An anime recommended by a friend of mine as a must watch.
When updating my anime list and reading through the reviews I was very suprised about some negative reviews given about this anime.
After thinking for a while I might have figured out why.
I'd like you to view this short review not as a review of the whole anime but more like additional info complementing or sometimes even being in contradiction to the other reviews in order to help you decide whether this anime is worth a watch or not.
Sword Art Online is mostly taking place in a fictional gaming MMORPG online world called after the name of the show in which people can dive in through a virtual reality system called "NERF-System". Much like the currently developing Oculus Rift in real life just way more advanced not only making you SEE the virtual world but soaking your consciousness completely into it.
The story revolves around the protagonist called "Kirito" who is a young male (16 at the start of the show i believe) playing SAO at it's release. Through a plot twist I do not want to spoiler he is caught up in this virtual world together with other people and they all have to beat the game in order to escape again.
He gets to know people including Asuna whom I'd call the co-protagonist of the show.
I personally enjoyed the art, the sound was nothing too special imo but accentuating the show just fine.
Now what makes SAO so special to me to rate it a 9 out of 10 and not making me feel like it's a bad anime like others expounding in their reviews?
To understand that we have to dive deeper into what the strenghts of this show are and why people might misunderstand it.
I personally believe that it's best to watch this show if you can call yourself a gamer and especially if you have played MMORPG's or RPG's before.
Not only is the fantasy of a virtual online game you can dive in with your whole conciousness/body something that would make a gamer drool and his/her heart pound really fast out of excitment but also how some details of the world and the ingame interactions that are being displayed are truly appealing to everyone who has made these kind of experiences in online games before.
Tons of referrences to how gamers tend to talk, how some people behave (for example needing some help with what you'd call a quest), the interaction between players/groups and some feelings you are having while strifing to achieve success in an online game are only some of the examples of what awaits you in this masterpiece seemingly devoted to MMORPG gamers that will make your nostalgia level rise dramatically and give you goosebumps all over the place while mixing it with a wonderful story that is exciting and tense to watch.
We can watch Kirito and others make progress, level up, gain items, learn new skills, master dungeons and dungeon bosses in order to defeat the game and get back to reality.
The anime also touches on subjects a gamer is familiar with like:
"Are ingame relationships to other people worth something in real life?"
"What differentiates virtual reality from normal reality?"
"Are feelings and actions we take ingame related to our real selves or are our real selves just like our ingame selves with rules of another world?"
"Is gaming just a way to escape discomfort experienced in real life?"
And alot more.
I can't stress enough how well made and captivating this anime is out of the view of a gamer.
Now this is probably why some people who like to watch good anime but have never really been gaming excessively might find this anime bad or not thrilling.
I think they just can't relate or sometimes even notice the referrences made or the amazing flow that this anime presents you.
Some cons:
-Unfortunately the world is not being explored as much as I would have liked it to be and at many points alot of progress in the game is being skipped which I found dissappointing leaving me desired to be soaked in even a little more into this virtual world in an anime that is called Sword Art Online.
Especially the beginning felt a bit rushed and like the online world is not being explored enough before heading straight into the plot.
-Also the second part of the show didn't perfectly reach the quality of the first part but is still very close to that.
-There could have been a lot more creativity considering the ingame skills (fighting techniques) and how they look especially in the first part of the show.
-I think there was potential to make the story and characters even more flashed out than they were since it like mentioned often feels rushed down a bit.
