I want to say that. But I can't.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed every second of watching the show and I wouldn't take back a bit of it, but I cannot justify giving it a ten. I can say it's a favorite of mine, but not my favorite. I can say I loved it, I can't say I adored it. And the easiest way to explain this is as such:
Sword Art Online has some of the most psychologically perfect relationship dynamics I've ever seen. As such, every character was able to be identified with, and this led to me genuinely caring for everyone involved. Top that off with some outstanding action sequences and a surprisingly rewarding story, and you have what can be called a masterpiece in anime.... for fourteen episodes.
Fairy Dance was not bad by any means, but it definitely killed a lot of momentum of the season, and definitely should've been its own thing. Having it in the same group as Aincrad made the whole show suffer as a result. If you're someone who's thinking about watching SAO, for any reason at all, all I have to say to you is this. If you think you'll like it, watch it, you will. If you aren't totally sure, watch Aincrad, then after that see if you want to finish. And if you're only watching it because a friend told you to, pretend that the show ends episode 14. You'll have much higher feelings for it.
