So yeah, I rewatched the show.
The first time I watched SAO I thought it was a meh show for 14 year old boys, and that I didn't like because I was a girl. Now I see that's not the case, simply because I like many anime that are made with boys in mind and that was never a problem for me. the real issue I believe is the whole point the show is trying to make.
Kirito, the main character, is generic enough you can see yourself in him and live vicariouly through him, but also cool and edgy enough for you to want to be him. exacly how a 14~16 year old sees himself. handsome, powerfull, strong, smart, thoughtfull,a cute type of otaku who gets all the girls while still being a quirky virgin, tho stil lacking all of the problems that come with being just some kid trapped in a video game where if you die in game you die for real. There are hints he might be going through something, hints he is pretty scarred fro life, hints he is not getting over this stuff so easely, but then... he does? seemingly with little to no effort or pain, and this is just 1/3 of the anime. let's go to the 2/3.
I mark the 2/3 as the part where he is already getting together with Asuna. Asuna is strong, cute, smart, almost as great as him with the sword and... well, she is the first girl who talks to him and also the first one who says no to him, so of couse she is the one. to be honest, I personaly never really liked Asuna, but I can totally see the appeal, I like the fact that she can be strong, smart and still be girly. what ruins it for me is that I know why she is like this. It's the fantasy of liking to save a princess, but you feel bad for having such a fantasy, so let's just make it so the princess is actually really strong, the smartest, strongest girl around, it just so happens you're a little better than her, so she still needs you + her cooking abilitys also reflect the fantasy of getting over the tsundere shit and being able to get the rewards of sticking with her long enough.
Now with that out of the way, I actually really like this part. they have a cute romance, and at least kirito has the balls to sleep with the girl instead of acting silly to the progress of their relationships and being shocked with her advances. I just wish they didn't escalate it all so fast, but they are teens so it makes sense.
The fight scenes with both of them are also pretty cute, the coreography is kind og generic sometimes, but still cute.
Overll good 2/3, tho I feel like the story pauses for a moment, it's a little awkward, but ok.
now let's get the last part, 3/3. I mark this starting from that other game they get in, I guess fans call it the fairy arc.
before rewatching it with my friends, I had the impression I had already watched 2 seasons of SAO, but no. this is all the first one.
well, let me start with what I liked:
nothing.
okay next, what I dislike:
1 - I complained about Asuna being a more progressive version of a princess needing to be saved, but you know what? here she is just that. a princess in a cage needing to be saved. All of her attitude, her flavor, her everything completely gone. she is just there sulking for most of it, and to make it worse, I feel like it would make the story a thousand times better if we only got to se her by the end. the revelation that she is there, shoulf have remained a secret, like, kirito thinks she is somewhere in the game, but we never see a cage, or anything like it, maybe have him even especulate she can only be found by hacking, something more misterious idk...
2 - I know she is tecnically not his sister, but his cousing (who he sees as a sister) isn't any better! wtf??? I mean, I know he is not interested (and at least they make it clear that it's not just because he already has asuka, but also because she is his cousin/sister or whatever), but still, why is she so sexualized? I mean, we are supposed to be seeing the world through kirito's perspective, right? In his perspective she is not a dating option, so why is she half naked, has her boobs and butt everywhere, etc??? It makes sense asuka is portraid somewhat sexually(even tho she is a teen, but I'm not getting into this debate today), but his sister/cousing?
3 - kirito is supposed to be traumatizd by there types of games, I mean he has seen real death at the battlefield, but he seems to overcome it pretty quickly. I thought he had PTSD, that would be an interesting character growth moment "I'm very damaged and traumatized by this, but I need to find Asuna" something like this.
4 - I hate kirto's daugther. I think she was a good idea, but now it's just a bother.
5 - the fights in this arc are useless and boring, we should have just had the final one, and oh... the final one...
6- what was that fight???? I know I said I understood why Asuna was sexualized, but not like this. I mean seriously? Usually when people talk about romanticisation and glorification of rape and sexual abuse, I get skepticall since these terms are tossed around a lot, but this is exacly that, the whole scene is pointless. I know it's supposed to make kirito super mad and have us despise the villain even more, but you can hint and show sexual abuse and rape without shoving it in everyones face and rubbing it in the screen, in fact, hinting at it and not being so graphic is usually more effective than whatever this was.
I conclusion, There are many things I dislike about SAO, but I actually like the concept of the story and characters, I just think it was badly executed, I mean, the story was inicially written 10 years ago in a web novel site, and I feel like had I first met the story like that I would probably have liked it more... I don't absolutely hate it, I just think one could get it better somewhere else. Actually I know where...The Abridged series!
The abridged SAO is for free on youtube. It's a parody of the original anime, it uses the same Plot, same characters and animation, with a few changes made through editing and a new dialog! It's actually a better series in my opinion, in all aspects. If you felt somewhat disapointed in SAO just go to youtube and watch SAO Abridged...
(forgive me for the bad english, half of it was typed from a phone and english is not my 1º language)
so yeah...I finished the review without going on a tangent about how Sword Art Online - the fictional game - sucks :)
