Let's face it: The first season of Sword Art Online had... problems. Plenty of problems. Kirito was an overpowered Black Hole Sue, the female characters were objectified and demeaned, the villains were horribly written, and the whole thing just screamed "power fantasy". It was aesthetically fantastic, but if it drew you in, it probably wasn't for any other reason but that.
Apparently the creators learned their lesson.
Sinon is far and away my favorite character in the series so far. Unlike the characters from season 1, she's fleshed out from her very first appearance. She has a goal that can easily be understood: the need to be stronger and to overcome her own past. She holds her own in fights and isn't constantly relying on Kirito. And her backstory is legitimately tragic - it doesn't feel cheap, cliche, or ineffective at all.
Even more impressive, however, was how the show retroactively fleshed out Kirito himself. Unlike before, he has internal conflict that doesn't just come down to basic things like "I failed my friends" or "I'm not strong enough". He has to grapple with real trauma from his past, and with the question of whether previously shrugging it off makes him a bad person. The emotions involved are much more tangible and believable than before.
Season 1 only tangentially mentioned some themes of the relation between games and reality. Season 2 explores them in more depth, constantly bringing them up through the first arc.
The conflict was more easily bought into than in the first season. The two protagonists of the arc often butt heads while they're working toward their separate but related goals, a sharp turn from season 1's "everyone loves Kirito". The stakes felt more personal than Aincrad and better articulated than Alfheim. And the heroes encountered legitimate opposition, both in the game and in their own emotions - Kirito wasn't able to just plow through everyone.
Season 1's Unfortunate Implications are almost absent entirely. The female characters have much more independence and agency than before. And when the villain is finally dealt with, it's in a manner that doesn't leave him scarred for life.
While there's still plenty of room to improve, SAO II is already a huge improvement over its predecessor. I'm anxious to see how the second half turns out!
Phantom Bullet: How SAO Redeemed Itself
Let's face it: The first season of Sword Art Online had... problems. Plenty of problems. Kirito was an overpowered Black Hole Sue, the female characters were objectified and demeaned, the villains were horribly written, and the whole thing just screamed "power fantasy". It was aesthetically fantastic, but if it drew you in, it probably wasn't for any other reason but that.
Apparently the creators learned their lesson.
Sinon is far and away my favorite character in the series so far. Unlike the characters from season 1, she's fleshed out from her very first appearance. She has a goal that can easily be understood: the need to be stronger and to overcome her own past. She holds her own in fights and isn't constantly relying on Kirito. And her backstory is legitimately tragic - it doesn't feel cheap, cliche, or ineffective at all.
Even more impressive, however, was how the show retroactively fleshed out Kirito himself. Unlike before, he has internal conflict that doesn't just come down to basic things like "I failed my friends" or "I'm not strong enough". He has to grapple with real trauma from his past, and with the question of whether previously shrugging it off makes him a bad person. The emotions involved are much more tangible and believable than before.
Season 1 only tangentially mentioned some themes of the relation between games and reality. Season 2 explores them in more depth, constantly bringing them up through the first arc.
The conflict was more easily bought into than in the first season. The two protagonists of the arc often butt heads while they're working toward their separate but related goals, a sharp turn from season 1's "everyone loves Kirito". The stakes felt more personal than Aincrad and better articulated than Alfheim. And the heroes encountered legitimate opposition, both in the game and in their own emotions - Kirito wasn't able to just plow through everyone.
Season 1's Unfortunate Implications are almost absent entirely. The female characters have much more independence and agency than before. And when the villain is finally dealt with, it's in a manner that doesn't leave him scarred for life.
While there's still plenty of room to improve, SAO II is already a huge improvement over its predecessor. I'm anxious to see how the second half turns out!