Story - 6
Many expected the story to be one of the strongest points in this show just by reading the synopsis or seeing the first episode, it ultimately falls short. Filled with lots of time skips and what one could call "filler" episodes it creates a lot of WTF is happening moments. The death penalty is used early on but on characters that viewers don't even have time to connect to. The penalty becomes even weaker when later in the series (SPOILER) Kirito and Asuna are "killed" fighting the last boss, but are okay in the real world. The death aspect gets thrown aside in the second arc.
Art - 9
The art was wonderful and the animation was very fluid when there were fights. The lighting was also very good but some episodes it just didn't show and made the atmosphere feel inconsistent at times.
Sound - 7
The sound fit well but nothing really stuck out other than the first op.
Character - 4
Due to the importance of the main protagonist Kirito, many of the other more interesting characters were pushed to the side.
Supporting characters such as Klein don't get much screen time, even though he started off seeming like a companion for our protagonist, he gets pushed to the side after the first episode.
Asuna, the heroine, starts off mysterious and antisocial being the only other player without a person to party up during the meeting for the attack on the first boss. She is also quite a good player, in the very same episode she appeared in, she and our main protagonist defeat the first boss. She seems to be shaping up as a badass heroine but later in the series becomes the damsel in distress to show how amazing our protagonist is. Although she seems to be renowned for her lightning fast speed and her skills she doesn't seem very powerful when Kirito is on the screen.
Kirito is our main protagonist and the perfect example of a Gary Stu, being able to crush bosses with little to no help, bosses that would normally take out dozens of players. He starts out well enough being a young, socially awkward teen who gets thrown into a game of death, but later he seem to be able to get all of the girls he meets to fall for him even though he doesn't have any standout qualities other than being super overpowered.
The relationship of our two main characters is one of "romance." It's obvious that they are going to end up together but it happens quite suddenly, with no real development before hand. Many romance anime have it so that the main couple don't really end up together until the end, making it seem unrealistic, but SAO probably would have been better off having Kirito and Asuna as friends until the end of the second arc. Forcing Kirito to realize how much she means to him.
Enjoyment - 7
Although I have problems with the characters and the lack of importance of the death penalty, I enjoyed the show only noticing these flaws when I re-watched it.
Overall - 6
The story is weak, and the characters "decent" but if you are looking for an anime that can give you a dark, breathtaking atmosphere with an interesting concept SAO is a good one to try.
