Guess this came out more fanboyish than I thought it would, but I would highly recommend seeing this series for yourself just to make sure the critics are right.
Overall: 9/10 - While the premise of being stuck in a video game seems interesting, it's been done and the truth is that you don't get very far with that alone. SAO did an amazing job of focusing on characters and keeping things fresh. The characters really do make this anime what it is, which is an engaging and memorable series based on a somewhat cliche premise. Animation and art is beautiful. Overall, this is down as one of my all time favourites.
Recommended for: Video game fans, action fans, anybody who likes the premise.
Breakdown:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Story: 9.25/10-Excellent
Creativity/uniqueness bonus points: Not super unique.
Humour bonus points: +.5 There are some pretty funny parts. Not all of it really hits its mark though.
General Plot and Structure 3.5/4 - The premise of "stuck in a videogame" sounds really awesome, but the reality is that it's really hard to keep your attention after the first 45 minutes or so when the novelty wears off. Luckily, SAO did a really good job at keeping it interesting by focusing on the characters and having some nice twists (though not everybody appreciated one of these twists). There are some plot holes, though nothing significant I wouldn't say the plot is a masterpiece, but it was very well done. . If anything, it gets better the farther in you get.
Pacing 1.5/2 - The pacing in the first half is very quick, I assume because nobody wants to sit and watch somebody grind away for hours. Even so, it did lag in a couple of episodes. Overall though, it was well-paced and engaging.
Emotional impact: 2.75/3 - It was very touching. The romance was probably the best part, and I'm not normally a romance fan. The hatred you will feel at one point towards one of the characters was truly shaking.
Conclusion 1/1 - The conclusion was really good overall, I especially like that it wasn't rushed.
Annoying/mindset-breaking negative points - None
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Animation: 9/10-Excellent
Artwork 2.75/3 - The artwork in SAO is great. Backgrounds and setting are beautiful and unique.
Character Designs 2.75/3 - Character designs are all interesting and there is only one part where I got mixed up between which was which.
Action Animation 1.5/2 - Fight scenes are usually very good, but definitely could have been better given what this is about.
Other animation 2/2 - Animation in most scenes is great.
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ -------------------
Characters: 9/10-Excellent
Personality 2.75/3 - Aside from one 12 minute or so section that kind of bugged me, characters were excellent and rounded. While side characters generally don't do much, they added extra interest and depth to SAO. One villain is by far my most hated character, and that's saying something.
Development 2.75/3 - Development is excellent in the main characters.
Uniqueness 3.5/4 - All of the characters were relatively unique.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sound: 8.5/10-Incredible
Voice Acting (Sub) 3/3 - I quite liked the voice acting.
Music 4.5/6 - The opening and closing pieces are both good. The soundtrack during the show was excellent.
Sound Effects 1/1
- Excellent. 9.3/10
story
9/10
animation
8.5/10
sound
9/10
characters
9/10
overall
10/10
😂 😂 😂 ☆☆☆
