[FUNiOP]

This is now a very different show. At least for one episode.

Kirito's imouto-but-really-but-still-related-by-blood-so-it's-still-incest-dammit becomes a major character now. That makes sense that she would be once they got back to the real world. It looks like they'll be jumping into another game before long, so I wonder if she'll be playing this time. I figure she'll probably try to chase after her beloved ONII-CHAN as much as possible to prevent losing him for another few years. I guess I should have paid closer attention to the OP for her. Maybe she'll get super jealous and go after Asuna.

We have a clear villain right from the beginning here. I'm guessing he'll be a part of this game as well, to serve as Kayaba's replacement? Kayaba is still out there, so obviously he's going to have to be the one who gets Asuna and the other 300 back in the real world (or however many survive this game, if it has the same stakes). Maybe he'll team up with Kirito and crew against scumbag Koyasu guy. If Kirito only has a week to get Asuna back to the real world to kick that guy in the balls and say "fuck you", this will be a very different experience from the two years spent in SAO.

I wonder if the series will end with Kirito and Asuna getting back to the real world and living happily ever after, or if they'll confirm a second season in the final episode, and set it up for that. There's obviously more story in the light novels. Is there just a different game every volume or two, which translates to a cour each? It seems like they'd stop being able to find believable excuses for continuing that trend after a while. This series tends to surprise me in pleasant ways, so I'm fairly confident that whatever the plot ends up coming up with will be better than I'd guess it would.

New opening and ending songs are fine, although no LiSA level.