The story in SAO at first glance seems very interesting and almost desirable. A video game is released in the year 2022 and has each gamer step foot in a virtual VRMMORPG( Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) This seems like an excellent setting for an anime and was something that got me excited for this anime. However what SAO does with this setting simply is the definition of wasted potential. Throughout all of SAO's main story arc it keeps drifting away farther from its core story line. So what is exactly the main story line in SAO? well, you have Kirito our main protagonist in SAO who decides to play this game and try and beat it. Thousands of people enter this virtual gaming world in hopes they can also beat it just like Kirito wants to. However they soon find out that they are trapped inside the game until they beat the final boss. Also if you die in SAO, you die in real life. The first 4 episodes or so really suck you into the world of SAO but after you meet Kirito's love interest AKA Asuna, the story keeps tumbling down a spiral of never ending boredom and annoying episodes. I really gave up on SAO's story line after the first half of the season where they set SAO in a new MMO. The story never focuses enough on beating the game and more or less focuses on the love between Kirito and Asuna. This is where SAO becomes a real drag and honestly a pain to watch.it becomes Predictable and extremely cliche. Not to mention the story isn't paced what so ever and jumps all over the place.
The art in SAO is one of the things it has going for it. Beautiful in almost every scene especially the action parts of the anime, this show really knows how to show off a cool action scene. The animation is crisp and clean and every major characters' face is detailed and distinctive. This is something I really loved about SAO even if it's all just eye candy.
Another part of SAO's saving graces is the sound and music. The music in each scene is fits very well and is enjoyable to the ear, dare I say even the sad moments felt even more sad due to the music. which is what music should do in every anime. In terms of dub or sub, I would say sub however the dubbed version isn't the worst and is for sure watchable. It may all come down to preference in the long run.
I'm just gonna come out and say SAO has some of the worst characters out there and the most wasted. The two main reasons why SAO's characters are so bad is because 1. They have ZERO and I mean zero development in their personalities. For example Kirito is overpowered from the first episode to the last. Nothing seems like a challenge for Kirito or an obstacle.This makes SAO very boring to watch and soo predictable. My second reason why the characters suck so much in SAO is that there are just too many! You have a harem type thingy going on mid way through the first half of the season where Kirito meets girls who all have a some what of a love interest in him. I don't have a problem with this if only the characters were actually interesting!
SAO introduces one character and then seems to throw it out like yesterdays trash! It's frustrating when you have multiple characters introduced in an anime yet only two are fully fledged out. In terms of how Asuna's character is, all I can say is that she's the typical Tsundere love interest until they some how fall in love in a video game. I won't even go into detail on Yui's character as I believe she's the most worthless. Oh and also Kirito has a "Sister" or cousin who falls in love with him and wants to be with him. Somehow or someway an anime revolved around beating a virtual MMO managed to include an incest story line in the mix. Great job SAO.
Finally, did I enjoy SAO? Sort of, I say this lightly as anyone is even remotely intelligent in terms of anime would know this is an overrated anime full of eye candy and cool effects. Something excites new comers to anime. SAO would've a great anime had it done all the things correctly. I enjoyed the action scenes and awesome music yet dreaded the two main characters who I'm supposed to love and cheer for. In short Sword Art Online was a Colossal disappointment.
