Story: 3
SAO starts off with a great premise of real people being trapped in an online setting. Then comes the infamous rule of "People die if they are killed." That's right, you die in the game, you die in real life. It was interesting to see the social dynamics of this at first, and I waited with baited breath to see how our protagonist Kirito would progress through the series.... and then time skips happened. That is the problem with pacing in this series. We see no real progression, just an implied sense of one while Kirito walks around like a badass attracting every vagina in sight. We barely ever see him struggle and overcome, except for two climactic moments in the series where he completely disregards the science of the game in favor of deus ex machina strength.
And then there's the second half of the series.... I can't say much without spoiling it, but lets just say the already shoddy writing takes a serious nose dive. All feeling of urgency is lost, and everyone just seems to be taking the game too seriously. It would be understandable if it was a real world setting or the prior virtual world setting where lives were truly in danger, but now it's just about a bunch of overzealous gamers pissing about. Other than the main female lead, who is now a generic damsel in distress, there's not much ado about the plot.
Art: 9
SAO is definitely a very pretty MMO. I do have a problem with Kirito and most females looking alike with their moe faces, but the secondary characters are distinctive and well animated. The combat scenes are the biggest highlight of the show, and is a big step above its peers in the MMO genre.
Sound: 9
SAO also boasts very nice SFX along with a beautiful and memorable opening sequence. The Latin opera chanting creates a sense of epic grandeur during the major boss fights in the series. Yuki Kaijura has created a work of sonic art in this anime.
Character: 3
Alas, the ultimate shortcoming of SAO. There is very little character growth with the two lead characters. The story written on their romance feels like it was written by a high school shut in that believed this was how romances worked. Females tend to be a huge minority in online gaming, yet they seem to be magnetically attracted to Kirito. Adding on to that, they have very little screen time and no character development of their own, and exist merely as fluff. It's almost as if Kirito is the ultimate wish fulfillment character for MMO gamers watching the series. And then there's the completely unnecessary love triangle in the second half.... Can you see where my frustrations are emanating from yet?!
The first villain played out very well, even if his true purpose in the game is not fully revealed. This is a big contrast to the villain of the second half, who is VERY aesthetically and characteristically unappealing. It's as if the writers ran out of ideas and needed to put in a bad guy that we'd love to hate without thinking too much of his overall impact on the series.
Enjoyment: 7
I must say I did enjoy SAO in spite of letting me down where it really counts. It's just hard for me to take seriously because of the shoddy writing and poorly fleshed out characters. I can at least watch it for its combat and aesthetic eye candy (note there are some fanservicey moments, including one involving tentacles) .
Overall: 7
Should honestly be a 6.5 but I'll round up for good measure. It was good, just not as good as its fans say it would be, but not quite as bad as the detractors would say. If it had better writing and planned out more on its characters, SAO could've been an instant classic. Instead, it's just a beautifully animated action fantasy with a story that kind of makes me laugh at how someone could pass this off as a classic. But I'll take it for what it is.
