Basically we have a young male teen who calls himself Kirito, his actual name is Kazuto Kirigaya, Kirito like most teens his age loves playing video games. Kirito specifically loves playing Sword Art Online, a VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) but one day something unexpected happens. Kirito, like many playing in the same game he is, finds himself unable to log out of the game, leaving him trapped. Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of the game reveals his intentions, he wants the players to clear all 100s floors within the world of Aincrad. Kayaba also states that death in the game will result in them dying in real life as well and any attempt to remove the Nervegear (a device used to allow players to play in virtual reality) will have the same result. Now Kirito has to not only find a way to complete the game without dying but also try and survive the result that such a traumatic experience will have on the other gamers. After all, many would go to great lengths to ensure they survive.
Story - First watching this, I found the first couple of episodes very thrilling and as the series went on and we see the effects the game has on different people as they try to adapt to an entire new world, we get to see that not all people are helpful or nice. Eventually we even hear about how people begin to give up on clearing all the floors and begin to live thier lives in virtual reality. I like the pacing of the first couple episodes
Art and Sound - Nicely animated and a decent soundtrack, nothing too special though.
Character - Asuna - The main heroine. During his travels at the beginning of the anime, Kirito meets Asuna who originally was hesistant to speak to him although agreed to partner up during a boss level fight that many had took part in. After the fight the 2 go seperates ways and by the time they next meet Asuna has shown be just as strong as Kirito is by becoming a high ranking member of Knight of the blood Oath guild, one of the strongest guilds in the game. The two spend more time with each other later in the first half of the season.
Kirito befriends people many during his time in SAO. One of them is Klein, the very first friend Kirito meets in SAO. Seeing Kirito running through the town, Klein chases after him and asks for help in learning the basics of the game. The two spend some time training and are about to part when Klein realises he can't log out. Kirito also has the same problem, they go back into the town, where Kayaba tells everyone that they are trapped within the game. Kirito, being a beta-tester for the game and thus knowing the best levelling up spots, immediately goes off. He had asked Klein to come with him but Klein decides to remain behind to help his less experienced friends. The two part ways but end up meeting several time during thier adventure in Aincrad.
I feel that the anime shows the diversity of the people within the game very well, some are nice, friendly but others are evil. an example of this is that some guilds will take advantage of some game aspects to lure out innocent players and take belongings, other groups act like mercenaries and will even kill players knowing that dying in game means death in real life. I like that as it makes the fear that many players have more believable.
Enjoyment - The first episode does well to give you a rush but after that the pacing does slow down a bit and then the slow drags on which does become a bit annoying. Overall I enjoyed the 1st half of SAO, it was by no means award winning but it was still good, I would ask people to give the first 3-5 episodes a go but I can understand why it wouldn't be everyones cup of tea.
This review doesn't focus on the 2nd part of SAO because to be honest, it just isn't good, I wouldn't say I hated it but its one of those things that you watch once then avoid for a year or 2 or maybe even 4. Anyway thanks for reading.
