I think this anime had so much potential and for me the setting was unique. It felt like the movie The Matrix: for the first half of being interesting and raising philosophical questions and thoughts which I would have loved to see be expanded more when the series progressed but after the first half it was withered down to an even more generic action anime. I really hoped that this anime could have been so much better, deep and epic if they would have delved in to it.
I would have liked to know more about the world and I hoped they would have slowed the pace to go deep in to the universe and explain the laws and rules. At some point I was not sure that if I was missing an episode here and there. For characters you assume first that this character will be a relevant to the plot but they are usually forgotten completely after they are introduced by this I mean excluding the two main characters: male and female lead. It is a shame that even they are so flat and there is little progression and once you assume how they are I am pretty sure you will see they will stay that way forever. The main hero is almost a perfect in every way if he is angry it's because he fights for those he loves etc. it's so dull and boring.
The best part was when they took a break from all the action and started to live in a world where they are stuck and at that point it reminded me of "slice of life" styled animes like Clannad. The action was indeed quite good and sometimes I felt this awesome shivering when I watched the battles.
I really enjoyed the two main themes I think they will be in my top anime themes from now on. I really like to listen to them and I was always looking forward for the opening to begin because it set me in the right mood.
The animation is decent I quess at first characters looked too childlike for my likings but I got over it and in fact I fell in love with the main female hero! The animation gets better in action scenes but tends to be sluggish and lazy when they are not fighting. For example: When they fly it annoyed me that they did not flap their fairy wings, they were static. But maybe that's how the world of SAO is but I felt it was a lazy solution.
Long story short I think you should watch this anime and quit watching it at episode 15 it's a good point to end the series even if you don't watch all of it. You can assume lots of things but I think there is enough closure to move on because the last half left a bitter taste in my mouth. In terms of score there were points in the first half that I would easily give this anime 9 out of 10 but after barely completing it the number went down and down. I almost said to myself "this is rubbish how I can watch this?" but then I remembered those good and memorable moments from the first half. Indeed they should have used all the 25 episodes for the first story arc now everything feels so rushed. I was really looking forward for the villain. He seemed so interesting and in the end I did not understand his motives at all. I can almost see a big trollface when saw him trying to explain his motives. Well the show was in a hurry all the time so I quess the villain which also had so much potential had to be rushed and they introduced another main villain which I found very annoying. I almost hoped that someone will break the fourth wall and throw rotten tomatoes at him and then boo him out of the stage.
So far I have only bashed this anime but I watched it and I think that there has to be something good in it which keeps me going and interested and engulfed in the story. I would really like to say this is a very good anime but I feel so disappointed. If you want to see a generic and easy action anime with not so much character development I think this will do nicely just don't wish or wait too much from it.
