Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Season 2 almost seems inevitable considering how popular the SAO franchise is worldwide. But every anime needs to stand on its own two feet, so does the GGO anime have what it takes?
The anime is based on the Sword Art Online Alternative: GGO light novels by author Sigsawa Keiichi, who enjoys helping out other authors with his detailed gun knowledge. Being a gun nut put Sigsawa in contact with SAO series creator Kawahara Reki, who agreed to supervise the creation of the GGO light novels with Sigsawa taking the lead.
Sigsawa was officially part of the Sword Art Online Season 2 team and he provided all of the flavor text for the guns used in the show. In addition, Sigsawa proposed changing Sinon’s MP7 to a Glock because a fully loaded MP7 weighs around five pounds and slows movement, whereas the less bulky Glock weighs around 30 ounces. So, it’s no surprise that the GGO anime has such interesting gunplay.
The Japanese-language Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online light novel series will already up to Volume 13 as of March 10, 2023.
Yen Press has licensed the English translation of the GGO light novels. The release date for Volume 12was June 20, 2023. Unofficial fan translation projects stopped with the ending of Volume 3.
Besides the anime, the story has also been adapted into a Gun Gale Online manga by Tadadi Tamori. The manga ended in 2021 with only 4 volumes and Yen Press finished the English translation in January 2022. Unfortunately, the manga is far behind the story of both the anime and the light novels.
This article provides everything that is known about Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Season 2 and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Light Novels Compared To The Anime
Anime adaptations are often limited for time and it’s pretty infamous for light novels to be distilled down into their bare plot elements. In worst-case scenarios, an entire book will be covered by a single episode, but in order to keep the pacing brisk an anime can’t get bogged down in a barrage of details
The GGO anime is no different and Studio 3Hz removed a lot of backstory to certain characters. Even the way that the anti-tank rifle was procured was a detailed process of grinding in the books. Green-haired Shirley (who had a whole chapter named after her) and team SHINC’s rifle flashback had to be cut back in order to make plenty of room for the main event of LLENN Vs. Pitohui. The books also provided an explanation for how the crazed Pito could survive a headshot due to game mechanics whereas the anime glossed over those details.
Thankfully, the anime’s pacing was not too fast, covering all the necessary major plot elements of only the first three books. Episode 4, Death Game, was named after Chapter 12 in the first volume. Episode 6, SAO Loser, jumped to Chapter 3 of Volume 2. Episode 8, Booby Trap, was named after Chapter 6.
Episode 9, Ten Minute Massacre, was the final chapter of Volume 2 and also the first two chapters of Volume 3. As previously mentioned, Episode 10 skimmed much of the third volume to get to Chapter 8 but slowed the pacing down again for Episode 11, Psycho LLENN, which is named after Chapter 9. Gun Gale Online Episode 12 will thus have three remaining chapters to draw upon, including the last decisive battle.
The good news is that the ending of Gun Gale Online Episode 12 finishes off at a good stopping point since that leaves six books for creating Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Season 2. The bad news is that the anime finishes off before Squad Jam 3 and the two English books covering this event probably won’t become available until 2019.
Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Season 2 Release Date Predictions
As of the last update, Studio 3Hz or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Season release date. Nor has the production of a sequel been announced.
Once the news is officially confirmed this article will be updated with the relevant information.
In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when, or if, the GGO Season 2 premiere date will occur in the future.
From a financial perspective, the Blu-Ray sales in Japan did better than My Hero Academia Season 3 and review scores on MyAnimeList have been in the same range as the main anime series. The availability of Studio 3Hz is a secondary issue, although the main Sword Art Online anime series is being produced by A-1 Pictures.
Fast-forward to 2023 and the only future project that Studio 3Hz has announced thus far is The Devil is a Part-Timer! Season 3. But at this point, it seems unlikely that the GGO anime sequel will be produced since there is already plenty of source material available from the book series.
GGO Season 2 Spoilers
The Third Squad Jam takes place about three months after Pitohui was saved from her own madness. This time Karen/LLENN will find herself part of the four-person team LPFM, which consists of LLENN, Pitohui, Fukaziroh, and M.
This tournament is a little bit more interesting than the previous battles because the conditions change as time passes. The field begins with six areas and in the middle is a sea that slowly grows until the surrounding areas sink into the water due to earthquakes. On top of that, there is a hidden area at the center of the map.
The field slowly pushes all the players toward the middle of the map. There, they find a cruise ship that has been grounded.
But what makes this tournament really crazy is that a special rule activates in the middle of the Third Squad Jam. The fact that the titles of Volumes 4 and 5 mention a “Betrayer’s Choice” is a giant hint, but this article won’t spoil the surprise. Let’s just say that a new team is suddenly formed in the middle of the tournament.
Unfortunately, audiences will have to wait until Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Season 2 is released to watch how the action plays out. Let’s just hope anime fans won’t have to wait too long. Stay tuned!
