Story: 5/10
I wish I could say it was more than what's above but honestly, it's not. The idea of being stuck in a video do or die is unoriginal and the story does little to compensate for that. It had a lot of potential and could have deserved all the attention it got but unfortunately imo it didn't. The first two episodes got me hooked, it started out GREAT. Kirito starts playing SAO, meeting a new friend and then bam he finds out that he can't log out and it was all a scheme from the game maker. Everyone has to beat the game or die. But all of a sudden he decides to go solo (in a mmo ? -.-)because everyone thinks hes a cheater for being a beta tester. Instead of explaining that he didn't know about the first boss because it changed, he walks out. That's where things start to go downhill because the pacing suddenly gets rushed and uneeded characters are put in to traumatize Kirito and make the story seem meaningful or something. In reality it doesn't really change him because hes already all depressed to start with. Some episodes seemed like fillers to me where they could have done something to contribute to the story but it just ends up as another episode where a girl falls in love with Kirito then pretty much gets thrown in the trash can because they're just extras. A one time kind of thing. I honestly thought the second half was very unnecessary. Instead of suddenly skipping from floor 1 to floor 50 then (You know) they could have used the 25 episodes to fill in some plot holes and make the series seem not so rushed. Since they didn't it probably would have been better to end it at episode 14. That's how unnecessary i thought the second half was.
Characters 5/10:
You got your average unconfident 15 year old (or was he 14?) guy who likes to play video games. I know, how special, well that special guy is our MC. Magnificent. He's gloomy most of the time, pretty kind and at desperate moments can be really cheesy. Unfortunately he pretty much stays like that throughout the whole series. Then you got our typical Tsundere Asuna who falls in love with him just like 70% of the cast does. She's doing all the things Tsundere's do. Act mean, then nice. Cool. After that comes a girl named Silicia who falls in love with him for doing a good deed and we don't see her till like 15 eps later. Great. The rest of the supports are pretty much like that. Awesome. Except for that red haired guy. Yeah i dont remember his name because he appeared in like 2 episodes and came back 15 episodes later for 30 secs. Fascinating. Oh yeah you can't forget about Suguha. Kirito's cousin who has a crush on him (not creepy at all), has double g boobs (oh la la la this is not a complaint) and likes to create uneeded drama(but this is -.-). Magnificent. Lastly our villain in the second half. Im not even going to start because you all know what villains like to do. Capture the MC's loved ones then wait to be defeated by the MC. Amazing. Maybe im being a bit harsh on the characters because despite not developing much they were pretty enjoyable especially Asuna and Kirito's romance but overall just not great. For being entertaining i give them a 7, for being characters i give them a 5.
Art: The art is actually very good well it was made in 2012. So no duh but still. The landscapes were like dum bee do bee dum. All medieval fairytale like which is good because that's the whole point. No weird hair (game characters dont count those are cool CX), 5 meter long legs and cool video game outfits. What more could you ask for? 9/10
Soundtrack 8/10: I really liked the soundtrack. I usually skip the openings and endings but for SAO i listened to it twice (well its better than nothing). What i liked most was the whimsical music that made it seem like a fairytale. It was awesome. Some of the battle music could have been more epic but its battle music who cares as long as it builds suspense.
Enjoyment 7/10: Despite all my critism i actually liked SAO i mean when im watching anime im not in critic node im in my weird kaelynn self mode (basically childish mode) :P The characters are really entertaining and watching Asuna's + Kirito's romance is also enjoyable (Even though i dont really like romance) . Best thing is when scenes go over the top with being dramatic and end up being cheesy, you get a good laugh. If you just want some entertainment watch SAO or if you don't care about plotholes n all that reviewing stuff. If you're just a strict wuss then shoo! lol jk.. this is long. phew.
