When I finally did get around to it a few weeks ago eating and scouring Netflix I found SAO and realized I had skipped over it for so long it obviously couldn’t hurt. I didn't know anything about it going in but without fail it was really original and addicting. Absolutely not one of the most AMAZING anime I’ve ever seen and especially since so many anime recently came out to compete with aged favorite I was sort of at best happily content with SAO.
The anime itself has an outstanding art and sound style which was already a positive thing because if this anime was going to revolve around the concept of gaming it better have some good ass graphics and sound quality. The story concept was inventive and original with the realistic control of gaming taking over the player’s real life in a very literal way. The lack to this concept was the characters, in the beginning you know nothing about anyone and by the end it’s pretty much the same except for a few minor details that the series helped establish for you. Even if you read the plot description I was just kind of totally lost to the characters, and this was possibly due to the clichés of Kirito fighting alone and struggling with others about situations he realistically couldn’t control.
Another main draw back of why someone might not like this series are the overtaking love circles, and while it didn’t do anything much to develop the character’s backstories or deeper delve into their personalities it wasn’t the worst part of the anime. Besides every story has to have a tad of romance otherwise you’re missing a huge chunk of audience you'd have otherwise. The bigger issues I had started appearing by the time the first season ended I was binging at this point to get to the second season with high hopes of something just as captivating.
However, my hopes were smashed when binging turned into a forced rush to just get this series over with.
I’m not even going to go into the many reasons why most popular anime’s trying to pull off a bomb ass second season aren’t worth it, but I’ll leave it at the characterization again. Still know very little to nothing about these characters I’m supposed to attach myself to mainly due to the game taking over, but in the second season when none of the original risks were there that wasn’t much to ask. The only other thing that I just NEED to complain about it the thrown in love triangle.
It was an average and almost iffy twist for me that got my mind all fucked. His sister/cousin being in love with him isn’t a weird custom in Japan and it honestly wasn’t that weird for me out of all the messed up anime I’ve seen with direct siblings, but it was still unnecessary. It almost seemed like it was just throwing out this desperate filler and lack of creativity saying fuck it and when in doubt make it a harem. It felt like someone spit in my face after making the series center around this main love story and then twisting it to fuck everything up. Not only that but why the cousin/sister figure who's like his only reoccurring family. Like why not a new character to battle this existence of love that's honestly what pissed me off the most. Like if you aren't going to give me what I want give me something new.
In conclusion, if you’re new to anime this is a must see because I feel like when starting you need a generic basis of what good anime is. Sure it’s not perfection but it’s enough to set you up to where you can appreciate the perfect anime a lot more. Also if you are like me and waited to watch it just go ahead and watch it because in the end it was a good anime and if you end up not liking it it’s not like the end of the world because not everyone has the same opinions or tastes.
