Writing a review on an anime like Sword Art Online is difficult. It's difficult because no matter what you say, there will be someone who will disagree with you, especially if you say something positive about it. SAO is one of the most polarizing anime of all time, where you either love it to death, or you despise its very existence, with no real in-between. As you can tell by my score, I'm in the former category. However, even as a huge fan of the series, I know that it's not perfect, as no anime is. Even still, though, I personally feel that people are far too harsh on the series, and I'll go over that in my review.
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Story: 8
The plotline of being trapped in a video game is not a new one at this point, to be fair. Quite a few in the last few years have done this story before and after SAO, such as ".hack" and "Log Horizon". However SAO is without a doubt the one that popularized it, and for that I have to give it credit for that.
What engaged me in the story of SAO wasn't the overarching story though, it was the smaller arcs. The ones that looked at the different people that were trapped in the game, and how they got by to the very end. Watching Kirito and Asuna's relationship develop as the show went forward made me feel so giddy inside, like no anime couple has before, and the fact that they get together early on instead of dragging it out to the end was so awesome to watch. Seeing each side character grow through their interactions with Kirito was enjoyable to watch as well, and I ended up liking each character we met. And I enjoyed the villains as well; Kayaba was so fascinating to me, seeing him try to create this world where he's in total control, despite so many suffering for it, all so he can fulfill that dream. And of course with Sugou, they created the perfect guy to hate. You aren't supposed to feel any sympathy towards him, and they make that perfectly clear early on, so that when Kirito whoops his ass, it's all the more satisfying.
Of course that reminds me, I have to bring up the the second half of the season, the "Fairy Dance" arc. Let me just say this to everyone who constantly bitches and moans about how this arc was so terrible and it should be skipped:
You're all full of shit.
You bring up how the arc ruins Asuna's character and makes her a damsel in distress. Fuck that. Asuna is still the incredibly strong willed fighter that she was back in Aincrad. Strength is more than just physical power, but psychological as well, and Asuna is a total champ in that regard. Having to put up with the Hell that Sugou put her through would break most people, especially considering he could force her at any time to like him experiment with mind control. Speaking of which, if she's such a damsel in distress, then what was that whole scene where she attempts to free the 299 other trapped players? Awesome it what it was.
Then of course there's the sub-arc with Kirito's cousin Suguha. People are so quick to judge this as being creepy incest, and yet completely miss out on how it developed her character. You have to understand her perspective; your cousin, who you thought was brother for most of your life, and has ignored you for so many years, is trapped and unable to be reached. Then while all this happening, you find out you two aren't even blood-related. Then after two years, he comes back, and out of the blue starts being nice and paying attention to you again. It's all so confusing to you, and to make it worse, your a teenager who in the most hormonally intensive period of your life. You try to escape these feelings that you know are wrong by playing video games, and in turn you meet this really cool guy. Finally someone you move on to, develop new feelings for, someone who... turns out to be the cousin you loved anyway.
Would that not fuck you up mentally on some level? And yet, in the end, they work things out, and Sugu is able to move on from these feelings because she knows how much Kirito loves Asuna. I'd say that makes for an interesting character.
So no, "Fairy Dance" is not as bad an arc as you claim it to be. It's not meant to be test of survival, but a race against time. The pace is meant to be different here than Aincrad.
If I did have to bring up any complaints regarding story, it would be the pacing. Not that its terrible or anything, but there are many points in the story that jump ahead in time, often months at a time. This can make the story feel a little rushed at times, and make you wish you saw what happened during that period of time. Perhaps if the "Progressive" novels get animated, we'll see what happened, but for now, that is a legitimate complaint I have.
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Art: 10
While there are many aspects to anime that can be seen as subjective, technical aspects are not one of them. Be that I mean, technical related aspects to a show are purely objective since animation and sound is either good or bad, with very little in-between. Keep in mind though, I'm not talking specifically about art itself; art is definitely subjective since it's meant to come across in different ways and moods, and the style changing depending on who's in charge. So with keeping all that in mind, it's hard to think of how one can find fault in the art aspect of SAO.
There's really not much you can criticize here. The animation itself is incredibly well done, which is to be expected from A-1. The fight scenes are constantly moving and flowing seamlessly into the next. Yet when the animation is much calmer, it's pleasant to watch, with natural movements you'd expect to see. Characters never go off-model, which is quite the impressive feat considering how many action scenes there actually are. The art itself is also well done, with gorgeous detailed backdrops to see that are highly detailed in every scene.
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Sound: 9
As mentioned before, sound being technical aspect isn't something that generally can be judged subjectively, with one exception of course, being the dubs.
As far as music is concerned, it's quite excellent stuff. It can range from peaceful melodies in town to epic choirs during fights, with each instrument playing off each other perfectly. And of course that theme song man. Even people who hate SAO can't seem to ignore the fact that Crossing Field is one of the badass anime theme songs ever. Although I will admit that the second opening theme, Innocence isn't quite as memorable, though catchy in its own right.
Now of course, I have to talk about the dubs. This is a battle that never ends well, so I'll just say this. The Japanese is of course fantastic, as to be expected. However the English dub is also surprising excellent too. Each character sound about how you'd expect them to, and the conversations sound very natural. The only point I'll bring up is on the lead of Kirito. Though I generally think that Bryce Papenbrook does a great job overall, he does tend to exposition scenes. Not a huge deal for me personally, but it's something I felt should be brought up.
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Character: 8
Another very divisive area of the show is the characters. People either love the characters of this show, or hate them with every fiber of their being. I happened to like them.
I guess the best place to start is with the mains. Kirito sure does get a lot of shit from the anime community. People are constantly calling him a Gary-stu, OP, etc., so I'll touch on a few of those points. As far as Gary-stu is concerned, that's just bullshit. Kirito is not a perfect individual, far from it. He's bull-headed, rushing into situations without thinking often, especially in regards to Asuna. He's also a bit of a loner, at least for much of the first half, and this only becomes exacerbated after the death of the Moonlight Black Cats and Sachi. But you know something? He moves foward, he develops. Yeah, that thing that many of you claim Kirito never does happens right in front of your eyes. When he builds a relationship with Asuna, it helps him to become a better person, to open up more. Also, in regards to the whole Gary-stu accusation, I didn't know that being a nice person meant being a Gary-stu. So he's nice to the people, and in turn they become friends. HOLY SHIT WHAT A SHOCKER. And yes, this applies to his female friends too; god-forbid girls like him because he was nice to them right?
As for the OP argument, in a sense, I could agree with that. He does have his OP moments, but it actually makes sense in a way. Kirito is a power-gamer. He would spend hours a day growing up playing video games, probably a lot MMO's. Is it so hard to imagine that he'd be really freaking good at them? And the funny thing is, he admits this in the show itself, during episode 4, where he points out that the way MMO's are designed makes it so that some people are naturally better than other players.
Now when it comes to Asuna, I'll freely admit I'm a bit biased here, since she's one of my favorite anime characters of all time. She's kind and sweet to the people she cares about, but when push comes to shove, she can be badass herself. And I love how she develops as a person going from feeling hopelessly alone and having to force her way to survive, to finding hope and a reason for being though her relationship with Kirito. And I mentioned before about her role in Fairy Dance, so I won't bring up why she's great there here.
There are many side characters that develop throughout the series that would take up too much time to mention. However, if there is one complaint I do have when it comes to characters, it would be that many of them don't get much screen time. Many will stay relegated to side characters most of the time, which to be fare they are, but characters like Lisbeth and Silica got their own episode, but not Klein or Agil, who are the two other male characters besides Kirito that have any significant presence.
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Enjoyment: 10
Enjoyment is something that is entirely subjective. You can find something terrible but enjoy it in a "so bad it's good" kind of way. Or you can see the brilliance in a piece of work but not enjoy it yourself. For me though, SAO is something I enjoyed from episode 1 to the very end. I found myself becoming so emotionally invested in the story that the show had built, seeing these characters develop their relationships that I came to care for them like real people. I loved watching the badass fights and relax to the quieter more subtle moments. I laughed at moments of humor, and felt shocked by the twists. It was a roller coaster ride that I loved every second of.
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Overall: 9
Like I said in the beginning, SAO is not a perfect series. Even as a huge fan, I get that, and I totally get that some people just don't enjoy it. But I really feel that it's a disservice to say that it's "WORST ANIMU EVA 0/10". That feels like you letting it get you riled up and not looking at it from a more clear minded point of view, one that doesn't let bias get to them.
SAO is not something you should just ignore because it has a massive bandwagon of people against it. Clearly it's found an audience of people who enjoy it, such as myself, especially for it score so highly here on MAL. So please, if you've never seen the show, give it a shot. You may find that you enjoy it yourself.
