Aaaah, SAO. How many people who have just gotten into anime love you, and oh how many people who are not stupid hate you. In the review below, I warn you, I am going to completely dis this anime, and make you not want to watch it.
Story : 4/10
The idea was really nice! Gamers being stuck in a Gaming/Anime world did inspire some other works like No Game No Life or Log Horizion (though obviously both of them did it better). I was excited for this (imagine this review being written back when the anime was still coming out), I thought it is going to be one of the best things I have ever watched. Boy was I wrong!
*WARNING SPOILERS*
First three episodes were, well, decent I need to say. It had this dramatic feeling to it, good character development, the dramatic drop in episode 3. The anime made you attached to a character that you have seen only like 14 minutes ago. Then the downfall began, it slowly started changing genres, morphing into something between like romance and action, losing the dramatic genre, which is fine, it was still good, just not as perfect. The final fight was not that bad and the ending also.
But then, the story writers probably started doing some drugs and ruined everything. The 2nd part suddenly started like : "Oh hi everybody, here's the villain, well he is evil and stuff, raaah, be scared" and "Oh hi again, so umm, his sister loves him, heads up to all the siscon :D". The 2nd part of season 1 just suddenly presented a villain, with no backstory what so ever, his only reason is that he loves Asuna and wants to marry her, and his sister suddenly, for no reason what so ever now loves him. So hurraah! More fan service! It might seem like that would be just fine, but the way it is presented.. It's the same feeling as being thrown a fish at you and being said "clean it".
Art : 8/10
Let's take a break from the rant, the art is actually really good. It sorta looks similar to Fate/Zero. The characters are well designed and the art style is enjoyable.
Sound : 7/10
This mark would be probably higher if all the dubs WERE NOT TERRIBLE. The japanese voice acting is good however, which is, well, expected. The opening is also good, not the best, but good.
Characters : 3/10
Oh god, don't get me started. As I said before, up until episode 3, everything was good. Then there were just cliches, after cliches, so on and so on, just worse and worse each time.
Probably one of the best presented characters is Kirito, since he is the MC after all. Asuna is just a bland girl with no character design, confusing dere type and no backstory. To be honest, Lis would probably even be a more interesting love interest than Asuna. Then the rest of characters.. well, you have your "noob" type of guy, just there for the charisma, no backstory again. SPOILER [Then there is this bossy guy, (quite literally actually), he does have a backstory, but no reason for it.] There is also Yui. There was a build up with her, but no, she turned out to be as bland as everybody else, maybe generating a bit of feelings in some people. And that is it! 6 or 7 characters who you actually remember who are all bland, have no backstory and no character development (apart from well, Kirito).
Enjoyment : 3/10
I did enjoy a lot the first few episodes and the manga, which if I am not wrong came out after the anime. But I just cringed at the rest. Such as this useless romantic arc that came out of no where. so that's my mark, 3, for the 3 good episodes.
Overall : 3/10
There is no reason for you, person who reads this review, to be watching SAO. There is no way that you will enjoy if you have somewhat a bit of knowledge in anime/manga. If you decide to watch it, it will just make you cringe in it's awfulness.
For all those who like this anime out there, I do respect opinions, but you should really reconsider.
