The fourth Squad Jam is well underway in the eighth volume of Keiichi Sigsawa’s Gun Gale Online light novel series, and this time we get the heavyweights of previous tournaments clashing.
Front cover of the eighth volume of Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online, featuring Llenn and Eva
The fourth Squad Jam heats up, with the marriage between Karen and businessman Fire Nishiyamada hanging in the balance! Despite this, Llenn cares only about settling her long rivalry with team SHINC. She’s unprepared, though, for a shocking revelation about her battle against them – SHINC has allied themselves with a bunch of cowards!
This volume of Gun Gale Online begins by checking in on the other teams participating in the fourth Squad Jam; so we get a clearer idea of what teams such as ZEMAL and MMTM were up to during the opening few minutes of the event.
This all leads up to team LPFM’s next major battle. You might expect it to be against SHINC, but discovering the alliance puts that on a back burner for a while.
Instead, LPFM sets their sights on MMTM. Both sides find vehicles to use, and the battle takes place in an area with completely flat terrain. With nowhere to hide, the teams charge headfirst towards each other.
The resulting battle is a thrilling one, with plenty of twists and turns to keep things interesting.
It’s battles like LPFM vs. MMTM that prove Gun Gale Online is really in its stride whilst focusing on the in-game aspect. Fire Nishiyamada and his creepy as heck marriage proposal are put on the back burner for this volume. It does get mentioned here and there a couple of times, but the main thing to take away from this volume are the battles that unfold, particularly when it comes to Llenn’s team.
SHINC also find themselves in action in this volume, after their decision that makes Llenn see red. They’re well aware of how their opponent fights and prepare accordingly, but their opponent is just as prepared for their counterattack.
The situation only gets further complicated as even more enemies move in; they aren’t about to let SHINC and their opponent fight uninterrupted.
These Squad Jam events are always exciting, and this fourth one is no exception. That whole business with Fire Nishiyamada may be lurking in the background, but the events of this volume are enough to take the mind off of that for the time being.
Something else worth nothing: this is the first time that a Squad Jam event has been written over three volumes. Sigsawa even references this in the afterword, saying this is his first three-part story arc. The reason for that? This was written around the same time the anime adaptation of Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online was being produced.
I’m eager to see how things will play out in the next volume. This volume ends with a cliffhanger, and it’s not looking good for the teams involved. There’s also a few teams that aren’t involved, and I’m curious to see where they’ll end up. Of course, there’s also the matter of Fire Nishiyamada that needs to be settled.
Rory Muses 