The Only Good Sword Art Was the First Season
Synopsis
In the year 2022, virtual reality has progressed by leaps and premises, and a massive online part-playing game called Sword Art Online (SAO) is launched. With the assistance of "NerveGear" technology, players tin command their avatars within the game using nothing but their ain thoughts.
Kazuto Kirigaya, nicknamed "Kirito," is amongst the lucky few enthusiasts who become their hands on the first shipment of the game. He logs in to find himself, with ten-thousand others, in the scenic and elaborate world of Aincrad, one full of fantastic medieval weapons and gruesome monsters. However, in a cruel turn of events, the players shortly realize they cannot log out; the game's creator has trapped them in his new world until they complete all one hundred levels of the game.
In order to escape Aincrad, Kirito will at present have to interact and cooperate with his boyfriend players. Some are allies, while others are foes, like Asuna Yuuki, who commands the leading group attempting to escape from the ruthless game. To make matters worse, Sword Art Online is not all fun and games: if they die in Aincrad, they die in real life. Kirito must adapt to his new reality, fight for his survival, and hopefully break complimentary from his virtual hell.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Characters & Voice Actors
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Reviews
Apr 6, 2014
25 of 25 episodes seen
| Overall | 4 |
| Story | iv |
| Animation | 8 |
| Audio | viii |
| Character | 1 |
| Enjoyment | 3 |
--The review contains minor spoilers--
Since I've seen a plethora of scores of ten for this show, I idea I'd write what I experience is a more realistic review for this show. Sword Art Online is more than or less the equivalent of a fanfiction in it's writing and quality. Whether people desire to overlook it or non is up to the individual, merely I believe it fails at the fundamentals for writing a expert story. This review will go into details equally to my opinions on why I experience this fashion.
ane) Story - This is first major trouble is the prove. Let's start from the first shall we. The first arc consists of 14 episodes. The first 2 episodes are honestly pretty good and set upwards the plot of the prove that should follow. You're introduced to the main characters and information technology shows mmo style of play. I mean with 2 episodes that are amazing, surely what follows will exist more of the adventures of the chief characters and these mmo boss fights...right? Wrong. What follows are v completely irrelevant side character episodes and unnecessary terrible time skips that ruin whatever sense of a story the offset 2 episodes set up up. So due to some illogical reason, we're now down to vii episodes to tell the rest of this story. Yet achievable right? Right? Wrong again. The serial wastes another ii i/2 episodes on pointless filler garbage. So there you have it over half of first role of the story has naught to do with the overall plot. Well what about the other episodes you ask? The remaining "plot" episodes are filled with deus ex machina in its purest form. Even the finale of the first flavour makes absolutely no sense. This isn't a fantasy earth, it'southward a freaking video game, you can't accept miracles here. So that concludes my issues with season 1, which the majority of SAO fans consider to be the best part....Yeh you heard me, the 2nd part is even worse. two) Fine art - The art is fantastic. Colorful characters, bosses (the few we see), and settings are all here. It's hands worth an 8. 3) Sound - Over again fantastic. Nothing wrong with it at all. viii. 4)Characters - Hither we go...This is easily the worst part of the serial. I'll separate the main characters and lump together the non so chief characters. Kirito/Kazuto - The main character of this show is the paradigm of the current definition of a "Gary Stu". He has no personality whatsoever. He is good at everything he tries for no reason. He's an amazing histrion, an super sleuth, a ladies man, and a main hacker. Y'all proper noun it, he tin exercise it. There'due south no reason given for this other than he's simply that good. Girls all beloved him, guys want to exist him, and villains are jealous of him. He also solos MMO boss fights...yeh wrap your head around that i. Side note - I often encounter people claim they love this show considering they're hardcore gamers. I have to say as an avid gamer myself I find this show to be insulting. Unless yous've hacked or cheated , I don't understand why yous're content with a character who does. Side notation over. Asuna - The main female lead/near blatant waifu character always. Asuna is introduced as a strong player who can stand on her own with Kirito, that is for the offset couple episodes. In one case she reappears she barely does anything other than cook for Kirito. That's correct, her ass stays in the kitchen, while Kirito does all the of import stuff. In part 2 she does absolutely cypher...seriously. She again has no original personality...textbook Tsundere. Yui - This character is terrible in all senses of the word. She's walking deus ex machina, nothing more. This character should be hated by any gamer, since she'due south a cheat device, who adds nothing to the story. Villains (minor spoilers) - There are ii major villains in this series and they're both terrible. The first one forgets his motives for doing everything in office 1 and the role ii one is then comically evil he can't even be taken seriously. Other Characters/ Who the hell cares - The female characters all want to take sex with Kirito and have no personality past this. The male characters don't get to do anything considering Kirito hogs the show from everyone. That's really all there is to say about that. Suguha - This is Kirito'southward sister. She honestly has layers and was a plus to the show in my opinion. I don't know why she's in this show, she doesn't vest in it... So yeh, Gary Stu and Waifu - these characters are pathetic (1). 5) Enjoyment - Needless to say I didn't savor it. Poor evidence (3) vi) Overall - This show has so many fans, and I really don't know why. Its plot is rushed and terrible. Its characters so flat, it'due south near funny...well-nigh. Its romance is highly misogynistic and terribly adult. I felt insulted watching this, and don't understand how any could similar this testify. Even Gamers.
Without going into spoilers, the 2nd part of the series takes place in a unlike setting, with a mostly new cast aside from our main hero. This part of the serial probably deserves the award for most unnecessary story in the history of anime. This arc is pretty much a mario game. Our hero must save the princess in the castle. Not really much to say about it. Oh yeh deus ex machina finale hither too...oh and there's an incest subplot...for some reason. This concludes the plot section. I think I'grand existence pretty generous with a 4 here.
Feb 26, 2013
25 of 25 episodes seen
| Overall | 7 |
| Story | 6 |
| Animation | 8 |
| Sound | nine |
| Grapheme | 6 |
| Enjoyment | 8 |
I don't really want to become into also much depth, just I'd like to give an overview of the series and give my opinions it. If y'all haven't noticed yet there are many negative reviews out there for this anime, and while many of them bring up some pretty fair points, I call up some people are being a bit too harsh on information technology. Let me explain.
Yes information technology's a popular anime, yes information technology has flaws, no it's not perfect, but at the very least in my stance it is enjoyable. The pacing is off, the beginning particularly feels rushed, there were moments where I thought I skipped an episode because of the time skips which made information technology difficult to really connect with any of the characters in the beginning, and there were some less than stellar instances where information technology felt like the anime was trying to make me care just failing hard. Some characters felt to exist completely forgotten throughout near of this series too. For example in the start we are introduced to a character named Klein who is apace pushed bated after the first episode and barely seen once again and doesn't really brand much of an impact at all on the story after on. This seems to happen a lot throughout this series where there might be some emotional moments where a grapheme dies, or something dramatic happens but there is actually no emotional impact from information technology, and the chief graphic symbol seems to non actually care that much about it or it doesn't actually event anything significantly. I really felt this series shined from around episodes iv-13 and I wish they would accept kept with that pace instead of rushing an ending midway and throwing something new at u.s.. The 2d half only felt completely unnecessary and forced. Pushing the negative aside, I found the overall theme and atmosphere of the serial to exist bang-up, and being an gorging lover the MMORPG genre manifestly a lot of things in this series appealed to me. I really enjoyed the idea of existence stuck in a game that was incommunicable to escape from without winning and having existent consequences, it really made everything much more dramatic and meaningful in the story. Sadly this quickly goes away midway through the plot. If I had to selection 2 of the best things this anime did well for me it would probably exist the blitheness and soundtrack. They both were really well washed, and honestly without them being as good as they were this series would have gotten a much lower score from me, and when I say I actually enjoyed the soundtrack I mean that I loved it, it was superb. I think what it really comes down was just the fact that I enjoyed watching it. I tin can look at the flaws and pick the anime autonomously pretty hands, just those flaws never really stopped me from enjoying this anime.I really practise feel though that information technology had a lot of potential to be a height tier series, it just made far too many mistakes. Looking at it objectively I simply cannot requite this anime college than a vii. It was practiced because I found it to exist enjoyable, only it wasn't great or astonishing. At the end of the twenty-four hours I lookout man anime considering I want something that will entertain me and go on me interested, and I feel that Sword Fine art Online did a good job at accomplishing that.
Oct 12, 2014
25 of 25 episodes seen
| Overall | 2 |
| Story | two |
| Blitheness | 7 |
| Sound | vii |
| Graphic symbol | 2 |
| Enjoyment | 5 |
One time upon a time, in a country far away, at that place lived a brave young boy. He was the best swordsman in the land and the manliest man of all. He overcame endless trials with little try and won the hearts of many fair maidens.
Yes, it'southward time for Sword Art Online, the origin of many angry rants.
The premise doesn't sound likewise bad. Ten m players of a virtual MMO are trapped in the game and forced to complete it to escape, except that death in the game leads to death in real life. Just recall about it: this could be a tragic story of struggle where death is backside every corner. A story of sacrifice and despair. A story of alliances and betrayal. A story of the struggle to retain humanity in forepart of impossible weather condition. ...Only why have any of that when you lot can have romance and harem? That's right; the survival game is just for testify. Don't expect deep interpersonal or political conflict. Don't look psychology or moral dilemmas. Don't await tactics or mind games. Actually, don't expect witty dialogue of any kind. And that is the biggest trouble with this evidence. Information technology is bankrupt in substance. Information technology'south mostly merely uninspired romance and harem, with a fleck of activity here and there. There isn't much thinking involved. A few plot holes I could forgive, merely if the show isn't most anything worthwhile, there isn't much to do. What makes this problem all the more than apparent is that the premise promises something entirely different than what it delivers. The show has thrown its hands upwardly in the air and said, "We don't intendance." So why should the viewer? It doesn't assist that the show has grown infamous for glorifying its protagonist, who in the eyes of many has become the prototype of a Gary Stu. He tin defeat anything, he can solve any problem, and he gets all the girls. Information technology's virtually like this evidence was meant to exist a propaganda piece in his favor. Story: 3 The first ii episodes are decent, edifice up the premise. Nosotros are introduced to the protagonist Kirito and the concept of the decease game. Before long enough, we are told that a month has passed and ii thousand players have died offscreen. ...Wait, non fifty-fifty a short montage or anything? Apparently not. Anyway, these two episodes are pretty much the but decent ones, and then enjoy them while you can. The third episode begins to bear witness more serious problems. We are supposed to course an emotional bond to new characters in a few minutes, and nosotros have to become through over-the-top angst over irrational deportment. Only there is too optimism in the air; of course we can revive someone whose brain has been fried, right? What follows is an sharp jump to harem and romance antics. The next few episodes are about various girls of a sudden falling for Kirito, frequently the same day they met him. This typically involves uncontrollable blushing, fanservice, and people acting Tsundere. You lot probably get the picture. Information technology doesn't help that many of these episodes accept a very filler-esque feel to them. The main plot ‒ if you tin call information technology such at this point ‒ takes a backseat in favor of these random new girls. The girl called Asuna, who quickly becomes the token love interest for Kirito, has at least met him earlier, but there is still very lilliputian buildup to their human relationship. Unless it took place offscreen. You see, another matter that becomes very noticeable is the pacing. There have been timeskips of months between episodes. This wouldn't be a problem if these snapshots contained all the events that were critical to the story, but information technology's obvious that the author has picked rather boring events out of all the possibilities. Why is information technology that thousands of people dying is covered in a few lines, while we accept to sit down through hours and hours of romance and harem? I hate to be beating a expressionless equus caballus here, but it's unavoidable because it comes up again in just virtually every episode. By at present, it has also get obvious to the viewer that Kirito is invincible to the point of tedium. He has a level higher than anyone, the all-time equipment, and a seemingly endless pool of abilities, only about importantly he ever wins. There is sometimes false tension, certain, but you know he volition survive anyway. You lot can only stomach then many clutch survivals before you offset rolling your eyes. The rest of the story arc involves Kirito and Asuna hanging out in the countryside to spend their honeymoon. They even prefer a daughter to portray a typical happy family. The problem is that their relationship is really non that interesting. Merely "dem feels"! Nah, lamentable. I have a heart of stone. This is followed by a sudden confrontation with the main villain, which Kirito wins because the power of dear conquers all. And by that I hateful the power of beloved conquers the programming of the game. Well, okay, maybe in that location was some "power of love" clause in the code somewhere. Information technology wouldn't surprise me at this signal. Predictably enough, melodrama ensues. Tears, promises of honey, etc. You can probably imagine. At least at present we're done with this testify, right? No, recall again, that was only the good part. There are actually xi more episodes left, and the journeying takes usa further downhill. We enter another game, this fourth dimension without the expiry attribute. Before we become to the plot itself, even at a glance this idea brings up a few issues. The harsh reality hits you faster than y'all can say "cashcow." This second arc feels completely unnecessary. It has been tied into the original story with an overly convenient plot device for no credible purpose other than stretching it further. At least know to quit while you lot're ahead. Simply no, they only had to drag this show through the mud to rip autonomously any shred of dignity it had left. It doesn't aid that in that location is no death anymore. While this makes the slice-of-life content more fitting, it as well removes the established selling point of the prove. The change is too abrupt, and the difference in tone is too jarring. If you want to brand a slice-of-life of ordinary MMO players, do it from the start. Now, for the plot itself, and information technology isn't pretty. We become straight to a Mario game, by which I mean saving a damsel in distress trapped in a cage. And that isn't a metaphor; she is quite literally trapped in a muzzle. Add together tentacles and incest to the plot, and you have a winning combination. The incest aspect is provided by Kirito's sister Suguha, who also provides additional fanservice. At least now the pacing is less erratic and there is seemingly less development taking place offscreen. It'south simply as well bad that there is also very picayune meaningful taking place onscreen. There are some new characters and even an ingame state of war going on, simply it's all so irrelevant to the main story that information technology'south hard to maintain interest. Long story brusk, Kirito beats the 2nd villain with the assistance of more deus ex machinas. There are also more than tears, promises of love, etc. So now we're done, correct? For now, yes, but in that location's all the same flavour ii to look forward to. Setting: This is technically part of the story category, only I actually think it deserves its ain section here. You see, the very foundations of the setting brand no sense. People in Sword Art Online are too often acting like they are in a normal game, not in a life-and-death scenario. For instance, why is in that location so much resentment towards beta testers who have greater knowledge of the game? This isn't a competition; the faster someone beats the game, the faster anybody gets out. And, similarly, why are beta testers reluctant to share information? Are they and then worried almost other people using their newfound abilities to impale them for no reason? Expect, you tin can't accept both a coincidental slice-of-life of MMO players and a grim decease game at the same fourth dimension. Choice one. This casual attitude becomes more pronounced afterward when it becomes obvious people are wasting tons of fourth dimension with unproductive quests, romance, and just hanging around. Kirito himself spends time on seemingly useless sidequests, and Asuna spends time cooking for him. Come to think of it, why has Asuna wasted points on a useless skill like cooking in the get-go place? Are these people even trying? And why are and then many players dying when towns are prophylactic zones? Are they stupidly rushing into high-level dungeons? I suppose and so. You encounter, for a grim death game information technology certain is hard to die in SAO. Bosses won't respawn, then everyone can advance forrard, fifty-fifty weak players. Going from boondocks to town is as well easy enough with teleport crystals. Well, okay, there is that trouble of challenging people to a duel while asleep, but that can't take out and so many. There is no lack of disquisitional resources because you tin can hang out in the condom of towns indefinitely. Sure, exp and money are limited because the regeneration of monsters is limited, which is foreign game design itself, just they aren't necessary if you stay in town. At least, the evidence never implies that they are necessary. Oh, and for the record, I'm treating the show equally self-contained and ignoring the source material. So why do they die? I'd put my money on rushing stupidly into dungeons because we become to run across one notable example. Let's imagine you establish yourself in the following situation. Earlier y'all and your order are almost to enter a loftier-level dungeon, you learn that i of them lied near his level. Knowing this, you realize you are underleveled and likely to end upwardly dead, while fugitive death and warning the others would be equally elementary equally staying in town. What would y'all do? Would y'all A tricky one, I admit. Nosotros are likewise introduced to groups of player killers. Sounds good until you realize this isn't a normal game. At least, I thought it wasn't, but it looks like some people didn't become the memo. In a situation like SAO, in that location should be no reason for these killings. This isn't Danganronpa, where the primary point of the premise is that you can only escape by killing someone. This is a game where information technology makes the well-nigh sense to squad up and beat the game. At that place is no prisoner'south dilemma; cooperation is the best program and any sensible person would go for it. If you kill someone here, you lot only get some money and equipment. While information technology may help y'all beat out the game a little faster, odds are that it volition just hurt your chances of survival overall. Just off the elevation of my head, a few reasons: Actually, does the equipment even help that much? Kirito seemingly uses the same equipment for long periods of fourth dimension, nevertheless he is practically invincible. On the other hand, he does say that equipment tin can exist worth many levels, and so did he get the best stuff for himself and so fast? Is information technology strange game design or cheat codes? Information technology's anyone'due south guess. Of course, if you have little involvement in beating the game, killing other players makes more sense, if only a picayune. I suppose getting more coin can assist yous obtain some luxury items, but is it worth the adventure? The unsaid reason is that they are killing people for laughs, simply why did so many murderous psychopaths decide to log into this MMO on its opening twenty-four hour period? Is this some kind of stab at gamers, saying that they are unable to distinguish between real violence and simulated violence? Mayhap, or the author forgot that this isn't a normal MMO. Again. Then is it a legit program to stay in the virtual world for the balance of your life and requite upwards on getting back to the existent world? If so, it would explain a lot. While the range of pastimes in there is smaller than in the real globe, possibly in that location is enough for some people. The pick between staying in relative happiness in a virtual world and risking your life returning to the real world could accept been an interesting one. Unfortunately, their bodies are deteriorating in existent life, which makes the choice very one-sided. For some reason, Asuna has to point this out to Kirito because patently the state of his real-globe body had never occurred to him over the course of two years. Yeah, skilful job, Kirito, you certain were fast on the uptake. Lying downwards on the grass and having a carefree nap doesn't sound so smart anymore, eh? Finally, why are virtual MMOs nevertheless legal after the SAO incident? Sure, the new hardware is supposedly safer, but the previous expiry trap must have equally passed through "strict" government test, then who in their right mind would trust them? And even if we assume it is prophylactic, since when has people'south hysteria hinged on facts? People fear new applied science fifty-fifty when information technology's harmless, let alone when a massive incident similar this happens. There would be mass protests in the streets in favor of banning them. Characters: 2 You lot may have noticed that I have simply mentioned three characters past name so far. For some other evidence, this might be because the cast is so vast that there is no time to go through them all, but here information technology'due south rather that there are very few characters worth mentioning. Kirito, and past extension Asuna and Suguha who are defined past Kirito'due south grapheme, hog practically all of the screentime. Everyone else gets thrown under the bus. Girls only exist to autumn in love with Kirito, and males just be to be inferior to him. The villains in particular only be as provender to the guy. Kirito: I accept barely touched on Kirito'southward personality. Well, blame the bear witness, non me; information technology should at least be willing to meet me halfway. We know very little about him, other than existence invincible and inexplicably good with the ladies. Substantially, he is the manliest man on the planet. That's pretty much all he is. Even his dialogue ends up pretty bland. In that location are no witty insights, no clever jokes, no skillful discussion games. Much of his dialogue consists of proverb that the earth is a virtual one, explaining game mechanics, wishing to save everyone, or loving someone forever. The sort of stuff y'all'd look from a paper-thin cutout hero in a situation like this. Information technology can be a facepalm-worthy experience to witness girl after girl falling for Kirito similar nix, ofttimes the same twenty-four hour period they met him. The show endlessly drills into the viewer that he is the sexiest man alive... for some reason. I get that rescuing people tin give you points in their eyes, but come up on now. I can only presume in that location is a hidden manliness stat and his black jacket comes with a +999 boost. Every bit far as his invincibility goes, the win streak by itself isn't the biggest trouble. The problem is that he always wins through brute strength. That is to say, his character skills and stats. At that place are no tactics worth mentioning, no psychology, no politics, no thinking whatsoever. He will but leave at that place and pull off his generic action hero stunts. Sure, developing those skills and stats may have required some tactical thinking. Perhaps he has optimized his skill tree or has amazing grinding strats. In theory. We see no hints of it. Information technology all happened offscreen and offscreen doesn't count. I'm sorry, it simply doesn't. To add together insult to injury, some of Kirito's abilities are completely forgotten later on. I'chiliad certain that health recovery thing would have come in handy any number of times. And when even his skills and stats aren't plenty, he is saved by plot armor at the last second. Information technology'south also a mockery of MMOs in the sense that Kirito is able to solo raid bosses. And he is able to attain a level higher than anyone despite playing solo, supposedly because he doesn't take to dissever the exp. His virtually unique power is revealed to exist... *drumroll* dual-wielding, which nobody else is allowed to do in this game. This doesn't sound like any MMO I know of, or was the idea to portray a player with god-mode cheats on? I'1000 seriously thinking that the prove would have been a lot more tolerable if Kirito alone had been replaced past ane of the side characters. It still wouldn't have been a masterpiece or anything, but at least the Gary Stu accusations could take been avoided. Asuna: She is virtually every bit bland in personality as Kirito. She is also portrayed as fairly powerful for no substantial reason just of course aught compared to him. As time passes, her most notable trait becomes beingness a textbook Tsundere. ...Well, that was fast. Moving on. Suguha: As mentioned earlier, her primary role is providing fanservice and a tacked-on incest subplot. It's but another element thrown into the plot for inexpensive shock value, if anyone is yet shocked by incest in anime present. Villain #1: The first villain barely appears, and his motivation for trapping the players is vague, to say the least. He basically did information technology out of personal interest. He wanted to create a virtual globe where death has significant similar in the real one, merely as for why he was interested in the idea, he forgot. Err, alright then. Moving on. Villain #ii: The 2d villain is pathetic and a disgrace to antagonists everywhere, coming beyond as a cartoon villain who does evil things for the sake of being evil. The conflict here is portrayed every bit completely black-and-white, only in example someone had sympathy for the guy, as unlikely as that is. His main focus is essentially raping a asleep girl. And that is over obtaining tons of greenbacks, presumably in the millions. If he had left the girl lone, he probably would accept got away with it, so for all intents and purposes, he chose raping a daughter over millions in cash. Talk about priorities. Come up to call up of it, it'southward already ridiculous that the family of the comatose girl is planning to have her marry the guy. I mean, she is in a coma. As in unconscious, unable to state her ain intentions, etc. Where are child protective services when you need them? Thankfully, the law disagrees, and then they tin't employ for an official marriage. Instead, he'll be adopted by her family as their son in spirit... Wait, what? Furthermore, his sheer incompetence is mindboggling. He openly explains his evil plans and his security is practically at Dr. Evil level, upwards to entering a undercover keycode in evidently sight then that the prisoner tin encounter. Thankfully the government and his company are equally incompetent and are not monitoring his enquiry group closely despite its reliance on infamous technology used in SAO. Are these the same people who accounted the new tech safe? If so, I'd like a 2d opinion. I wouldn't trust these people to operate Angry Birds, let alone a virtual MMO with potential wellness risks. Art: 7 Then this is where the coin went. The backgrounds look nice merely inexpensive fanservice scenes not so much. Audio: 7 Not as well bad either. The soundtrack and opening and ending songs piece of work pretty decently, and the voices are also alright. Enjoyment: 5 Funnier than I was expecting but for the wrong reasons. There is something earnest almost how the prove is trying to portray escapism and human relationships, but it falls just short enough to create a dissonance. Overall: 3 Lookout it to witness the writing yourself. Only more than importantly, by watching the bear witness you tin can better understand the reviews or, better nevertheless, write one yourself.
a) Record a message in advance, knowing that yous wouldn't terminal long, or
b) Stay in town and then that you wouldn't get killed in the first place?
i) If people starting time killing each other, it obviously increases the risk of dying yourself, both in retaliation and spontaneously.
two) Killing people reduces manpower needed for chirapsia the game, and the distrust that follows volition make information technology even slower. You could only kill useless low-level players, just they probably don't have much money or good equipment to begin with.
iii) There is the run a risk that you will state murder charges if you escape from the game and officials find out.
Dec 31, 2012
25 of 25 episodes seen
| Overall | 3 |
| Story | 3 |
| Animation | 8 |
| Sound | 6 |
| Character | three |
| Enjoyment | half-dozen |
In one case in a while, there comes forth a title (be it flick, book or anime) that takes the audience past storm, sweeping numerous off their feat, leaving several with a bad aftertaste in their mouth and making a few pass the piece of work off equally 'average' or 'mediocre'. Online communities, forums, chat rooms and every other nook and corner of the internet known to man turn into arenas of debates, discussions, fanboyism/fangirlism and flaming. Information technology'southward apparent that when something is popular, information technology doesn't always go to bath in praises. With the acclaim, comes a sheer amount of criticisms. Also, information technology goes without saying that popularity doesn't necessarily equate to quality. Sword Art Online, abbreviated as SAO from this indicate on, is no exception. SAO, the anime adaptation of a series of light novels of the same name by Kawahara Reki, has been the much talked well-nigh prove of the Summer and Fall 2012 seasons, and taking into consideration the incredible hype surrounding it with reviews of mixed sorts, it's likely to stay that mode for quite some fourth dimension. Keeping in mind the vogue of MMORPGs and the need for something 'captivating', the team backside SAO attempts to bring an enticing work to the tabular array past executing the intriguing premise of 'players trapped in a VRMMORPG where decease equates to death in real life and the only manner out is to articulate the game'. Unfortunately, SAO fails at many levels which is a shame because when the anime kicked off with the highly anticipated first episode, all seemed well and it gave the vibes of something truly worth spending your time on simply so it does a flip and from this indicate, things go awry. And hither we accept it— 1 of the most controversial anime of the recent years. Before proceeding with the review, let'due south get one thing straight. I have not read the original source cloth— the lite novels, that is. Hence, I'm not going to depict any comparing between that and the anime. With that out of the way, let'south keep the ball rolling. SAO on the surface has a fairly interesting premise, no doubt, and information technology'southward executed well to some extent or and so did it initially seem. The very idea of a large number of people logged into a VRMMORPG with the intention of embarking on a virtual reality gamble just only to exist struck with utter horror as they're faced with the shocking truth of the game has been put into effect quite satisfactorily in the showtime episode. Information technology'southward pretty much what I'd call an excellent start. However, SAO effortlessly manages to send all my expectations and enthusiasm down the drain for it takes the show only an episode or two to reveal its true colours followed by the thwarting information technology has in store. And so, what goes wrong? Well, many things. Following the Great Start, the starting time arc decides to accept a detour and invests on a few episodes dealing with side stories in which our protagonist Kirito gets acquainted with one daughter per episode and ends upwards rescuing her from a jam. This is precisely why I like referring to this bunch of side stories as 'episodic harem' wherein the primary heroine of the story and Kirito's love interest Asuna is assumed to be constant and the other girls are variables. Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing. However, these side stories accept very little to cipher to contribute to the serial as a whole. Admittedly, they equip the viewers with some clever, little details here and at that place regarding how the game world works but they hardly have any bearing to the overall plot. The principal goal of these filler-like episodes appears to exist that of giving our hero clad in black an opportunity to flaunt how much of a chick magnet he is and how he has it all that takes to exist the coolest dude in this world made up of zillions of pixels. To boot, the characters (read: cute chicks) that appear in these episodes take absolutely no substantial role to play in the story later on. 'Side' characters indeed. And SAO knows how to finer sideline them. When the arc finally gets itself back on runway, it's but natural to hope that the show will now take something worthwhile to deliver. However, that isn't the case. If anything, some severe cracks brainstorm to announced every bit very shortly the focus of SAO is the romance between the two leads which is, in 1 give-and-take, cheesy. At this point, opinions are divided. The romance aspect, for some, tin be highly-seasoned while for others, it tin can be a major plough off especially if they don't like the characters involved. It all comes downwardly to personal preference. However, personal preferences aren't a convincing alibi by any means to overlook the fact that the story, world edifice and everything else take a backseat for the sake of allowing the two leads to be lovey-dovey in the properties of gorgeous sceneries. When the arc does manage to divert its focus on to some 'serious concern', things wait good for a while but with a rather unimpressive catastrophe, the first arc concludes on a pretty bad note in my book. And then begins the 2d arc which, to be blunt, is a letdown once more. The second arc or the ALO arc is fix within ALfheim Online, a VRMMORPG successor to SAO. Kirito logs in with a mission to rescue his wife (Asuna, duh) from the clutches of an archetypical antagonist who is a disgrace to all the villains in fiction we accept come across then far. This arc showcases some actually middle candy visuals simply that'southward pretty much its only redeeming point. It doesn't have anything much going on except for a few climactic action sequences now then with intense battle music playing in the background that final simply for a while. Not to mention, there's another girl added to Kirito's harem. And and then the hilarity ensues. The manner in which ALO is brought to a shut is appalling to say the to the lowest degree and at the same laughable considering it doesn't hesitate to use the much notorious plot device ante ex machina, ruining whatever hopes there were for the final confrontation with the villain. The poor conclusion could be excused if it was handled more cleverly and convincingly only a blatant ass pull is by no means satisfactory. If anything, it only proves that the writer faced a dead end and was unable to think of anything better and creative, and expected the audience to swallow down whatever he could come up up with, no matter how downright stupid it is. Amidst all the other things, the most easily noticeable flaw without a doubt is the execution of the plot itself which is all over the place. It doesn't take a genius to figure out after a couple of episodes that SAO suffers from poor pacing and inconsistency. It appears to be highly indecisive as to what exactly it wants to do and how to get information technology washed. This is mostly evident in the first arc which is incredibly rushed at many parts. There're timeskips and the side by side thing yous realize is that the characters have already cleared quite a lot of floors while keeping united states, the viewers, in the dark. This makes the plot disjointed, prevents whatsoever sort of correlation to the win-or-dice situation that the characters have been put into and gives everything the feel of it existence nada more than a piece of block. The struggle for survival and a sense of urgency are inappreciably felt even though the lives of the characters have been said to be literally at stake. The episodes dealing exclusively with the lead couple taking some fourth dimension off for a 'vacation' and subsequently ending up edifice a virtual family can further brand one wonder: Why are they so carefree when they're supposed to chalk out plans to trounce the game and brand a quick escape? To put it in other words, the arc has a tendency to go off track. It lays down for itself one affair but ends up doing something else birthday. Information technology'due south uncertain equally to whether to make itself see as a story of survival set up within a VRMMORPG or as a fluffy love story. In due form, it decides to juggle with both but doesn't get either of them rightly done. Non to mention, when the situation demands information technology and the author goes out of any artistic ideas to move the story frontward, the characters' actions are fabricated to contradict the established game mechanics and the only reasoning that'due south provided for such miracles is 'where there's a will, there's a way, and at that place're times when truthful love and determination can overcome whatever obstacle in the game'. At present, for those who wait for substance in any given story, it's virtually a fact that no corporeality of fanservice, center candies, cocky-insertion or guilty pleasance factors can perchance recoup for a substandard storytelling. Yet that'due south what SAO tries to practise. It brings in all the aforementioned elements to sugarcoat its sloppy writing. On the whole, there're no sincere efforts fabricated to comprise details that would contribute in some style or the other to world edifice or characterization whatsoever. While the poor quality of the writing is the key gene, the other attribute that contributes considerably to the mediocrity of the show is the characterization. Simply put, SAO's characters are bland. Substantially, the show has its focus on simply ii characters: Kirito and Asuna. The others are simply there; mere devices to motility the story forrard. And a few have nothing to contribute to the plot at all. For instance, the ones featuring in the side stories. Let's talk well-nigh the protagonist Kirito first. An unsocial, reserved yet headstrong player who knows how to become things done his manner and is determined to beat the game. That's basically how Kirito is portrayed in the beginning. At this indicate, he seems like a adept riddance from the generic wimpy male leads that have get so much of a commonplace in anime. A proficient main character who knows how to deal with things is something refreshing to witness once in a while. Unfortunately, the impressions didn't last for long. In drastic attempts to brand his graphic symbol more than 'appealing', Kirito is depicted as a 'perfect' being which leaves his character with little plausibility and much insipidity. Thus, he serves every bit a mere self-insert character for wish-fulfilment and at the end of the twenty-four hours, at that place's nothing 'individualistic' about him. Gary stu is probably what describes his character the best, and if paired with the Mary sue of the show, we get a lead couple that seems to accept been cut out directly from a tacky romance fanfiction. Yes, when I mentioned 'Mary sue', I was referring to Asuna. Asuna every bit the female lead is as stereotyped as they come. Much like Kirito, her grapheme is heavily idealized. She's pretty, popular, kind, caring and every other homo wants to have a piece of her. Oh, and did I mention her cooking skills that level upward with each passing day? Subsequently all, her foremost duty is to melt for Kirito and show how much she cares for him. While initially she'south portrayed equally a strong, contained female player with a tsundere-ish mental attitude, information technology doesn't take her long to make a transition from that to a deplorable damsel in distress, requiring her knight in black robe to come to her rescue whenever she's in a demark. Kirito fighting her society leader to earn her some time for honeymooning is laughable to say the least. Information technology before long becomes apparent that she doesn't accept much of a role other than serving equally the dear interest of the protagonist and being the object of fanservice now and then which might exist successful in pleasing the male audience somehow but that alone can't make upwards for her badly written character. In fact, the other female person character the testify cares to put the spotlight on also ends up becoming the target of fanservice but doesn't take annihilation else going on for herself. If yous haven't guessed information technology already, I'm talking about Kirito'southward honey imouto. Throughout the commencement arc, the writer must have had been itching to include a love triangle in the story merely couldn't detect a potential candidate to get the job done. As the first arc comes to a closure and the second arc begins, he grabs the opportunity, puts Asuna behind the bars (so that she's not an interference in what he's attempting to do) and introduces Suguha, Kirito's cousin sis. The sole purpose of creating her character, it appears, is to make way for a generic love triangle and melodrama. Suguha loves her cousin but tin can't practice anything about it because he loves Asuna. That's the bitter truth. Hence, she looks upwardly to a sure someone she happens to befriend inside ALO and hopes that he'd exist able to sooth her aching heart. Even so, she gets trolled… desperately. This, in turn, leads to more drama that's somehow supposed to be heart wrenching but information technology isn't. The remaining cast consists of two antagonists, both failing to make any sort of impression though the one making his debut in the second arc can be a good comic relief at times, and a agglomeration of side characters that wouldn't accept had fabricated any departure even if they hadn't existed. The bottom line is, the characters of SAO are a half-baked lot devoid of whatever depth or evolution. They could've mayhap turned out to be interesting if they were more than fleshed out but who cares well-nigh that as long every bit they entreatment to the intended target audition? Onto the technical aspects at present. In the section of visuals, A-one Pictures does a pretty practiced chore. Within the game, the vast tracts of greenery, the beautiful cities during the nighttime, the castles… they're all a pleasure to behold. The blitheness is also well-handled for the almost part. Initially I wasn't much pleased with the grapheme designs simply they gradually grew on me, and I personally find a few characters like Asuna, Heathcliff and Lisbeth to be very well designed. The music is composed by 1 of the about renowned composers in the anime industry, Yuki Kajiura. While the soundtracks aren't bad by any ways, none of them stand out much except the ane that plays during gainsay/intense scenes. In fact, that'due south the only track that can exist heard playing near of the time in the entire show. A few other tracks, though they aptly fit the scenes they're played in, are easily forgettable. The same applies to the opening and ending themes. Null groundbreaking there. I'one thousand a fan of almost all of Kajiura'southward works and if compared to her previous works, SAO's music is lacklustre to say the least so much and then that information technology's difficult to believe Kajiura is the composer to begin with. To wrap upward the review, SAO had the potential to be something good but that potential goes downward the drain due to poorly executed plot and banal characterization. Information technology starts off in a satisfactory manner but goes downhill thereafter. Nevertheless, it can be an entertaining ride if one keeps their expectations low and swallows downwards whatsoever it has to offering without questioning anything. I of the reasons why SAO has been a letdown is the anticipation the majority had for information technology prior to its ambulation but that'southward justified since the calorie-free novel series from which the anime is adapted is 1 of the most popular ones out there. [Edited on March 20, 2017]
He's a guy with a eye of gold.
He has an 'platonic' girlfriend/married woman.
He'southward admired by those around him.
He can 'unintentionally' make every other woman adore him, romantically or otherwise.
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Source: https://myanimelist.net/anime/11757/Sword_Art_Online
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