YMMV / Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Were KKHC really planning on forming an alliance with PM4 with the intent of resigning and settling for 2nd place? Or were they planning on stabbing PM4 in the back to secure themselves a win?
  • LLENN/Karen stated that she had no intention of meeting Pitohui/Elsa outside of GGO after Elsa kissed her on the lips despite the Elsa already having a boyfriend. Is it because Karen is straight and not into girls? Or because she respected M/Goushi's status as Elsa's boyfriend? Or because she actually wanted to reciprocate Elsa's flirtation but refused to be the third wheel? Or is it simply because of Elsa's personality, since LLENN finds Elsa's alter-ego Pitohui hard to deal with?
  • In-Universe example in Volume 9. During their fight with WEEI's Grenadier, they realize that Fire must have set up WEEI specifically for the pistol only zones in mind, and briefly ponder if Pitohui realized this and brought them to the mall anyway despite this, likely for the fun of it despite the considerable risks. Is this truly the case, or did she genuinely not expect it? Or alternatively, did she realize it was the case but was confident that they'd win out in the end or legitimately saw fighting them head on as the only option?
• Angst? What Angst?: For a grim and brutal "world of guns", LLENN tends to treat GGO like a giant playground where she can role play at being cute.
• Arc Fatigue: The big conflict in the story's first arc is mostly around Karen's poor self-image regarding her height issues. Once this gets resolved after she wins the first Squad Jam and befriends Team SHINC, the major goal of the story in every single arc afterward is for LLENN and SHINC to have a proper rematch to see who's the strongest. Twelve volumes in, which is another 4 Squad Jams later (plus a "bonus" Test Play match and a Five Ordeals challenge), LLENN and SHINC still haven't had their second battle, as every time it seems like it might happen, circumstances beyond their control put a stop to it. And while they do seem to settle it in SJ4 after getting interrupted by Fire's alliance earlier, it's not through a large-scale battle like their first fight but through LLENN and Eva having a Quick Draw duel after everyone else in the mall is dead which, while an Awesome Moment in it's own right, can be seen as rather anti-climatic in the grand scheme of things In the end of Squad Jam 5, it looks like we'll get to see an actual proper one-on-one battle between LLENN and Eva, with Touma and Sophie as witnesses as they are the final teams left in the tournament... until the last surviving member of Team DOOM emerges from the rubble of the castle and Eva kicks LLENN off the cliff to save her from his suicide bomb explosion which kills off SHINC.
• Ass Pull: See the franchise's page.
• Awesome Music:
  • "Ryuusei"^note "Shooting Star", the opening theme, and marking Eir Aoi's return to music after a two year hiatus with another stunning SAO soundtrack.
  • "To see the future," the ending theme sung by LLENN's voice actress, Tomori Kusunoki.
  • The insert song "Pilgrim" sung in-universe by Elza Kanzaki and one of LLENN's favorite songs, with many viewers wondering who the actual singer is as it hasn't been revealed yet. The Episode 4 credits reveal it to be a new singer in the industry called ReoNa, affiliated with SACRA Music.
  • "Step, Step" which plays in Episode 3 while Karen is writing her fan letter.
  • ReoNa again in Episode 5 with "Independence", the insert song doing double duty as LLENN's Theme Music Power-Up after P-chan makes its Heroic Sacrifice. The full song gets used in the recap episode.
  • Once more in Episode 9 with "Disorder" that plays during the aptly-named "Ten Minute Massacre."
  • And finally, one more in the final episode with "Rea(s)oN." That makes five Insert Songs that ReoNa debuted with this series, quite an accomplishment for such a new singer.
  • Pitohui's character song, "DNA" sung/rapped by her voice actress Yōko Hikasa.
  • The show's general soundtrack itself is no slouch either, considering it was largely composed by trance artist Starving Trancer, who is known for his many contributions to the beatmania and Touhou Project soundtracks, and the trance/Eurobeat influence is strong throughout. Standout examples include "Assault", "Mission Execution", "Home Run Comeback", and "All-Out Rush".
• Badass Decay: M has suffered this to a degree post SJ2. While he still gets some awesome moments, in part thanks to him being The Strategist, he ends up getting less moments to shine combat-wise compared to his teammates and even opposing teams as time goes on. In SJ3, the girls end up doing most of the legwork throughout the tournament and he's outright ordered by Pito to not take part any further in the climax in favour of just her and Fuka taking on LLENN and Eva, with his role being to make sure the winner survives long enough to win the tournament. This gets rectified at the last moment in SJ4, where he gets into a one-on-one fight with Team WEEI's Big Guy, who's an IRL martial artist, and comes out the winner with some impressive guile.
• Base-Breaking Character: If there's one character that can start arguments in this series, it's Pitohui. The most controversial aspect of her is her backstory as an "SAO Loser" and her obsession with committing murder-suicide if she loses Squad Jam 2 unless LLENN can defeat her. One side argues that AGGO's storyline is too comedic and comical to introduce such a serious plot thread, while others argue that Karen needed to have a compelling reason to enter Squad Jam 2 after she'd decided she wasn't interested in doing so. There's also divided opinions on the approach of using her to drive the plot rather than a proper antagonist. On the one hand it makes her sympathetic in a way none of the other SAO villains could have, while on the other hand people say her psychotic streak is very one-note and generic and it would have been better to just have someone actually evil that fans could root for the heroes to take down.
• Broken Base:
  • The absence of Kirito and other key Sword Art Online characters, especially Sinon, in the spinoff. Many feel Kirito has already gotten enough attention and it's high time for him to move aside to explore another side of the Sword Art Online universe without him around. Others find it hard to get engaged with the new characters and think that without him it lacks the SAO feel. Then there's those who like it because they didn't enjoy the main series and its characters, but do enjoy this approach to the universe without Kirito's presence spoiling the interesting setting.
  • Somewhat similarly, whether the series is better off without Reki Kawahara's involvement. Those who dislike Sword Art Online will almost certainly say yes unless they dismiss both series as garbage, while those who enjoy Sword Art Online tend to disagree, whether because they like the parent series better or enjoy both series equally.
  • LLENN's overpoweredness. One of the few criticisms that carried over from the main series is The Protagonist is unbelievably overpowered. Some argue that it's forgivable for LLENN, as unlike Kirito she actually offers a lot more as a character than simply being strong, as her personality is simultaneously very entertaining. However others say the extent to LLENN badassery takes the series down a peg as it completely throws out the realism of FPS games that the series had going as an appeal, especially considering a large amount of LLENN's dominance in fights is due to the physical traits of her avatar rather than skill like Kirito.
• Cargo Ship: LLENN's over fondness towards her P90 sub-machine gun practically invites shipping. She affectionately calls her gun "P-chan", openly thinks of her gun as cute, and has been known to talk to it. The fact that P-chan ends up talking back seals the deal. When it was damaged near the end of the first Squad Jam, she goes berserk!
• Crazy Is Cool: Fukaziroh is the resident Cloudcuckoolander and quite off the rails, spouting silly nonsense at inopportune times but also being a badass force to be reckoned with.
• Creator Worship: Keiichi Sigsawa has been getting this treatment compared to Kawahara, with fans having far more faith in his work. The success of the spin-off has almost entirely been credited to him taking over.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Among the main quartet, Miyu/Fukaziroh is easily the fan favorite, despite receiving the least focus. She's beloved for being Fun Personified and the source of a good deal of the show's humor with her many antics, and unlike most Plucky Comic Relief characters she's very useful to her friends being a Glacier Waif who can destroy her enemies with ease. She also memefied "Loli with grenade launchers".
  • The scantily clad Drill Sergeant Nasty was an instant hit with fans. Many a gamer stated they'd love that kind of a tutorial in a real game. Aside from her appearance, the tutorial was also relatively to the point, immediately immersed you in the world, and doubled as an assessment of the players play style to provide suggestions.
  • P-chan. Since episode 5 has teased the possibility it may be an actual character. During LLENN's Imagine Spot, she starts hearing a voice that gives her a motivational speech. The source of the voice is from none other than P-chan, who has sprouted cute anime eyes.
  • Clarence. Her entire scene of negotiating with LLENN for her magazines was very hilarious. There's also the fact she's an openly bi girl.
  • Team ZEMAL unexpectedly found fans as well, if only for the fact that they're easily the guys having the most fun in the game and that they pretty much act like how most real players who get their hands on heavy machine guns would in an online shooting game.
• Escapist Character:
  • Although she's vastly different to Kirito personality wise, LLENN still fits this role for fans of FPS games. This is especially the case with providing the option of being a cute and adorable anime girl in a shooter, which is relatively rare.
  • Pitohui can also be considered such, being the PUBG pro that countless players wish they could be.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • Sinon showing up and interacting with the AGGO cast.
  • Fukaziroh's adventures in Alfheim Online.
  • What SAO would have been like if Pitohui took part.
  • Anyone who's playing a game (BoB or Squad Jam) in GGO and interacting with other players.
  • LLENN vs Kirito. By extention, LPFM vs Kirito and Sinon.
• Fan Nickname:
  • PUBG: The Anime, due to its big similarities to that game and the battle royale genre.
  • LLENN is often nicknamed "Loli Kirito" due to her taking his place as The Protagonist.
  • Fukaziroh is frequently known as "Loli with grenade launcher" or "Explosion Loli" when she's seen by those unfamiliar with the show.
  • Team LF^note LLENN and Fukaziroh's team in Squad Jam 2 are better known as "Team Loli", or "Loli Force" to better match the initials.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: Karen and Elza Kanzaki quickly became the One True Pairing for many fans after they meet in real life and the latter kisses the former, despite the fact that Karen is very unhappy about it, resulting in Elza becoming something of a Broken Pedestal for her, and Karen swearing never to meet Elza in real life again.
• Franchise Original Sin: While the second arc of the series established that it would essentially revolve around another Squad Jam, people didn't mind it being a rehash. Not only was the first Squad Jam a welcome return to a game that didn't get much exposure in the original series, but the second Squad Jam increased the stakes, forced LLENN to lead her and Fuka's team, and pitted her against her erstwhile allies and mentors, M and Pito. Then Squad Jam 3 rolled around: lacking a significant endgoal, and with even main character LLENN not particularly interested in participating (and essentially only being guilted into joining just to fulfill her promise to battle Team SHINC), some readers also weren't at all invested in the outcome of the tournament.
• Game-Breaker: Like with the main series and That One Boss, there are some In-Universe examples of this.
  • Remember Oddjob from GoldenEye (1997), who became an infamous pick in multiplier due to his shorter height making it difficult for players to hit him unless they mastered the directional pad? Well LLENN's unique build, that being emphasis on AGI combined with a tiny avatar, is effectively this. AGI build players, while disadvantaged due to the Nerf that occurred prior to Phantom Bullet in the main series, are still hard to hit due to immense speed the stat gives them, with smart AGI players taking full advantage of their massive speed advantage over most players in combat to dodge attacks before returning fire. Combined with LLENN's childsized avatar, this makes her near impossible to hit unless her attacker has her backed into a corner and limits her manoeuvrability, which in Squad Jam's wide-open areas is hard to do unless the fight is in a town or building, or is a very accurate shooter. This makes dealing with less renowned teams or players more or less a cakewalk for her, with only players or teams of great skill such as Pito or SHINC being able to match her, and even then it gives her a rather distinct advantage.
  • For anyone with IRL firearms experience or are just that good, Lineless Shooting is bound to give a significant advantage. In GGO, players are bound to become reliant on the Bullet Lines to avoid bullets and know where they're assailant is firing from, with the only traditional method of hiding it being firing from somewhere enemies can't see you, and that only ever applies to the first shot and so is more useful for sniper rifles and other single-shot weapons, and you're forced to relocate and wait before firing again. With Lineless Shooting however, where you aim with your own skill and only touch the trigger just as you fire, you not only remove an average player's means of defending themselves by making it much harder to dodge your bullets, but it can also allow the shooter to potentially stay in their hiding place indefinitely since their shots are harder to track.
  • The RPG-7 rocket launcher, as well as similar rocket launchers to an extent, is considered this to the point that most players didn't actually think it'd be added to the game. Not only is it cheap, being a Russian firearm, but it isn't a single-use weapon like most rocket launchers in the game and possessed a simple reloading process, while having enough power to take out a tank and One-Hit Kill most players. It also had a wide variety of ammo it could, including normal ones, HEAT one that are designed to pierce heavy armour, and cannonball-esque ones designed for PvP.
• Genius Bonus: The orange & black bird that appears on Karen's monitor during the opening? A pitohui.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • In Volume 6, Fuka makes up backstories for the team of AI soldiers opposing Team LPFM, and suggests that Hassan, who looks sad, is currently in the process of being divorced by his wife, who wants custody of their daughter (despite said daughter being closer to Hassan). While it's played as Fuka being eccentric as always, it turns out that Jake is actually a real person whose wife once threatened to divorce him if he went back into active duty.
  • The date of the second Squad Jam is 04/04/2026, which is the same date that Yuuki's funeral was held.
  • In Volume 6, LLENN rams her avatar into the wall, breaking her neck, in order to escape from her captors, which enables her to come back and kill the rest of them with seconds to spare. From her perspective, it's a clever tactic (albeit only possible in an event that allows players to respawn after death), but then you see it from the perspective of the so-called NPC, who witnesses a Child Soldier committing suicide in front of him, then coming back from the dead to kill him while claiming she enjoys it.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Due to the SAO franchise's memetically bad reputation and the memetically good and memetic in general reputation of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, many memes had been made illustrating what appears to be a Fandom Rivalry between the two. Episode 5.5 takes a cue from JoJo's anime adaptation and adds sound effects to the intro.
  • Casting Faye Mata as Miyu is funny once you consider that she's an actual gamer and is known in various gaming circles.
  • The anime adaptation coincidentally aired during the MMO battle royale shooter genre's meteoric rise in popularity, with titles like PUBG and Fortnite. However, both Squad Jam and Bullet of Bullets have one key difference compared to actual games in the genre, in that said games gave everyone standardized equipment or nothing at all, effectively starting everyone on a level playing field, while SJ and BoB was "Run what you brung", meaning not every player started on a level player field. 2019 saw the introduction Call of Duty: Warzone, and while it too would start all players on a level playing field^note Everyone started with a Glock 21, or with the integration of Black Ops: Cold War and Vanguard, an M1911, as well as a few loaded magzines it introduced a "Run what you brung" aspect with loadouts, where players could create loadouts ahead of time with their preferred weapons, attachments, equipment, and perks, and then retrieve them for use during a match by calling in and securing loadout drops.
  • During the dome battle in SJ2, one spectator suggests that the guys who teamed up against LLENN are shooting at some invisible monster, only for another to question why monsters would spawn during a battle royale tournament. Come SJ4, and monster spawns end up being that tournament's anti-camping measure.
• I Knew It!:
  • Even those who hadn't read the light novels were guessing Pitohui was Elza Kanzaki by Episode 6. By the time of Episode 12 it might as well have been a Captain Obvious Reveal with the number of people who had worked it out.
  • Amusingly, it's revealed that Karen had started to figure out Pito's real life identity around the time of Episode 6 as well.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: Some people were somewhat disappointed by Squad Jam 3, since, apart from the twist midway through, it's functionally the same as the first two- a team-based battle royale.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Pitohui is a Jerkass and a borderline sociopath who's disliked by most GGO players outside of Team LPFM due to her antisocial behavior, and even LLENN and M find her hard to deal with at times. However, her backstory, as detailed in Tear Jerker, is rather tragic, and it is implied that her behavior is partly the result of untreated mental health problems.
  • Fire Nishiyamada. While largely pleasant and closer to Obliviously Evil than genuinely malicious, he's still a Stalker with a Crush who hopes to force Karen to marry him and ban her from playing GGO due to personal distaste. However, it's stated that similarly to Karen, he suffered a good deal of isolation and maybe even bullying growing up due to his short and pudgy appearance, making it easy to feel bad for him to an extent.
• Just Here for Godzilla: A fair few late comers started watching after seeing Fukaziroh was a "Loli with Grenade Launcher".
• Les Yay:
  • LLENN and Fukaziroh's friendship can sometimes be seen as something a little more, especially Fuka who appears to flirt with LLENN at times. However, this seems to be just an in-game thing with Fuka; Miyu in real life doesn't seem to swing that way at all; she's all over Goushi the moment she sees him in person, and even claims to want to make Cain, one of the AI enemies in Volume 6, her boyfriend.
  • Pretty unambiguous with Karen & Elza Kanzaki, at least one-sided on Elza's part considering she gives her a French kiss upon meeting her for the first time in reality.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Expect an endless stack of "loli" jokes for any scene featuring LLENN.
  • "LLENN is the fastest loli alive!". ^note The Flash jokes over seeing LLENN run at Super-Speed for the first time
  • "P90 too OP, plz nerf." ^note a common response to seeing LLENN slaughter whole squadrons with her P-chan, poking fun at common player responses to overpowered weapons
  • "Watashi wa Lucky Girl! Lucky Girl Dayo!"^note One of LLENN's most popular lines which translates to "I'm a Lucky Girl!" Tomori's delivery of the line with LLENN's shrill yell made it regarded as a Most Wonderful Sound by fans.
  • "Karen took the kids"^note due to the fact that LLENN's real name is Karen, along with the fact she associates with a lot of shorter girls, this inevitably led to the "Karen took the kids" meme getting transplanted to this series
  • "It's just darlin'." ^note The Crunchyroll subbed translation for LLENN calling P-chan "kawaii" (in a Hokkaido accent) became a meme
  • LLENN's Blank Stare she gives to M when he breaks down, complete with Squeaky Eyes is a commonly memed gif.
  • Episode 5 is basically one giant Fountain of Memes:
    • "This isn't Sword Art Online!◊". ^note LLENN assuming that M is way overreacting to the death threat in his note was taken by fans as a jab at the original series
    • "P-chan best girl"◊ ^note LLENN's Imagine Spot leading to her hearing her gun talk and envisioning it with cute anime eyes was one of the most golden moments of the whole episode
    • "P-chan is Soul Edge.". ^note Running with the above joke, that P-chan achieved sentience after killing so many enemies, just like how the titular sword of that series did.
    • "The Oracle said LLENN was The One."◊. ^note LLENN bullet dodging by leaning back, making for a nostalgic reference to the origin of that trope.
    • "Usooo." ^note Translating to "No way", is LLENN's totally disbelieving reaction to Eva catching a thrown magazine in her pistol's magwell. The voice actress's deadpan tone sells it.
  • Viewers finding Karen to be the type of girl they want to do a Wall Pin of Love on.
  • Loli with Grenade Launcher ^note Fukaziroh in a nutshell for anyone new to the show
  • Darth Pitohui ^note Pito's use of a dark red Photon sword with her existing psychopathy reminded everyone of the Sith
  • "Kirito, I am your mother."^note Adding onto the Star Wars jokes started by the Phantom Bullet arc from Sword Art Online, the fact that Pitohui is yet another Darth Vader stand-in, along with Kirito being compared to a Jedi and his parents being deceased, led to this joke
  • "M is for Masochist"^note Following suit from Karen taking advantage of Asogi's avatar name (M) by turning him into a Masochist (for example: He was totally OK for being "cucked" by Elsa after she kisses Karen.)
• Memetic Psychopath: Pitohui. Fans are torn between being awed or disturbed by how utterly savage she is when she slaughters entire squadrons of players all with a Slasher Smile on her face.
• Moe:
  • LLENN/Karen. Pint-sized and adorable in-game leading others to be protective over her, while in real life she's introverted due to being a victim of constant bullying over her height.
  • Fukaziroh/Miyu. Many find her excitement and giddiness over everything to be endearing and cute.
  • Team SHINC in real life. Just look how cute and adorable they are! Their admiration of Karen grants her a little-sister appeal, which makes them all the more so.
• More Popular Spin-Off: The main Sword Art Online became one of the most divisive animes in The New '10s, while the Alternative Gun Gale Online spin-off received near-universal critical acclaim. Virtually all critics and even many fans of the original series agree the spin-off is better, with only a select few die-hard SAO fans preferring the original. This view has however changed with Alicization due to the main series getting its act together and really stepping up in writing quality.
• Narm: See the franchise's page.
• Narm Charm:
  • The talking P-chan scenes. A gun sprouting eyes and talking seems really silly, but they actually do a good job at conveying LLENN finding her inner motivation.
  • The fact that in order to save Pito's life, LLENN has to kill Pito in-game, something she says outright at multiple points. While this is fairly comedic LLENN's determination to keep her friend who happens to also be her favorite singer from dying is quite understandable and touching.
• One-Scene Wonder:
  • GGO's Drill Sergeant Nasty Tutorial NPC is, being a tutorial, only in one scene, but she makes definite impression.
  • The 'Avatar Buyer' who tried to buy Kirito's GGO avatar in SAO, is back again in Episode 7 where he tries to buy Fukaziroh's avatar. It's a nice Continuity Nod to the original series and a reminder they are indeed in the same Shared Universe.
  • The Expendables camoeing in Episode 9 as the leaders of the allied teams, before they all get taken out by Pitohui are fun.
• Squick: While the series already amped up the blood and gore compared to its parent show, it got taken up to eleven in Episode 12 where LLENN bites Pitohui's neck and ruptures her carotid artery, spewing a great deal of blood. Yes, LLENN literally has Pitohui's blood in her mouth that she drew with her teeth.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel: For all the divisiveness of the main Sword Art Online, the spin-off has been very warmly received. LLENN is praised as a better choice for The Protagonist compared to Kirito, being far more interesting and entertaining, while being much more complex as a character. In addition, as mentioned in Author's Saving Throw, the spin-off fleshes out the largely unexplored Gun Gale Online and all the interesting aspects of the game that the main series briefly touched on upon. The spin-off also has better pacing which was an issue with some of the Sword Art Online arcs, not rushing the plot and taking the time out for character exploration inbetween the action. There's also no sign of the Supporting Harem that plagued the main Sword Art Online, as relationships and romance are scarcely touched upon, and even when it is featured it's never a major focus.
  • From more cynical minds, "The best way to make a good Sword Art Online arc is to not make it Sword Art Online". The fact that this series has next to none of the elements present in the main series —no Kirito, no Asuna, no romance, no Reki Kawahara— but just kept the gameplay and Death Game elements and enjoyed critical success caused some haters to joke that SAO had to get rid of everything to be accepted again, or, more damningly, that SAO being "good" would be SAO In Name Only.
  • More charitable minds would say that certain characters and harem comedy are only surface elements in the original Sword Art Online, and do not define it. The true core elements are the themes of identity, behavior, and relating to others through virtual reality and the differences (or lack thereof) between it and physical reality. These are present in both Sword Art Online and Gun Gale Online. While Reki Kawahara is not directly involved in the latter, he still set the foundation which the actual writers of Gun Gale Online build upon. They just take what worked and improve on it while dropping what did not.
• Tear Jerker:
  • Despite being Played for Laughs, Karen's first avatar being just as tall as her real self is so upsetting to her that it spikes her vitals enough to trigger the emergency logout failsafe.
  • Slightly more seriously, it's revealed in the second volume of the light novel that while Karen has a loving family, she doesn't feel comfortable telling any of them about playing a VRMMO. It's indicated that her feeling as though she has to keep secrets is slowly driving a wedge between her and the rest of the family.
  • In the game, there's a ruined church with a dog guarding a tuxedo and a wedding dress. Pito infers that the bride and groom must have wanted to get married quite badly, even knowing that the world was about to end.
  • The existence of a giant cruise ship that sailed the seas of the post-apocalyptic world and serves as the final arena for Squad Jam 3. Its in-game backstory describes it as being almost like Noah's Ark for the few surviving humans, who gradually died while on the ship, denied their hope of a new start for humanity.
  • Volume 10 reveals that Pito actually has a rather tragic backstory. Born the daughter of a classical musician duo, her existence was kept secret to prevent her from possibly getting kidnapped for money, and her parents put more focus into their careers than raising her, yet still dictated multiple facets of her life such as not allowing her to watch TV or listen to anything that isn't classical music. In addition, she suffered from a respiratory disease that almost killed her multiple times until her middle-school years, with her parents being unreachable seemingly every time she suffered an attack. When her disease left her and her parents planned on sending her to a private boarding school, but her grandparents stepped in, disgusted by the neglect, and took her in so she could go to a normal school, which she was immensely grateful for. However, the both of them died by the time she finished high school which, combined with her cutting ties with her parents, left her effectively orphaned. It's heavily Implied that all this is what led to her being a Death Seeker in the present.
  • The fact that Miyu named her Avatar after her deceased dog is one thing, but it gets sadder when we learn the details in Volume 10, which can really hit home for pet owners or dog lovers. Miyu constantly begged her parents for a dog from a young age, with them often saying "Fuka"^note  not allowed in response, until they finally relented and got her a Shiba Inu, who she treated as if he was her little brother and was inseparable from through elementary and middle school. By the time Karen befriended Miyu when they were High School first years, Fukaziroh has aged to the point that his hips were weakening noticeably, prompting Miyu to dote on and care for the hound whenever she had free time. By their second year, Fukaziroh was bedridden and Miyu frequently helped turn him so he'd avoid bedsores. Then finally, in the summer of their third year, Fukaziroh finally passed away, and Miyu was was so depressed that she refused to eat for a whole week and Karen had to pretty much force-feed her.
    • LLENN admits that when she first heard the name of Fuka's avatar, she started tearing up slightly and gave a wince-like "Ooooh...", suggesting that she also bonded with the dog in the brief time she knew him, or at least feels for Miyu.
    • This all becomes Harsher in Hindsight when the last task of the Five Ordeals Quest ends up being having to kill Suuzaburou, The Talking Dog companion who guided the group throughout the quest, to which Fuka gets extremely protective, proclaiming that she doesn't want to see another dog die, a sentiment LLENN evidently shares. Even after it's revealed to have been a Secret Test of Character and Suuzaburou is spared, he does still ascend to dog heaven after leaving Fuka some parting words, leaving the poor girl in tears for the remainder of the volume.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • SHINC, to a degree. While essentially being among the main cast and having their personalities fleshed out to a degree, a lot of the focus ends up being on Eva and her Rivalry with LLENN as opposed to the others', with most of what we do know being stuff they all have in common (rhythmic gymnastics, Sweet Tooths, etc), Big Sister Worship of Karen, etc), with us getting to know very little about each member individually. This is arguably worse with Roza and Anna, who arguably get less moments to shine compared to the rest of the team.
  • Compared to SHINC above, MMTM arguably gets this worse. Like with SHINC, more of the focus ends up being on the team's Leader David, who wasn't even named for a while, and his own Rivalry with Pitohui while neglecting the other members, who unlike SHINC don't get their personalities as fleshed out in comparison, with the most we know about them being some information that's narrated as they're raiding the cabin in SJ2 and some dialogue whenever the story cuts to them.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • For some fans, the fact that Sinon never makes an appearance to interact with any of the spin-off cast, despite being a major GGO player still involved in the game. Given that she's largely absent from the Mother's Rosario arc she could have easily fit in a Special Guest appearance to better tie the series together. There are implications that the cast of the spinoff interacted with the canon cast, such as Pito trying to buy Sinon's Hecate, but it's still unsatisfying.
  • While Karen is occasionally mentioned to engage in monster hunting and other solo activities between Squad Jams, they're never shown in depth, and are generally just ways for her to pass the time. Having LLENN do some more PVE gameplay might have helped flesh out that aspect of the game and give the series a bit more variety.
  • In Volume 2 of the light novel, it's implied that the large amount of time Karen spends on GGO, which she refused to tell her family about, has resulted in Karen's sister becoming worried about her, knowing that she hasn't made any friends at school. One would think that this would result in Karen potentially being forced to come clean about playing GGO to her family, or at least her sister. Volume 4, however, begins two months after the end of SJ2, during which time Karen hardly played GGO at all, and this plot thread has not been brought up again.
  • Near the end of Squad Jam 3, it turns out that LLENN, not Pito, was the "betrayer" in Team LPFM. While it is in character for Pito to lie about being the betrayer, take the platform over to Team BTRY and proceed to betray and kill most of her teammates, it would have been fun to see LLENN forced to work with the "betrayers" from all the remaining teams, as opposed to teaming up with Eva to fight the rest of her team at the last minute.
  • Squad Jam 2 forces Karen outside of her comfort zone, by having her become the leader of a team consisting of herself and the even less experienced Fuka, pitted against her GGO mentors Pito and M. This would suggest that Karen is starting to grow as a player, but for the next Squad Jam and the Test Play, she's once again under M's command.
• Tough Act to Follow: As a spinoff of one of the biggest modern Japanese media franchises, this series debuted to high expectations. This is especially in comparison to the Phantom Bullet arc of Sword Art Online which also focused on Gun Gale Online and is considered one of the stronger points of the series. It not only lived up to the expectations, but greatly surpassed the reputation of its parent show meeting almost universal critical acclaim.
• Values Dissonance:
  • Karen's Height Angst can be a bit hard to understand for Western viewers, who wonder why a woman who's fairly attractive by their standards is so insecure about being tall.
  • The series also showcases Japanese attitudes toward tattoos, with Pito's tattoo turning off many men, and her saying that there would be problems if she got one in real life, probably because she's also a celebrity.
• Win Back the Crowd: This series managed to win back a lot of people that had gotten sick of Sword Art Online for several reasons. It does not feature Kirito at all, instead introducing a completely unrelated female protagonist called Karen/LLENN, with her own backstory, personality, and story arc. It's written by Keiichi Sigsawa, who is far more knowledgeable about shooter games than the main series writer Reki Kawahara, who filled the Phantom Bullet arc with Laser Blades and Sniper Rifles rather than weapons more common to shooters. This is also played up when an anime adaptation began airing. Nearly all of the big names among the SAO hatedom, who spent years bashing SAO, have spoken positively about the spin-off, praising it for its better pacing and handling of characters and being superior to the original.
• The Woobie:
  • Karen is similar to Shino in having been a victim of Japan's societal views albeit for more mundane reasons, namely the idea that a girl should be short and cute to be considered attractive, yet it's shown to have had a severe effect on her regardless. Karen was apparently a lot more cheerful when she was younger, but as she started growing older and getting taller than her classmates, her current height as a 19/20 year old being 183cm, she started to find herself getting isolated from everyone save for her family or some close friends like Miyu. This all led to some pretty severe Height Angst and she lost much of her outgoing nature, becoming a Shrinking Violet who found it difficult to make new friends when she inevitably left Hokkaido and went to college in Tokyo. While playing GGO as LLENN and participating in the first Squad Jam allows her to feel genuinely happy and helps her deal with these issues, it also leads to her getting involved in all sorts of crazy and stressful situations, such as being forced to take part in SJ2 to stop Pitohui from killing herself and M should she die and being dragged into SJ3 only to be forced against her team because of the Traitor Rule and Pito's manipulations, and getting a Stalker with a Crush threatening to forbid her from playing GGO, her one real reprieve, should they marry.
  • It can be hard to not feel for Ervin. Being a part of Team T-S, which has the ire of most GGO players after the second Squad Jam, mean that he and his squad are liable for getting harassed and booed by others, to the point that they're intended targets for a strategy where other teams call an Enemy Mine if they encounter them which, if you consider their skill compared to the other three targets LPFM, SHINC and MMTM, seems to be mostly done out of spite. Then in SJ3, he and his team end up stuck on the top of a building and can't compete and then he's chosen as the traitor, something he clearly isn't happy about, especially when it turns out he can't take his team with him on the floating platform. Then when it seems that his team will get to continue being in the tournament with Pito's help, she goes back on her word and rams the "There Is Still Time" into the building they're stuck on, killing them as he's Forced to Watch before he himself is killed when he goes to confront her about it. Even David, a guy known to use Uriah Gambits and willing to use other teams as bait, is incensed by this and wants to kill Pito to avenge him.
• Woolseyism: Since the anime dub doesn't use honorifics, M's request to use yobisute on LLENN is instead translated as him asking if he doesn't have to call her, the leader of his team, "Captain." It fits fairly well, especially since M ends up giving the orders to LLENN.