Okaa-san Online – 01 (First Impressions) – ZOMRPG, MOM!!!

One night, Oosuki is filling out a survey heavy on questions about his relationship to his mother, and the next morning a government official informs him that he’s been selected to enter a video game world. But he doesn’t go alone. His mom follows him in, and will be joining him on his full-dive fantasy adventure!

That’s the high concept, broad-strokes premise to an episode that then proceeds to take its sweet old time immersing Masato and his mom into this new world, an as-yet-unnamed MMO that’s still in beta. Their role is to play the game so that the producers can gather data.

Masato already has reservations about his mom following him along for this once-in-a-lifetime experience, but they turn to downright frustration when she demonstrates she can dual-wield legendary weapons and decimate multiple targets at once. His basic attack is pathetic by comparison.

So, of course, he lashes out, threatening to “disown” his mom in a moment of unguarded rage. That’s when his mom (named Mamako) starts to cry, telling him no one has ever said anything so mean and sad to her. He quickly backtracks, apologizing profusely, and his mom, being a very nice mom, easily forgives him.

They teleport into a town to gather a party at the Adventurer’s Guild, but after pulling the game guide out of her bust, Mamako decides to make a strong first impression by smashing a giant hole into the guild hall, much to Masato’s dismay.

Shirase, the woman who sent them into the game, is there to greet them, bleeding from the head (turns out she’s a game object and the blood is just an effect). And naturally, as they look over party members, Mamako is thinking about finding a nice young woman to team up with him.

Okaa-san Online takes the opposite approach of Arifureta and starts us off at the very beginning of Masato and Mamako’s story, but I still felt an inescapable impatience with the slow pace and the episode’s need to explain terms like “PK”, as if this was someone’s first isekai rodeo.

There’s also the little matter of the show looking pretty atrocious. Like the game in which mother and son find themselves (though I don’t mind their white pupils, like Moriko’s in MMO Junkie), the show just feels sparse and incomplete, both visually and conceptually, what with its lazy, unimaginative hand-waving.

The music has its epic moments, but can be too assertive during quieter scenes. And while the underlying premise is pretty funny at first blush, the comedic dialogue and pacing is iffy at best. With execution lacking in effort and attention to detail, I can’t see myself sticking with this for long. After all, Mama didn’t raise no fool.

Overlord III – 05 – Battle of Carne

With her village about to be invaded by monsters, Enri is sure some kind of “evil god” is watching over her, testing her as soon as she takes up the mantle of leadership. But whatever shortcomings she may think she has, she’s stand and fight for her village.

As the civilians flee to a safe-ish gathering place, Enri’s Goblin/Human/Ogre army prepares for an opposing force of other ogres, wolves, and with a combination of archery and siege tactics, they make quick work of the dumber among their foes.

Then the Giant of the East shows up and they start to wonder if they can win this thing. Funny how someone who seemed so powerless last week against Ains is such a fearsome enemy this week. It’s all relative.

As her soldiers fight, Enri ensures everyone is evacuated, but she and Nphi end up cornered by a big blue troll with an excellent sense of smell. The two play a game of cat-and-mouse with him (he’s dumb, but not as dumb as an ogre) but eventually they run out of options and Nphi volunteers to stay behind and buy time for Enri to get reinforcements.

He also picks perhaps the perfect time to finally confess by very cooly asking her to let him protect the woman he loves. Between his potions and spells, Nphi hangs in there, but he always knew one good blow is all the troll would need to kill him. Thankfully, the one good blow he is dealt doesn’t kill him, but he’s definitely in the red.

Enter Beta Lupusregina, for whom neither the Troll nor his boss the Giant are any match. She stops his blow with one hand, thus fulfilling the duty Lord Ains assigned her. Enri returns with unneeded backup, and she embraces Nphi, happy beyond words that he’s still alive. I love how their lovey-doviness is interrupted by Beta showing them a very gross flaming mass of dead troll.

Later that night (the goblins give the couple some time alone), Enri gives Nphi and answer, which is that she’s not quite sure what love is, but she does know she never wants him to leave her side, so if that’s love, she’s in love with him. That’s good enough for him.

The next morning, Enri, Nphi and Nemu are escorted to the Tomb of Nazarick by Yuri Alpha and Beta, and Nemu absolutely loses her shit with how big and clean and awesome everything is. Lord Ains, his skeletal form hidden by a mask and cloak, is perhaps the jolliest we’ve ever seen him, like a proud rich uncle. He makes a note to tell Beta that Nemu is also on the list of people he wants protected.

Among such power, splendor, and charm, Nphi feels a bit outmatched, and that admits that he never had a chance in the first place. But while Ains may be a superior man in many ways, he is inferior in the most important one: he’s not Enri’s type. Nphi is, and so they walk into the dining hall for their George R.R. Martin-esque multi-course bougie meal with hands intertwined. Glad to see these two figure it out!

Overlord III – 04 – Underwhelming Monsters

Despite Beta being scolded for not reporting about the Giant and Snake of the East and West, at least for now it would seem she was correct: they weren’t really worth reporting, at least as credible threats. Sure, they could be a problem for the humans and goblins of Carne, but like Hamasuke they’re not really worth their lofty directional titles.

Maybe, like Beta, I’m underestimating their relative power in this world, but when Ains and Aura (whom he worries isn’t eating enough) actually visit the lair of these apparently fearsome monsters, what they find is pretty underwhelming.

The “giant” is just a troll and the “demon snake”, an old naga. His attempts with the former lead to him using an Aura of Despair spell to knock the troll and his cohorts out, but the naga is willing to submit himself to Lord Ains after witnessing just how pointless it is to try to resist him with physical attacks or even flee with invisibility magic.

Meanwhile, Ains has sent Beta back to Carne with the mission/test of protecting not the village, but the three people he values there: Nphirea, Enri, Lizzy (Nemu isn’t mentioned). Aside from them, Ains doesn’t really care about anyone else. Pretty quiet incremental episode; we’ll have to see how Beta fares in her mission next week at the earliest.

Overlord III – 03 – No Mere Village Girl

This week dispenses with Nazarick entirely and stays focused on Carne and Enri in particular as she suddenly faces a multitude of challenges as its de facto leader.

The young goblin Agu reports that he and his fellow tribesfolk were running from the Giant of the East and the Great Snake of the West, who in the absence of the Great Beast of the South (AKA Hamusuke) are gathering armies to fight the King of Ruin.

Carne Village may well be unable to escape getting entangled in such a conflict, and when the battle comes to its boundaries, they need to be ready. In an odd bit of timing, Beta Lupusregina has paid Enri a visit, and offers to ask Lord Gown for help, but Enri wants to first see if the village is capable of handling its own affairs.

Later that night, the Goblins capture several Ogres who Enri is able to convince them to fight for her, thus bolstering the defense of the village.

When Nphirea informs Enri he won’t be able to accompany her to E-Rantel tomorrow, Enri laments that she may be the only one in the world in her current situation. When they cut to another person in such a situation, Lord Gown, I half-expected him to sneeze, since someone was talking about him.

When Enri reaches the gates of E-Rantel, she’s quickly arrested and brought in for questioning. The wizard on duty identifies some powerful magic both in Enri and in the trinket Lord Gown once gifted her, which she learns is worth thousands of gold.

Just then, Momon enters the room, has a quick side-chat with the wizard, and Enri is released, just like that. It’s nice to have friends in high places, and nothing is higher than Adamantite.

Enri visits the very bureaucratic Adventurer’s Guild having to plead poverty, or at least tell them her village can’t bear the cost of the protection it will need without a subsidy from the city, acknowledging it won’t cover the entire cost. Enri drifts off while waiting, but when she wakes up, everything seems to be arranged, almost as if the attendant had been threatened to assist Enri or else…

Upon exiting the city (where goblins dare not enter) Enri gifts her protectors with stout new weapons. Upon returning home, she discovers a kind of “reverse coup”: everyone has conspired to agree that she and she alone should lead the village. It’s an honor she never asked for, but one for which no one else is better qualified.

Even Beta believes that, but as Enri is being officially installed, Beta hovers high above, laughing, when Yuri Alpha arrives beside her. While we had witnessed Beta being all buddy-buddy and helpful with Enri, here we see a different side of her; a sadistic side.

Now that things are going so well for the village, she really wants to burn it all down to see everyone’s faces. I wonder if Lord Gown would approve, if Beta is just having a moment, or if she truly hopes to watch the village perish. I for one hope she’s disappointed, and Enri and her ragtag defense force can hold off whatever’s coming from the forest.

Overlord III – 02 – Chili con Carne (Village)

Unsure of what to do next due to his relative inexperience as an overlord, Momonga opens the floor to his subordinates, and gets a rude—well, polite awakening when Demiurge immediately suggests they’re working towards a path to world domination.

That didn’t exactly occur to Momonga until now, but he pretends to know exactly what Demiurge is talking about, making for a hilarious exchange between the flustered Momonga’s inner thoughts and Lord Ains Ooal Gown’s unswerving resolve.

OverLord never disappoints when it comes to interpersonal humor, and this opening scene is no different. But it’s also a productive scene: the decision is made for the Tomb of Nazarick to declare itself its own country, separate from the complications of being merely an organization affiliated with another nation.

When Demiurge is asked what made him think they’re on the path to world domination, he holds up Carne Village (which we haven’t been to since the first season) as an example of Lord Ains experimenting on a smaller scale with ruling something, rather than pillaging and destroying.

That provides a nice segue for our return to Carne, where Enri is still stacked, Nphirea is still eccentric (and has yet to confess his love for Enri), and Nemu is still adorable. We get a nice slice-of-life act with the humans and friendly goblins working together to rebuild the village.

In a private moment, Enri angrily ruins a knife after thinking about all of the hardship she, her sister, and her fellow villagers were forced to endure. It’s a lot for her toned shoulders to bear. Meanwhile, Nphi’s goblin friend works out a plan where he’ll do various bodybuilding poses when it’s time for Nphi to say something cool to impress Enri.

When word comes from a goblin scout that there’s…something lurking deep in the forest, Enri decides to go in anyway. She has no choice: herbs that have to be harvested immediately grow within the forest; herbs she needs to create potions and medicines that will net capital for the village.

She and Nphi are escorted by a three-goblin team, and shortly after coming upon a prize crop of their treasured herb, something comes out of the forest: a young, wounded goblin being chased by a beast. Enri and Nphi overrule the cautious goblins and decide to fight the beast and save the kid.

Thanks to the brute force of the goblins and the handy potions and magic of Nphi, the beast is defeated and the child healed. He is a member of the head family of a tribe, and warns that the “Giant of the East” has allied with the “Demon Snake of the West.” Sounds like two worthy foes Nazarick need to sink their teeth into.

Overlord III – 01 (First Impressions) – Chillin’ Like Villains at the ‘Tomb

OverLord is back…again, after taking the Spring off. And rather than go off into an entirely different direction within the world of Yggdrasil, we spend all of this  first episode with the gang we know and love, most of it within the walls of Nazarick.

Ains Ooal Gown grants Sebas and Epsilon rewards of their choosing for their intel-gathering services in Re-Estize. Sebas asks for sundries for Tuare, and Ains grants him some gold to buy what he likes, as long as he goes on a nice date with her in E-Rantel. Epsilon gets non-innocent humans…to do who-knows-what with. Nothing good, most likely.

It’s a relaxing episode in which Ains finally reveals all—which amounts to a stylized skeleton—the human player within happy he’s found a satisfying and effective way to wash such a strange body. Meanwhile, Eclair ends up snatched up by Shizu Delta as if he were a plushie, when his ultimate goal is to rule the whole Tomb himself.

Ains splits up his Guardians by gender and has them participate in group leisure activities. Albedo, who is with Shalltear and Aura, summons a badass bicorn, but cannot ride it, and Shalltear discovers the reason: a “pure maiden” cannot ride it; much to the shock of all. But it makes sense: most of Albedo’s existence is spent in the throne room, presiding over the Guardians and their movements. No time for the succubusing she was ostensibly created for.

In another private moment, Ains’ player worries his lowly office worker background doesn’t lend him the charisma or bearing necessary to properly “operate” an overlord as impressive as Ains…though it’s clear by how his servants regard him that he has nothing to worry about as long as he keeps on keeping on.

His kind words to them, referring to them as his treasures, sends Albedo into an amorous frenzy, and not even her overlord can stop her from essentially dry-humping him. Later, when the sexes are in their respective baths, there’s a disturbance on the women’s side, and Ains recognizes the voice of a fellow “supreme being” i.e. player. That could be interesting.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online – 08 – When in Doubt, Add Grenades

In terms of LLENN accomplishing her goal of quickly killing Pitohui, SJ2 is off to a rough start, as Team LF is about as far away from Team PM4 as is geographically possible on the game map. Fukaziroh also commits a rookie (or J.R. Smith-esque) mistake by walking right into a booby trap that takes out her legs.

In the two minutes that it takes for limbs to regenerate, it’s all up to LLENN to eliminate the six-man team attacking them…and she does so with girm efficiency and a variety of moves, from run-and-gunning to a crotch-stab. Fuka kills the sixth man with a short-range grenade, and soon has her feet back.

As for the other favorites to win, MM are holed up in the snowy mountain forests, waiting to see how things unfold, while SHINC is going after the closest enemy teams with no mercy. Also camping is team PM4, and though Pitohui is extremely impatient and bored, even to the point of questioning M’s courage, M has a plan, and since he’s the leader, what he says goes.

As they slowly make their way closer to PM4, LLENN and Fuka find another team at a train station, and Fuka decides to make up for her previous blunder by taking out their opponents without LLENN having to fire a single shot. All she has to do is serve as a spotter as Fuka rains grenades down from a place of safety, and it works like a charm…at least against an anonymously subpar team.

The next scan reveals that seven teams have formed a massive 42-person alliance and is nearing PM4’s position. LLENN is worried, and runs as fast as she can, but even at top speed she won’t make it, and soon trips over herself.

Fuka tells her all they can do is trust in Pito and M’s ability to survive, and the pair head towards the friggin’ gigantic domed stadium. For Pito’s part, she’s not running from this allied group. On the contrary, she intends to massacre each and every one of the 42. After all, she’s got a lot of pent up energy from all that waiting around.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online – 07 – A Formidable Foe; an Erratic Ally

Miyu enters GGO as “Fukaziroh”, and immediately takes to the game, exhibiting a jaunty joie de vivre in testing how many guys chat her up and jumping at the chance to avail herself of their “sugar daddy” Goushi’s ten million credits.

Fukaziroh ends up blowing over half of that on twin MGL-140 grenade revolvers, which are actually a real thing, as well as being bonkers. She doesn’t hesitate to use them against LLENN, since SJ2 will be far scarier than any training for it they undertake.

The diminutive members of team SHINC are excited by the prospect of LLENN changing her mind and entering SJ2, which will be different from SJ1 because the team names will be on display for all to see, making it easier for LLENN and Fukaziroh to locate their primary target, Team PM4, containing both Pito and M.

Karen, while initially worried about what should happen should she fail, is encouraged by Miyu not to worry to much about it and focus on the mission. By the time the day of the start of SJ2 comes, she’s fully determined to kill, and thus save, Pitohui. And when they do, Miyu wants prime tickets to an Elsa show.

Two of the stronger teams in SHINC and Memento Mori come face to face and exchange cordial salutations and hope for a good fight. But when Pito and M arrive with a team of masked comrades, Memento Mori’s leader tells one of his current teammates about his past experience being Pito’s teammate.

Suffice it to say, it wasn’t great. Pitohui, named for a poison Polynesian bird that kills anyone who touches it, apparently treats her allies like shields and pawns, and will abandon or kill them at the drop of a hat if it means she’ll survive and win…and smile about it in the process. Similarly, she has no qualms about dying (and smiling while doing that too).

Whoa, watch where you’re pointing that thing, LLENN

He saw Pitohui as having a “death wish”; wanting to forget life while he wanted to remember (and respect) death. This is just one guy’s analysis of her, but it certainly sounds like the Pito LLENN has met, and considering the conditions of Goushi’s appeal to her, she hasn’t changed much.

But as SJ2 begins, LLENN gets no answers from Pito, who claims not to know what she’s talking about when she voices her commitment to doing her best. But this isn’t just about killing/saving Pito; it’s about a repeat victory, this time with a rough-hewn new partner in Fuka.

She doesn’t get off to the best start when she gets the runs after consuming nine pints of ice cream, almost making them late. She can either only improve from that, or reach an even lower nadir; say by accidentally grenading LLENN. We shall see.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online – 06 – Karen Meets a Crazy Person

We’re back to the time when Saki and her teammates visit Karen, watch her win the SJ on her enormous TV and introduce themselves. As a rhythmic gymnastics team, they had a hard time operating as a cohesive unit due to personal differences. Playing GGO changed all that; now they’re a well-oiled machine, and care more about progressing in the game than with their real-life team!

The girls voice their hope Karen will face off against them in the next Squad Jam, and when Karen says she has no firm plans to do so, they’re both happy that they won’t have to face one more strong opponent, and sad they won’t get to have a rematch and the opportunity to beat her next time. Karen heads home to Hokkaido and hangs out with her friend Miyu; on the plane back to Tokyo she learns Squad Jam 2 is officially on.

Karen is then confronted by M’s player, the extremely odd Goushi Asougi, who tells her that Pitohui is planning to commit suicide IRL if she loses SJ2, which means Goushi will kill himself soon thereafter, since he is utterly devoted to her and always defers to Pito’s will, no matter how crazy. That, in turn, pretty much makes him crazy as well.

They say love makes you crazy, but there’s a strange superficiality to Goushi’s behavior; like he’s trying too hard to be extra-kooky. Then there’s the whole idea of recruiting Karen to beat them, and in exchange he can guarantee Pito won’t kill herself, which means he won’t die either.

Considering the suddenness of all this information, it simply doesn’t carry that much weight for me, even though it’s clear Karen’s favorite musician is the one with these psychological problems. It seems like a very random and not-at-all emotionally earned excuse to raise the stakes to live-and-death, like SAO.

Karen agrees to participate in SJ2, even if that means validating and facilitating the questionable behavior of two mentally unstable strangers. Both Goushi and Pito’s player seem like they need actual help, help that’s beyond Karen’s abilities. And Goushi doesn’t bother explaining why Pito losing to anyone else means suicide, but losing to Karen doesn’t. I dunno about this…

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online – 05 – Run, Close In, then Win

After running from a somewhat pathetic display from a suddenly sobbing and Raving M (who actually believes Pitohui will murder him IRL if he loses), LLENN decides she’ll have to win the SJ all by herself, despite her opponents being very smart, crafty, and downright scary in their relentlessness.

Her foes look tough and grizzled, and aren’t afraid to rain bullets down upon LLENN in order to spring her from her hiding spots. The only thing is, she’s so small and quick actually getting a killshot proves most difficult. Despite her wavering confidence and the near-arrogant attitude of her opponent, both parties are on the same level here.

Perhaps due to her critical HP level, LLENN starts to hear her P90 “P-chan” glow, talk to her and even sprout eyes to make a face, which is definitely the most demented and terrifying thing GGO has shown us thus far.

Regardless, P-chan manages to fire LLENN up, and she remembers how and why she’s succeeded so far: not by running, hiding, and keeping her distance, but by blazing in so close to her opponents they cannot get a clean lock on her, and overwhelming them with her quickness, and peppering them with P90 bullets.

She executes her preferred strategy by taking on Eva, the “Boss” of the enemy squad, whose enormous size and brute force end up momentarily overwhelming LLENN, who needs a last-second assist from M, who manage to gathered up what was left of his decency and rejoin the fray (and who does thrive from great distance).

Eventually, LLENN and Eva run out of bullets, but Eva’s lieutenant tosses her a new clip, and LLENN has no choice but to sacrifice P-chan to shield her from the bullets, then whip out her knife and carve the Boss up like a turkey to take the SJ win, demonstrating the literally cutthroat tenacity required to prevail over such a tough opponent.

Back IRL, the short cute girls Karen passes by so often finally approach her, led by Nitobe Saki. They’re second-years at the high school affiliated with Karen’s college, and just wanted to tell her how stylish and cool she always looks, especially with her new ‘do.

Then Saki draws Karen in close with a handshake and quietly congratulates her on her victory. Saki is Eva, the hulking Boss she defeated as LLENN, and her friends and fellow rhythmic gymnastic teammates are ready for a rematch any time.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online – 04 – The Game is the Game

Back to the “present” of Squad Jam (though not far enough into the present where Karen is entertaining her diminutive friends IRL). I tell ya, this show can give one temporal whiplash like nobody’s business.

Having defeated the pros and after another scan, LLENN and M determine they’re one of only three squads remaining. One of them ambushes them from hovercraft in the lake, forcing the huge M to set up his “space battleship armor” shielding, while the tiny LLENN remains just plain hard to hit.

Safe behind his shield, M is able to pick off the hovercraft gunners one by one and takes out the last one with a well-placed grenade that detonates underwater, sending the craft and its occupant flying and vulnerable to LLENN’s killshot.

M was able to kill all of those enemies without creating bullet lines, because he learned to aim without his finger on the trigger or using Bullet Circle assist. But when the next scan comes, the last team is not only right on top of them, but in position to take a shot at LLENN, not missing a fatal spot by much.

M grabs LLENN and races out of there with one of the hovercraft, getting shot in the process, but LLENN heals the two and they prepare for a counterattack. But first, LLENN lets M read a letter he was going to read before they were ambushed.

Immediately after reading the letter, he pulls a gun…on LLENN, saying he’s “sorry” before pulling the trigger. His shot misses; LLENN’s agility wins out again, and moments later his safety is on and she has her gun trained on him, demanding to know why he betrayed her.

M merely responds with streams of tears, begging the Pink Devil not to kill him, because he doesn’t want to die. It’s a 180 in M’s character, though he did mention he prefers fighting from a distance and from the safest possible position.

In this instance, with LLENN’s P90 at his throat, he’s suddenly way out of his comfort zone, so it’s understandable we’d see a new side of him. But it doesn’t explain why he suddenly pulled his gun on her. I suspect there’s a real-world reason for it. All I know is, LLENN’s reaction to his sudden change in character was priceless.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online – 03 – Pressing Rewind with Middling Results

GGO’s first episode thrust us right into the middle of the Squad Jam, while the second took us back to Karen first got into the game. This third episode continues the flashback, bringing us up to the start of the SJ.

But since the result of the SJ is a foregone conclusion, the extended set-up felt superfluous, while calling attention to the fact it would have been a more effective episode had we not known how the SJ would unfold—that is, if the order of episodes had run 2-3-1 instead of 1-2-3.

Pitohui hooks Karen up with M, who seems way too into tactics and ways of killing, leading Karen to wonder who he really is IRL, and what form his relationship with Pitohui takes.

But rather than explore any of that, the M we meet here is bascially the same gruff, no-nonsense, yet still patient and affable lug we met in episode one. There’s nothing new gleaned here; he’s still a big mystery.

However, perhaps the most important goal of this episode wasn’t to establish the stakes of the SJ, but to pivot Karen from an IRL activity that wouldn’t have furthered her social skills (going to an Elsa concert with her old friend) to an activity that would (pairing up, training, and going into a battle royale with someone she just met).

Whatever GGO is to M, Pitohui and Karen are alike in that it’s an escape, and an opportunity to do things they simply cannot do IRL. Karen takes that further, intending to use her newfound freedom as a pink-clad chibi in GGO to change herself IRL, and to find a way to connect with people despite her great height and the anxiety towering over people causes.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online – 02 – Standing Short

GGO backtracks a few months to when Kohiruimaki Karen, an uncommonly tall college student from Hokkaido now living in Tokyo, learns about the post-SAO VRMMORPG craze in which players no longer have to worry about getting trapped in the game and dying. Karen seeks escape from her height.

Personally, I find Karen statuesque and gorgeous, but as I’m of average height IRL, I can’t really judge someone far taller or shorter than the norm for having a complex about it. In Karen’s case, she has difficulty making friends, and is constantly being gawked at.

One of the friends she does have recommends ALfheim Online, but no matter how many times she converts her avatar, she ends up with someone big, tall, or both.

She eventually ends up in Gun Gale Online, not knowing much about it, and after some rough training sessions, eventually finds out she’s proficient with a submachine gun. More importantly, she’s tiny and cute.

Karen, or rather LLENN, leans hard into the cute angle, covering herself in pink from head to toe along with her gun, and finds a sweet spot in the pink desert where she can use her small size and agility to start earning a rep as a vicious PK’er.

She also attracts the attention of one Pitohui, a seasoned GGO veteran who’s been around since the game was launched. But rather than kill her, “Pito” suggests they become friends and team up; apparently the GGO gender balance is quite lopsided in favor of men.

LLENN and Pito become fast friends and form a two-person team, and even set some conditions for meeting one another in real life. Something tells me LLENN’s mentioning of her favorite singer Kanzaki Elsa to Pito, and Pito’s lack of a response, suggests she might actually be the singer IRL, which would make their live meet-up that much more special for Karen.

And that pretty much does it for this episode. It sets up who Karen is, why she became LLENN, and how she met her first friend in GGO, leading right up to the start of the Squad Jam. We also briefly see the group of girls we saw in Karen’s living room watching her play, suggesting she eventually befriends them all, and that getting into VR MMOs was a good way to meet people without the stigma of her stature.