WARNING: Mild-major spoilers below. Do not continue if you have not seen the anime yet and want to remain spoiler-free.
Story-(6/10): There are two things that really prevented SAO from being as good as its fanboys/girls constantly try to remind us it is: the inconsistencies in the pacing, and the random addition and subsequent shoving aside of new characters (which will of course be discussed down below). The first story arc in Aincrad had a good but not great story line, which was really nothing special. What really grabbed me was the concept and how well it was done. Yes, I know it's not original, but the way the rules of the game worked and the game constructs were something I found very cool and unique. The problem here was with the pacing. The story progressed very quickly for how much was actually shown to be completed, until the 1 maybe 1.5 filler episodes before picking up for the final boss battle. Then after the game was completed, the show slowed down immensely as more was shown outside the world of VMMO's. The show became more focused on drama with the new game Alfheim Online as a plot device used to perpetuate some of it. In short, the series strayed away from what made it good in the first place, and it really put a dent in the quality of the show. Even so, the second arc wasn't entirely bad, and it was kind of unavoidable to create the same plot conditions that made the first arc good. Unfortunately, the storyline was just handled poorly.
Art-(10/10): The art of SAO is the one thing that most people here could agree on. The scenery was incredible to look at, especially many of the minute details. Of course what most people enjoyed about the show were the battle scenes, which were well-choreographed, and the entire show had superb effects in and out of battle that really brought the game to life. There isn't really much else to say on this matter other than well done to the animation team.
Sound-(9/10): The sound was another very well-done aspect of this show. The voices were all pretty good but were overshadowed by the sound effects and music, which were what really stood out to me. Both of the openings and endings were catchy enough for me to seek out the full versions and I liked all four of them. The great thing about the music in SAO was that it always perfectly matched the scenery and what was going on, whether it was the town music, the nice emotional music, or the epic battle scene music.
Characters-(5/10): This is another of the show's big downfalls. The main characters undergo almost no development at all. Kirito progresses a bit when he realizes he can't do everything himself and finally figures out how to use teamwork, but that's really about it. Asuna was a huge problem for me. I find it oddly irritating for her to have gone from badass blade warrior "Lightning Flash" to the near-helpless damsel in distress "Titania". While the plot accounts for this discrepancy fairly well, it just bothers me to no end. Unfortunately, that's not even the biggest problem with the characters. Pretty much all the minor characters are one-sided and static, including Suguha, Klein, etc. Then there's the problem that most people have come to notice: the focus a whole episode on characters like Silica and Lis, only to have them tossed aside with one or two cameos until the final episode. In a show where the characters lack development, one would think it would be beneficial to add more personalities to create more diversity, but it seems the plot has prevented that from happening.
Enjoyment-(9/10): Despite all these flaws, I had a fantastic time watching this show. It was fun, (mostly) exciting, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The show entertained me and kept my attention almost the entire way through. If anything this anime shows that good story and characters aren't everything. But to allow this to be a factor in the final score would be unfair considering how poorly the show did in other areas, so I'm leaving it out.
Overall-(7/10): Like I mentioned earlier, the show is good, but not great. It's sad to think that this show could have been much better. I imagine that this leaves seasoned anime watchers as the most disappointed while the newer viewers tend to be the least harsh. In the culture of anime, I think that SAO would actually function best as a starter show, or one to introduce some one to the world of anime. It's good enough to keep people wanting more, but once they get more, they will realize that there is so much better out there. Hopefully SAO II will fix the problems that season 1 had and be even better.
P.S. This was my first review, so I hope you guys found it insightful or whatever you read it for. If you didn't like it and take my opinion with a grain of salt, then I'll do the same with yours. Thanks for reading!
