Reki Kawahara is a bad writer and because--
oh, um uhh
Sorry to all of the people who complain whenever I compare something to SAO.
I know that I do that a lot, but since this is *specifically* about a new SAO spin-off
it would be hard not to compare the two series.
So... yeah, here we are, I hope you guys can forgive me.
Reki Kawahara is a bad writer
and because of that it can be difficult to parse what, exactly, his stories are all about.
I think he did -try- to build SAO and Accel World around coherent themes
He's just really really bad at it.
Not only are his attempts at playing to the themes of his works ham-fisted at the best of times,
but he gets so caught up in indulging his own pandering escapist fantasies that sometimes
the meaning he's trying to convey gets lost entirely
or in the worst cases is straight-up contradicted by his own story.
As far as you can say that SAO is about anything, SAO is about the idea that
what we do in the virtual world is as valuable and significant as what we do in real life.
That is, in itself, kind of a pandering core theme to run with for a show targeted at gamers
But it's an interesting position that presents a lot of fertile ground to explore
Kawahara plays with the theme in a few ways
Firstly, most obviously, he introduces the threat of real death as a consequence for virtual failure
which adds a layer of Inherent meaning to each character's in-game actions,
as long as you don't realize that he'll never actually kill off any one of real importance.
Secondly, he makes it so that all of Kirito's most significant and meaningful relationships
from Klein to Asuna to Sinon are ones that he's forged in game.
Even Suguha, his real-life sister, can't form a proper familial relationship with him
until they've played games together which helps her to better understand who he is and what he's been through.
Although that is kind of undercut by the fact that after they become closer as a family
she still has the same unhealthy feelings for him
Actually, I don't know if Kawahara is capable of writing a friendship
where one of the parties involved doesn't want to have sex with the other
and that's, uh, concerning to me
but anyway
SAO Alternative: Gun Gale Online is fascinating because it presents an opportunity
for a much, much better writer to use the same setting and core concepts
to explore the same themes in a much more subtle and effective manner
and while it's easy to point to the lack of Kirito and sanded down edge
and say that those are the main reasons this spin-off is so much better than the original,
I think that does a disservice to Keiichi Sigsawa's efforts to turn SAO into something more watchable
without sacrificing the soul of the story, but while still doing what Sigsawa does best,
namely empowering female characters with guns.
Now at first glance I can see why someone would think
that SAO Alternative isn't all that true to what SAO is about
It substitutes the horror fantasy vibe of the original
for a tone more reminiscent of a slice-of-life sports show
and it has no romance elements to speak of;
at least not so far.
Also, all of the female characters outfits are designed as,
you know,
actual clothing that a human being would wear rather than lingerie
Which isn't very SAO at all.
Like Len's outfit contains three times as much fabric as Sinon's even though she's half her height
and yes that discrepancy does technically break the established aesthetic of GGO's character models
But if you're capable of enjoying SAO's story your suspension of disbelief is probably sturdy enough
that a minor inconsistency like that won't take you out of the show
anyway
SAO Alternative is definitely a different kind of show from the original SAO
but that's kind of the point of a spin-off
and if you can look past all of those surface level SAO elements that are missing
you'll find that the spirit of the series is very much intact
Instead of online romance, GGO focuses on online friendships and rivalries
and while that is admittedly a bit less satisfying for those who are coming to the series for wish-fulfillment purposes,
I'd argue that it can be just as interesting and satisfying if it's written well
Which it is in this case
but more on that in a sec.
In place of the absent life-or-death stakes, GGO examines more grounded and realistic reasons
why a video game might be personally important to someone
Len aka Karen initially gets into the game because she has a complex about being six feet tall
and GGO allows her to be the cute small girl that she's always wanted to be
out of that she discovers something that she's genuinely good at and enjoys for other reasons
GGO becomes initially a place for her to escape
then eventually a source of self-confidence that she couldn't find in the real world
which produces tangible results when the girls from her school
who she initially couldn't work up the courage to approach
come to talk to her instead
She makes new friends with a whole big group at once
something that she spent her whole life being too scared to do
as a direct result of playing the game
and it turns out that one of those girls is using GGO to cope with her own complex
about being overly short and girly
Likewise Len's Squad Jam teammate M role plays a stoic badass when it's apparent that in real life
He's a bit of a whiny nerdy loser
and Pito also implies that she's using GGO to get away from her own real-life problems
Whatever those might be
although it's not helping with the much much bigger problem that she's,
at least according to M,
Totally batshit crazy
all of the characters in GGO are written around different takes on the core idea of escapism
Some playing the game for healthy self affirming reasons that positively affect their lives
While others indulge in what seems to be a very unhealthy kind of escapism
that borders on totally breaking from reality
This is what it looks like when a writer really explores a theme with their story
instead of just using it as window dressing
and it has a lot of benefits
Firstly it gives viewers or readers something to think about and talk about in relation to the story beyond
"Wow, I can't believe that plot twist" or "Did you see that fight? It was awesome!"
It also makes it easier for the audience to relate to what's going on
because the plot and character motivations directly connect to a real-world concept
that may have had some tangible impact on their own lives.
We're probably not going to play a VR MMO like Gun Gale Online anytime soon
and most of us aren't six foot tall Japanese girls with body image issues
But I think a lot of people out there who play games can relate to wanting to play them
to get away from their own real-life problems
even if it's just for a bit
Likewise, no one
well, hopefully no one,
has experienced fictional characters being brought to life on the whims of homicidal Hatsune Miku fan art
but a lot of people can relate to the struggle to find meaning
in a world that seems to be devoid of it
and how artistic creativity can help with that struggle
Man, I really got to finish my "Philosophy of Re:CREATORS" video, but I digress
Lastly and most importantly,
in terms of narrative structure,
building all of the characters around that core theme
creates a meaningful connection between all of them
and a reason for them to interact with each other
beyond those interactions being needed to drive the plot forward.
It makes the cast of the show feel like a cohesive group
rather than a scattered selection of random strangers
this kind of focused thematic character writing is a big part of why another big show this season
My Hero Academia
works so well
Every major character in the series has their own answer to the question
What is a hero?
and usually a more specific opinion on All Might
that positions them either in alliance with or opposition to Deku.
Bakugo is a pretty typical bully in a lot of ways
But he and Deku have the same role model in All Might
although they admire him for very different things
which gives them a reason to start as friends and drift apart over time
Stain could just be some serial killer who loves murdering heroes for the challenge of it or something
but instead he idolizes all might to the point of extremism,
which makes his Relationship with Deku,
All Might's protege,
much more nuanced and interesting
In opposition to that, Shigaraki's not just some evil asshole
who can make people not feel so good with a bad touch.
He has a fundamental philosophical disagreement
with the very concept of the symbol of peace
thinking that it makes the world a less safe place
because people wait for heroes to solve problems for them
instead of doing it themselves
The reassuring smile that Deku sees as a virtue
Shigaraki sees as a crutch for humanity
They're perfect foils for each other
and I could keep going down the list of hero aca characters
all the way down into the obscure side characters
and still keep finding connections like this
Because when Horikoshi writes new characters he always asks the question
"How can this person help in saying what I want this story to say?"
Without that connection the whole series would just be
a jumble of random people with random superpowers
punching other people with superpowers
because shounen jump needs to pay their heating bills this month
Contrast that with the original SAO
which is chock full of characters who get significant screen time
and just do not matter in the grand scheme of things
and I'm not just talking about side characters who create pointless diversions from the main plot
like Eugene and those random fairy queen girls who flirted with Kirito
or everyone involved with that complicated fake out murder mystery thing
even a lot of main characters like Agil and Lisbeth have little to nothing in common with Kirito
and contribute nothing to the overarching themes of the story
or the progression of the plot for that matter
They just exist to fill archetypal roles in the cast.
Hell the first arc's main villain, Kayaba Akihiko, *literally* doesn't have a reason
for kidnapping and trying to murder 10,000 people with a videogame
He just does it because otherwise the plot of SAO wouldn't happen
There's nothing about his personality or motivations
that make conflict between him and Kirito necessary or Interesting
except that he's an obstacle in the way of a happy ending.
The story would instantly be stronger if he had any motivation at all
But it would be so easy to make it thematically relevant as well
At the end he could just say
"I wanted to make a virtual world that felt as real to the people in it as reality"
and then Kirito could fire back
"I was in the beta and it already felt that real to me
it's the people and their experiences that make a world real not the threat of death"
and then Akihiko could see the error of his ways and he'd start crying and--
whoa, ah, sorry
I don't want to turn this into another 40 minute fixing sao video
Although I could definitely do something with phantom bullet
and now that I say that
I'm willing to bet that Sigsawa thought exactly the same thing before writing this spin-off
and if he did, well, he was right
There's a lot to recommend about SAO Alternative over the series it's spun off from
it has a lot of genuinely funny comedic moments and fourth wall breaks
and the girls are all cute without being overly sexualized
well
Except for the tutorial lady but she's an NPC in a shooter so you can't really say that's not true to life
and also I would totally let her step on me in order to learn how guns work or just because
sorry, where was I?
The action set-pieces are well animated
and actually choreographed with a real sense of strategy and positional awareness
Studio 3Hz are carving out a niche for themselves and creating compelling female led action series
And I'm sure that I'll have something substantial to say
about at least one shoot out from this show in a future Animelee,
which is a heck of a lot more than I can say about any of the fights in SAO
but to me It's the fact that Keiichi Sigsawa has managed to write an SAO story that's actually
you know
about something, and not just something
but specifically the same thing that SAO tries and fails to be about
that makes the experience of watching SAO Alternative feel so much more rewarding than,
Well,
the alternative
and who knows
if we're really lucky
Maybe we'll see Reki Kawahara pick up some pointers
from the guy who's writing his story better than he is
I'm Geoff Thew, professional shitbag, signing out from my mother's basement