Kibaou

Akihiko Kayaba

Andrew Gilbert Mills

Midori Kirigaya

Alicia Rue

Kuradeel

Schmitt

Grimlock

Ryoutarou Tsuboi

Rosalia

Nobuyuki Sugou

Godfree

Diavel

Thinker

Vassago Casals

Sigurd

Caynz

Yulier

Sakuya

Kagemune

Kobatz

Sasamaru

Keita

Eugene

In the near future, a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) called Sword Art Online has been released where players control their avatars with their bodies using a piece of technology called Nerve Gear. One day, players discover they cannot log out, as the game creator is holding them captive unless they reach the 100th floor of the game's tower and defeat the final boss. However, if they die in the game, they die in real life. Their struggle for survival starts now...<br><br>
(Source: Crunchyroll)

Sword Art Online (or SAO) is an entry level series for all those that aren't really into watching anime. For seasoned viewers though, its an absolute train wreck. While SAO does function better than most anime on some levels, its weak story and pathetic characters all but wreck the series for the veterans. On the other hand, the new kids on the block are too enthralled by the pretty colors to look past the facade that passes for a story. Now, I'm not saying SAO is  _bad_  it has plenty of strong points even the haters will falter against, but that doesn't make it good, now does it? I mean more along the lines of "the cons overweight the pros" in the case of SAO. 

I'm pretty sure you have heard this term overused to kingdom come, but SAO had potential - potential it wasted.

 _ Note - This review is spoiler free, it might appear that I'm treading into spoiler territory, but I won't. You just gotta trust me on this, okay? _

  Artwork and Animation (8/10)
The artwork is by far the strongest field of SAO, but let's proceed in order here.

 __Character Models__ - After all, what is an anime without a pretty face? The character model hits spot-on with the flagship of Asuna and to a lesser degree Kirito. Both of whom are created quite well and both attract great amounts of fans from either gender. Still, the level of detail in facial features is quite lacking.

 __Environment__ - The environment is lush and green with sprawling cities and major architectural structures which greatly add to the entire "town" atmosphere. With its great amount of detail, it is evident that the entire environment looks great. 

 __Animation__ - Broadly speaking, the animation is also quite good - this is especially the case during the fights in which the animation probably plays the biggest part in the immersion. While that may be the case, I noticed that some day-to-day activities seemed to be....cluttery and unsynced (one of many examples would be ep 10, around the 11:42 mark). Now, while that may be an uncommon occurrence, it is still there, and it is helluva annoying when it happens since in one deft move it completely destroys the immersion (and please don't say that animation hadn't progressed that far in end-2012, cause it had, take a look at KSnH, tell me if it happens there). Still, considering how great it is overall, it almost feels like my complaint is nitpicking.

With all that said, I still won't go as far as to call SAO eye-candy. There are plenty of anime that were released earlier or almost with SAO that look much better than it in terms of Character Models and Animation (KSnH, Durarara, Psycho-Pass, etc). Still, it is undeniable that its environment is among the best of its kind.

  Sound and Music (7/10)
Some people count the music as one of the stronger points of SAO, while I don't disagree, I don't agree either. 
I agree that it is one the stronger things about SAO.
I disagree with the implication that it is great - for the sole reason that it isn't.

 __Voice acting__ - I have no qualms about the voice acting and I'm fine either way with voice acting since I don't honestly speak the language. Still, I can feel the emotions in the voice across a totally (not totally, but still) unknown language, and that part is spot-on. Despite that, I don't exactly feel  _connected_  to the characters in any way, but that is probably the stupid plot's problem.

 __Environment__ - Now, by environment here, I mean noises in the background, like town chatter or the sound of insects, even the clash of swords. And all of this felt....artificial. And faint, mostly artificial though. 
Now, it is obvious that the cast didn't get real swords and clash them in from of a mic, but still, having such hollow sounding noises just doesn't allow one to immerse themselves in their surroundings. Then, there is the fault of faintness. The background noises are so low below the general talk volume that it almost feels neglected.

 __Background Music__ - The background music is mostly just violin and guitar, which sounds perfect for more...emotional scenes, but for the action scenes, there isn't any strong or intense BGM to really bring the feel of the battle. Yeah, there is some light drumming and something that sounds like a faint and repetitive dong, but it just doesn't quite do its job. If you would better have an example, then try watching ep10 or ep14 of SAO, skip to the fight scene, watch it, and then watch ANYTHING from SnK. You will understand the difference something like background music can make.

 __OP and ED__ - The OP01 (Crossing Field - by Lisa) wasn't quite good enough. It was good, but not good enough. Yeah, it had a great AMV, but other than that it gets boring really fast, and even then it probably wasn't worth adding to your playlist anyways. The other memorable entry in the music section is ED02 (Overfly - by Haruna Luna) which is just great. Its definitely worth listening to, even though it has a somewhat weak AMV. The others (OP02 and ED01) were both fairly average, nothing that I will waste my time with though.

youtube(CpDyF4pkbAs)

Sorry, couldn't find the AMV, but I linked the official video.

 Story (10/30)
The story section marks the beginning of the downfall of SAO. Yeah, we were at the supposedly good sections before.

 __Premise__ - The premise relies around a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) called, well, SAO which is supposed to be a real craze, and after the release everyone buys it in a hurry. Sadly, after just a short while, they realize that they can't log out and return to their normal lives, they are forever trapped in the game because the creator conveniently backstabbed them into staying in the game forever and if they die, they die forever. Because game developers totally destroy their own lives and deconstruct their hard work by creating a game which allows them to annoy totally random greasy neckbeards for reasons unknown (and never revealed)

Still, I can't deny that the premise has potential. Plenty of potential in the MMO genre considering that most of the anime viewerbase plays one online game or the other, and it is always fun to watch something you can directly relate to. Sadly, SAO took all that, built people's hopes until episode 2 and then cut those hopes to little bits.

 __Execution__
The execution is just that - an execution. An execution of all the potential and the hopes that were put into SAO by viewers everywhere. It is almost as if SAO as a series is a facade that does exactly what it portrays happens - A creator destroys the hopes of no-lifers everywhere. Despite its rather solid premise, SAOs power lasted only until ep2, after which the next few episodes were just filler crap about how Kirito can steamroll over everything ever - and all by himself! As any MMO player ever will tell you, going solo is  _the_  best way of getting killed, no matter what your skill level is. It is an inherent fault in humans as a whole that they will make mistakes. One wrong step, one slow dodge, and you are dead. Forever. This is especially true at higher levels with more and more intelligent and  powerful enemies that just can't be taken down solo. Despite being an advanced gamer, Kirito doesn't understand such basic things and goes solo against great odds- and wins where entire teams of his level fail. Because why the fuck not, he is kirito.

Honestly, that is the explanation for all of the events in the series. "Why the fuck not, he is Kirito" Nothing else is needed, he is stronger than dozens of people of his level and he can break the game using sheer rage as his weapon. Because why the fuck not, he is kirito. 

This is literally the only thing that happens until Episode 9. After that, the story somewhat continues, but having already broken its momentum, it falls straight on its face, because, let's face it - Nothing happened the past few episodes. Episode 10 seems like it will finally be able to recreate, maybe even rekindle SAO's flame -and it does to some point- but then comes episode 11, which destroys even that and goes back to its filler bullshit.
and stays there until it thinks "oh well, maybe I should end this arc". Then it does some stuff and the arc ends. Just like that. The next arc is totally spoiler territory, so not gonna discuss it. If you want a concise description though - Its shit. Even worse than the first arc.

Now, let's do a quick review of its genres and how well they were pulled it off.

 __Action__ - Mostly okay-ish, its lacking through the entire series and the biggest reason for that (besides the BGM support and the filler crap) is that it ends too quickly. And there is honestly nothing to lose, we all know Kirito is gonna lolwtfpwn everything, hardly makes me give a crap or even get excited.

 __Adventure__ - Don't know what classifies as adventure in your books, but pretty sure its supposed to be a challenge.

 __Game__ - Well, its in a game...so, yeah.

 __Romance__ - Terrible, terrible romance. Mostly because the time jump (forcing two and a half years worth of stuff in 5 episodes) really messed everything up and doesn't allow for a sensible start (or end) to the genre. The romance is therefore extremely rushed. It resolves, but who gives a crap if it isn't gonna build up?

 __Shounen__ - Big boobed pretty gamer girls and wish-fulfillment OP MC who every girl digs Yeah, sounds like shounen to me.

 Characters [4/30]
The characters are, by far the weakest link in the chain of SAO. The characters are bland, unbelievable, undeveloped, and if they aren't Kirito or Asuna, probably pathetically weak.  ~! and most probably dead by the end of the episode they appeared in. !~

Kazuto Kirigaya (also, Kirito) - He acts as the MC and also as the Gary Stu. As I already pointed out, he rolls over everything and anything. He is probably the height of a wish fulfilling character. He is strong, everyone depends on him, women love him, he is cool as shit (doesn't use a shield, uses a single sword, goes solo and doesn't afraid of anything) and he gets all the girls. Like, ALL of them despite actually being a shut-in betafan. Once again, because why the fuck not? He is kirito.

Asuna Yuuki - As someone who loves a strong female lead (and even reads crappy shoujo if it means having one) I loved Asuna from the get go, she seemed strong, independent and pretty cool (okay, I sound like a feminist now, I promise I'm not) but then her character changed (one of the few character to have a character development, btw) and then she became a 1860's housewife. Like, really. Her entire point was to look cute, and be a total burden to everyone around her by being absolutely useless. After the first two episodes, she always needs kirito to save her.  ~! in episode 10, when kirito is paralyzed by the poisoned water she comes to his rescue, but then it is kirito that finishes off the enemy, not her. Then of course, we have ALO which was ridiculous from her point as she became a damsel in distress.In ALO, you could replace her with a shiny sword that kirito REALLY wants and the story won't change the least bit. !~

Suguha Kirigaya - Cousin and adoptive sister of kirito and pointless other than as a imouto type character who looks cute and shit while kirito kills everything. She also has a incest subplot or some shit that never really resolves or whatever (I told you ALL the girls love him, right?)

Other than that is the support crew which don't achieve jack shit and just sit around (or die), none of these have any developments at all, and I would write more, but shit's been giving me a headache.

 Enjoyment (10/20) 
While SAO is enjoyable if you close your eyes and make yourself oblivious (on purpose or otherwise) to its faults, it really doesn't have anything of substance. It does its job as a starter anime quite well by roping in people who don't care about anime, but that is really all SAO is, it holds nothing for a viewer that appreciates a story or even wants something interesting. Because even though SAO tries very hard to mask its faults (and succeeds against most of the people that watch it), upon hindsight, you can't help but glare at all the holes and say "Did I honestly enjoy this piece of crap?"

That only applies to the first arc by the way, the second arc is so shit it isn't even masked anymore. It holds nothing for the educated viewer, but it still holds the world for the oblivious one.

Final Verdict - 39/100
Its shit.

I bitch and whine about SAO's shortcomings for 3k words.

SAO re-review (original was 3 years ago) [Old Score: 6.2] [New Score 7.4]

**THIS REVIEW IS 100% BIASED** (and there are spoilers so be warned)

(I updated the "final score" to reflect a more subjective view of the anime without personal bias)

Well, now that i've gotten that out of the way, here is MY PERSONAL review of the anime Sword Art Online. It probably is unfitting of what most people say (I've heard every negative thing said about SAO). However, there is a reason why Sword Art Online is my favorite anime to this day. I'll start with my **personal** reasons on why I gave it a score of 10. 

To put it simply: The rating of 10 comes from personal enjoyment. Was this anime perfect? No. Was this anime flawed in a lot of ways? Yes. Do I care? NOPE! At the time I decided to watch SAO, I had previously been unexposed to the action genre. Being a young *ish* (16 yr old at the time) female I typically enjoyed romance and shoujo anime. So SAO was something quite new and exciting for me to pick up. It was nothing like I had ever seen before, so of course at first I did not notice the flaws in storyline and progression that everyone seems to point out (at first anyway). To me, I simply adored the mix of action and romance, considering I still loved watching romance in anime. I will go into more details about this when I discuss characters, but my point is that the combination of action (something new) mixed with romance (something I loved) in a cool stuck-in-a-game setting was REALLY EXCITING to me. I soon fell in love with *almost* all the characters (talking about you, Silica...) and became a huge fan of the series from then on. I have re-watched the whole anime (both seasons) 4 times, so as that shows, I definitely know my way around the series. 

Now with that aside, I will rate some aspects of the anime like music, characters, story (with some bias obviously, as I stated above)!

**Animation**
This one is a 10/10 stars for me. SAO had (and has) a pretty large production budget. When you compare it to anime like Log Horizon, you can tell the difference (not to bash on Log Horizon). Many talented animators were brought in to work on this anime, and it is especially apparent with its brilliant action scenes, lively colors, and beautiful landscapes and scenery. I could go on and on, but I believe I have made my point. 

**Soundtrack**
Again, a 10/10 for me. The main battle theme Swordland is very memorable, and to this day gives me chills. It is no surprise that SAO has excellent music, as very talented Yuki Kajiura provided works for OST. Most people probably know she's done music for other well received anime such as Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero and so on. Every theme is fitting and I still listen to the OST to this day. All the openings and endings are catchy and I personally enjoy them. Overall, a stunning soundtrack for a stunning anime!

**Characters**
Oooh boy, one of the places where SAO gets bashed a ton. "Here we have the main protagonist: completely lifeless, pointlessly overpowered, boring personality. Then we have the badass female lead who turns into a cookie-cutter tsundre". I'm here to explain why I believe that those characters are more than what people negatively say about them. Personally, the characters section gets a solid 7/10. While there are some good characters, there are definitely places where this anime fails to deliver in its characters. To explain, let's start with the good: none other than Kirito (let me remind anyone reading again that this is my personal opinion)~

Kirito is my favorite character in the series. At the start, his personality comes across as a cold, introvert. He has trouble making everyday small talk, and this is portrayed very well. As he is a loner, he enjoys playing solo and does not like forming parties (he has trouble finding a partner for the first boss raid). However, we can see that as the course of the anime goes on, certain things happen to him to shape his personality. He goes through heartbreak, does things he regrets, and finds it within himself to beat the death game for a very compelling and heartwarming reason. In my opinion, Kirito is the most interesting character in the whole series. I do not find him boring, and despite all things, I actually find him *somewhat* relatable. People criticize saying it is hard to empathize with someone who is too perfect, but I disagree. During all his hardships, I truly felt his pain, I could feel real emotion from him as he fought battles and escaped near-death situations. 

So maybe he is a tad overpowered for his own good (hacking the game console, really?) However, is that REALLY bad? I don't find it to be. Sure, it might have been cool to see some progression from when he started off as being a "noob", but hey, he was a former beta tester after all, and seems to have a decent knowledge of games in general. That alone can explain why Kirito is a much better player than the majority of the 10,000 who are trapped. There are (unfortunately) some major time skips that happen which fail to show any progression from his character (more on this in the story section), and after a two year time skip, he is leaps and bounds better. Unfortunately, we do not get to see this development. It just happens. However, I don't feel like this limits his character. You can still see his character develop in other ways as he finds his romantic interest, and begins to see a future that involves her. His personality is shaped by the interactions he has with the people around him, and the experiences he goes through. From his guilt of killing the moonlit black cats, to facing Akihiko Kayaba at the end, to nearly dying by a laughing coffin member, and so on. You will start to see how his mindset goes initially from it being all about himself and how he was going to survive... to turning the focus on saving Asuna. A shift from selfish to selfless. This continues to show through in the second half of the first season all the way to the second. He is always determined to keep his party members alive. I loved his determination, how he never gave up. His sheer passion for what he was doing was incredible to watch. I could really see how much he loved Asuna, and how much he was willing to do to clear the game.

Another negative aspect that people say about Kirito is that he gets a special skill: Dual Blades. How could this be? Why is he the only one? Well, Kayaba (the creator of SAO) stated very clearly that this skill was awarded to the player with the fastest reflexes, or someone that he thought would be the one to beat the game. That may not reflect how games are played in real life, and to that I say SAO is NOT a typical game! This is a fantasy game, in a fantasy world, and of course, it does not need to reflect how things are done in our real world, period. 

Before this gets too long, I want to state that I do see where his character has flaws, but to me, the good outweighs the bad. It didn't stop me from absolutely loving him as a character. I know not many will agree with me on this, but this is what I truly believe. 


Asuna is another great character (my second favorite). We can see some fantastic character development in the first season as she goes from seriousness, to learning how to love the dire situation she was in. Although she was trapped in the world of SAO, she didn't hide herself in the town of beginnings, but rather ventured out to clear the game. Even though she had never played a game in her life, she decided that living in fear wasn't going to be an option. In my opinion, that takes courage. In the Mothers Rosario arc, we also see lots more much needed back story of her home life, and we can see how the effects of Sword Art Online make things troubling at home. 

Overall, I can see how people say that Asuna is a "cookie cutter character", however, I think she has more complexity than that. For critics, she is too "tsundre", but again, is that a bad thing? (Toradora's Taiga... hello?) It may be typical and not unique however, I think Asuna goes beyond her "lackluster tsundre trope". For one, she is essential to the story, not only as Kirito's love, but for the sole fact that Kirito and Asuna are a great team. We can see how her experiences in the death game evolve her personality into becoming someone who would risk her own life to save the one she loves. I personally enjoyed her spunk and and feminine, yet badass personality.
I loved seeing such a strong female lead in this anime. At times, she may be slightly shadowed by her counterpart Kirito, but that does not make her any less of a character (more so in the second part of the first season). She and Kirito make a fantastic couple. I was delighted while watching the romance between them ensue. They might have been young, but it was pleasant, and heart-warming to see.

Finally, I have a very quick note on Yui. Personally, I found her as an addition to the family to be extremely cute, which further bonded Kirito and Asuna's relationship. Yui could be seen as a cheat device, but I think the complexity of Yui being an artificial intelligence, yet seemingly having real life emotions adds to the futuristic setting we are in (2024). Yui was created to assist players with mental health problems, but she was attracted attracted to Kirito and Asuna because they were among the few players who still managed to laugh and be happy despite dire situation they were in. She managed to defy the game master and help Kirito and Asuna, something that goes beyond what a normal AI should be able to do. I found that connection between them to be adorable especially the fact that she was their adoptive daughter! 

Now, to try to wrap things up, I'm going to quickly say a few things about the rest of the characters in general. Unfortunately, I believe that some characters were useless in SAO. Silica and Liz are the two that stand out in this category. To me, they did not add much to the story of value, and seemed to be more filler than anything. Other characters like Klien and Agil were great, however, I wish they had more screen time. 
Sinon and Yuuki were well fleshed out characters as well, however, this review will become way too long if I start talking about that. Suguha, or Leafa is another character that had complexity, however, I personally was not a fan of her incest love for her brother. Some of the villains are too stereotypically villain-y (at least that is what most people tend to say), but it did the job (and made me hate them). Overall, there were some issues with characters, but for the sole reason that the two main characters were great, I still can find enjoyment with the rest. 

**Story**
This one gets a 10/10 for me. It has a fantastic plot. I mean, come on, trapped in a VIRTUAL REALITY video game? That with the added "if you die in the game, you die in real life" factor makes this incredibly fascinating to watch. It was a concept that I had never thought of before. That is one of the reasons why I loved it so much the first time I watched it. 
Moving on to the second half, the whole story of saving Asuna is loathed by many, but I found that half to be very moving and driven, as you can see Kirito's determination very apparently in this arc as well (especially when he makes attempts to get to the top of the world tree). I did not mind that Asuna was a "damsel in distress" in this case. I loved seeing Kirito's love for Asuna continue to shine through his actions. The downside? It took the compelling death game aspect away, which lowered the stakes in a way. It wasn't a huge problem for me though.

The Gun Gale Online arc attempted to bring back the death game aspect with death gun (who looks and sounds way too much like darth vader by the way) It was enjoyable, but there was a lack of Asuna which wasn't my favorite, especially since Sinon was a LITTLE too comfortable with Kirito in that cave....

The 3 episode arc in between GGO and Mother's Rosario is nothing special. Basically a side quest for a sword. That's it.

The Mother's Rosario arc featured Asuna and some new characters. Easily the second most emotional arc there is in SAO. I really loved the focus on Asuna, and how much emotion and character development there was. (Sorry about the shallow reviews and summaries here, but I've been at this for two hours and I'm starting to feel like this review is too long!!) 

**Plot Execution**
The worst part of SAO in my opinion (however, this does NOT influence how I feel overall about it). I give it a 6/10. Like I mentioned earlier, there are too many time skips, too many pointless, filler episodes, and I sometimes wish that the anime could be redone but using the progressive novels instead of the original light novels. I also wish there was more focus on the Aincrad arc. Stopping mid season felt so unfinished (although, it was an interesting plot twist. I definitely was not expecting that), as even critics agree that the Aincrad arc was easily the best part of SAO. So with those critical flaws, the ideas and story were great, just poorly executed in my opinion if I will be honest. However, this does not change how I feel about SAO as a whole. As I stated above, my 10 score is based on my enjoyment I have had for the anime, so the negative aspects don't bother me! 

I'm going to go ahead and end the review here. I could easily continue writing this and polish my thoughts even more. However, that is for another time. Kudos to you if you read this far. I bet you're a hardcore SAO fan like me, haha (or heck you might be a hater trying to comprehend how I could even think the way I do). Anyhow, I hope this shows you why I personally loved Sword Art Online so much. Even though I know lots hate it, there are also those like me who love it. Here's hoping this essay explained that thoroughly. Until next time!

A thoughtful, incredibly long review from a person who really enjoyed Sword Art Online.

I'm not gonna sugarcoat anything... I didn't like sword art online, but it's a fantastic case-study on how to fuck up

Warning, this review may contain spoilers.

First impressions: When I first got into this show, I thought this would be a good show. Oh how I was wrong!

Story: 3/10 
In the year 2022 humanity has managed to make a completely virtual environment-welcome to spreading autism online!

The premise for Sword Art Online is pretty much a trapped in a video game world kind of setting with the twist being that if you die in the game, then you die for real. I would like to add that as a player of video games myself, I could easy relate and I thought it was a pretty cool idea.

One problem I had with Sword Art Online was the romance elements which were a main focus of the story. Now I have no problem with romance being in this anime, the problem is the fact that the romance elements were poorly presented. One example is the romance between Kirito and Asuna, even though it's shown that they care deeply for each over. However, the problem is because of the time skips in the show we really don't see the transition of how they fell in love in the first place.

Another problem with the romance element is that they also had a some semi incest romance with the main character, Kirito, and his sister who is actually his cousin named Kirigaya. Now this part didn't bother me personally, but what did bother is the fact it was poorly executed with it being taken as nothing serious and just seems like it was added to just for fan-service. Which is a shame because they had some really good genuine moments in it and I feel if they took it more seriously it could have been very interesting.

Another problem I had with this show was the fact that this was a show that seemed like it wanted you to take it seriously. But I couldn't take it seriously because for some reason we have a harem in this story when a harem really wasn't needed in this type of story. And before you guys say that sword art online isn't a harem, I would like to state the sword art online is very obviously a harem show.
Another negative is also the fact they tried to add some video game to real life philosophy to make you take it more seriously and make it seem more deep and mature than it actually is. And while I was listening to this so called philosophy, I was wondering to myself what was the actual point of this. Because when shows in general have some sort of deep meaning that they want to tell you, they usually have some sort of point. For an example, for a show that has some deep meaning would probably be something like Death Note or Ergo Proxy and they pretty much told you their point fairly quickly if you are paying attention.

Now the next thing I would like to talk about is the narrative of Sword Art Online. The story line pretty much time skips all over the damn place. Also, it never shows you what is happening in the outside world while these people are trapped in this video game. 

Another thing I had a problem with is that, despite this being some what of a survival game, we really don't see much of the survival aspect of the story. We don't see many people die and this show usually only implies that people have died.

Characters: 2/10
The main character is just a bland Gary Stu who is over-powered, gets chicks, and make other men look like jerks.

The side characters are very one note. Also, these characters are the most bland I have seen in an anime to date. There is no character development. With all the shit these people had to go through, you would have expected some of these people to have major physiological issues, but they don't. There is no investment into the characters because of all the time skips.

The villains in this show are very one note as well. For villains in this show We have got the troll, a rapist, and a group of people who kill people for fun. So pick your poison

Art: 8/10 
The animation is just a godsend on your eyes. The backgrounds are done fantastically. The fights scenes are good. It also has some pretty decent CGI. This is a show you should see in HD if you can.

It has a pretty generic style to it and the characters design are ok as well.

Sound: 8/10
The OST is great I could listen to the soundtrack for hours. The OST was composed by Yuki Kajiura who has also done the OST for Fate Zero.

The voice acting for both sub and dub where decent as well, but I would recommend the dub.

Enjoyment: 7/10 
Now to Sword Art Online's credit, I can see that this anime had some great ideas for the story and characters, but didn't put it to full use. I love the fight scenes and the OST, but other than that it is pretty much bad in every other aspect. So I liked it but for very superficial reasons.

Overall: 4/10
So overall, this is a type of show that took style over content and when it tries to be deep and it ends up looking stupid. But the only positive I would say about it overall is that it's an anime that is very easy to get into, so it's a good entry level show for those who are new to anime. But if you have quite bit of experience with anime, then you will probably dislike this show for how much of a train wreck it is.

The future of the video game industry is here, and it’s gone far beyond the motion capture and voice commands that we raved about in the past. MMORPGs… Or Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games… Have evolved beyond what was previously thought possible, thanks to an innovation called The Full Dive… A Virtual Reality system that syncs directly with your brain to transfer your very consciousness into an expansive, lifelike gaming universe where people from all over the world can interact and compete for hours on end while they’re bodies remain nice and safe in their beds. How can a gaming experience such as this possibly go wrong?

One of these new games, Sword Art Online, has taken the market by storm, becoming a fast fan favorite due to it’s simple mechanics and universal accessibility. But then one day, a curious flaw appears in the system… The log out button mysteriously disappears, leaving over ten thousand players stranded. And instead of an update or a patch to fix this issue, game creator Kayaba Akihiko gives them the most horrible news they could have possibly imagined… There is no way out. This world is now their world, and thanks to a booby trap hidden in their headsets, to die in the game… Or to have your headset removed by an outside party… Will mean their immediate real life death. The only way to leave is to clear all 100 floors of the game, a task that winds up in the hands of the best and strongest players in the game… Including Kirito, a former beta tester. Can the thousands of forsaken souls trapped in their former escapist paradise ever see the real world again, or is all hope lost?

Whether you love or hate this series… And there are a lot of people claiming both extremes… There’s one thing everyone seems to agree on; The animation in SAO is phenomenal. Studio AI, which was founded by a former Sunshine producer, has a very impressive resume behind them, having worked on several popular and visually spectacular titles like Fairy Tail, Black Butler, and Magi(none of which I’m personally fond of). Their flair for expensive, all out, balls-to-the-wall action and movement is on full display here, with special attention being given to the expansive backgrounds, smoothly integrated CGI and the infinitely expressive countenances of it’s many cast members. Unfortunately, the negative aspects of A1’s animation technique has also been carried over, as the cost cutting and corner cutting are everywhere, and it’s never subtle about it.

For all the graceful animation we get with our main cast, you get crowds of people in the background just frozen like they’re part of the background rather than people living in it. For all the fast-paced, intense battle scenes, there are just as many where the aesthetic become cheaper and looser in order to compensate for the constant movement… And as I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, that kind of technique can make a show look really awkward when paused. Because of this, I don’t think I can get behind all of the other reviewers who call this one of the best looking shows they’ve ever seen, but I understand why it looks the way it does, and I do generally think it does it’s job fine. After all, there aren’t a lot of studios who have Kyoto Animation-level budgets behind them, so the lack of consistency can be largely forgiven… I just wish it’d been managed a bit better.

The musical score, on the other hand, is nothing short of breathtaking. Yuki Kajiura is one of the most respected composers in the industry for a damn good reason, and while she’s not quite as prolific as Yoko Kanno, the difference in style more than makes up for it. Almost all of the more memorable and emotionally stimulating moments in the series might have fallen flat if not for the expertly crafted and highly versatile tunes that she made to accompany them. Whether the tone of the series needs to be tense, frightening, somber, uplifting or full on heart-rending, Kajiura’s nearly celtic-sounding score always has the right tunes at the right time. For the best example of this, the low-pitched track ‘despaired’ is the saddest part of the already tragic episode 3. Her music has a very manipulative quality to it, and yes, I mean that in a good way.

I wish I could go on to say that this series is a master of sound, but while the music excellent, the English dub is a bit… Well, mediocre. It was done by Bang Zoom, who were surprisingly able to pick up a few Funimation actors for the job. I’ve never really been a huge fan of Bryce Papenbrook… Although he was decent in Blood Ladd… And as Kirito, he sounds distractingly like Vic Mignogna going through puberty. Cherami Leigh as Asuna didn’t impress me very much either. When I saw her name attached to the character, I thought… Why? Don’t get me wrong, she’s a great actor, but she doesn’t have a lot of experience playing tough or intimidating women. Her voice is too high pitched and airy for it, and the part should have gone to someone with a deeper voice like Michelle Ruff. I won’t say either one of them did a bad acting job, they did fine, I just don’t find the casting believable in either case.

The rest of the cast, for the most part, is full of Bang Zoom regulars, with only a few sour notes in what is otherwise an okay dub overall. Cassandra Lee was very impressive as Leafa, especially when you consider the kind of character she’s been saddled with. Christine Marie Cabanos better than usual as Silica, but she’s still way below her Toradora performance. Marianne Miller, as Recon, is somebody I want to never, ever hear in a dub again. The only real standout performance is from Todd Haberkorn, who takes full advantage of his role as the narcissistic sociopath Sugo Noboyuki to be as sleazy and unlikeable as he possibly can, and boy is it glorious. It’s a fine, listenable dub, but you’d do a lot better to just watch it in Japanese with subtitles.

Then again, you can’t really blame the actors for being mediocre when the characters they’re playing are so terribly, terribly written. Starting with Kirito, there’s very little depth to his character. He has trouble working with other people, he feels some serious guilt in his life, and these issues do give him some potential for development… But that’s it. Beyond that, he’s just a self insert male empowerment fantasy, which becomes even more blatant when you start to notice just how much of his story was inspired by Guts from Berserk. He’s an overpowered loner who travels the world being a better fighter than everyone else, and he’s even nicknamed The Black Swordsman. And if that’s not enough, the circumstances surrounding his membership in Asuna’s guild are very reminiscent of Guts’ joining and leaving of The Band of the Hawk.

But then again, Guts never took it a step too far by becoming a harem lead… Okay, maybe at ONE party. There number of female characters in this series who don’t develop feelings for him could easily be counted on one hand, with a finger or two to spare. Out of the ones who do, he’s generally the one helping them through their problems while they get strung along helplessly, regardless of their levels(Except for Suguha, but we’ll get to that). This even includes Asuna, who follows him through a murder mystery story arc while HE solves every clue, and even though she holds the final piece of the puzzle the whole damn time, he’s the one who solves it after she mentions a key SAO marriage detail out loud.

And Asuna? That’s another issue entirely. Up until my recent rewatch of SAO, I thought she was the best thing about the series… But it didn’t take me long to realize that there’s even less to her character than there is to Kirito’s character. She’s a strong fighter, but she’s not a very strong character. In fact, if you took the romance out of her relationship with Kirito, IE their marriage and what-not, she could have easily been replaced with a fighting dog, especially when their meet-cute happened because he earned her trust with food. That, and let’s be honest here, the whole ‘damsel in distress’ thing from the second half of the series did her very few favors.

And then you have Kirito’s other love interests, and dear god, are there a lot of them. Two characters are introduced in the early episodes who enlist him for help, fall madly in love with him, and are then dropped for most of the remaining series, only to be brought back at the end to reveal that they still haven’t given up on him. Because yeah, God’s gift to the fairer sex being taken off the market will not stop them from ignoring every other guy in the world on his behalf. Two characters from the second arc start pressing their boobs against his arms because he defended them from an ambush, and then… There’s his sister. Yes, Suguha, his little sister, is in love with him. I’ll grant you that they’re actually cousins, but for reasons that I stated in my Oreimo review, that doesn’t make it any better. This is popularly labelled the worst part of the series, and… Yeah, but it didn’t have to be. I wouldn’t have minded her falling in love with Kirito in the game, due to not knowing who he is, but the fact that she’s already fallen for him in real life just kills it.

And then you have the villains. Each half of the series contains one true villain, set aside as the final boss of their respective worlds, and a smaller villain who causes some events to occur, goes nowhere afterwards, and then is completely forgotten about in the story. There are a lot of potential for these two MAIN villains, but the way they’re perceived by both the fans and the story is kind of baffling. People tend to hate the second villain, Sugu, because he imprisoned one woman and tried to take over the IRL world. What they seem to forget is that the first villain is directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of probably innocent people. And that wouldn’t be the show’s problem if it wasn’t for the fact that SAO actually seems to share this bizarre thought. I won’t spoil anything, but if you want to get a good idea of how bad this disconnect can get, I’d like you to picture watching Hitler receive a metal of honor for stopping a rapist. Yeah, that guy was a rapist, and old Dolphy did a great thing… But he’s still Hitler. Something like that actually happens.

So if this series has an inconsistent dub, poorly written characters, and some unsettlingly deep levels of sexism, why is it so popular? Why is it such a huge hit, as well as a major financial success? I said earlier that the strongest element of SAO is it’s musical score, but it’s most successful element is the execution of it’s story. SAO bets all of it’s chips on suspense, tempting the audience to keep coming back because they can’t keep the ongoing conflicts and how they’ll be resolved out of their heads. And it works. The news of entrapment and possible death in the SAO universe hits the heart hard, bringing some serious stakes to the table, and they play with this concept in all the right ways and at all the right moments… Right up until it’s resolution, in one of the most perfectly timed and logically stupid plot twists I’ve ever seen. It made more sense in Berserk.

For the most part, the other looming conflicts are just as powerful. Even if you don’t like the characters, you want to know whether or not Kirito and Asuna will end up together. you want to know what’ll happen when Suguha’s true identity is revealed to him. You want to know if Kirito will be able to rescue Asuna before the ticking clock of the second story arc runs out. You want to know just how many people will die before their trials in SAO are finally safely over. It’s easy to get invested in these conflicts, which is probably the main reason so many people get hooked during their initial viewing… But with that tactic, SAO suffers a very significant trade-off in the form of some absolutely miserable rewatch value. Upon a second viewing, any viewer will already know exactly where the story is heading, and how each conflict will be resolved, which takes the suspense right out of the series… Forcing you to admit just how weak and sexist the characterizations are, and how badly written a lot of the side stories are.

Sword Art Online is available from Aniplex. The officially released Region 1 DVDs were split into quarters, with each disk holding about 6-7 episodes… For more than fifty dollars each. Yeah, in order to actually own a tangible copy of this entire twenty-five episode series with the English dub intact, you will have to shell out over two hundred dollars. Even if you’re a fan of the series, it’s not worth even half of that price. Luckily, there are other options available, and I’m not just talking about the much more affordable Malaysian bootlegs on Ebay. You can find SAO on Crunchyroll, and at least for now, you can also find it for free on Netflix. The original light novels are currently being released in English alongside a translated manga adaptation, but I’ve read the first volume of each, and they’re completely awful. Do not waste your time and money on them. There’s a second season too, but I haven’t seen it yet.

Oddly enough, I’d like to pause for a moment to give a recommendation to an Abridged version of this series, by youtube user Something Witty Entertainment. Where most abridged shows will retcon personality traits out of it’s characters for the sake of comedy and pacing. SAO Abrdiged does the exact opposite, turning Kirito into a sociopathic asshole and Asuna into an awkward, racially ignorant noob, and mother of all surprises, these new reprehensible personalities… Coupled with some very strong writing… Actually make the characters more likeable than they are in the show proper. Events that happen to them also seem to matter a great deal more in terms of their character and relationship development, which is very believable. There are only eleven episodes out so far, and each episode takes a few months to release, but it’s worth the patience.

I’ve been told by a great many people that Sword Art Online does not accurately portray the MMO gaming experience, but speaking as someone who has never played an MMO in his life, I really don’t care. I came into this series looking for a good story, exciting action and memorable characters, and to it’s very minimal credit, SAO almost has those qualities. It has a definite cool factor in it’s concept and design, and it does as good a job as possible covering up it’s lackluster content with outstanding production values and musical direction. I want to give it credit for presenting an emotionally gripping storyline, and while that storyline doesn’t really hold up under repeated viewings, there are a handful of moments that are just as powerful no matter how many times you see them. It’s a mixed bag to be sure, but I don’t think it’s as terrible as it’s most fervent haters claim, nor is it the worst way to pass the time. I give Sword Art Online a 5/10.

Disappointing, but a decent enough way to pass the time.

I started watching this anime in spring of 2014. I had recently been injured and was, for most purposes, unable to use my arms. I'd had to drop out of college and I couldn't even enjoy it. No video games. No drawing. Typing was possible but painful. I watched anime to keep myself from slipping into despair.

Somehow, that made the now-infamous bait and switch betrayal of SAO a little more personal for me.

For the first arc of the story, I couldn't figure out why this anime had generated so much vitriol. It seemed fine. Not every anime has to be Neon Genesis Evangelion. Imagine how exhausted we'd be if every single anime was a cerebral masterpiece. I just wanted to have fun! I wasn't really paying much attention to anime during its run, so when I started watching it, I figured the harsh criticism I'd seen was just nerds doing what nerds do: being snobs about something kinda average that got really popular. Plus, Yuki Kajiura did the soundtrack, so even if it turned out to be garbage I'd probably be able to add another cool OST to my library.

It wasn't perfect, but it was compelling, and genuinely fun. Like yeah, it's kinda corny, and Kirito sure seems to spend a lot of time solving problems for adorable cookie-cutter anime girls. But it's not TERRIBLE. Not for the first half. I especially liked the episode where they had to solve an ingame murder mystery where someone managed to kill another player without PVP enabled. Kirito and Asuna's relationship is pretty cute, and it's actually refreshing that they don't spend the entire anime beating around the bush about liking each other. I really wanted to see more of the other characters, too. I wanted to see them come up with strategies to escape. I wanted to learn more about who they are and what their lives were like outside the game. I wanted to see how the real world dealt with the crisis. I was really, genuinely curious about how it would all resolve. That's why I blazed through the first half in a day.

The next day, I bounded home from an early morning appointment, excited to keep watching, and it greeted me by throwing itself straight into the dumpster.

Without giving away too much: with something like 14 episodes to go, the source of tension suddenly changes from something compelling into something stupid. Asuna, the formerly-competent female character, is shoehorned into the role of a weepy damsel in distress. She is literally all-but-raped onscreen for cheap drama; there's even the implied threat of tentacle rape at some point, which is a pretty good indicator of exactly how far this thing sinks. It's so sleazy I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I watched it, and I can never really look the same way at people who gush at me about how much they love it.

In case all of the attempted rape wasn't nauseating enough, there's another gross, weirdly incestuous subplot and gratuitous nudity involving a middle-school-age girl, because of course there is. Meanwhile, absolutely nothing else of interest happens. Half the problem is just that, without Asuna there, Kirito can't carry the story by himself, and Pedo Bait Suguha is certainly no help; she's just a generic genki girl with a crush on her blood relative. So the main character isn't interesting, his new supporting character is a source of constant discomfort, and none of the other elements of the second arc are as compelling as the unfinished story that preceded it. When it isn't being outright revolting, it's boring. Every episode in the second arc is a snorefest punctuated by moments of intense distress. It's like going to the dentist.

Fool that I was, I slogged through the second arc, hoping that it might redeem itself. But the story cuts itself short and runs off screaming in another direction, fleeing from everything that was working, as if it's afraid of its own success. It simply ceases to be compelling and never recovers.

In the end, SAO is an alluring premise tainted by unchecked horniness. In the first episode, it presents itself as a fantasy/action/adventure with the a bit of the high-stakes "death game" genre thrown in, a strong draw-- but it's a complete lie. Remove it from its flashy MMO backdrop, and it's just another male nerd power fantasy, more interested in its dull protagonist and sickening fetishes than it is in telling the actual story, and that's why it fails so miserably, and why people who hate it do so with such a passion.

There's more Sword Art Online. I don't know why. It's done literally nothing to earn franchise status. People who like SAO often admit the Fairy Dance Arc is pretty bad, and have told me that the other seasons are better, but the other seasons are not what I showed up for. The story I was actually interested in is already over. That was the story that hooked me and that was the story I wanted to hear, and they threw it away. I'm not interested in giving any more of my time to an anime that promised me brownies and handed me a box full of dirt.

But it just. Keeps. Going. It keeps getting new seasons, and spinoffs, and video games, even though everything that was interesting about it it has already been discarded. It's an entire franchise built on an unfinished plot. It is a pitiful dead thing still walking; a wretched, half-formed soul that died an untimely death and can never find rest.

But I do still have the OST in my library.

The poster child for stories ruined by unchecked horniness.

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Sicuramente uno degli anime più famosi attualmente in circolazione che ha fatto la storia ma sicuramente non esente da difetti.
TRAMA: Vede le vicende di Kirito un beta tester dell' attuale gioco del momento Sword art online che attraverso la realtà virtuale permette di immergersi anima e corpo nel gioco, appunto kirito testando il gioco lo conosce già alla perfezione, durante una partita però si accorge di non poter effettuare il logout scoprendo che il creatore ha intrappolato tutti fino a quando qualcuno completerà 100 livelli.
Inutile provare a togliersi il casco o disconnettersi manualmente tutti e i 10.000 player iniziano quindi un viaggio senza ritorno.
PERSONAGGI: Devo dire che molto spesso in un anime capita che il protagonista piaccia ma in SAO si raggiunge limiti osceni in quanto TUTTI i personaggi di sesso femminile e dico tutti a quanto pare vogliono farsi ingravidare dal protagonista(sorella compresa), e ho detto tutto sulla gran caratterizzazione.
Merito ad Asuna che rimane l'unica ben caratterizzata e infatti kirito sceglie lei in tempo 0, anche il protagonista non è sviluppato male con un ottima crescita, lode al cattivo che risulta molto apprezzabile.
AUDIO: Lode al merito, qua credo nessuno avrà da ridire Swordland è una delle mie sound track preferite e crossing field è una OP leggendaria che rendono la prima stagione un must sotto questo aspetto.
GRAFICA: Animazioni buone e grafica di buona fattura nulla da dire, combattimenti estremamente epici mai banali e ben fatti.
COMMENTO FINALE: Quindi effettivamente oltre alcuni personaggi male caratterizzati dove risulta carente SAO? Io ritengo che fino al plot dopo l'episodio 15 risulta un anime eccellete io vi consiglio di fermarvi li, evito spoiler nelle recensioni ma la trama va letteralmente a farsi benedire ed è il motivo per la quale la season 2 è appena sufficiente. Il grave difetto di sao è la trama troppo ambiziosa, bastava farla semplice serviva poco invece sono andati a infilarsi in un buco narrativo dove è impossibile uscire.
Cito un attimo anche i giochi solo per enfatizzare la trama debole in hollow fragment si vede sviluppata la trama cosi come doveva essere l'anime.
Diciamo che almeno se ne sono accordi dopo dai, riassumendo è un buon anime almeno la prima season, ancora mi manca la season del sistema ARC ma spero possa farmi ricrede su un ottimo anime ma con molti buchi.Voto finale 7,5.(Purtroppo l'oscenità della seconda season si fa sentire).

Un anime che sicuramente ha fatto la storia, non esente da difetti il primo arco risulta però sicuramente valido.

<center><h2><b><em>This review is meant for all SAO seasons!!</em></b></h2></center>

Sword Art Online is one of those anime that everyone seems to project their hate toward. When it comes to anything. Sometimes out of actual opinion defended by facts and logic as seen in the show. Other times people make fun of it without any inexplicable reason. They look at the example of the previous user's opinion and throws that back in the fire again without forming your own visage. Whatever the case may be, no one can deny that SAO's first debut shook everyone with that strong and impacting first episode. It built insane expectations, and the layout so far for the plot seemed to be really engaging and compelling all around. There were tons of potential with the setting, which was relatively new to us. You know the term "isekai," which entails either being transported, reincarnated, or locked inside a virtual game world or even a game transforming into your new reality. There are many variations, and it's an endless cycle that keeps on piling with ever more material that's likely not ending anytime soon. At this point, it might feel like it's lost its flavor and has run its course. But that doesn't stop the people from indulging in their isekai all the same.

 There are few instances some good ones come out like Cautious Hero, Re: Zero or Slime to mention some. It's just sad that's not true all the time since more often than not we have the generic rinse-repeat we are used to previously. It goes to show this addictive and overused term has established its role in the pecking order tho since it's not close to vanishing. Whether that's positive or not is completely debatable for sure. Sword Art Online centers around Kirigaya Kazuto (Kirito), who loves technology and games. One day he logs into the SAO game world to enjoy his time. By bad luck, the creator of this world has other plans and locks over 10k players inside the game. Only if someone clears all of the 100 floors will everyone be freed and can log out. And if they are killed, they are dead for good. There is no second chance. Just imagine this whole world and all the world-building and so much intensity and emotion we can get out of it.  It's too bad, [the author] Reki Kawahara doesn't go that route fully to utilize the potential SAO is holding onto at this moment. Instead, it turns into this simple harem where every girl ends up attracted to Kirito in someway. He barely has to speak and will have waifus from everywhere, wanting to get into his pants. At one point, Kirito does find the right girl for him, but the harem vibe is still there, even to this day.

Don't get me wrong I don't have anything against harem myself, but it definitely made some things feel slightly inferior in the story aspect. But my actual issue with the first season of SAO stems from the potential not being tapped into at all. It's not the fact that Kirito is simple and can get shit done without even trying. I do like my fair share of the overpowered main characters, after all. It's never dull to see Kirito deliver the final strike for me personally, and the adrenaline rush potential is always there to hit you with that overflowing excitement. I just wish we had more time to flesh out the world and the characters themself. So you felt a proper tight bond with each and every single one of them. Asuna is honestly a good female protagonist, but we didn't get that much time to enjoy her character before Kirito, and she officially becomes a couple. That being said, that one episode always hit strong with the emotions, and I always enjoy the interaction with her and Kirito. They are a cute couple, no doubt.

It's not that much of an issue now tho since Reki went out of this way to create Sword Art Online: Progressive. This was when he is much more experienced and older than when he wrote the original story. It takes what the Aincad story arc lacked and extends upon it and so much more. It goes into all the nitty-gritty details and even in the corners to deliver a satisfactory experience of the highly beloved Aincrad arc. More than that, both Kirito and Asuna feels so much more fleshed out and has tons of charm and personality to them. We even finally get the backstory to Asuna, which adds some good and tasteful substance to her character. Kirito suddenly starts to feel more quirky and so much more likable as a result. I have only read bits and pieces of the manga adaptation. But I definitely can recommend the progressive story of SAO if you want a different and prolonged take on the story of Asuna and Kirito in Aincrad.

Now that's arguably the best part of the first season of SAO, progressive or not. While the next arc Fairy Dance is not so much. The villain here is so flimsy, and his ideals are so stupid and lackluster. But I guess that gorgeous babe Leafa came out of this arc, so it's not all that bad. If there is one thing, SAO always does right. It's the amount of waifu you have here, which is more than enough to start a world war against other quite passionate weebs. Even as we are moving to a new height, the waifus are one thing that remains pure quality. Probably, not in terms of overall writing, but the personality and looks more than enough makeup for it if you ask me.  There are way more than that came from, but here are some examples. We have the newly awakened Alice, or how about Sinon from season two? Both are great waifu picks with lots of charm and allure. It might not be the best season tho, but it was still a fun one. That's one thing that might not change with SAO ever.

Although, season 3 and onward have shown us that Reki can do more sensible and actually proper character development outside of the main protagonists. Season 3 so far has been the best season of SAO in terms of writing as well. There is still room for improvements from Reki's side, but at least he has grown, and that has been shown to us clearly. But If it was not for one of the biggest selling points, the art style, and animation being pure eye-candy. Not that many people would appreciate SAO anime as much. There must be some truth to that. Ever since the beginning and up to this point. A-1 has been killing it in any way non-stop and delivering an insane amount of justice to the source. If anything, SAO's overall production value is some of the most consistent I have seen by a longshot. Only a few entries come to mind that accomplishes the same thing, Sangatsu no Lion, Chihayafuru, and the Monogatari franchise.

I don't think it's ever looked terrible, so you must give credits to A-1 for keeping all that passion up for such a long time. Not to mention, season 3 is definitely superior to any season prior. They're clearly are pouring in much more money, time and effort into delivering an even more satisfying experience. On top of all that, you have the legendary composer Yuki Kajiura on the soundtrack department. So every tune is sure to fire you up and elevate the emotions. While we are on the topic, the opening and ending songs are top-notch. I don't think there was even one time I disliked a track much. For the first season alone, we have the iconic and beautiful "Crossing Field" by LISA. Or "INNOCENCE" by Aoi Eir. Let's not forget the ending's either. First off, "Yume Sekai" and then "Overfly," by Haruka Tomatsu and Luna Haruna, respectively. Both such lovely songs. I could keep on going, but there is no shortness of great music for the SAO. If someone asked me to make a top 5. I wouldn't even know where to begin since there are so many fantastic picks to choose from.

Overall, Sword Art Online might get all the hate for many logical and weird reasons. But there is no denying it set something big in motion that we are taking us to 2020 with us. It's true "isekai" now is overused. And While SAO is not really one, it definitely brought up that idea for many. Also, I, for one, bear no hate toward it and is not afraid to say it holds a close place to my heart. If it was not for SAO, I might not even be here today since it was one of the pillars that set my anime journey into motion. Sure, the story is not the best, and there are many flaws here and there. But the enjoyment value I get out of SAO is massive, to say the least. Moreover, the recent season as stated earlier, has definitely improved remarkably in terms of writing. It's only one way to describe your experience with SAO tho from first-hand experience. Either you'll love it, or you'll hate it from the bottom of your heart. The choice is all yours.

One of the few that set a big thing in motion. The hate is also too much and it doesn't deserve every damn bit of it

Sword Art Online: An inconsistent mess that you can't go without hearing of. I feel most of us know what the fuck a SAO is, but the one guy that lives under a rock, the plot can be summarized as "Boy buys VR headset and gets stuck for a while".

# ~~~__Aincrad Arc__~~~

The first arc of Sword Art Online introduces us to the trap of a virtual world know as, you'll never guess, Sword Art Online, as well as our main protagonist, his love interest, and not many other we should really care about.

__Setting__
Sword Art Online is a game created by Kayaba Akihiko as a trap for 10,000 owners of the NerveGear VR system. As a set-up, a trap voluntarily stepped in is kind of unique over the massive reincarnation high most shows with an isekai-esque formula seem to ride. As a world, SAO's Aincrad was ripe of being built upon with lore and the actions of the inhabitants. Sadly, the world itself wasn't built upon and with the nature of our main character, any interest in side characters was ditched about halfway through the arc.

__Characters__
The first arc introduces us to our main man Kazuto Kirigaya (Kirito), just some lad who bought into the hype. Never trust game companies, kids. As the "black swordsman" Kirito, he's an extreme competent combatant with an unwillingness to take anyone's offers of kindness of help. He honestly doesn't have much personality as from what was supposed to be "badass", but wasn't built around well enough to warrant any impact aside from "Woo. Can we move on now?". There's an aspect of his that's more prominent here than the Alfhiem Arc, so I'll put it out now. Things just work for this guy. Kirito gets away with the biggest asspulls because it's either convenient for him or because the story would stop dead in its track if he doesn't get through but there's no good way for it to happen. We'll come back to this in a bit. The other "main" characters include Asuna Yuki and Yui, who don't drive too much of this arc forward, but become very important later on, so guess it was a good idea to bring them forward now. Yui especially didn't have much reason to exist for the Aincrad Arc as she only was around to die off for a while.

__Story Beats Worth Mentioning__
A good amount of the arc's runtime (specifically the time Yui was around) was spent without much moving along of the story. I give it a pass, however, as it was a change of pace from constant movement. A nice time to settle down, until she fucking DIED (F). The main twist of the arc was hinted at via the surrounding during the first interaction that involved somebody involved in said twist, which was a nice bit of foreshadowing. However, these are tiny baby points compared to the sin of the ending. I've seen JoJo's Part 2 so many times, I can smell an asspull from a mile away. And this arc's ending and Kirito's survival of the final fight with Kayaba is the foulest stench I've smelt in a long time. There is no explanation to how he survived his "kill trade" or what enabled him to. It happened so the story could continue, nothing more, nothing less. While less egregious than the end, the appearance and lack of information on Kirito's unique dual-wield ability can also be considered an asspull power-up.

Overall Views
Filled with interesting ideas yet weighed heavily by exceedingly poor execution, Aincrad Arc was an example of how terrible writing can ruined any amount of great ideas. Personality is a major element of a character, yet is lacking in those most important. Worldbuilding can add immersion and interest, yet is nonexistent. Having no explanation for crucial moments only hurts the story more. A poorly handled story with interesting ideas on paper is no good overall.

# ~~~__Fairy Dance Arc__~~~
This arc sees the return of the SAO crew in (mostly) different positions and a new game where death has no real penalty, unlike SAO. New characters also join in, including a pedo and a simp. I wish I was joking.

__Setting__
Welcome to Alfhiem, the new VR MMO game based on the tech used for Sword Art. After the bankruptcy of the SAO devs Argus, RECT picked up the tech to create a new VR MMO based on fairies and shit. For a series called SAO, my biggest surprise this season was the throwing away of the titular setting for literally just fairy-based racism: the Game. The worldbuilding was thankfully improved on from Aincrad, with factions and territory being a big piece of the arc.

__Characters__
Firstly, Kirito doesn't change at all from how he left Sword Art. Although, he does pull some odd shit here and there, namely ignoring the shit about nobody being able to fly halfway by themselves outright despite being no different, it's not like dual-wielding (his main shtick) and his literal survival, so improvement there. The same isn't true for the others, however. All the side characters from before are gone, Yui's back (yay), and Asuna's been turned into a basic damsel in distress (*sigh*). The main girl of this arc is Suguha Kirigaya (Leafa), Kazuto's sister who REALLY wants in her brother's pants. She's also got somebody with the hots for her, Nagata Shinichi (Recon), and he simps over her hard. Our villain is 
Sugo Nobuyuki (Oberon), and he is a creeeeeeeeep! He'll be covered in our next section...

__Story Beat Worth Mentioning__
Firstly, our antagonist. Sugo is just a creep, despite already having reason to be the antagonist as the benefactor to a set-up marriage to an unconscious Asuna and seeing no problem marrying a comatose teen against her will. His perverted traits are pushed so hard, it stops being another reason to hate him and just becomes uncomfortable. Suguha's entire character arc is just her crushing over her brother, which is odd by itself. The drama that comes out of this crush is both very awkward and very believable depending on what point Suguha is going on about in the moment. Awkward when she's on about her romantic feelings for Kazuto and believable when she's going on about her feelings on how Kazuto was stuck in a fucking VR game for 2 whole years. Hell, in Alfhiem, she had so much more personality and depth than her brother, I kinda wish SHE was our protagonist instead. Well, you win some, you lose some. A line near the endgame, "If I die, it's not like it's a big deal.", however, steals all tension from the arc moving forward. A big issue of Aincrad was that the Kazuto success train never stopped and that can just get boring. While he does fail once right after these words, the statement alone causes any tension built up by his failure to be diminished heavily.

__Overall Thoughts__
Fairy Dance Arc is a big improvement over Aincrad Arc at the expense of any sort of stakes and some characters. Main characters, with the exception of Suguha, are still un- or under-developed to a point where the entire story and cast has no depth. Given more focus on characters and less shock factor-y moments such as the entirety of in-game Sugo's actions, the Fairy Dance Arc may have been able to save the season. However, an even weaker villain, ruining Asuna, and a refusal to develop established characters drag Fairy Dance down enough to be only be considered a _slight_ improvement over Aincrad.


# ~~~ Introduction~~~
Sword art online is an anime that has been portrayed negatively by many people in the anime community, but after reviewing this anime i think that most opinions are relatively harsh and in this review, I'm planning on hopefully changing your view. SAO was many people's first anime that they watched which generally people enjoyed on their first watching but many seem to have joined in on the bandwagon of hating on this anime. The review is structured like this:
- Plot
- Characters
- Art
- Music
- Comparison

# ~~~ Plot~~~
The plot for SAO begins in a very simple and layout universe with the theme of going inside a game, surprisingly this type of plot hasn't been explored much before and it allowed SAO to capture a great audience of gamers who likely at some point thought how it would feel like to be in the game. This story is explored very well through the Aincrad arc which was amazing and underrated in my opinion, the layer system of the tower and climbing each floor is a great and simple concept which felt very realistic to an MMORPG allowing lots of things like bosses and things such with a simple levelling system. The idea's surrounding the safe zones and PvP zones are also a great positive bringing the story more depth and making it seem like this would be possible in the future. On the other hand, the bosses in SAO were negative of the Aincrad arc and seemed very forced and overall more of an annoyance than a story point but it allowed for lots of character development through fights, although it was cool seeing Kirito's abilities like the Starburst stream I think that a lot of these abilities weren't thought through and him obtaining them was kind of a Deus ex machina which isn't too great. Continuing to the second part the Alfheim arc this is when shit gets fucked... In this arc, many people see this as the reason why SAO was bought down and I agree with that because it had many stupid ideas and it was obviously not thought of as much as the original SAO and I think this arc was really bad but many people don't realise how good the first arc of SAO was and often only speak out about the Alfheim arc which was horrible but here I want you to realise that overall I think the creativity and genius of the Aincrad arc were overshadowed by this trash arc and the reason why I think that SAO gets all the hate it does is because of many aspects of the Alfheim arc, not the Aincrad arc.

# ~~~ Characters~~~
Our main hero Kirito is overall an 8.5/10. This is for the following reasons:
He gets great character development as he creates strong bonds with other characters like Asuna and Yui. This makes him feel less 2 dimensional as he feels more like a person than a lot of other Isekai Protagonists. This is a very good thing as it made me feel more invested in the story and made each episode seem as if he actually had a purpose to his actions. Also, he is overpowered and it is executed incredibly well at first. In episode 4 when Kirito is attacked by four guys and he just stands there as they don’t damage him whatsoever was jaw-dropping but as the story progressed it seemed as though he just powered up whenever the story required him to. This is shown when he suddenly realises that he can dual-wield swords for no reason other than the fact that he is good at the game, which never made sense. Asuna was a good love interest for Kirito but it seemed as though she followed the same tropes as all other love interests in anime. By that, I mean that she originally didn’t like Kirito and was mean to him but over time she warmed up to him and eventually confessed that she loved him. This seems shallow as its been done a hundred times before and really added no element of surprise to the story as I predicted it as soon as he met her in episode 2. Overall, she was a good character but was slightly too generic.
I think that the side characters in SAO were negative so I don't think they each deserve a full section but this will be a brief section about them:
Yui is an okay character but in reality, she was just bought in as a plot device so I never saw any potential in her character but at least it was better than nothing and it allowed Kirito to develop his relationship with Asuna. Klein was pretty okay because he kind of got forgotten after a couple of episodes and when he would make his appearance I would generally think, "Oh its this dude again..." which isn't a good thing. All the other side characters aren't worth mentioning because they played a very minor part and didn't contribute to the main story too much, except the black dude he was good.

# ~~~ Art~~~
The art by A-1 Pictures was great and allowed many people to have their first anime experience as a very basic and true to anime art style with the classic big eyes and flamboyant hair, overall I think the art doesn't have any problems with it and even though it's not exceptional it's perfect for this kind of series especially when it was adapted from a light novel.
# ~~~ Music~~~
In SAO I think the big positive of this anime is the music which in many places like the intro stands out from much other anime, the first opening Crossing Field by Lisa is recognized everywhere like many other Lisa ops but this one stands out because it really fits the theme of SAO. I'd say that many people who hate the anime probably won't mind the op. The audio overall not just in the music was also great with popular voice actors that starred in shows like No Game No Life and Anohana which is great.
# ~~~ Comparrison~~~
SAO is an Isekai anime which began the now popular trend with much new seasonal anime being Isekai's which SAO contributed greatly towards (This is clear because of how popular the anime was) and many anime like Log Horizon and The Rising of the Shield Hero were bought into the spotlight because of SAO and it shares many aspects like a strong protagonist which people really like and a weaker cast which can be seen as a negative of many of these shows with generally an overabundance of silly and unneeded characters.
~~~https://anilist.co/anime/17265/Log-Horizon/ https://anilist.co/anime/99263/The-Rising-of-the-Shield-Hero/~~~
#  Overall
In conclusion I think that there are many negative aspects of this anime like the second arc but overall the anime does deserve its fair share of praise and should be seen as more of a good anime rather than a piece of shit that many people rate very low, personally I think that just the sheer amount of people that have watched it is already a good enough reason to understand that this anime is by no means bad. I will be giving it the rating of an 8/10 or 80% because It started one of my favourite genres in the Isekai genre and overall got lots of my friends into anime which I appreciate and chances are that everyone reading this review would have watched SAO so ye there you go. If you want to debate any of my views please leave criticism it helps a lot with my next review, Arigato Guzaimasu!

Sword art online isn't that bad in reality

Another negative SAO review to add to the pile while you watch SAO Abridged

# ~~~NOTE!!~~~
This reviews the entire series, not just Season 1. I will be talking about each season and there arcs prospectively, so take the time to relax and enjoy this review. 

# ~~~---My History With Sword Art Online---~~~
Oh boy... where do I begin? SAO was the 2nd anime that I watched right after No Game No Life. Meaning I also watched this back at 2016. I originally was preparing for the Ordinal Scale movie, but then I just moved on like it was nothing. Then we fast forward in 2020, where I actually got the chance to watch the movie, and also discover Alicization.

Being as the 3rd popular anime on MAL, you might wonder why that is. Well, to be completely honest, it is actually easy to get into if you are a newcomer of anime. And to be honest, it really was. I discovered SAO due to a friend recommending me to watch it, so I took his request and decided to watch it. Taking it back from my perspective on it in 2016, I actually enjoyed it.

 ~~however, there were some parts of SAO that made me regret watching it back in 2016. again, my 12 year old self was stupid at the time.~~

But now that opinion has changed, and I now have mixed feelings on SAO. Some parts of me still find it good to this day, while some other parts of me felt like it was rushed.

#~~~Here is the one thing that SAO fails to succeed at:~~~

#_~~~__Plot__~~~_

Plot is the most important factor of the anime in order for it to progress further. However, that was not the case for SAO. To me, the plot was exceedingly rushed and I felt like the producers went in and just simply made it and moved on. That's what it was like for me. 

However, I never found the plot to be bad in some way. Another part of me felt like they couldn't just adapt the whole thing for some reason, hence why they only chose that part of the scene and moved on to the next. I could compare it to the Index/Railgun series. The plot felt rushed, but it wasn't bad. That was the same feeling that I had with SAO. Kinda weird if you asked me.

#~~~What does SAO do best?~~~

Well, if this was an honest opinion, this is what I think it does do at best:

#~~~__Animation Quality__~~~

God damn. SAO has some great animation quality tho. The effects of the battles was really what carried SAO. A-1 Pictures really did put some care into each scene, and as the series gets a new season, the animation quality would increase. I wouldn't mind ditching the plot just to see how good SAO's animation quality is.

~!Now, if we wanna talk about how good it became as of today, look at SAO: A - WOU Part II, episode 2. The battle between Vector and Bercouli, for the most part, did exponentially do so badass, so much that it became one of SAO's best battles of the century.

Another one could be Kirito vs The Gleam Eyes from Season 1 - Episode 9. How Kirito pulled of the starburst stream most especially. You were in for a treat once he pulled those two blades out of him and started saying the name of it himself. It gives me the chills, even to this day.

One Last example would be Kirito vs Vector in SAO: A - WOU Part II, episode 8. In which, that gave me the chills the most, even more than what Him vs Gleam Eyes did. It was really a survival for the test of Kirito, and it was jam packed with pure epicness. I couldn't really put this into words, but you'll get what I mean if you take a look at it.  !~

# ~~~__Characters__~~~
Characters for the most part get minimal character development. Most especially Kirito. His character development was very minimal in Season 1, but it grew as the series moved on, most especially Alicization. I don't get why people just consider Kirito to be an edgy god, but (And this is just what I think) wouldn't you relate to him? He grinds to get levels and become as strong as possible. Think of it like Pokemon, where you need to save up levels in order to battle the gym leaders. Yeah, can you relate now? 

Also, kinda unfair indeed that they gave the side characters no care at all, but it eventually grew better in the movie and Season 3. Side characters indeed got the treatment over there.

#~~~__OST__~~~
Another thing that carried SAO was the OST. God damn it, Yuki Kajiura really did set up the mood for the anime with the OST. And that's just background music were talking about, the OP's and ED's as well are absolutely phenomenal. From Crossing Fields, Ignite, Adamas, Resister, Anima. Each and every one of these singers did a great job with the OP's.

---
And that is pretty much all of what SAO did best. Now, in retrospect, it seems as if I'm giving SAO praise for all of the things I mention. Well, you are correct, but I do have some different opinions on each arc of SAO. So I'm a say them here:

# ~~~__Aincrad Arc: 4/5__~~~

The Aincrad arc, for the most part, did a great job setting up the mood for SAO. This was to prepare you on what SAO was all about, "The main protagonist getting transported into a video game, but then soon figures out that he and other people can't escape the virtual world and would die if there HP got drained to 0, so he must clear the game in order to set everyone free." Quite generic to set the tone for SAO, but it works for the most part. What kills it on becoming a 5/5 is the fact that soon after Episode 3, it would dial down a bit, and.. I prefer the events of SAO to give at least some interest. The only episodes I found interesting was Episode 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, and 14. Episodes 4, 7, 11, and 12 sorta fell flat on me, by becoming a bit "eh" at my part, for the gest of it, it gets a 4.

# ~~~__Fairy Dance Arc: 2/5__~~~

After the events of the Aincrad Arc, 300 other players are seemingly still stuck in another virtual game "Alfheim Online", hence, Kirito goes on ahead and tries to find out. Now this is the part where I actually talk about Asuna. You see, Asuna was a good enough character in the Aincrad Arc, for the most part, she was able to be strong in order for her to survive, But then she turned into a damsel in distress, became trapped in a cage and was forced to become Sugou's fiance. I feel bad for Asuna, she became one of the best characters in the Aincrad Arc, only to be brought down one arc later. Characters for the most part ultimately also became a dunce. Man, if they actually took the time and consideration to rework on that arc back then, it would've been better.

# __~~~Bonus +1~~~ __
SAO Season 1 gets one bonus point for the last episode of both arcs, which is pretty heartwarming if you ask me. I would wish to go into detail, but I'm not gonna spoil it. I know there are some of you that are reading this review that hasn't watched it yet, so do a solid and watch both the last episodes of both arcs. (This would mean that you would have to suffer at the Fairy Dance Arc...)

#__~~~Final Score for SAO Season 1: 7/10~~~__
SAO 1 did great for the first half, but then flopped hard on the 2nd half. The last episodes of both arcs luckily made up for it. 

---

# __~~~Phantom Bullet Arc: 2/5~~~__
I'm sorry, but I got bored with this one. What was the motive? Where was the character progression? WHERE WAS THE FUCKING PROGRESS??!! Looking back at SAO II, I would honestly cringe at everything that had went down with the Phantom Bullet Arc. It is, for the most part, ultimately boring. "A gun that can shoot you from the virtual world to the real world" my ass. Yeah, you can tell I was bored on this one. I really did not like this arc at all. I will, however, give a plus point to Sinon, who luckily got character development as the series progress. You see, she tends to have a fear when holding a gun, however, in GGO, she wouldn't feel that at all. (I mean, after all, you would feel different when playing a video game more than irl). It also gets another plus point for the animation quality, which, luckily, still retains to the exact same style of SAO I. Other than that, everything just sucks.

#__~~~Mother's Rosario Arc: 3.5/5~~~__
THANK GOD THIS ARC EXISTED! Remember how in the 2nd arc, I said that Asuna was brought down from the 1st arc. Luckily, she progresses in this arc! Mostly, the 1st half of the 4th arc is just filler, which is a bit boring, but the 2nd half of it made up for it for introducing Yuuki Konno, who was a girl who would only have a limited time left in the real world, only to die soon after due to her having AIDS. Asuna stands up for herself and decides to mature. For the most part, her mother wouldn't let her date someone like Kirito, rather, she would want a man that is rich and worthy enough for her to protect her, and even transfer schools, but a few episodes later, she stood up for herself and denied it, then would later eventually show her mother something that could remind her of their grandmother. I'll let you peep that one, again, best if I don't spoil it. Although great, it would've been a 4 if there was not any filter to the 1st half. Would've done better.

#__~~~Final Score for SAO Season 2: 5.5/10~~~__
The 3rd arc just simply sucked, and SAO II was saved with the 4th arc. This is my lowest rating on my AL so far. (Alongside another anime, in which I rather not talk about)

---

#__~~~Ordinal Scale Arc: 8.5/10~~~__
Ordinal Scale was a step up from both SAO 1 and 2. Now, this wasn't intended to be part of the main lineup, but I assume that the producers wanted to take a step up and decided to make something that would exceed the both of them.  For the most part, it did great. The Augma, which allowed the possibilities of virtual reality to become... well, reality, was just an ultimate bluff to prepare a project, which was project Yuuna. The game "Ordinal Scale" is a game where you can earn bonus items and climb your ranks up to Number 1 to prove who is the best, however, if there was one that was an SAO Survivor and the HP drops to 0, the said SAO Survivor would unfortunately lose there memories of SAO, and only remember what happened in the current events. This unfortunately happened to Asuna, who got her HP drained down to save Silica. (Same with Klien, but he was just beaten up by Eiji, poor guy.). I would talk more, but let me just get to the point. SAO - Ordinal Scale did a great job with stepping up from it's predecessors.  However, I wouldn't call it perfect.

---
(Note, I haven't watched SAO Alt: GGO Yet. Might watch it soon, but idk)

---

#__~~~Project Alicization: 9/10~~~__

Oh, my, god. This arc was something else. Alicization Beginning, Rising, Uniting, Invading, Exploding, Awakening, and Lasting are all great stories to be brought from the table, and the anime adaptation was done exponentially well. Yeah, yeah, it still focuses on Kirito still, but this time, it's not just Kirito, it is also with Eugeo and Alice. The three of them were childhood friends (In a virtual worlds btw.) and they would often hang out with each other. However, their bonds would be tied, when one day, when the tree of them went to the ice caverns just to get ice for there meals to be lasting longer (Yes, that was the scenario), they got lost and found another route which led to the Dark Territory. The three had witnessed a battle between Integrity Knights. and when the knight in Dark Blue tried to reach out to them, Alice went in to reach that hand, however, she tripped and by the tip of her finger, she "entered" the Dark Territory. One of the Taboo Index's estated that one should not cross that territory, so yeah, Alice was doomed. A day later, she was taken away from the Integrity Knight for questioning and execution. Both Kirito and Eugeo tried to save them, but ultimately failed when Eugeo felt something in his left eye, which was the Code: 801 Error, a barrier that prevents one from making a wrong move. Thus the story started there. Alicization got my attention and it literally became #19 of my Extended VIP List. It would be a 10 or a 9.5, but there were scenes that indeed made it felt rushed. Everything else was on top of the chars. 

---

And that is it for this long review. Good god. I spent a lot of time thinking and collecting my thoughts on the entire lineup of SAO. SAO is nowhere in-between, it is either good to some, and bad to others. I don't need to talk about the voice acting, it did great, and this series is also the reason why Yoshitsugu Matsuoka is my favorite male Seiyuu. I appreciate this guy so much. 

In general, this series is a 73/100 for the most part overall. Like I said, it is nowhere in-between the lines of good or bad. To me, I liked the series, despite there being parts of SAO that made me cringe. But I'll always go back to it and enjoy it none-the-less. Let's not forget that this is the series that revolutionized the word "Isekai". SAO was the one that did the best job of representing Isekai in general, and it's name will indeed live up to be the most popular names of SAO.

If you have made it this far, I feel bad that you had to read the entirety of this review. I am sorry, but there was a lot to say about SAO. And I know another person would say the same thing about it, there is a lot to talk about. As a 2nd time of me making a review? Yeah, I legit went in and thought about it honestly.  I might make more reviews in the future. Maybe one on my VIPS... Idk, I wanna do it in random order with my most favorite anime to be the last one I review (Yeah, you should know by now.), so expect that in the future.

And of course, this is all MY opinion on the series, nothing else more.

And with that, I thank you (And apologize).

See ya!! =)

Oh boy... I have a lot to say about this one. Prepare yourself, for this is long.

This show is an abomination. It tries to come off as a serious show at times with a structured story but nothing at all matters. Ninety percent of the content in the first arc, Aincrad, seem like filler with no real reason to be included in the show. Not to mention the parts that do matter, make no sense at all. The author, even though making a show about video games, fails to make a game that would even seem like any fun to ever play. The game is filled with terrible mechanics and design. With the game being the main setting of the show, it should be well constructed but there are mechanics such as randomly attainable skills that only one player can have at a time, which of course the protagonist gets a really broken one. Asuna was a decent character at the beginning of the show only to be written off as a damsel in distress in the second half of the season. She was built up to be the one person as strong as Kirito but she, for some reason, maxes her cooking stat and also has absolutely 0 altercation with Kirito at all. Kirito has moments when he seemingly is supposed to learn something or some lesson but then it never actually matters. The author uses lazy attempts to create plot points or create shocking moments with rape, which is really low-level, and cheap writing which occurs in almost every single part of the show. The logistics of the second half also make no sense. Realistically, after the royal disaster that was Sword Art Online, no company would touch that medium with a thousand foot pole for many years, let alone the public ever wanting to play any game. The plot point with Kirito and Suguha was very poorly done. Incest is almost never a good idea to write about without it being a trashy show, but it is definitely possible to make it work. However it is a failure in this show, where it drags on too long and it doesn't really seemed that Suguha learned that it was wrong in the first place. 
Perhaps the absolute worst part of the show was the introduction of the character Yui. She actually serves zero purpose in the show other than to be a kid for Kirito and Asuna when they marry, and as a convenient plot point whenever they need some infiltration or game info for whatever reason. She can access anything she needs to at any time and acts as a vehicle for deus ex machina. She had an attempted sad passing where she turned into an item, then somehow gets transferred to other games which should have no connection to the Aincrad realm, and even into real life applications. She has to be among the smartest AI created but for some reason she is in a game that had a limited run of like 10,000 people.

The first half of the season is truly a masterpiece, it's hard to even decide where to begin. I guess an easy starting point would be the first episode, the greatest twist in all of anime. You couldn't begin to imagine my shock, as some strange red liquid began oozing out of the sky and a large man was floating there. What he said next changed my life forever. He told everyone inside the game, that they would in fact be stuck inside the game until they beat it. However, if they were to die in the game, they would also die in real life. It was at this moment that the show skyrocketed to the top of my list, easily becoming the greatest anime of all time. That's only scratching the surface however. There's also the worldbuilding, which is incredible. There are 100 floors to the game, each of them a distinct experience with it's own players, NPC's and much more. Now you might be thinking, "wow, this is incredible! No work of fiction has ever been so ambitious, daring and managed to pull it off so successfully.". And you would be right. However, it doesn't stop there. I haven't even begun to talk about the incredible characters this show offers, with Kirigaya "Kirito" Kazuto, being on of the greatest protagonists in all of fiction, let alone anime. There is so much depth to his character, it would be impossible to explain it all in a single review. He is what's known as a "Beater", which is a term in the game for someone who was in the beta test of the game, and as such has an advantage over the normal people. This is a perfect representation of how gamers in society are treated, as through our own hard work have an advantage over other people, but the jealousy of others leads them to oppress us and put us down at every chance they get. This is something Kirito has to struggle with the entire series, which leads to him becoming a solo player, challenging the hardest content in the game completely alone. Because of his playstyle, his skills are so far ahead of everyone else, that he develops an entire skill to himself, the ability to use two weapons at once. While being extremely cool, this also further separates him from the other mere humans of the game, further representing how gamers work harder than everyone else to overcome the oppression they face, and then are discriminated against even more as we develop our own methods of being successful. Yuuki "Asuna" Asuna is another excellent character. She is everything a female character needs to be, she has maxed out her cooking skill and is very attractive. She is the ideal candidate for someone for Kirito to save, filling her role perfectly. After so many great episodes, we finally reach the conclusion of the first part. Kirito, being a gamer, has used his genius intuition to sniff out the final boss of the game, before floor 100. The reveal that it was not a boss at all, but was in fact a player in the game, working with other players to clear the game was truly shocking. When Kirito finally calls him out for being an impostor, they have an epic final showdown on floor 75, 25 floors before the game was supposed to end. When he finally overcomes his strongest opponent yet, he finds himself face-to-face with the man who created the game, who was naturally playing as the final boss. Kirito asks him the question on everyone's mind, "Why?". Why would he go through all this trouble, creating the first game of it's kind, just for it to be a death trap. Why force Kirito to struggle through everything, trying his hardest to save everyone despite the oppression he faced. However Kayabo Akihiko, the creator of the game simply replied that it was so long ago that he forgot why he even did it in the first place. This is another representation of how gamers are oppressed in society, yet there is no real reason other than simply the outdated thinking of society in general. There are many other great things about it that I can't go over in this short review, but that is where the first half ends.

This is where the good ends. The second half the season is utter garbage. Everything that made the first half is simply reduced to ash, as if it never existed in the first place. It would being too much pain for me to go into detail about this part, so I will leave it here.

My expectations were not particularly high beforehand, but some moments made me shake my head. I will also spoil some things.

At first, the first 8-10 episodes were not a problem. While some things (cough CGI dragon cough) looked awful, overall the visuals were extremely satisfying and the music was fine too.
I also liked the premise, though overall the anime doesn't really have much to do with MMORPGs. There are things like "death animations" and every now and then defeated enemies drop items, as is common in RPGs, but there wasn't much else.
There were a few times when interesting topics were addressed, such as some SAO players not being able to withstand the pressure and thus killing themselves, which I quite liked.
To be honest, I can't think of anything more positive to say about the anime.

It starts with the overdramatic portrayal when unimportant characters die.
In one of the very first episodes, as far as I can remember, a commander (name forgotten) died, and there was great mourning for him. But there's the problem that the viewer was never given a chance to get to know this character beforehand.
It's so ... What now? Was that where the producer of the show now imagined the audience empathising, or how was that meant to be?
Well, it continues with the fact that the main character Kirito turns out to be an extremely experienced player during a fight, although he was portrayed as very inexperienced a few minutes before. How can that be? 
I think you can see what I'm getting at: logic flaws.
The example I just gave (which happened very early on) is forgivable, but when the entire arc of tension is built on the characters being tied to their real lives through SAO and thus dying if they lose, but that arc of tension is simply removed during the final battle to let Kirito and Asuna win, it really hurts. 
Add to that things like the antagonist's non-existent motivation (he thinks he forgot about her → remains unrevealed for the whole time) or annoying harem elements.
Another big problem would be that the protagonist has practically no real character.
Due to the many timeskips, he is constantly rewritten from episode to episode, so in one episode he is the "nerd" who hardly has any social contacts and seems to hardly ever go out or do anything else, while in the next episodes he is the man par excellence that all the women go for. 
Apart from that, the romance that builds up between him and Asuna is not exactly successful.
It practically comes out of nowhere (Kirito = Mary Sue and everyone just thinks he's cool) and is extremely predictable and overplayed.

Probably the biggest problem of the anime, however, is the Alfheim arc, which takes up the last 10 episodes of the anime. 
Not that Asuna presented herself great in the first arc, but after that it is quite a bit worse: she is practically degraded to a sex object, hotly desired by the antagonist. It is incomprehensible to me how a protagonist can be so violated.
Apart from how much fanservice has increased in general, especially compared to SAO, the antagonist is basically just out to rape Asuna, and there are even two scenes where she is (almost) raped.
Other than that, there's nothing much worth mentioning. The plot of the arc is to free Asuna from her prison and defeat the villain.
Then we have "incest interludes", in that there is something going on between Kirito and his sister. What was that in it for? I don't get it.
The sexual interludes didn't mesh at all with the otherwise adventurous idea of the series, which sort of destroys its mood building.

Conclusion:
With this low rating I'm giving a very harsh verdict, but it's not even close to a better one, on the contrary:
You can be glad that I don't give the series a catastrophic rating because of its few good aspects, because there wasn't much missing and it would have deserved one.

__-This review will contain spoilers.__
-My experience with MMORPGS is none, besides one I stumbled upon years ago, where I was a big tit anime girl, beating the living crap out of other big tit anime girls so there is that, I guess.
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For years and years, no matter where on the internet, I've heard about how _Sword Art Online_ is one of the worst, if not __THE__ worst anime of all time. It wasn't just one person, thousands of people online constantly talked about how it was an abomination, the end of good anime, a disgrace, and because of all that discourse, I spent years avoiding the show like the plague. I am all for not letting other fans or people ruin your experience with an anime, but I was younger and dumber as fuck back then.  About a month or so ago, I was bored and decided to finally watch it in order to hopefully remove it from my plan to watch list. As soon as I was about to begin episode one, I shit you not, my computer began lagging so damn bad that I had to restart it. I thought, "well shit, I sure hope that isn't a bad omen."  After installing the seventh windows update that did jackshit, I watched the episode and well, even now after finishing the whole anime I don't understand at all why this is supposedly the worst thing of all time. No, I am not surprised people hate this, because everyone has different likes and dislikes, but with the amount of hatred and videos this series got, I expected something way worse, but it never really happened.

_Sword Art Online_ can get pretty boring sometimes because the characters just fucking love to sit and chat, but it really is not that bad. There are also a  ton of things that make no damn sense but it never managed to downright offend me [unlike a different show I recently watched ](https://anilist.co/anime/108725/The-Promised-Neverland-Season-2/). SAO has plenty of strengths to it, and while it does have a lot of things I personally hated, I would be lying if I said it was horrible. There are plenty of good and even downright amazing animation cuts here and there, particularly in the second half, the soundtrack is fantastic ( the tracks in episode 9-10, 12-13, 22-23 were nothing but gorgeous), and all the girls are pretty cute, which is unexpected since everyone has pretty much the same fucking face. Probably one of the worst things about SAO, for me, is the pacing. The whole first arc felt like it was speeding to get somewhere and had a bunch of stories that would eventually lead to the group of friends Kirito makes by the end of the show's run. The problem is that everything went by too fast, and this made me just not connect with the characters or care about them as much as I could have (The one exception to this would be Lis. She was introduced and then said goodbye to in a single episode, yet I was able to care about her because I think the execution of her story and then her rejection after having fallen in love were done pretty well.) Because the show goes thru these short arcs fast, there is never enough time to care about a character before he or she gets killed off. Episode 2 introduced a man named Diabel, only to then kill him off in the end, and for it to get seen as a sacrifice he made. This felt very weird and I still don't know why his death was even necessary. Kirito formed a party in episode 3 with other players, yet in that same episode they all died in a dungeon, and then the leader of the group committed suicide right before Kirito's eyes. While these deaths clearly have an impact on Kirito's state of mind, it is very hard for me, the spectator, to care since I only knew any of the deceased for 15 minutes or so. This happens again later in episode 12 when Yui "dies" and we had met her for barely an episode, so it all felt very hollow (even her reunion with him in Alfheim made me feel nothing. Yui and Kirito reuniting with Asuna in the final stages of the Alfheim arc was done very nicely though).

The characters of SAO are a mixed bag for me because I don't hate them, but I don't love them either. Their tropes are clear to see and they work for the story they are in if anything. The character designs are simple, and the color combinations are easy on the eyes. None of these characters have many layers to their personalities, and this is mostly because the show doesn't really go all the way in things it could expand on, such as Kirito's PTSD, his initial antisocial tendencies, and Kayaba's backstory to mention a few. Overpowered characters, gary stus, whatever you want to call them, aren't my most hated trope. Kirito is every single trait that I would think a self-insert MC has, but I don't really hate him. He is a teenager that suddenly got stuck in a virtual world where if you die, your life in the real world is gone too, that had a shit ton of people die before his eyes, and who had pretty much nobody but himself, since he was a loner. Most of the time, the way he acted made sense, and he wasn't really annoying, even if I did want to fucking slap him every time a girl flirted with him and he didn't tell them he already had Asuna. Most of my issues with Kirito as a character, and with the whole show actually, is that some of the actions he takes or interactions he has are just dumb as hell. In episode 3, he went through hell and back to gain an item that apparently revived players. Then after he read the rules of said item, and realized there was a time limit, he got depressed and decided to give it to Klein, since it was useless to him now. Sachi passed away in June, and Kirito tried to revive her in December. Did he not think her body would decompose in that time? shit, what do I know? That last scenario repeats again in episode 7 when Kirito is shocked after Asuna tells him there is a time limit to them being in SAO. Did Kirito never take Biology in school? it is almost like bodies won't hold up as well if they are living on gastric tubes. Besides taking a few "wtf" decisions, Kirito is pretty much just okay but there are some bits where I am left thinking, "Why did they think this was a good idea?". I get that Kirito is an overpowered badass, but how the hell am I supposed to believe that he can hold his own in a kendo match against Suguha when most of his "experience" comes from having played SAO? not an MMORPG, but none of the GTA games ever fucking taught me how to drive. Moving on to Asuna, she is ok. She was a "no BS taken" woman at the start, then softened like any other tsundere, and became a bit of a damsel in distress, but overall I didn't hate her, I just was confused about who she was supposed to be until I decided to stop caring. I still think she should have been the one to kill that Dragneel dude and not Kirito since he had offended __HER__ first. As for the other characters, they aren't really impressive but let's talk about Suguha since she was Kirito's companion for the second arc. I like her character design in Alfheim online, and I do find her real self cute as well, however even when ignoring the incest subplot, I cannot forgive her for giving me intense second-hand embarrassment when she confessed to Kirito. He looked uncomfortable and rightfully so. She was probably the first female character in the series to not ask for Kirito's help, but rather assist him, so she is not completely terrible, but if you changed her incest plot to maybe growing closer to her brother or cousin in order to help him heal from his trauma, it could have made a better subplot.

The villains in this show are average and while they do serve their purpose, which is to antagonize the main character, that's about it. Kayaba's reason for wanting to do this mass killing wasn't explained cuz he himself didn't remember, and the show never really said why he was so obsessed with the castle or at least show us what his life was like. Sugou was even worse, and I'm not just talking about him being a potential rapist but he was even more lackluster than Kayaba. I did laugh when his admin power was removed and Kirito beat the shit out of him. Way deserved in more ways than one, although I wish Asuna had been able to at least punch him once.

Many things in SAO make no sense, such as kids being in the game (did the game have a rating for all audiences? wtf?), Asuna waking up from her comatose state looking healthy as fuck even though Kirito woke up looking emaciated, Yui being able to be transferred to every game, no staff in sight at the hospital when Kirito and Asuna woke up from their coma or when Kirito got ambushed at the parking lot, you name it. All of this and more, yet the only thing I am still dumbfounded by is the fact that I don't remember there being an item drop in episode 12. Yui saved Kirito and Asuna from a boss, yet no item appeared and I don't know if it is because Yui was an immortal object, but then if she was, and was in possession of Kirito and Asuna at that time, wouldn't it be like they casted a spell or used her? wouldn't they get an item then? thinking too hard about the game mechanics just gives one a headache and it is best to try to avoid doing so.

__TLDR;__ Sword Art Online is not the worst anime I've ever watched, but it definitely had the potential to be better. The show looks decent and the art style is simple but cute, and it has some nice backgrounds. Most of the issues for me were the terrible pacing for the first arc and the fact that the characters sit down and talk in almost every episode. If they talked outside and took advantage of all the other locations in-game, maybe it wouldn't have been dreadful to get thru most of the exposition scenes.  Not the worst thing ever in my book and overall an average anime.

Hardly the worst anime ever, and I'm left wondering, "Why did I even avoid it for so long?"

Ever wake up on a boring day, feeling angst for no apparent reason? Fret not that's the curse of everyone who shames this modern day masterpiece. Sword Art Online is a story about 14-15 year old boy, named Kazuto Kirigaya simply nicknamed Kirito, who happens to be one of the lucky few to test out a newly made, much anticipated game known as Sword Art Online. Whats the appeal of SAO you might ask? Apart from being one of the most amazing games ever it was also a full dive VRMMORPG.

_There will be minor spoilers so do continue with caution_ 

__Characters(9.5/10)__
Undoubtedly one of the major attractions of SAO comes from its broad range of amazing Characters, Kirito being an edgy protagonist , is a complaint many people point out, but be honest are we really here for the main character? Course not. On July 2012 we were blessed with a person whom I can only describe as a waifu far superior to ___insert your waifu name here___, yes she is none other than Asuna Yuuki herself. People call her shallow and boring, those are the same people who jerk off to 177013, we call them 'sick bastards who have no taste' or 'haters' for short. When I look at Asuna, i see a fantastic cook, a beautiful blonde, a thicc lady and most importantly a caring and sweet wife. Also people don't like Suguha because she likes her brother? Aren't you sick fucks the ones who read incest doujin all night? Plus her boobs are really big so i suggest you focus on such important things rather than her 'personality'. I find a spark in every character but i still cannot give it a 10 because of the existence of Yui, I genuinely have no idea why Reki Kawahara though we would enjoy some useless A.I. interrupting our Kirisuna fanservice, like what are you thinking man.

__Story(10/10)__
The main concept was fabulous and I genuinely think it maintained that all the way from Aincrad to ALfheim, I know its not one of the most well written or dramatic stories out there, neither does it have fantastic plot twists, but lets be real does a show really need to be those things to be good? No it does not. It does not send us to figure stuff out for our self but it still manages to keep us hook through ever episode. Its for the light watchers who prefer not to be critical about every little plot hole, and rather enjoy the show for its appeals.

__Animation(10/10)__
SAO had really fluid animations, A-1 Pictures put a lot of love into making this show. The fight scenes were stunning, the character movements where fluid and everything just felt right.

__Artstyle(10/10)__  
I adore the character designs in SAO, Asuna is beautiful, she is a literal goddess in human skin. Kirito is alright but no titties till season two so hes just average. Suguha well lets just say if you marry her, you won't need to buy milk ever again. The design of the landscape in Aincrad as well as ALfheim was also exquisite, we really got to see the divine art during the Kirisuna honeymoon if you'd like a reference.

__Soundtrack(10/10)__
The openings were made my LiSA herself, and they are splendid and much deserving to be an opening to such an elite anime. The OSTs are so gripping, tearful and nostalgic that i can't help but brand it as one of the best existing OSTs in anime history. The endings are beautiful, its as if Aphrodite herself made a baby with a song sung by Hermes.  

__  Enjoyment(10/10)__
SAO was the first anime I ever watched, and I do not regret re-watching it several times. It's not simple nostalgia that I gain from it, but I think I really fell in love with this one of a kind anime.

__Overall(59.5/60)__
I enjoy everything about this anime and I am really excited to see SAO: Progressive bring back my favourite arc(Aincrad) in the eyes of the queen herself, I have no complaints SAO is the best anime ever.

Sword Art Online is a masterpiece, fuck everyone who thinks otherwise.

Before I got into this anime, I only really listened to the openings and thought it might be worth a watch. Even though it had mixed reviews, I thought to myself "It's an anime about video games. I think it might be for me." I was so wrong. I'll rant on the positives and negatives of SAO s1. (Major Spoilers)

Synopsis: The Nervegear, similar to a VR system, just released alongside with Sword Art Online, a VRMMORPG. 10,000 copies are sold on release day and one of those copies was bought by our main protagonist, Kirigaya Kazuto aka Kirito. While experiencing the game with a new friend he encounters in the game named Klein, he realizes the game doesn't have a logout feature. After realizing this, every player in the game gets transported to the start spawn and gets told by the main villain, Kayaba Akihiko, that not having a logout button is intended. He later explains that if you die in the game, then you die in real life and if you try to take the nervegear off, your brain will get fried. What will Kirito try to do in this death game?

Aincrad Arc: So from that synopsis alone, this show sounds interesting and yes, the first couple of episodes in itself were very nice. However, the show starts to go downhill when it starts jumping around a bit to different events in Kirito's gameplay which could've been decent if it was structured better. Then, we get to the each of the girl's episodes/arcs. We have Silica, Lisbeth, Asuna, and Yui. All of these characters could've been stand-alone good characters however, they met Kirito and now their personality is basically I'm in love with Kirito which ruined a ton of the show for me. Also, Yui's entire existence pisses me off. She's an AI that Asuna and Kirito just randomly finds in a forest and she is apparently a part of the system and now the child of the two. Let's just throw in an AI that is annoying. She was worse in season 2 but season 1, she was still unbearable. I haven't even mentioned the worst character so far and that's Kirito. I don't want to rant about Kirito for too long so I'll just tell you this. He's an annoying edgy asshole who has a shit ton of plot armor. Make anyone else the mc and this show would be so much better. After ranting the characters of this arc, let me go back to the horribly paced story that doesn't know what to do with itself. Most of this arc is filler and not even the good filler. The episodes that actually advance the plot are very disappointing and felt very rushed. It becomes so obvious by the time you meet the main villain Kayaba Akihiko. His personality could've been so good but they wasted it due to lack of screen time and his "I forgot," reason felt so rushed. It just wasn't satisfying that they cleared the game and I thought that it got better but I was wrong. Ok, I ranted a ton so I'll go with some positives now. Klein and Egil were very good characters and the sound/animation quality is superb but even that can't save the weird mess that was this arc. Even if I make it seem like the arc is very bad on paper, I found it to be a pretty average arc. I enjoyed the fight scenes and even character introductions like Lisbeth and Asuna were nice to see. It could've been more but it wasn't. The next arc however is the definition of worst of the worst.

Alfheim Arc: This arc sucks. Take everything bad from Aincrad except make Asuna irrelevant in this arc, make Yui 10 times more annoying, throw in incest, and an even more uneventful story and you get Alfheim. Suguha as a character sucks. The plot was so boring that I nearly passed out from boredom at least thrice. The animation and sound budget were still very good but that couldn't save it from a lack of interesting characters. Plus, a boring story along with a very boring antagonist and you get one of the worst arcs in anime history imo. Idk how you can get worse than this. Barely anything redeemable in this arc plus the ending for this show is the definition of plot armor bullshit. It was not worth it.

Conclusion: Started out promising but ended up like a shit mess. Don't believe people telling you this show is good. It is anything but good.

An uninspired, boring mess with loads of wasted potential

The first chapter of Sword Art Online has been on my watch list for a lot of time.

I thought that I have already seen this show, but I had it all wrong.

A friend recently told me that I had to watch it because it was amazing, and he was right.

My first feelings of the show were of awe,  I liked the graphics and the battle scenes but it did not go as far as to make me like it.

Until I realised that this story had multiple layers. 

I found that it felt like drinking and enjoying a cup of good tea. A drink that is usually accompanied by two concerns the warm taste, and the fear of getting burned.

The warm taste was how the themes were developed, the counter effects of gaming: human experimentation, game addiction, and lack of barriers.

Other themes consisted of relationships, and human socialisation, and accepting who you are, and your background, kindness, and forgiveness.

Some themes were consisting of harassment, violation of some human rights, and also testing our tolerance for certain topics. 

SAO first chapter was much of a journey, consisting of two world arcs, and with one powerful connection which was the relationship between Kazuto, and Asuna.

I loved the scene where Asuna and Kirito share their own feelings for each other, and how well the sentence, love destroys every barrier, is portrayed in the relation between the couple.

My favourite character was Suguha, Kazuto's sister because she was the character that amplified the view of the all story, giving more depth to the main character's personality.

Suguha portrays also one of my favourite human traits in all the second arch which is forgiveness. 
She is really handy when Kirito needs her, and she is well designed not only in the game but also in real life.

The quality of her background, and the melancholy she transfers to the story, is a symbol of hope in all the second arch.

Why a symbol of hope you may ask because she helps Kirito to find happiness, and support even in the darkest moments,  and manages to uplift her brother's humour.

In the end, SAO has much more slice of life, than sci-fi or fantasy, as some themes relate perfectly to our own lives.

It is difficult to say something, and give honour to a good show.  

My own feeling is that many of the gamers out there would benefit by watching this first season especially after reflecting on the effects of gaming.
 
To give you a starting point one of the effects of gaming, or the causes of addiction to gaming are to avoid or run from real-life problems and find a world that looks without barriers only in appearance as we come to realise in the later developments of the arches.

Thank you for reading my review I hope you have enjoyed it.

A show that you learn to love not for the graphics but for its striking themes,

Summary:

Sword Art Online has a solid premise that theoretically might work as a setting to a apocalyptic world, but feels under utilised in only under 12-13 episodes (lucky we have "SAO: Progressive" for that). Nevertheless, the first half is decent, and the conclusion is bitter in a beautiful way. This series will be 7/10 if not due to second half's disgusting plot. At least we can witness a satisfactory villain whooping.

What I like: first half conclusion and decent animation
What I dislike: basically the entire second half

Details: POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING
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First arc:
- The initial setting at Aincrad has several untapped potentials. For starters, the stake has been introduced, so it is up to the series to expand how the characters can grow or experience in the setting.
- Since this arc focuses on Kirito, we can see how Kirito cope with the past trauma, losing everyone he cared at the first few eposides. This is a good start in developing Kirito and giving him some backstories. Unfortunately, the other characters are fairly neglected and only serve as either plot device or romantic sideplots (Klein, Liz, etc).
- Speaking of romantic sideplots, the flow or romance is very fast and unnatural (Liz). While Kirito and Asuna's chemistry is decent, Asuna herself is relatively underdeveloped, and she is even more underdeveloped in the second arc.
- On the other hand, the level progression was too fast. I would prefer if the series can slowly go through Aincrad and develop the worldbuilding, if it means we can get to see more of other characters' perspective and struggles. You can argue that Kirito is a beta tester and is a competent gamer, so it is natural that the level progression is fast, but it also makes the story (and Kirito) less interesting.
- The animation is decent, but I felt that a lot of times Kirito is not really creative with his sword movement: on multiple occasions he just slashes with his dual swords ferociously, even to a guy who clearly has a big shield, which I found hilarious.
- Nevertheless, the Asuna-Kirito conclusion is bittersweet, the ending visuals are beautiful, and the final panel where Kirito walks with hospital support is beautiful

Second arc:
 - 2 phrases: incest and tentacle rape. This is enough to disgust me. Worse, the series could have been written without these elements. Actually why would they need incest plot? Kirito already "marries" Asuna anyway.
 - But on top of that, there are also several issue I have with the series:
 1. Kirito vs Leafa: the series has time for this, wasn't Asuna in danger, Kirito? Smh
 2. The nerdy guy who likes Leafa, can't remember what else he did
 3. Asuna is basically damsel in distress, no room for her to shine
 4. Even when Asuna is captured, the stake feels lower (maybe that's why Kirito still has time for Kirito vs Leafa)

- Best character: Maybe Kayaba (Heathcliff)
- Worst character: either Suguha (Leafa) or the boy who crushed on her

A decent plot and conclusion for the first half, all crumbled by the questionable directions in the second half

SAO started off with a selfish MC. He went through an entire anti-climatic journey, but did he change to be any less selfish? On the surface yes, but deep down no.

If that was what the show really tried to pull off, maybe it isn't all that bad since having an entirely hateful MC is refreshing once in a while. However, the show tried to make viewers like the MC in a pitiful way with so many poorly executed tropes they didn't work at all.

Why it didn't work was simple: a rotten selfish delusional MC + a decent capable female lead forced into damsel in distress + an OP but empty villain + boring support female cast always swooning over MC for no logical reason + a disgusting perverted villain = trash plot + characterization. 

<br/>

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##__Virtually no magic can save this formula from yielding trash even in a fantasy.__
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<br/>


What's more? This isn't even the case when it's so bad it's good... Everything was half-baked and filled with poor, overly cliched tropes that it's just distasteful. The only thing that kept me watching it till the end is my curiosity of its popularity. It left me a horrible aftertaste so much that I still have to rant about it at every chance I get.

Art was ok, probably the reason why it still retained 10 points out of 100 from me. However, the plot, characters were disastrous. Animation was decent, but how could I enjoy meaningless fights when I didn't feel anything for those involved? All the supporting cast were glossed over. Only MC's potential waifus had a little more stories to them. Of course, stories were all centered around MC, so I had no idea why they were what they were. 

Soundtracks were unimpressive and pretty common for the virtual game genre. Concepts and themes were not clear. At the end of the day, I still can't understand the anime's message. Was it superficially saying that virtual games are evil or would be used for evil goals? Or anyone and everyone in power would be corrupted or gullible? I just don't get what they tried to say since in real world, the greatest creators of virtual world so far have been inspirational leaders, They may not be all black and white good, but clearly they won't be as simple minded as those in this anime. 

Finally, the worst thing was obviously the ending(s?).
~!
The first arc ended abruptly, terribly anti-climatic. The 2nd ended unrealistically with the villain crawling on the floor outside the hospital while being beaten up by MC. Seriously, is that even actually possible in real world? No guards, cops, passerby in the outdoor parking lot of a big hospital?
!~

How this anime was so popular remained a mystery to me until this day. My life was forever wasted on watching and investigating this.

Virtually no magic can save trash even in a fantasy

Sword Art Online provides a beautifully inspired science-fiction world where virtual reality gaming has truly taken off to become a full-body and mind experience where you can realise the JRPG hero you always wanted to be without real-world penalties. Seeing the swords swinging around, terrifying monster battles and insane landscapes and architecture is beyond astounding.

I've officially watched Sword Art Online twice, having very fond memories of this series from when I was about fifteen. With a whole set of other sequels around now, I believed this show deserved another go. In the end, the flaws are glaringly obvious, but it will always have my heart. As I will cover, the parts of this narrative the plot skips in favour of cooler scenes devoids this show of anything I can really attribute to the grander story, but I see now that I have always loved it for its characters, and they are the one thing I can commend this show for.

Kirito and Asuna, and all the characters in between, have the chemistry amongst one another I fondly remember. Kirito's perspective is a labour of love, developed throughout the entire first cour. We understand how he feels a lot of the time, but his power within the world is one left up to an awful lot of mystery that no amount of Kirito's raging face animated in beautiful high definition can really explain. Kirito also beautifully interacts with a neglectfully undiverse set of characters who all aim to teach him a lesson or two and push him along to beat the game. I feel Asuma got the shortest straw of all, for someone with so much character longevity, and one that promised great things. Don't get me wrong, Asuna and Kirito's romance makes me shed tears to this day. I'm a sucker for an established romance between two characters who blend well (throwing Yui in there for good measure), and the ending scene in Asuna's hospital room wrecked m after all the interactions with her new suitor in the second cour creating empathy for both of them for that scene to really punch you in the gut when the time came around. Yet, Asuna still feels like a far greater shell than any main character deserves. I understand now that she is the underlying catalyst to really identify Kirito's sense of belonging in the game (even if in an underhanded way), and more so for Kirito to understand his importance to the world around him (unfortunately later replaced by the MacGuffin that is Kayaba Akihiko), but I can't help but notice her relevance to that plot device is dwarfed immensely by Kirito's sister, Suguha. Suguha put into perspective the true effect of Kirito's emotional involvement in Sword Art Online and had some serious emotive character development herself in a far shorter time than Asuna's two cours, and that teaches a really important lesson as a short-lived character. Other than ASuna being a romantic interest Kirito is motivated to save at all costs - sometimes, I feel, more than the ten thousand trapped players -- she's left to go quite stale by the time of Elfheim.

This nicely leads into my only real criticism of this show, and not without understanding of the producer's financial, time, goal, or otherwise restrictions during production. The amount of glossing this show does is the elephant in the room - it is something you felt was missing while you enjoyed the incredible animation, incredible fight scenes and all the adventures Kirito experiences. Easily distracted by those factors, but not at all without a very real presence. There are so many important things this show fails to acknowledge - Asuna's involvement in SAO - Kirito and Asuna's initial attraction - the almost episodal switch between Kirito's depressive state and finding joy in the game - the world's reaction to the ten-thousand players not responding for two years - SAO's political state only briefly touched on during the Elfheim cour - and so many more. All these things work towards bringing the viewer's emotional attachment to this show in line with the characters own, and this is where I was still left a little disappointed no matter how much I adore or fondly remember this show. I felt like I was watching just that - a show - lacking real immersion and true empathy for this world of people who're experiencing a really traumatic event in their lives, in and out of the game. 

Sword Art Online lives up to the nostalgia, but suffers from severe macguffin instead of actual narrative.

Sword Art Online lives up to the nostalgia, but suffers from severe macguffin instead of actual narrative.

(this review will have SOME spoilers. It has some spoilers, but I will clearly mark them so you don’t get unintentionally spoiled)
# __1st part: Context.__
The reason I’ve watched SAO (and, subsequently, the reason I’m writing this review) is purely because of its popularity. I didn’t feel particularly interested by its concept, although I admit it is (for the time, I assume) original. I had heard a lot of negative opinions about it, which shocked me, considering how popular it was, and still is. I went in honestly not expecting much, at least hoping I would be entertained by the action sequences I knew I’d get.
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#__2nd part: Short summary/Elevator pitch__
The story focuses on a young, shut-in boy referred to as Kirito, who gets stuck in a life-or-death videogame by its evil and mysterious creator. “If you die in the game, you die in real life”. That’s probably the first thing people know about SAO. The only way to escape, according to the creator, is to beat the game, that is, to reach the 100th floor of the world of Aincrad. The story starts at the beginning of the game, but it quickly moves forward, allowing the audience to see the previously chaotic world slowly become more and more structured as time goes on. 
As you can tell, the story is not just about the fighting between the players and the game, it’s just as much about emotion, and people's relationships with one another (this part will be important later, remember it!) and the world around them. Yes, this “epic adventure” has time for side-quests, if you will, about love and the morality (and the value!) of certain actions performed inside a videogame.
___
# __3rd part: So, was it worth watching?__
Well, kind of. At first, I was blown away by how much importance the author of the story gave to themes that, in the grand scheme of things, contribute nothing to the end-goal of our characters. I don’t mean that in a bad way, mind you. It’s just that, when you look at an SAO poster, you’re not exactly expecting a drama, you don’t expect to reflect on love and morality and acceptance. And that’s precisely the reason I was taken aback: the first few episodes have some action scenes, sure (and engaging ones too!), but my focus was entirely on Kirito’s characterization, and its growth as the series progressed.
 __Sword Art Online, at its core, really is a story about love, morality and acceptance.__
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# __4th part: Why SAO is NOT a story about love, morality and acceptance.__

Ok, I guess I played you a bit with that last part (_we do a lilttle trolling…_). “What do you mean? I’ve just read the complete opposite! Have you gone mad?”. Well, yes, but that’s not the important part here. The truth is, SAO lays the foundations for an incredible introspective view of Kirito’s character, but just… gives up on that idea halfway through.
When we meet Kirito, he’s depressed, doesn’t leave the house and is, in all seriousness, a complete and utter ____loser____. He is, not only doing bad on a mental level, but he is also physically weak, as it’s shown to us (even if with zero subtlety) by him getting his finger hurt from basically nothing. When he gets in the game however, that partly changes. He is no longer weak physically, since all his time spent on videogames (and on being a beta-tester) gives him an edge against basically every other player. HOWEVER, the core of his person doesn’t change, as he still is socially awkward, emotionally unavailable (this is important for later!) and has troubles fitting in. __Essentially, instead of being weak and alone, now he is just... alone.__ 
--------------------------------------MINOR SPOILER WARNING FOR THIS SECTION-----------------------------------
~!
In fact, not only is he alone, but people actively despise beta-testers (in which Kirito is included), as they feel the former should be able to help them more in the current situation.
After the first boss-fight with the guild he momentarily joined, he convinced himself that it was the best if he remained alone. The point of this scene is extremely clear. After doing an effort to go beyond the comfort zone and doing his best, he fails miserably, and worse, reinforces its position as an outcast… Wait, are still talking about a fight scene? Well, to your (and, I admit, my own) surprise, yes!
!~
During the first few episodes of SAO, everything and every scene has a purpose… until it doesn’t.
I’ll get to it later, I promise :)

--------------------------------------MAJOR SPOILER WARNING FOR THIS SECTION-----------------------------------
~!
The aftermath of the boss-fight and the episodes right after are honestly soul-crushing, even if somewhat predictable. If you’re reading this part of the review, you already know what happens. Short version: he gets his expectations crushed yet again. ____Even if you become strong, there’s still no hope if you don’t change the essence of who you are____. Even worse than before, it’s Kirito’s lack of social skills that, in practice, end up killing his party members, most importantly, the girl who had complete, blind trust in him. Up until this point, I was completely and 100% invested in the story, eager to see what happened next.
!~
After episode 3 however… things start getting a little shaky.
--------------------------------------MINOR SPOILER WARNING FOR THIS SECTION-----------------------------------
~!
Ep 4 and 7 are short, heart-warming stories about Kirito meeting 2 more girls, helping them, and them falling in love with the boy. Here’s what I THINK was the (initial) goal of the author. These episodes show that, even though Kirito believes there's no hope, he still cares for other people but (most importantly!) __HE IS STILL EMOTIONALLY UNAVAILABLE__ (told you it would be important :D). You could say “oh, that’s not the point! The author just wanted to provide male readers with a power-fantasy! A cool, edgy guy who can get any girl he wants! He just isn’t interested in them! You saw him looking at Asuna!”. Well, yes, that was/became, undoubtedly, one of the goals of those stories. However, it makes much more sense if the primarily goal was to shape Kirito’s character. ____Despite him finally being accepted, he can’t possibly reciprocate the girls’ feelings, as he hasn’t yet forgiven and accepted himself____. This is all in theory, though. In practice… it really radiates harem energy, in a show that already tries hard to get an audience…
!~
--------------------------------------MAJOR SPOILER WARNING FOR THIS SECTION-----------------------------------
~!
The episodes with Asuna are… all-right. The episodic feel to every episode makes it enjoyable to watch every day or so, and the plot itself is solid and concise, although nothing mind-blowing. A couple of action scenes, a couple of bonding moments between Asuna and Kirito, some world building… and a confession scene. The last scene mentioned is alright, although illustrates again the problem with SAO: it tries WAYYYYYYYYYY to hard to make Kirito look cool. NO! THAT’S NOT HOW YOU MAKE A CONFESSION SCENE! MY ROMCOM-LOVING BRAIN IS FUMING! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Hm-hm, well it is somewhat wholesome, with Kirito finally both having someone accept him, and also having accepted himself, but it is undermined by its attempts to,	once again, elevate Kirito to a power-fantasy. It should show Kirito being more vulnerable, as it happens later in a few scenes I won’t bother looking up.
On a completely different subject, episode 11! Wholesomeness! Cuteness! Shipping! Moving on! (and skipping episode 12 as it gets HELLA WEIRD).
!~
Episode 13 is good and the 14th episode is alright, although it cuts the story somewhat abruptly and is a bit anti-climactic. Namely, the second-to-last battle is somewhat short and nothing we haven’t seen before, and the final battle is not only short, but also… bland. As in, I don’t remember a single thing about it one and a half months after watching it. Other than that cool visual at the end.

So… that’s it! An OK end to an OK anime! There’s absolutely nothing after episode 12! Nope. Nothing. It’s over.
____*exaggerated exhale*____
Alright, there’s a bit more, however, I would recommend people to stop watching the anime on episode 12, unless they are __REALLY__ enjoying it.
___
#__5th part: Big-breasted Imouto__
Honestly, I don’t care about episodes 13-25. I don’t like them, I didn’t feel invested, and honestly don’t really want to talk about them. So here’s a super short mini-review.
The author realized that that he could extend the story for money. Kirito stays the exact same from beginning to end and Sugoha is an OK character I suppose, although I really don’t really understand Japan’s fixation on little sisters. The plot is basic (like in the first part) and not all that interesting. What IS better is the action, due to the characters’ ability to fly. The fight scenes are still short, but with the aforementioned ability it allows for more interesting and dynamic combat. That’s it. That’s my review of the second half. I also want to point out that don’t like what they did with Asuna, and I don’t like the cringe-ass romantic tension between two siblings (hmm-hmm, sorry, STEP-siblings - who cares anyways), even if I (mildly) care about Sugoha.
___
#__6th part: Conclusion__
TLDR: It has a good concept and lays an incredibly good foundation for the story it’s trying to tell. Unfortunately, it deviates from its path too easily, misguided by an effort to attract attention. What inevitably happens is to be expected: it falls short of what it sets out to do, only scratching the surface of the themes it wants to explore. It really isn't a terrible show, it's actually somewhat good, however it is inexorably haunted by the greatness of what it could have been…

[If you want to comment something about this review, you're free to message me about it, feedback is always appreciated!]

Sword Art Online, at its core, really is a story about love, morality and acceptance... until it isn't.

__Review de Sword art Online__

Primeiramente é o meu primeiro review por aqui, então resolvi fazer deste anime porque foi um dos primeiros que eu começei a ver.
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webm(https://i.imgur.com/efLUWjG.mp4)
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[__Spoilers Abaixo!__] 

__Introdução__


O anime começa com o anuncio do Sword art Online e o protagonista Kirigaya Kazuto, Foi um dos primeiros a jogar o jogo, ele sabe de muitas paradas e consegue avançar bastante no game.

Ja os iniciantes não pode ter essa oportunidade, com isso eles sofreram bastante quando a treta começou, Aqui vai um Spoiler do ultimo mangá: 

A asuna (uma protagonista do anime) entrou no jogo por "curiosidade" mais ela ja jogava alguns jogos escondidos da mãe, e ela só entrou em Sword art online porque seu irmão conseguiu ganhar uma cópia e acabou presa no jogo.

__Resumo do Inicio__

Depois das ultimas 10 mil copias serem vendidas 10 mil players total, o Kirito (protagonista no jogo) perde a sua evolução no beta e volta pro level 1, Ele conhace o Klein em um beco e da um tutorial basicão do modo de luta. Klein vai deslogar e não encontra o botão, depois disso todos os player e teletranspotado pra cidade principal do jogo e o Kayaba akihiko que é o Master do jogo, diz que tem que zerar o jogo e vencer os 100 andares pra poder sair do jogo e tâmbem da um espelho para cada um player jogar com você mesmo no jogo.

Apos alguns meses o Kirito ja em uma guilda vai finalmente enfrentar o primeiro boss e na guilda encontra a asuna, e tem que fazer ao menos uma dupla para enfrentar o boss, e a dupla dele obviamente é a asuna e depois disso um cara aleatorio reclama para que os testadores do jogo apareça, com muita raiva.

Havia 2 Testadores la o kirito e o lider da guilda, Diabel um cara mt gente boa. Depois de briguinhas com o Testadores eles se resolvem e vão se preparar pra lutar. No dia seguinte eles vão lutar e a Asuna Nunca fez uma dupla, mais ela é muito rapida nos ataques.

Depois de um monte de batalha epica o boss morre e o Diabel tb (o lider da guida), o Kirito rouba a kill da asuna e ganha itens especiais  como o manto preto dele, Depois o Kibaou (O encreinqueiro que começou a briga com os Testadores) apontou o Kirito como um testador e ele afirmou saindo da guilda com uma rizada sinistra e virando um solo player.

__Opinioes__

Oia o anime é bom, foi o meu 2° anime depois de Nanatsu, e foi bem diferente pra mim pq eu n curtia shonem antes, só tinha visto o Nanatsu pq tinha Ecchi dai o anime tem Romance bem unico, sem aquela pregação em Harem e deixando o namoro duvidoso.

O que não curti nesta temporada que é muito curto, tem 100 bosses e se eu não me engano eles chegaram em 70 até o adm bani eles pa vida real dai 14 episodios para este arco é muito pouco.
No manga tb é assim mais ja estão lançando um (S.A.O. Proguessive) que é mais detalhado e é focado na Assuna como Protagonista Principal.

No geral é foda recomendo vcs ver e rever pra marcar esse anime no seu coração como to fazendo nesse ano.


__Desculpas__

foi mal pelo texto grande sei que muita gente não vai ler mais estou fazendo isso porque gosto muito desse anime e quero compartilhar essa minha esperiencia.

Nos proximos Reviews vo só fazer um resumo da obra e comentar. (Acho que vou fazer mais uns reviews das outras temporadas de S.A.O.)


100/100 a minha nota obrigado por ler!

Este Review tem Um resumo do inicio da obra e tambem algumas das minhas opiniões. Obviamente tudo com Spoilers!

Sword Art Online Series Watch Order

Season 1: Sword Art Online

Season 2: Sword Art Online 2

Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale Movie

Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet: The Third Episode

Sword ARt Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online

Season 3: Sword Art Online: Alicization