Story:
Now, first let's talk about the story. I really like the story, even though the whole virtual reality concept isn't new, the feeling of it just separates itself from those others. Basically, there is this new game called sword art online, which is the first virtual reality game made, and of course, people are extremely eager to buy this game. Around ten thousand people have bought this game, and are trying it out, including our MC. So, the mc just entered this virtual world, along with the other 10 000 people, but then they realize that this game, there is no logout button. After that, they learn that they can not only can they not logout, but a death in this game will result in a death in real life. Now the story may not sound like much, it actually is very deep when you look at it. To me, it feels like the game creator wanted to this game like real life, because the concept is something like real life, except for stuff like item drops and other RPG elements. This show also includes quite a lot of psychological elements to it. The normal person would think that in this situation, everyone would freak out and go insane, now that is true, and it was inplemented into the anime at the beginning, so I don't understand people saying this is unrealistic. Because this is a virtual reality, it is quite like real life, except with RPG stuff, and these people are all gamers, so of course over time, they will adapt to this new world. The story is pretty much that, because the majority of the story is character interactions. Well, being trapped in a virtual game for 2 years, of course there wouldn't be much else to show but characters and their interactions with eachother.
Characters:
Now, it may not say this, but this anime is defiantly a harem, as a lot of girls seem to take a liking to the mc with their time spent together. Most of the harem stuff is from the side stories, but that's to be expected. The main story however mainly focuses on the romance between 2 characters, which is nice. after reading the reviews, I find people lacking the enjoyment of the characters, which makes sense, because of the fast pace kind of affecting the character development, but I still think the characters are very likable and have so much more depth than what other people say about them being one-dimensional. So the mc is pretty much an average guy in real life, but ingame, he is a badass solo player who is probably one of the strongest players in the game. Now, that has to due with him being a beta tester. Since he played the game before, he knew where the good places are for grinding exp. many players despise him due to him being a beta tester, so they give him the title "beater" now as you can probably tell, this guy doesnt fool around,mwhen the game master announced the part about not being able to logout, he quickly gets over it and moves toward his goal. Which also explains his success as a player, since I don't think he spent his time fooling around during the beta test like some others. The character interaction is very well done. He pretty much solos everything because he doesn't want to feel responsible for the deaths of his teammates. Also in episode 3, it pretty much explains why he solos stuff, he joined a guild, and lied about his level so it would be more likely to except him, but I also think he did that so he could fit in more, so he didn't feel so different from them. He made friends with people in that guild, but he was a beater, so the title came back to bite when his guild fell for a trap and all died. After that, he felt if he told the truth, he could have warned them, since they would know he has more experience about it, and so he begins to feel guilty. Also when he tries to get the revive crystal, he tells people he has to fight by himself, or else if someone else dies in the process, there would be no point. I really think the characters are very deep, and I don't like to complain like others how he is so overpowered, and appears to get girls all over him, even though this game contains mostly male players. But remember, the mc has a good personality, and it perp is way of dealing with difficult situations that made him so powerful, so I won't complain about that like people who blindly watch the show and complain.
Sound:
One word, "AMAZING" I really love it, the soundtracks fit this medieval setting perfect, and the music playing during boss battles makes it sound epic. Also the opening theme is very lovable. I also love the sound affects like when they charge the swords.
Art:
Beautiful, they set the virtual setting very nicely, and the character designs are very good, what more do I need to say?
Enjoyment:
I really enjoyed the anime, and many others have too. I tend to overlook those common complaints, and I really think it is more enjoyable when you think about the story and characters more, because there is much more logic than when you just watch with your eyes.
All in all, a very good series, and I definitely recommend it!
