Story - 9: The story was unique. One aspect I loved in this story is the video game resembles a lot of other MMORPGs today. A bit off topic but throughout the whole anime, I just kept making connections with SAO and Maplestory. I felt like this element to the story made it so enjoyable. The story, despite being a survival story, has a fun and relaxing feel to it. There is a lot of romance as you get into the novel and connections with the friends Kirito makes along the way. The story definitely deserves a solid 9. The only reason why I felt like it didn't deserve a 10 was the fact that there were some skips between episodes that felt a bit awkward. Some characters just appear out of nowhere honestly and I understand they're minor characters, but try to elaborate their part in the story. Also so characters whom which are also minor, really play a role for one episode or two and then sorta just drift away from the main storyline. I want to call them filler episodes, but I don't think that's the right term. Interesting characters, but not always necessary introductions. One final part that I found a bit cliche was the second half of the story. I don't want to give away spoilers, but I felt like the second part of this anime was really cliche. It wasn't really unique as the first part. I enjoyed it but I was a bit disappointed. (NOTE: I'm not talking about a second season or a OVA)
Art - 8: The art and animations were great. Some of the sword fights felt a bit slow only because the attacks were essentially single blow fights. But otherwise I loved the art. It was clean and crisp. Solid 8 for sure.
Sound - 7: The sound was good. I can't really think of any special sound that was really good. The music to the anime sounded really familiar. A lot of the BGM felt like it was following similar notes to other songs that I cannot name. They were enjoyable none the less and were fitting.
Character - 8: The character development was good. The reason why I wouldn't put it as high is the reason I didn't give the story a 10, Gaps. I felt like in a lot of the characters (including Kirito) there were gaps in the story that didn't explain enough. Of course they're not large enough to deter from a good understanding of who these characters are but still gaps. All the characters really make you feel. Either happy, sad, or mad when you see them. They are somewhat cliche characters, but I guess you don't need to fix something that isn't broken...right?
Enjoyment - 9: Loved it. I enjoyed all the episodes up until the second part. That's the biggest reason why I can't give a 10. The second part was fun to watch, but it wasn't as grasping as I thought it would be.
Overall - 8: Solid 8, I thoroughly enjoyed the anime and would suggest to anyone looking for an adventure type of anime. It's definitely worth watching.
