‘Sword Art Online: Gun Gale Online’ Introduces Its Second Lead

Sword Art Online‘s spin-off set in the world of Gun Gale Online has premiered to much fan acclaim, and that continues even further with the premiere of its second episode that expanded on its main character Karen, and her avatar LLENN.

But fans were more intrigued by the newest main character in the series, the tall, dark, and mysterious Pitohui, who introduces LLENN to much of the Gun Gale Online world.

When Karen first appears in Gun Gale Online, she experiments with the tutorial and her avatar, eventually leading to the pink rabbit look seen in the first episode. She builds a reputation as a powerful and skilled player killer, the “Pink Devil,” and comes into contact with Pitohui.

Although Pitohui wants to be friends, as female players are hard to come by in the game, she introduces herself by pointing her gun at LLENN’s face. The two talk about possibly meeting in real life after bonding for awhile, and vow to do if LLENN defeats Pitohui in combat some day.

But while Pitohui’s friendship seems to come without strings, fans could not help but notice how devious of a vibe she seems to be giving off. This is further enhanced by the way she looks in the opening theme sequence as well, often giving sly and mischievous smiles.

Not only does she become fast friends with LLENN, she introduces her to the idea of the Squad Jam (which LLENN is fighting in during the series premiere) and Pitohui’s real motivations behind this, sinister or not, will surely be unveiled as the series continues.

For those unfamiliar with the spin-off, the synopsis for Sword Art Online: Alternative Gun Gale Online is as follows:

“In the world of guns and steel that is Gun Gale Online, LLENN has been a devoted, female solo player. She is obsessed with two things: donning herself entirely in pink and honing her skills with consistent game play. She soon discovers her love for hunting other players (a.k.a. PK), soon to be known as the “Pink Devil.”

Meanwhile, LLENN meets a beautiful yet mysterious player, Pitohui, and the two click right away. Doing as she is told by Pitohui, she enters the Squad Jam group battle.”

For those unfamiliar with Sword Art Online, the series was originally created by Reki Kawahara with illustrations provided by abec. The series follows a boy named Kirito after he and thousands of gamers get trapped in a virtual reality video game known as Sword Art Online.The gamers must band together to defeat the game’s final level to escape, but Kirito and his guild learn there is more behind their prison than they were originally told.

The series began as a series of light novels published through Dengeki Bunko in 2009, and has been adapted into eight different manga series by ASCII Media Works and Kadokawa. The series has been licensed for an English language release by Yen Press, and has been adapted into an anime series by A-1 Pictures.

Its first season aired in 2012 and ran for 25 episodes, while its second season, Sword Art Online II, aired in 2014 and ran for 24 episodes. The series currently gearing up for its next big arc in the light novel series, “Unitial Ring,” and the next season of the anime is set to adapt “Alicization.”