As a gamer, and a fan of MMORPG's, I tried to keep my expectations not too high, because you know what they say: "The bigger they are, the harder they fall". Unfortunately, SAO fits this saying to a T, as it was one of the most disappointing anime that I've seen this year. Why? Well, why do think I'm writing this forsaken review?!
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Story: (3/10)
The story of SAO involves players getting trapped within an VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game), in which they are required to beat all 100 floors of the game in order to leave. The catch is, however, that if a character's HP drops to zero before clearing the game, not only do they die in the game, they also die in real life.
The concept of this story is absolutely brilliant. Unfortunately, the execution of this story is poor. The writing and pacing is just awful. Even during the SAO arc of the show, while this was tolerable, I was left wondering, "What on earth is happening here?" The Alfheim arc, on the other hand, was just... I don't even want to describe it. Parts of Episodes 21 and 24 were just borderline unwatchable... (I'm not going to say which parts, just to avoid spoilers...) At least the ending was somewhat satisfying...
Overall, the story was just utter CRAP. A good premise at first, but was terribly executed due to poor writing.
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Characters: (2/10)
In my opinion, the characters of Sword Art Online were by far the weakest part of the show. The main male character, Kirito, is just a Gary Stu, and nothing more. But somehow, he has the ability to attract girls by just looking at them. Why are these girls attracted to him? I'll never know. The main female character, Asuna, was introduced in Episode 2 as a badass who I had high hopes for. And what happens with her? The writers decide to turn her into a generic tsundere, and in the Alfheim arc of the show, she basically turns into f**king Princess Peach. Suguha, other than being there for the sake of fanservice, and to be part of a love triangle that involved a little bit of incest (It didn't work for me in Elfin Lied, it doesn't work for me here...), pretty much served next to no purpose (In my eyes). And to go into deeper detail about Kirito and Asuna, I could not for the LIFE OF ME understand the romance with Kirito and Asuna. It felt so forced and plot-driven that it made me feel absolutely frustrated.
However, I'd be lying if I didn't say that the reunion of Kirito (or Kazuto) and Asuna during the final episode was heartwarming... (but I digress).
The supporting characters were either uninteresting or just really annoying. The only character I had actual interest in was Klein, but even then, he was pretty much tossed aside. And as for Sugou, he is one of the worst villains I have ever seen. Period. He just absolutely disgusts me... (Though he has a certain line that's absolutely HILARIOUS!)
In the end, next to none of the characters were interesting or likeable in the slightest...
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Art/Animation: (10/10)
With my bitching and moaning aside, what DO I like in SAO? That's easy. I love how it looks. The art in this show is absolutely beautiful. From the scenery to the action scenes, the animation is consistent and fluid, and the scenery is just gorgeous. Maybe it's the fact that graphics/art is one of the major things I look into within a video game, but I digress.
With animation, this anime hits a perfect bullseye.
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Music: (8/10)
Since I'm not a person to critique VA, I'll just talk about the music. Just like the art, I also really enjoyed the music of Sword Art Online (and because I'm a fan of Yuki Kajiura). It reminded me of the countless hours I used to spend on MapleStory leveling up my character. The first opening, "Crossing Fields", got me pumped for an episode; giving me SOME hope that the show would somehow redeem itself (Sadly, it didn't).
Nevertheless, the music was as good as the art!
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Enjoyment: (4/10)
While I did enjoy Sword Art Online in the beginning, progressing through it turned into more of a chore than an enjoyment. Most of the SAO arc was "meh", and the Alfheim arc was just painful to watch. If it wasn't for the action scenes, this would've been rated MUCH lower.
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Overall Score: 5.4 out of 10 (Rounded down to 5)
In my honest opinion, Sword Art online was just painfully average. While the art and music are amazing, the story and characters prevent the show from being anything memorable (At least for me). Like I said before, it is definitely one of the most disappointing anime I have seen this year. Although it's not a 1 in my eyes, it's also not a 10.
Was it worth the hype? No.
Will I watch it again? Probably not.
*Feedback and Constructive criticism is welcome! Just don't be too nasty about it.*
