"This anime is like wish-fulfillment drug for male teenagers and adults who're addicted to online gaming and can't deal with real-life challenges. "
Sword Art Online is that anime that all your friends are talking about. From how I see things, this show was made to attract every audience you could imagine. A romance, a black-haired skillful main character in his teens, a little siscon, and all of it pretty much rounded up inside of a virtual reality. What could go wrong?
Story - 7
The writers did a great job of stating the rules of the game and giving the characters the green light. I enjoyed the overall pacing of the show's entirety, except for the very strange stop in the very middle of the season. It almost felt like intermission, where you go refill your soda and hit the restrooms while our faithful protagonist recovers from the first act. One thing that I didn't enjoy was the major, random time leaps. By the next episode, two years could have passed. You might notice a few kids in that time (thankfully it's a video game). In all seriousness, there's a sense of progression in the game despite no visual leveling system. In other words, a beginning and an end.
Art - 8
Animation is really getting great these days, isn't it? I wonder if the Japanese use Windows or Apple.. Nothing special here besides the great environments the animators wanted to flesh out into a whole new fantasy. It really did feel like an adventure and I would have liked to see more.
Sound - 8
Another good one. Even though it was a virtual world, it was definitely a good example of music put in the right places for a story.
Character - 6
While powerful main characters are considered a very controversial and volatile topic in the anime industry, some writers manage to pull it off.. Kirito is a good example of how a character doesn't have much depth and can still swing swords like some super-samurai. It makes the viewer able to blend into the world without too much to think about. Although for the other characters (the earlier episodes at least) I think they were used like warm-up sessions for the bigger picture. Sometimes I get the feeling the first few episodes of some shows are basically the studio going "Hey, look at what we can do! Look at us! Now sit still and finish the show!"
Enjoyment - 8
This show was hyped, I was not. Smart decision.
Though I like psychological thrillers and romance, I can easily sit back and enjoy an adventure or two and be easily entertained with Sword Art Online.
Overall - 8
If you are new to watching anime, this is definitely a great place to start.
If you like to sit on your porch on a spring afternoon with a chilled beverage, not worrying about that guy's opinion on MAL about how terrible the show's character-development was, this anime is for you.
