This review is pretty long, but I just had to.
I've always wanted to write a review for this anime because it gave me so many feels when I finished it. I started this anime with so many high expectations from all the good reviews and by the time I finished it (the next day), I felt empty in a way.
It was either that I had really really enjoyed it and didn't want it to end... or I wasn't satisfied with the ending.
I don't know how to explain this; I mean I wasn't particularly disappointed in the anime. It was great actually! The first
...
arc was awesome but then something's just not right.
That's why I've decided to write a review to this anime. It has spoilers... so if you don't want to get spoiled, stop reading. :)
Story - 7
Okay so the story isn't very unique. Technically it's about people being trapped inside a world where they have to fight to get out. Even though it's not special, I really like this concept and therefore I really enjoyed the first arc.
However I would have liked it more if the SAO arc didn't end so bluntly. One minute they were fighting a boss the next minute the leader of the strongest guild was the bad guy all along. This is proof that this anime is way too fast. People need time to process important information such as this and SAO isn't the best at doing this.
Well they did gave off SOME hints that he was the bad guy but it wasn't as clear. It is a good thing to have a sudden twist in the story and surprise the audience, but SAO should give the audience a chance to figure out who the bad guy is. Maybe Kirito could just say to Asuna, or just simply think to himself that Kayaba Akihiko might be among the players so that it could build up a bit of suspense so that later we, the audience, won't feel so empty. In other words, they skipped the built-up stage and rushed straight to the climax. IN A STORY, DO NOT EVER DO THIS!
Okay so that's the first arc. Second arc: horrible really. :)
It's not mainly because of the story, it's because of the character (yes, i'm pointing my finger at Suguha). The fact that they're using fighting fairies is really awesome! Now they can fly and they belong to different realms (is that what they called it?). They can also use spells and magic! It had so much potential...
The timing was better. The story of rescuing Asuna is good as well. Kirito meeting Leafa is also good.
I was disappointed when Kirito lost his title: The Black Swordman. He became nothing in ALO, which is sad.
The ending was too far stressed in my opinion. The part where the guy raped Asuna with Kirito watching, it seemed like a really good love story. With the guy feeling pain at nothing he can do for the girl he loves when she is raped right in front of him. It really tugs your heart. But SAO isn't like that. They had sex before, but it was out of love. This guy is raping her out of enjoyment. It has no point he doesn't love her! He's just doing it so Kirito can feel the pain. There are many ways they (he) could have expressed that. Kissing her is enough. Touching her hair is enough. Touching her face is enough. Tying her up is enough. Locking her in a cage is enough. For Pete's sake he is ENGAGE to her! Raping is too far fetched.
And that's all I have to say.
Art - 9
It's beautiful. Especially SAO! I think on the first episode, most of the settings are based on real locations. The character is very nice as well! But I personally thought that Asuna's face is kind of too round... She's still pretty though.
Sound - 8
I don't remember much (watched it last year), but I think I enjoyed the opening songs. Couldn't remember the endings though... But there's this theme called Gracefully. If you loved SAO (or hated...) check it out because it's beautiful! It will trigger memories!
link for EXTENDED version => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utiHV99VXOE
Character - 6
This is where things go horribly wrong. I will be assessing main characters and the ones I liked.
Kirito
SAO - He's too perfect. He is this well-known swordsman who is super powerful with the name "The Black Swordman". He's handsome, nice, knows how to enjoy things, knows what to do, unbeatable at fighting, solves the mystery, and gets the girl. He's just perfect. Nobody is ever perfect, so Kirito is a very unrealistic character.
But for me, that's okay. I mean he's in a game. He's stuck in a fake world, a world where he prefers being in than the real world. So when I read the reviews about him being too perfect, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. The world is unreal; his personality doesn't need to be real.
My point is expressed by episode 6, where that guy killed his wife because she was too different (can't remember names, sorry...). The person she was in real life is different than the person she was in the game; it showed a different side of her that the husband never knew. This is the same for Kirito, and this is also where his character goes down. We barely know what Kirito is like in the real world.
He is a gamer, so because of this we can safely say that he doesn't have much friends. From SAO, he is too straightforward and other people see this as rude - people like Lisbeth. It shows that his communication and social skills are very bad. Since he's a gamer, we can also deduce that he is somewhat a genius. In SAO, he was able to crack the system and save Yui from being deleted.
And that's all we know about Kirigaya Kazuto-san. The traits I said he had was only assumptions, we're unclear if he had any friends in real life. How his grades were doing. What his relationship with his family was. Nothing. And that is Kirito's character's flaws.
ALO - So he became from this awesome swordsman to a looked-down-on fairy. And he was able to proof to Leafa and others that he was worth something. I liked his personality in ALO better since he went from Hero, to Zero, to Hero again.
How he is so determined to rescue Asuna is very strong as well. It shows a character development from where he was 'the lone ranger' and only cared for himself to a person who would risk getting killed to protect someone he cares about. As a result, Asuna is THE most important character for Kirito's character development. Not only does he change from that, but also his social skills. He befriended Leafa quite easily compared to when he was with Asuna, Sachi, Klein and Lisbeth (he saved Silica's life... so let's ignore her for now).
In ALO, we were also able to take a look at Kazuto's life. The relationship between him and his sister and that he used to do Kendo.
In the end, between SAO and ALO he had a massive character development.
Asuna
SAO - Likewise to Kirito, her character is also perfect. But she wasn't perfect from the start. From the start she was just a lonely girl who didn't know much about the game, the next time we saw her on screen she was the sub-leader of the best guild in SAO. We didn't see it, but we know that she had to work extremely hard to get into such a high position (how she mastered her cooking was the same, she worked hard).
She is also very determined and knows exactly what to do since she is a leader.
Unlike Kirito, Asuna is not perfect from the beginning. She was rather clumsy and confused. From where she was standing up until now, she had a great character development.
She's also a Tsundere and had a soft spot for Kirito and she makes people do the things she wants through force. She is also very hard working, too hard-working sometimes and forget to enjoy her life. So even though she was perfect, she wasn't that perfect.
Though a character like her is very unrealistic, she is very inspirational. She is strong and doesn't need Kirito to save her she actually saved him. Twice (ignore ALO for now).
But thinking about it we don't know anything about Asuna in the real world either, however this is not necessary. We watch SAO in the perspective of Kirito, so we only know the stuff that Kirito knows and the stuff when he is around. They showed Asuna's personality very clear and we do have an idea what kind of person she is.
In general, I thought Asuna was a great character in SAO. In SAO...
ALO - In ALO, we know a bit about her. She is the daughter of a rich cooperation and she's getting engaged. I think there was some other information about her but I forgot... :P
Anyway in ALO, she was locked up in a cage. Disappointing because I wanted to see her fight side by side with Kirito like in SAO. Not only that but she suddenly changed: from the hero to the princess. And this change, in my opinion, is really stupid.
We got to know her in SAO as an independent being and can take care of herself fine. But here in ALO she couldn't do anything. From SAO, I know that she can take the Oberon guy (the guy that raped her) head on. He's a weakling; we saw how frightened he was when Kirito got the upper hand of things. The fact is that Asuna is even stronger than Kirito (mentally, not physically), why didn't they get her to beat the lights out of him? That would be so much better.
I read in a review that the author to SAO wrote this when he was 15, so it's understandable that sometimes he wants guys to be the powerful ones and girls to be the weaker ones. He should either have just shown that Asuna was weak or that the cage was impossible to get out of for her not to fight back. So yes, I am not happy with ALO's Asuna.
Suguha/Leafa
She's my least favorite character. She doesn't do anything when she's with Kirito really. He does most of the work and she heals him.
I don't like her at all. Not because I support Asuna & Kirito, but because she doesn't seem likeable. She is nothing like Asuna. They're both kind of arrogant, but at least Asuna shows us what she can do. Leafa stood on the side and cheered the whole time.
Oh, and did I mention that she is incest? Well there you have it. She's incest. And after falling in love with her brother (cousin) again in the game and realized he was her brother, she cried in her room blaming him.
He never did anything wrong. All he did was being nice! He didn't know she was in love with him in real life or that she was his sister in the game.
She's just so messed up that I almost feel sorry for her. Almost.
She also uses the person who likes her... God I can't stand her.
So that's the main character. I've noticed that this review is getting too long so I'm going to sum up the rest of the characters. For me I like Yui and Klein. They were the best characters (better than Asuna and Kirito).
Lisbeth and Silica was nice as well. Though because the pace was too fast they couldn't explore more into Lisbeth, Silica and Sachi. I would have liked Kirito to spend a longer time than just one episode for each character and then the rest is based on Asuna.
Enjoyment - 9
Finished it the next day. I don't do that very often.
Overall - 7
It was good. Maybe an 8? nah...
Well back to my point earlier, I felt empty after finishing the anime. I think not because I wanted more, but I wanted it to make more sense. And I think the ending to the whole series wasn't very powerful. The bad guy in ALO is actually quite weak, and it took that long to defeat him is really stupid. I guess the main point of ALO is to introduce Leafa and show us the bond between Kirito and his sister. But it was still very weak, even at the reunion of Asuna and Kirito.
So yeah... I guess I was disappointed. :|
All (5)FriendsRSS Feeds |
May 23, 2014
Sword Art Online
(Anime)
add
This review is pretty long, but I just had to.
I've always wanted to write a review for this anime because it gave me so many feels when I finished it. I started this anime with so many high expectations from all the good reviews and by the time I finished it (the next day), I felt empty in a way. It was either that I had really really enjoyed it and didn't want it to end... or I wasn't satisfied with the ending. I don't know how to explain this; I mean I wasn't particularly disappointed in the anime. It was great actually! The first ... |
