Recent Reviews

I wish I could give this manga a 10. The story definitely deserves it. Kanzaki Nao ends up being dragged into a game that may leave her seriously indebted, and seeks help in a well known swindler: Shinichi Akiyama.

Story (10)
The game is called Liar Game, as it requires lying and deceiveng (something Kanzaki Nao is not feated for) in order not to loose ones money and obtain the money from the rivals. The story is exciting, It has mistery, quizes, lots of wit and imagination.

There is something that bothered me a little. Halfway the manga, many of the plans carried out by the characters are explained by the hosts of the games, who watch silently in a cabin and comment the game. I found this procedure a little too forced. Too much explanation, and they know too much for who know what reason. It wasn´t like that from the beginning, and I found it unnecesary... there are other ways to explain things, in action, with the main characters. I saw the dorama first, and they didn´t resort to that method as often as the author does in the manga.

But, apart from that, the story is really good, and It keeps you stuck to the manga, eager to know the outcome of each round.

Characters (7)
The characters are a little sterotyped, but you come to love them.
- The naive girl who wants to trust and help everybody. Kanzakis Nao´s naivite is such, that it gets on your nerves... but you end up liking her, and she eventually becomes stronger.
- The misterious and sharp male character who plays tough and indiferent but always comes to save her (although he has other unknown reasons to participate in the game).
- The "ultimate enemy", a really bad, bad guy with a history of bullying and manipulating people.
- Fukunaga is a very interesting character, you never know if you can trust him... in the beginning you don´t know whether to love him or hate him.
- And a bunch of other weird characters that come and go, depending on their success in each round... as the winners get to leave the game, but the loosers must stay and keep playing or pay the money they lost in whole (which is a lot of money).

Art (3)
Here comes the main reason why I cannot give this manga a 10. I don´t like the art at all. It becomes better at some point, but I seriously find it horrible. There is a problem with proportions, the heads are too big. The characters look like monsters, with their mouths wide open... I cannot even beggin to tell how wide they can open their mouths when they shout, or when they are surprised... and that happens very often. I seriously though one of them was going to come through the screen and eat me. And why do they they all have to sweat so much? The only one that does never look like an alien is Shinichi Akiyama, as he always keeps his composure.

Enjoyment (8)
The manga is very exciting, which makes it enjoyable and keeps you wanting more. In the beginning, the art bothered me so much I even considered dropping the manga, as I had already watched the dorama, and knew most of the games. But at some point, it becomes new even for those who havent seen the dorama, and as the manga hasn´t ended´yet, I suppose new games await. read more

Story 10/10

I really enjoyed the story! Great plot, full of suspense and agony until the end.
The story starts with a girl, Chizuru, dressed as a boy, travelling to find her father. Then after a serious accident, Chizuru meets Hijikata from the Sinsehumi and then all the action begins!

Art 10/10

Just amazing Graphics!The Characters design was just awesome. The fight scenes are surprising epic!So if u like fight scenes u will definitely love all of them!

Sound 9/10

Loved all the soundracks and openings/endings

I REALLY enjoyed this anime! It was so GORGEOUS and well written in my opinion. Who wouldn't love a story with a little originality and stunning visuals?

This anime is indeed a good anime. But the problem I had with this, was that it is just so slow. The story line is very slow.

When you watch your average anime, you can usually predict upcoming events. However, you cannot do this with this anime. The events of this anime are unexpected, so to speak. The fact that you don't know what will happen next is what makes this such a 'thrilling', and entertaining anime. You don't expect for a main character to die on the 5th episode with his leg and arm cut off. You think he is still alive with a mechanical arm and leg or something. But no, he can turn into a freaking titan. Who would expect that?

This is my first review so be patient with me.

The story revolves around Luffy who one day discovers that his treasured hat is missing while they are at sea. To stop the captain from whining (and since they know how important that hat was) the straw hat pirates tried to look for it only to find a pirate ship with an injured man on board.

Reminder when watching this movie: it is in 3d animation and so if you are not used to this kind of animation, you might get disappointed. I loved the animation though. and that is why I am writing this review. To not let the "3d" in it scare you from watching this movie.

Art
For a 3D movie, it's pretty good. I expected something worst but the color and the character designs are really detailed. Let not the 3d fool you. As a one piece fan I still loved everyone even if they were in 3D.

Sound
The sounds and the dubbing Is still great as ever, I gave a high score for this.

Characters
There is enough appearance of everyone in the movie. They are not out of character and they are still them. It's just really cute that everyone would go out of their way to look for a hat. "Nakama" still stands out in this movie like it always does.

Out of all the one piece villains though, I hate this one the most (for now) and you'll know why… or maybe not. I still hate him though.

Overall enjoyment: 8
It was an entertaining movie really, but not as entertaining as the others. Rather than a movie, this felt like a special episode or an ova instead. For something that lasts for 30 minutes, the story wasn’t rushed and you still get to see a lot of the characters. Overall I give this an 8. Not the best movie of one piece but it's still good. This is still something that one piece fans should watch and the entertainment is still there. If you are a one piece fan then this should still be placed on your "must watch list".
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What the hell, seriously, what, the, hell, is going on with this anime ?!

Before we start, I must tell that I've read the scans that are released at the moment, this is a review of the anime "Shingeki no Kyoujin".
Then, I'm French and this is my first review on MyAnimeList, I write it with my english knowledge and some help from Google Traduction. Sorry about the grammars errors.

Story (9/10) : First comes the story, adapted from the manga and pretty accurate (for the moment).
Well, it's just something you cannot predict, the story is based on feelings like weakness and vengeance. Humanity has locked herself in high walls trying to avoid contact with the titans. Some think that the base story is something that can be related with FullMetal Alchemist Brotherhood (vengeance) or Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann ("Invaders" threaten humanity), well I can't deny it. The Anime has started 7 weeks ago and the story is already very developped, advanced, and surprising. This is only just beginning.

Art (10/10) : Art is fine. But animation is just AMAZING ! Each action episode promises you to glued you at your chair !

Sound (10/10) : One of the best parts of the anime. First, the opening theme, it has became a real meme in Japan, I call it "The Japanese "Guile's Theme Goes with Everything"". Just type "shingeki no kyojin opening parody" on Youtube. Anyway, this opening theme is epic, don't show so much spoilers and fits great to "Shingeki no Kyoujin". The soundtracks is amazing. Each scene is a feast for the ears, the battles reach an epicness level that can't be describe.

Characters (10/10) : The characters are extremely well developed on the psychological point. There are some cliches of course but the overall is very good.
Nothing more to say about it.

More to know : The original work has a great story with amazing characters and a very good psychology. This is something amazing to read but then the anime arrived, like saying "Oh god, I can do MUCH better". With an amazing soundtrack and an explosive animation, Anime Shingeki no Kyoujin hits hard in the guts forcing you to keep up to watching until it ends. And you will not regret it.
Amazing is a good word to summarize Shingeki no Kyoujin. read more

The series is a weird combination of being very cool and very boring.
On one hand I'm glad such creative pieces appear, on another hand I felt no reason to continue watching it.

Story: If you want something with more struggles and less romance in the genre of realistic Anime, this one is for you.

Art: Very beautiful. Soft and whimsical.

Sound: Good.

Character(s): Great character development. You can really get inside Yuki and Kyo's heads. Not much in Tohru's. But some.

Enjoyment: There's a little bit of everything for everyone. I think kids as young as 7 years are able to watch it.

Overall: A great story and treat. A rarity.

It was a wonderful short story, however I wish it would have gone on. It was left kind of to your own imagination.

Chihayafuru has some kind of indefinable quality which makes it exceptionally heart-warming. It's a fairly innocent anime - and we all agree that innocence is brilliant. The relationships between characters and the characters themselves are some of the sweetest I've seen yet, and I can't wait to get started on the second season to see their personalities develop further.

I started watching this anime on a whim one afternoon, not quite sure what to expect. I hadn't looked into it that much, and was prepared for anything. Episode after episode continued into the evening, then into the night, and then into the early hours of the morning. Four hours of sleep later, the laptop goes back on and the episode-watching continues.

You've probably wondered, judging from the summary, just how much enjoyment can be gained from an anime completely centered around some old card game. Let me assure you that there's plenty of enjoyment in store!

For those who know their anime jargon, I'd describe this anime as having a heavy josei influence (I'm trying to make my mom watch it, grr) with enough relationships and personality to make it worthy of a shoujo label.

This is an anime worthy of making its way onto your lists! If you loved that warm feeling you got after watching CLANNAD or Kimi ni Todoke, you'll most definitely love this. read more

So I just finished this anime, and i must says, i really enjoyed it. A lot of people have being giving it 3 and i don't think that was fair.

Story-
Set in a MMORPG, the story is going to be a bit silly, as you can imagine. I was a bit disappointing because the idea is so cool and then it kinda went down hill, its so jumpy. The first about ten episode have very little story, with it focusing on character development. There was a few moment when i was like "Holy butts!", but they where few and far between, with most going down in one episode. I did fine it a bit predictably in places, as it followed a lot of cliques and its a slow start. The Anime story isn't its strongest part.

Art-
This is a very pretty Anime. The character are well drawing and i saw their armor changing threw out it. They do change clothes and warm casual wear which i loved. The background are just... wow. Even if you don't watch, go on Tumblr and look at the pretty art from this anime.

Sound-
The opening and closing tracks in this anime, i just didn't like them. I would skipped them most of the time to get into watching the episode. The voice acting was good, and the music in the scene was pretty good as well. The music helped this anime a lot and it sis sound like it was part of this world.

Character-
Ok, i know i rated this very high, but i think it was fair. All the character are so good!!! I usually get sick of a lead character in two or three episode and start to focus all my attention on a side character but not in this anime. Most of the supporting cast turn up in the first 5 episode. I really enjoyed this because later on i would be like "I know this character... O MY GOD!" And all the death. When you die, you die so there is main crying moments when your new favorite character dies. And there are sooooo many love interest. The Big Baddy, i really hate him. Like in most shows i like the bad guys. They are my favorite character. I Hate that character. Like i ranted to my friend for too long about this person.

Overall-
I really enjoy this anime, true that lead is a tool and its slow, but it's so good. Even if you watch til season 1, it's


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I didn´t give this anime a 0 because I didn´t have the option. I absolutely hated it.

I hated the characters. No charisma, no nothing. The story wasn´t that interesting either. Boy likes girl. Another girl, a class mate, helps them get together, but ends up falling in love with the guy. Chan... love triangle. Then comes cheating, the boy is confused... and suddenly the boy becomes a womanizer and starts sleeping with whomever gets in his way. Oh well, he awakens to the marvelous world of sex, adolescence... no problem with that... but I start hating all the characters... doesn´t matter, I keep on watching, because the anime is short and I am halfway.

And then, the final blow: the ending, which is what I hated the most. It was like a slap in the face. I can see myself infront of the screen, eyes wide open, a grim gest in my face: What the hell is this!!?

There are people that say they liked the ending and could see it coming. I seriously don´t understand how they could have seen that coming. I felt absolutely cheated. So bad I cannot say much about it, because it would be a huge spoiler... I can only say I have nothing against such endings "per se"... but, please, give me a hint throughout the story... it´s a fundamental principle of story telling: don´t cheat the reader, or the audience. It felt as if I had made a mistake and was watching the end of another anime. Ajj... seriously, It pisses my off not being able to explain why I felt this way, there´s no way I can explain it without revealing the ending... so if you want to know, you will have to watch it, I guess.. not that I recomend it.


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Kurokami starts off slow but it is very good anime. I like this animes for its sense of mystery and well-drawn action scenes. Sometimes it seems repetitive but it is actually very touching, especially at the end. I love this story and many would too.

First Impressions:
Neon Genesis Evangelion..... There isn't much to say about this title that hasn't been said a billion times already but I'll say it all over again. Neon Genesis Evangelion can be described in many words from controversial to groundbreaking to influential to overrated to iconic etc. Love it or hate it, one thing can never be denied about it, and that is its pivotal importance to Anime in general. Why important you may wonder? Well look at what happened after Neon Genesis Evangelion and in addition when Ghost in the Shell came out. We got far more ambitious Mecha and Sci-Fi titles such as Escaflowne, Gasaraki, Betterman, Serial Experiments Lain, Boogiepop Phantom, etc, etc and we got more ambitious anime in general than ever before which continued well into the 2000's. Not to say that there weren't ambitious anime pre Neon Genesis Evangelion, just not nearly as much as there were post Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Aired between October 3rd, 1995 to March 27th, 1996, the brainchild of Gainax and more importantly Hideaki Anno graced the world. Hideaki Anno in particular went through depression after his directing work in Nadia: Secret of Blue Water for four years before creating Neon Genesis Evangelion. This depression in turn was reflected in the series giving it those very dark, psychological and occult elements. Further more, many elements of Neon Genesis Evangelion reflected the world and society itself in a way no other anime could replicate easily. Now that I've said all that, time to dive into the actual review.

Story:
The story of Neon Genesis Evangelion is fairly basic and cliche on the surface. Beings called "Angels" appear in Tokyo for the first time after an apocalyptic event called The Second Impact happened 15 years beforehand. Causing mayhem, destruction and havoc it's up to a secret organization called 'NERV' to fight them off with giant mechas called Evas. To further the cliche, only teenagers are able to pilot the Evas. This is as much as the average viewer will be able to see or understand from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Add to this the monster of the week format and the characters being too 'whiny' and those same average viewers will automatically call it the most overrated and worst anime to date without comprehending a single concept about it. When you actually dig deeper into Neon Genesis Evangelion you will find yourself speculating a million different things about it. That's one of its charms, a speculative, complex and experimental storyline with its major use of symbolisms, allusions, allegories, psychological and occult themes which actually makes the viewers think about the anime more than usual. No other anime was able to do this as much or pull it off nearly as well as Neon Genesis Evangelion did, sorry Serial Experiments Lain and several other brilliant anime. This inadvertently led to it being one of the most renowned anime in the world due to people speculating and making theories about it years after it finished. I can't say that this is best way to tell a story since it will feel incoherent and inconsistent to most as a an overall narrative especially if you are not willing to search or come up with the answers on your own. A double edged sword within itself.

The overall flow of the story was quite alright. Despite the repetitive monster of the week format it was able to center around the characters very well and built up its complicated themes as it progressed in a proper manner with the battles against the Angels using a lot of strategy and actually thought behind them. The dialogues were quite mature and complicated to add to all this. The first half had complexity and maturity when the situation called for it and lightheartedness when it needed to also. It had a perfect blend of both for the most part. The second half however deviated from this and became far more dark and even more complex eliminating the lightheartedness. The overall world setting and elements are well displayed throughout the series playing into the story quite well. The problem with the pacing though of course would have to be the overall duration of the series. It needed to be expanded far more and make things clearer for those not willing enough to figure anything out on their own. This can be excused though due to the budget running low by the end of the series which brings me to the controversial conclusion of the series and the movie 'The End of Evangelion'.

The ending of the series left a sour taste and a lot of outrage with majority of the fans but being the anomaly that I am, I quite liked it, loved it even. Deciding to end off by delving into the characters minds was symbolically representative of Hideaki Anno's psychological state during his depression. I give props to that because it shows how much of a personal work Neon Genesis Evangelion was to him unlike the fan catering bullocks when get by the dozens these days being called 'great' anime's. The End of Evangelion though was built up as being a retelling of the series ending. It was artsy as hell and just as complex as the series ending but managed to satisfy many fans including myself despite its convoluted flavor. When I think about these two endings though, I always see them somehow being connected. One displayed the mind of the characters and one displayed the characters actions. When I connect them like that, it makes Neon Genesis Evangelion feel far more complete and thus more satisfying.

Characters:
The characters are by far the most hated aspect of Neon Genesis Evangelion. It's understandable to a degree but unwarranted for the most part. They aren't your ideal characters and that was the damn point, they reflected the post-apocalyptic world setting and were immersed into story beautifully. In the beginning they were all very basic archetypical characters. Shinji being your typical whiny teenager with self esteem issues, Rei being the cold unemotional type which started this trend of characters in fact. Asuka is practically a stuck up tsundere. These are the core though, the rest of the cast aren't nearly as archetypical such as Misato, Ritsuko, Gendo etc. What makes all of these characters special and stand out immediately from the archetype counterparts would be how much they redefined their very tropes being the best of their kind. They took what Mobile Suit Gundam had created with angsty teenagers and added far more complexity, depth, psychology and development to them.

Each character had a great basic personalities and presence despite their tropes. Sure Shinji was whiny and Asuka was overly stuck up but both along with Rei had a lot of probing into their past lives and very minds explaining why they act the way they do so it made sense and was credible. Shinji is whiny and has low self esteem because he was abandoned by his very father Gendo as a child, therefore seeks acknowledgement and approval by others. Asuka was not acknowledged by her mother being second best to her by a mere doll, therefore making her fight and show off to be seen as the best and number one choice in everything she does. Rei is emotionally dead because she's merely a clone so her life in turn serves other peoples purposes and not her own. Misato is seen as level head throughout the series being an adult but she also has a dark past resenting her father for both saving and abandoning her as a child. Everyone has something that haunts them from the past, this in turn adds the necessary depth and complexity to their personalities. What this did also is show how fragile people actually are mentally. The way it's done is in the most psychological manner possible to boot too.

The general characterization is well done. The relationships are built around quite well. Each character gradually opens up to one another as the series progressed and show improvements mentally and socially in a very natural manner thus never felt overbearing. Shinji became more open to relationships with people, Asuka became a little less stuck up and Rei actually cracked a smile. This remained so for a bit until later in the series where it became far more dark and psychological with them doing the reverse and becoming more unstable then they initially were eliminating their progress. This causes the development to feel shaky however this purposely happens to constantly remind you that they aren't ideal and that people are fragile beings mentally. The ending of the series would further eclipse this. To put this all into perspective, the characters are some of the most well made in anime to date an integral part and the core of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Art:
The art and animation first and foremost is some of the best for its time. Right behind Ghost in the Shell for 1995 in fact. The general artwork is quite fresh and unique compared to most anime at that time. The character designs were well made, the body shapes especially were slim and well defined especially the Evas which was and still is so unique to most mecha designs in anime. The Angels designs were all interesting and varied from one another keeping things fresh with each Angel. The backgrounds and scenery was atmospheric giving off a very dark and surreal feeling matching the tone of the series perfectly. The visuals and choreography were just brilliant. The Eva battles displayed this quite well. With strategy and cooperation among the pilots needed, it topped off the great story and characters with some well made action scenes. The problem with the animation though is the budget cuts. There would be long drawn out scenes in the most random of moments messing with the overall pacing of the series a bit. This would all fall apart by the end of the series where the budget was at an all time low having episodes 25 & 26 using very minimal animation and visuals. Overall the Art is fantastic even by today's standards. High grade stuff.

Sound:
By far the most memorable part of Neon Genesis Evangelion is the opening theme song "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" which was sung by Yoko Takahashi. This song is in fact one of my favorite anime theme songs which it is for most that hear it It's not number one me though, but it's up there as one of my favorites and one of the best anime themes around. Speaking more on the song itself, it was very reflective of Neon Genesis Evangelion in general if you read the lyrics carefully. This further cemented it as one of the best anime theme songs for its relevancy to the overall series. The ending theme "Fly Me to the Moon" was quite catchy too. The overall soundtrack of the anime was pretty good also, all the tracks were solid. The battle theme in particular was great every time it played and it was played quite a lot to be frank thus being stuck in my head forever. Never grew tiresome at all though. The voice acting was exceptional, matching the characters quite well with a very mature tone and dialogues. The sound effects were also well done with no real hiccups. The overall Sound of the series is just brilliant. Excellent job done here.

Final Thoughts:
When I first watched Neon Genesis Evangelion it affected me and my thought process a lot whether it be on anime, people, the world or life. It wasn't nearly my favorite yet but with a long overdue rewatch, I fell in love all over again with it. It quickly toppled anime such as Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Berserk, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood among others secure the #1 spot of all time for me. It'll most likely remain like this for a very very long time. As an anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion will go down as one of the most historical and influential achievements to the medium and a Masterpiece. I hereby certify this illustrious anime Gold. read more

One word: EPIC
New unique story.. Awesome art and graphics.. Good sound
Just love the characters and their personalities and determination
A MUST WATCH ANIME!!!

Total rating: 10

Good Anime, Amazing , Unique Story, Good Art,
I Like this
I'm Only said that because my english still bad,
beside that i'm still newbie, I don't know way to writes good review,
sorry

When i sat to watch this amazing film i wasn't sure what to expect, not being privy to all the hype surroundings it i went into it with a open mind having not watched any other Ghibli or Miyazaki film.
So within only a few minutes it had me gripped...
opening with the male character Ashitaka chasing a fighting a Boar that clearly isnt just your average boar...and climaxing with a touching and poignant ending the whole film is a masterpiece.

You can see how Jim Cameron clearly ripped this off while making the bloated and frankly average Avatar, the whole story is weaved together with the other all message of conservation and protection of nature and it achieves this goal through its amazingly written characters.

I would without hesitation recommend this to not just any anime fan but to a fan of cinema and art in general.

10/10 Masterpiece

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A manga which could have the potential to be a brilliant piece but unfortunately…

Story:

The manga mainly centers around the plot of a pessimistic artiste manager, Kyouko who in a bid to save her failing career finds herself accepting the challenge of recruiting a stage performer, Riku into the entertainment industry and taking care of him in the capacity of his manager. Its starts off with the skeptical-no-idea-why-but-I’m-so-unlucky woman meets cold-and-callous-no-idea-why-but-I’m-naturally-impatient guy.

However all that said, the entertainment industry is a mere veil that brings the two main characters together. The challenges and dark side of the entertainment field is NOT explored in detail and issues of career conflicts are kept within the minimal. Readers won’t find themselves struggling with the characters with career decisions (because they are hardly any, except the fact of whether should the heroine being in the capacity of an artiste manger fall in love with a rising male celeb).

Basically, the entertainment industry is loosely focused here and I felt that the mangaka could have strengthened the bond between the characters and instil growth in them by dwelling into the realities of the entertainment industry.

Characters:

The thing that disappoints me much is really the lack of character development. It was like towards the end of the story, the main characters hardly change – except for the little fact that they realize how much they like each other and got together, in terms of personality and growth, it felt as though they barely graduated from where they were at Chapter 1. I wished the mangaka could have invested more efforts in developing the characters though a more thorough, well-though chain of events.

Further, even as I re-read certain chapters just to find out why, I absolutely couldn’t find a logical reason as to why the male protagonist fell in love with the heroine – basically she appears to be your normal girl-next-door slapped with tons of inferior complexes and a pessimistic outlook towards life. Although she did have her brave moments, it felt as though her complexes and lack of confidence overshadowed her strengths. Yes, it is believable to have men falling for women who are weak and needs protection due to the masculine nature of the former. However though I just can’t understand why someone would fall for someone who is always doodling with self-doubts and playing the self-blaming game.

Artwork:

The artwork is pretty fine. The main characters are decently drawn and pleasing to the eyes, although at times I felt that they lack a diversity of emotions, especially the eyes part. In a sense, there is a limited variety of emotions i.e. like only one expression for “crying”, one expression for “happy” and one expression for “angry”.

It would definitely have been better if there have been an array of expressions for the same type of emotions. It felt like something was missing (especially the male protagonist – he was illustrated rather charmingly but for some reason, it felt as though he lacked soul and hence, it seemed like there was a distance between him and myself as the reader).

The mangaka also has the habit of embellishing her art in intense situations by switching the characters into their chibi versions. The style is relatively extreme – you either like it or hate it. For me, I couldn’t bring myself to appreciate her style of turning something that was solemn a while ago into comedic chibis. I felt it sort of anti-climaxed the whole situation.

Overall :

It was on the whole a mediocre read. There are many parts in the series which the mangaka could have utilized and delved more into but didn’t.
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I kept weighing up whether I should watch Sword Art Online for a few months, and it wasn't until a friend coaxed me into it that I watched it. And I was not in the least regretful of that. I truly enjoyed this series and would highly recommend it, and despite the large amount of conflicting opinions, it does hold it's ground.

Story: 8

The premise is one of the main drawing cards of SAO and I think most people will agree that it at least lived up to expectations in that respect. The concept of around 10,000 players being trapped within a MMO where in-game death means real life death is not entirely brand new, but the way it is portrayed is very well done. Guilds, Bosses, Grinding and pretty much everything you'd expect from a MMO is all there and it is implemented realistically into the game. However, though the setting is done really well, one thing that is done pretty badly is the pacing.

The jump from episode 1 to episode 2 is one month and it's pretty off-putting, especially so early in the series. This would be ok, if it didn't feel like you were missing some important plot points or if it didn't happen so frequently. You can really feel this in the first few episodes and when it's coming up to the end of the first season. An example of this is Kirito and Asuna's friendship and how it feels really disjointed. One episode they don't like each other that much and the next they treat each other like friends, and though it feels like they practically had no time in between, they would have actually had a month or so that the writers didn't show you. It's not detrimental, but it does make the show feel very disjointed and like you are missing out on a lot of potential.

Characters: 5

The main two characters in SAO are Kirito and Asuna and there is certainly no doubt about that. And while they are certainly likeable, they are the stereotypical perfection characters that really don't have any in-character personality flaws. This really doesn't matter to me, as I still love the characters and that's what counts in my mind, but I definitely know that lots of other people would not like that. Kirito is a guy who works hard to keep up a tough persona to the community as a whole, while opening up to people he actually talks to and Asuna is a girl who keeps up a tough persona to distract her from the situation. The two characters grow in their personalities slightly, but generally stay the same throughout the two seasons.

Half of the focus of Season 1 and Season 2 is the relationship between these two, and I must say that I think it was done pretty well, excluding the time gaps. If you assume that lots of development happened in gaps, the relationship is actually pretty believable. I also liked how they kept their relationship rationally appropriate instead of going on a fanservicy route for no reason.

There is however a detracting point in the inclusion of most supporting characters. Without going in-depth about them here, the characters are all pretty likeable. Despite that, the two main characters are Asuna and Kirito and every other character barely sees the light of day as a result of that. There are some great potential people who would have made the story more enjoyable that had a whole episode based around them, but that was it. For characters like Lizbeth and Silica, they spend an episode with them as the central focus, and then they never appear again until the end of each season. Even then, it's just a cameo appearance really, with maybe one line. There were some characters who had a tad more prominence like Klein and Agil, but they still only had a few appearances. What made it feel even more like the potential of these characters were wasted, was how the show treated them like they had been main characters for the whole thing, whenever they appeared. This also is also attributed to the pacing, as you missed any extra interactions that occurred in those gaps.

Sound/Art: 9/8

The art is very beautiful and suits the setting really well, but it's nothing utterly amazing that you would write to home about. The animations for stuff like players dying and items expiring is pretty, but other than that it's just plain good. Nothing extraordinary, but still very nice.

As for the sound, SAO has a nice OST, but once again nothing out of the ordinary. I loved LiSA's performance with Crossing Field the best, but Innocence and Overfly are really great songs as well. The voices are well suited toward the characters, and gives a very clear representation of personality even if the character isn't developed, such as Klein.

I've stated a lot of flaws and stuff, and though it may seem that I don't see this show in a positive light, I really did love it. I didn't mention a lot of the good points and avoided talking about Season 2 that much, as it's just something you have to watch, instead of getting spoiled with anything. The plot isn't anything explosively superlative, however I really enjoyed it and would really like the other Light Novels to get adapted as well.

All in all, I'd say that SAO is something that even if you don't think you would enjoy it due to it's flaws and the hate that it gets, you can enjoy it a lot if you can look past those things. I'd encourage everyone to try it at least, even if you don't enjoy it.

(Sorry about the bad reviewing skills. I just felt that I should put my two cents worth out there. Also, my score is really based on enjoyment rather than the technical side of things, in case you were wondering) read more