Sword Art Online: Season 2/ Episode 4 "GGO (Gun Gale Online)" – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

Overview

When Shino/ Sinon met Kirito.

Review (with Spoilers)

With Kirito entering GGO comes the true beginning of the series and in the first episode, he already made an impression, partly because he is a girl. Something which leads to odd moments of commentary dealing with the harassment those with girl characters receive. Though, as a whole, the main focus is us getting to see the vast world and watch as Sinon and Kirito bond, mostly due to the misconception that Kirito is a girl.

Topic 1: A Whole New World – Kirito

With Kirito being able to convert his stats from other VR games into GGO, he is given a slight advantage. But, as soon as he logs in he is forced to deal with the male gaze, cat calling, and the awkwardness which comes with being seen as a girl in a male-dominated game. Making me wonder if Kikuoka set him up as a girl as a joke or because girl players, as we saw when we met Sinon, get a lot of attention?

Topic 2: New Friends/ Same Old Kirito – Kirito and Sinon

Though being a girl in GGO has its hassles, it does bless Kirito since he ends up meeting Sinon who guides him, and provides expertise on weaponry, so that he can quickly get acclimated to the world. But with their comradery being based on her thinking he is a girl, you can see a ticking time bomb there. Also, with Kirito impressing her with his speed and dodging capabilities, it also makes him a rival since he too plans to join BoB so that Death Gun takes note of him.

But, for now, it seems the two will be just good friends. For as much as Kirito’s skills are admirable, I don’t think Sinon seems him as much competition. If anything, the main issue she may have is his speed and reflexes which were so good that he beat this gambling game and got 300,000 in game money. Of which mostly is gone by the time the episode ends and he has bought all he needs. Leaving us with those two on their way to sign in for BoB, and us left wondering how well Kirito and Sinon may do.

Things to Note

Rather than adapt to the GGO universe and learn how to use guns to defeat his opponents, Kirito instead decides to buy an energy sword. Something which is offered in the game, but Sinon makes seem to be a rarely used item since it does require getting close.