Story: A young man, whom is extremely rich, is asked by his younger cousin to play a game together. Then the young cousin reveals she needs to find her friend named Kirito. *cough* Apologies, it's "Kirihito". Might it be the supposedly strongest player in the game, the black swordsman? Thus the adventure begins to re-unite with a lost friend.
So yeah, it's bad. Like seriously bad. I don't like SAO, so there's no way I would like this copycat story. I personally hate parodies, copycats and stuff like that. I honestly can't remember if this story even had any original ideas. There is a "Kirito Fan Club" in this story, and more than 8 Kirito wannabees in the game they are playing. Do you like SAO? Read this story.
Art: The art is actually not bad. I might even call it beautiful, but the character design itself is not very original. It's like the illustrator's skill is way above the author's imagination about how the characters should look. (there's at least 8 Kirito characters that all look identical, talk about surreal)
Characters: Okay, so the protagonist is called Itchy, but unfortunately there's no Scratchy. *insert laugh* Seriously though, Itchy is a super rich, handsome man, and a former idol. He's the guy everyone wants to be. And he has a really cute younger cousin, Asuha, along with a live-in maid that happens to be extremely beautiful. While there is not much originality to any of these characters, they are still likable people and good enough for a typical game novel. Asuha is a nice girl that's a bit quiet, while the Maid is a hardcore nerd that happens to love the game in focus.
Overall, if you enjoy these VRMMORPG stories, then you will probably like this one. There's nothing bad, no "deal-breaker" if you will. It's a mediocre story with some nice pictures and cute girls. And a huge amount of micro-transactions. It's a finished story at 6 volumes, do not expect a deep main-plot and enjoy the ride. But damn, all these Kirito characters are really hurting my brain.
