It was the Fall of 2012, and it almost seemed as though the world was in a bleak, dark place of temper tantrums and violent outbursts. These were formed due to the nature of a straightforward question: Is/Was Sword Art Online that good or bad? Both sides had convincing arguments for their reasons for disliking or liking the show. But, ultimately, it has now become a staple of how every year, there is that one over-hyped show that defines anime of that year. Now it’s 2014, and we finally have its sequel under the cheers and groans that look forward to or dread it.

The one question remains amidst its conclusion: Is Sword Art Online II better than Sword Art Online? The answer is: yes, kind of?

Please make no mistake I was, and am, of the camp that did not see the general appeal to Sword Art Online. With its sometimes flashy action sequences, the brilliant score became a general mess of incoherent pacing, god awful 2nd half, and atrocious character development. As we advance with Sword Art Online II, all but one of these negatives that I had with its prequel are officially gone: character development. Of course, this is because the prequel introduced these characters, albeit for a short while, so now, with the sequel, we can get to know these supporting characters a fair bit more than at first glance. This, in turn, makes them a little bit more relatable and likable in that scenario.

Some characters are new to the series that make their debut in this sequel. Sinon being the most notable and excited character, it is poignant to see how she holds up as a character all her own. From her standout arc, Gun Gale Online, there are some positives to her that I can see clearly, but other times I see plenty of negatives that keep her from being great. To put it more into perspective, Sinon has a likable presence and personality that is easily relatable, but her character arcs involving her psychological trauma are, suffice to say, hokey. Her unwillingness to shoot a gun and yet can shoot at most enemies in the game without hesitation comes across as a bit counter-intuitive.

This hokey logic can be applied to the story at large. However, I will say that the story is, by far, the one thing that they didn’t make even worse from the prequel. There are hiccups in leaps of logic, and there are some. Most of them don’t come close to how badly they were beforehand. There is, of course, the unfortunate illness to the series where the 2nd half of Sword Art Online becomes weaker as it goes along. It was messy storytelling throughout the 2nd half of the previous season. Here it's just flat-out dull and meandering. All it is just an uneventful, sappy melodrama involving Asuna and one other character whose backstory I won’t spoil. And really, the less Asuna in any season, the better.

Even with the problematic story elements aside, there are certainly a few moments in Sword Art Online 2 that seem almost laughable in their attempt to be serious. One instance is one of the antagonists going on a full-on psychopathic meltdown on our hero Sinon for nearly five minutes. I almost felt as though the voice actor couldn’t do the script justice and tried his best to make it dire but failed to do so. What went on was this overacting scene that felt way longer than it needed to be; at the same time, it did give me one of the hilarious moments in anime this year.

Now we have what many come for Sword Art Online for the butts. Er, I mean, the animation and sound! Seriously though, unanimously, everyone can make the case that this series has outstanding production values. It does have some nice slick backgrounds with immaculate lighting to make the world feel vibrant and alive. With this, we have the fighting scenes to go with it, which I seem to be of the minority that the fight scenes in Sword Art Online are pretty mediocre at best. Compared to other shounen shows that do their action scenes well, here in Sword Art Online 2, most of the fight scenes are pretty tame. The first one had way more quality action, and even then, it didn’t hold a candle to other better fighting shows out there. This entails how the characters’ actions seem disjointed, and their movements feel rough around the edges at specific points. Nevertheless, when it’s not going for fast-paced action, the art and animation are stunning for the eyes to see and gander.

It would be far-pressed to express some sort of relief that the sequel brought us something that’s not unwatchable, even if it still wasn’t a great final product in the long run. I could see myself watching this again, insomuch how I would prefer it over the prequel if I had a choice. It still can’t be given a passing grade of the story’s pacing and writing problems that lower its quality amongst other shows that deserve it more. As if that wasn’t enough for over-hyped shows, to begin with.

Grade: C-