Now, going to the concept of the SECOND HALF of season 1. It started off on the right foot with Asuna and Kirito wasting their time by a lake. Then they run into a character with a lot of potentials to actually evoke emotion for us. She leaves the scene though in two episodes leaving us unable to actually let us feel something for the character. There is the same problem in one of the episodes during the beginning which seems to leave an imprint on him onwards, contributing to his antisocial tendencies. Though this plays a vital role in character development, the authors were unable to let us have a deeper feeling for the characters. In other words, the show moves waaaaaaaaay to fast.
Also, when Kirito is conscious in our world, they dragged it out leaving us with unnecessary info. (this. is. a. paragraph. BOOM)
Bright side: apparently the voice actor for Kirito also voice acted in Food Wars as Yukihara as well as in some other anime I really like but isn't as well known and I find it more unnecessary to talk about that vs saying its name. Also, the art is beautiful and recognizable though some parts seem bright for me in the coloring.
The character development in this show is a friggen rollercoaster for Kirito while Asuna becomes a deflated balloon, collapsing as a character as their relationship grows. A character that I could have enjoyed watching became almost unrecognizable which was a shame since Asuna was such a cool character at the beginning seems like the type of girl who could handle the situation by herself rather than depleting into what she became, way to soft and unsure of herself.
Overall I actually enjoyed it but parts were slow and some were boring and the people who created the anime basically destroyed any possible piece of good that could have been in it. Which is probably why there are so many OTHER animes set in the world of SAO since, duh, it was probably the best thing in the whole anime.
