Sword Art Online (SAO) is an anime series based off the light novel series of the same name by Reki Kawahara. The light novels were released in 2009, while the anime aired throughout 2012. Both the light novels and anime have proven to be financially lucrative and SAO’s overall presence in the industry cannot be denied. I started watching the show with some preconceived notions and knowledge of my friend’s opinions. However, throughout my run through the show, I did my best to approach each episode with optimism and an open mind. With that being said, let’s move onto the review.
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Story
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SAO’s plot revolves around advanced
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virtual reality games and the lives of the players who inhabit them. Here “inhabit” is meant quite literally, as the players login to the game through a “NerveGear” system that transports their consciousness into the game. The majority of the show focuses on one such player, Kirigaya Kazuto, known by his IGN “Kirito” for the majority of the series.
In the first half of the show, SAO is revealed to be a sort of diabolical experiment in which the players cannot logout until the game is cleared. To add to the stakes, death in the game translates to real life as well. This half of the show describes the events that surround Kirito’s experiences in the initial SAO game. The second half of the series focuses on Kirito’s quest to save Asuna, his lover from SAO. To do so, Kirito must enter a new game world known as ALfheim Online (ALO) and uncover why Asuna has remained trapped in the game world.
I found the premise of the first half of the show to be pretty interesting. There are plenty of interesting questions to be raised about virtual reality and its effects on its audience. The plot ends up being rather simple, but it is still enjoyable enough and very easy to follow. The first half of SAO also features some episodes dedicated to side characters and “asides” to focus on miscellaneous elements of Kirito’s life in SAO. I found these episodes to be the weakest link in the story, as they confused the pacing and cohesion in the show, while adding little in terms of character development or plot depth. Overall, this half of SAO features an oddly paced, but simple and inoffensive story.
The second half of SAO does away with the “weighty” parts of the plot and exchanges it for more personal drama in Kirito’s life. This half of the show is more linear and predictable than the first half, but I enjoyed it more if only because it was more consistent. It’s story is even simpler than the first half, but once again it works for what SAO is, providing a decent vehicle for exploring each character’s motivations.
As a whole then, SAO’s story is a bit of a disappointment in that it doesn’t explore many of the ideas that its premise seemed to suggest it would. The story ends up feeling a bit generic, but it’s not particularly bad in most cases, so I struggle to say that it is necessarily “bad”. What you see is basically what you get in SAO. It will rarely surprise you, but it’s an OK story at the end of the day.
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Story Execution
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As hinted above, the execution of SAO’s story was scattered. The first half of the show is marred by frequent tangents off the story that end up being little more than flashback fodder. This also leads to implicit time skips and other questionable devices being used to advance the plot. The endings to both halves of the show were rather ridiculous and unbelievable. These are all tangible problems in SAO’s execution, but my main issue with the show is more abstract.
Throughout SAO, the show holds fast to its core principle: appeal to young men. The show has moments of potential depth and intrigue, but I can’t help but feel that it is forsaken in the name of a popular, yet shallow appeal to its target demographics’ desires. Characters enter and exit frequently, seemingly just to inject (often painfully stereotypical) popular story elements that often end up unexplored. Kirito’s backstory in SAO fits into this mold as well, comprised of token “tragic” events that have no plot significance. Of course, there is a strong amount of fan service throughout the show as well. It starts to become especially egregious and even morally questionable in the second half of the show, which is definitely a low point in the series.
With that being said, SAO’s execution is definitely not a complete mess. While there are illogical and confusing elements to it, the story is still easy to follow overall. While I found the cast to be rather flat in terms of development and personality, they performed their roles fine and I never felt that the story was simply worth abandoning. Again, the show featured moments where my mind was intrigued. It’s just a shame that these moments were often left unexplored, while tropes and platitudes were abundant.
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Presentation
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SAO features good production values overall. I enjoyed the OP/EDs of the series. Infact the score as a whole was well done, and it complimented the action on screen well. The world of SAO and ALO really come alive in show, and the animators did a great job making each world colorful and distinct. There were times where I found myself pausing just to inspect the details in the landscape and city shots. This is a well-produced anime, and so long as you don’t find the fan service too offensive, it’s a treat for the eyes and ears.
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Conclusion
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Ultimately SAO has a complex exterior, but it’s a very simple show at heart. It has a lot going for it, but chooses to stick to a rather mediocre and predictable path. With that being said, the show is not particularly “bad” at any point, and it features excellent production values that make the experience enjoyable overall. I could understand someone giving this anime a slightly higher score. It all boils down to how much one enjoys the “side quests”, and how much the story matters to the viewer. For me though, I found the experience unremarkable, although it didn’t cause me pain to finish it.
Mar 27, 2017
Sword Art Online
(Anime)
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Sword Art Online (SAO) is an anime series based off the light novel series of the same name by Reki Kawahara. The light novels were released in 2009, while the anime aired throughout 2012. Both the light novels and anime have proven to be financially lucrative and SAO’s overall presence in the industry cannot be denied. I started watching the show with some preconceived notions and knowledge of my friend’s opinions. However, throughout my run through the show, I did my best to approach each episode with optimism and an open mind. With that being said, let’s move onto the review.
==== Story ==== SAO’s plot revolves around advanced ... 
Oct 4, 2016
Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso
(Anime)
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“Your Lie in April” is an anime adapted from the manga series by Naoshi Arakawa. I was intrigued by the premise of the story, as a former hobby pianist myself, I looked forward to seeing how music would be used in the show. Beyond that though, I began watching without knowing what to expect.
//////////// // Story // /////////// YLA follows a pivotal year in the life of former prodigal pianist Arima Kousei. His mother passes away two years prior to the beginning of the plot, rendering Kousei unable to hear the sound of his own piano. In his sorrow and fear, he resigns from playing the piano. The ... |
