Sword Art Online is an anime nearly everyone (who watches anime) has heard of, watched, and formed their own opinion of. For those of you who have yet to watch it, I would suggest skipping it entirely.
»Story«
The story of SAO, from what I've been told, is very reminiscent of the .hack series in the sense that both deal with characters playing an MMORPG that traps them inside. In SAO, you are not allowed to leave unless you are killed, which then results in death in real life... or so they say.
The goal of SAO is this: Clear 100 floors, slay all the bosses, and clear Sword Art Online without dying. The story itself seems interesting... at first. The first episode does a good job of telling you what the show is about and what you -should- expect. Sadly, it falls short immediately after the first episode.
The entire point of SAO, the game, is neglected all throughout the show after the third or so episode. By about five episodes in, no longer is it an MMO of life or death, but a generic romance tale, complete with the idea of falling madly in love with a person to the point of threatening suicide, even though you know nothing about them. Not only this, but the "game" aspect of SAO disappears more and more as time goes on, becoming more of a side note than anything else. In addition to the plot lacking in general, time skips cause the pacing to be thrown off entirely.
»Art«
The art in Sword Art Online is remarkable. From every episode I watched, I enjoyed looking at it. It goes without saying that SAO is visually pleasing. Possibly even too visually pleasing as the amount of fanservice in the anime really ties down the stunning visuals that it has. All in all, though, the art is the high point of the show. The detailing is crisp, the colors vibrant and beautiful, the animation fluid and consistent.
»Sound«
In addition to the art, SAO shines with its sound. The music in SAO is very well made, and well executed. Each song's use fits the situation and each song sounds great. Even I, someone not fond of high-pitched Japanese vocals, cannot disagree that the opening is well done.
As for the voice acting, I know very little of the Japanese cast as I watch anime in dub when available, unless it's ear-retching and I'm forced to watch in a language I don't understand. The English cast is rather good. Nothing really to complain about as each character does their job and sounds how you would imagine them too.
»Characters«
The characters of Sword Art Online are... not good, to say the least. I'm only going to cover the main two as this review is already long enough.
Kirito: Kirito is bland and without personality. He changes from friendly solo player to a sort of dark hero to a husband all in the matter of a few episodes. He has nothing truly making him stand out aside from his powers. For whatever reason, Kirito is able to beat everything with ease and throw all logic and reason that the show had out the window. If you have played an MMORPG, you know that playing solo means you will lose loads of benefits from playing in a party, and yet Kirito somehow manages to outlevel everyone by a ridiculous margin without struggle, alone. In addition, Kirito is the only player ever allowed to dual-wield, somehow managed to learn how to hack the game (which he could have easily used to free himself, but doesn't), and even ignores the game's premise that states you die for real if you die in the game.
Asuna: Asuna starts as a decent well-rounded character and quickly evolves into a flawless marrysue character that ties down any sort of development that she and Kirito could have experienced. Instead of focusing on the game itself, she and Kirito decide to play house, complete with their own version of a child. Asuna becomes the damsel in distress instead of growing to be a powerful female character like the Major of Ghost in the Shell, wasting all potential she had.
»Enjoyment«
Sword Art Online was an anime I was stoked for. I even waited for my girlfriend to lay back and watch it with me. The two of us were eager to see this "awesome, new anime" as it premiered on Toonami. Sadly, after the third episode, we realized just how bad the series was. Ignoring the plot the series established in episode one, disregarding the rules of the game, creating characters that have nothing to really add to the development full of ridiculous gamebreaking powers, etc. I really wanted to enjoy SAO, and at first I did. But by episode five, I realized just how wasted the potential of the series was. This quickly became my biggest disappointment in anime.
Overall Rating: 3/10
