past it. The important thing is that he survived and saved those around him.

I like how the show doesn't necessarily say what would be right or wrong in that situation. Kazuto admits that he could have neutralized them instead of killed them (doubt it, there was no way he was going to neutralize Kuradeel with only one hand), so, it does bring up a huge moral issue. The nurse says that even if he killed them for a good cause, it doesn't necessarily make it right. And she ends it there, sort of for the audience to think about. Which is good, it opens things up for discussion and allows the audience to have to think and come to their own conclusion without having it all spelled out for them.

Both Kazuto and Shino enter GGO to prepare for the tournament, Sinon meeting with Spiegel (Shinkawa) before and telling him that they'll meet up afterward to either celebrate or lament the tournament outcome. Thus, the episode ends with Kirito and Sinon meeting up and promising to each other that they won't lose.

A pretty decent episode, opening things up for discussion and allowing Shino's character to flourish with that little moment in the park she had. That's always good. Plus, we had that moment of morality in the hospital that was very intriguing and added some random, but good, character the nurse. So, yeah, that was fun.

Tomorrow, though, the calm is over, and the storm begins. The Bullet of Bullets 3! See you then.