From what I've read on several forums, this anime is considered a "guilty pleasure". Not for any kind of mature content, cause that's barely there, but for the fact that people say they hate this, yet they've watched all the episodes, back then waiting for each episode to come out. And I'm just going to say that I personally love this anime for what it is, but I can definitely say it's not perfect. But there definitely are reasons for its flaws, not just because of the anime itself, but other reasons. I'll explain later.
The story is rushed, but a lot of fun to sit through. It revolves around a guy who's playername is "Kirito", a former beta tester and now player of Sword Art Online, the first VRMMO ever made (in 2022). But after being in the game for a while, he notices he can't log out, and then realizes along with everyone else they're trapped, and there's no way to get out except for beating the 100 stages, or face death. A rather harsh truth, but Kirito accepts his fate and fights his way to top, along with his friends that he meets along the way.
Now, I wouldn't say this story is original. I believe it's similar to ".hack", although I can't confirm that, but even then, the main focus is struggling to survive in an alternate world. And without the VR part, this would be rather bland. But it's the whole idea of Virtual Reality that makes this anime so interesting. Especially considering the advances and developments in this area, a concept like a VRMMO is getting within our reach, and I myself am really looking forward to this point, and whether or not I'm an old man by then, I'll still use and play it. And it's this whole concept that attracts most of the viewers, wondering what it would be like when we finally reach that point. I'm sure looking forward to it.
The art and music... Amazing. Absolutely amazing. At least for the first half, the second half of the 25 episodes which revolves around a different world doesn't feel as great, but still pretty good. The art style is really good, and especially the technical VR bits feel nicely integrated into the anime, even though it has a more 3D-ish feel than the anime itself. The backgrounds, the skies, landscaping, it all looks simply astonishing, and is something I missed in animes lately. You can tell they spent quite some time into making this anime look as good as it is. And the music compliments the art with songs that make you feel like you're in an actual MMORPG. Whenever I heard the Swordland theme starting to play (main theme), I was at the edge of my seat and wondering what epic battle would satisfy my need for well... Epic battles, I guess. And when there's a calm scene, the music actually put me in a bit of a trance. It's just that great, at least in my opinion, and it could definitely be re-used in an MMO(RPG), while still doing a great job satisfying us with great tunes.
Now for the lesser bits. The overall character development is where the anime shows its flaws. As the story, and especially the first arc/half progresses, you'll notice there isn't a lot of time to get to know the characters better. Heck, even Kirito doesn't really open up unless he has some kind of revelation about how to see his life, whether or not he should fight for himself, etc. Asuna, the other main character and later on girlfriend of Kirito (you can call this a spoiler, but if you didn't see this one coming...), also feels a bit shallow, although the scenes with both characters in it are pretty nice on its own. The side characters (Klein, Egil, Lizbeth, Silica, Sachi, etc.) are well, your average anime side characters. We got a childish one, a cute one, a shy one, a slightly perverted yet energetic one, and so on. And when they're on screen, they're a lot of fun to watch. A shame pretty much none of them get any screentime in the second half, but oh well.
Lastly, I got to add something about the story as a whole. The original Light Novel was in my opinion far too short to be adapted into an anime, and I believe it got its debut because of Accel World, who's original author is the same as SAO. Fortunately, and you might not know this if you haven't read the novels, they tied in the side stories with the anime, not just because it's filler, but because it really helps in terms of story and character development. And fortunately, this wasn't that necessary in the second arc, but it shows that they really knew what they were doing.
So in conclusion, I give it a 9, simply because they did a pretty good job adapting the light novel into an anime. Heck, they did a better job than the manga, and I think that says a lot, as often people compare animes to the manga version. And of course for its great art, epic story (even though a bit rushed), great music, lovely characters, and overall a great experience. Fair enough, the second arc isn't as great as the first, but it does work nicely by extending the story while not feeling as forced as you may have experienced with other animes. I definitely recommend it if not only you're into VR, but if you're also into epic battles and awesome characters. Link Start!
