Story- The story is one of the most original stories I have ever witnessed. Everything in the story can lead to something unexpected. They are all in a game world where you can only leave if you beat the boss at the end of level 100. That literally could span 60+ episodes but there is the problem with the story. If you have a problem with pacing, you are going to be very unhappy with this anime. Everything happens so fast and frankly the whole show could have done without the last arc. If Sword Art Online were to put more episodes about the actual Sword Art Online and forget about the last arc the show would have been a million times better. They rushed everything and in the last arc there is a creepy character who likes a family member more than just a family member, if you catch my drift. They really did underutilize the story.
Art- Although the story was really "meh" the art was fantastic. If you like bright vibrant colors that explode in your face as you go into the new world Kirito leads you on you are going to enjoy this anime quite a lot, well maybe just the scenery...
Sound- The soundtracks are pretty decent just average. The openings were not that bad but they are definitely not the best and avoid the ending songs in my opinion. They were not that catchy to me but if you want to give it a try by all means go ahead. I watched this in Dub and I give this show credit, the Dub is really really good. I don't know anything about the way the Sub sounds but it's really all about preference.
Character- This is where the lack of pacing affects the rest of the story. There is character development with only ONE character. The villains were so superbly creepy and menacing until the first one reveals his motives which leaves you scratching your head. There are many cool characters that deserve time to shine but you barley get to see them. Very disappointing.
In the end I enjoyed it to a certain degree. It has a lot of flaws but a lot of promise. If you are uncertain whether you want to watch it or not I must say give it a try. Even if it's not awesome it's still got the right stuff to make you keep wondering what's next. There is a season 2 coming out this year so all my hopes are in it learning from the mistakes of season 1. But in the end I give it a 6. Not the best, Not the worst, has cool fights, cool enemies amazing art and a lack luster pacing but do give it a try because I have a feeling season 2 will knock everybody's socks off and you gotta start somewhere. Who knows, maybe it will join animes like Fairy Tail and HunterXHunter in the newest edition of a Big 3.
