Story (3/10)
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Sword Art Online had a good base to start off from; players stuck in a virtual reality game, not to say it's a new concept, but it certainly opens up to many different paths the story could take. I personally felt that SAO threw away that opportunity and instead chose to cram in as much useless junk as they could. They spent the majority of the episodes adding useless, one episode-appearing characters that were barely built up on, and other times simply threw in relationships and add-ons -such as Kirito's abilities and high stats- on a whim. The sub-plot of Kirito and Asuna's relationship seemed to appear from almost nowhere, having met each other only a few times before awkwardly advancing in their relationship.
Overall, the story did not make use of it's potential and instead chose the latter of a lowly built, simple focussed story.
Art (10/10)
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The art actually left a nice impression compared to some of the other downsides of this anime. It was filled with many beautifully made sceneries, as well as nice character designs -most being side characters- and beautiful shading and colour combinations. They made very good use of this for the fantasy setting they had, especially the scenery!
Sound (7/10)
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Not much to say for this, average sound at most parts, but very nice and anticipating battle music!
Character (2/10)
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This was the main downside to the series, in my opinion. In the first half of the series they introduced quite a few characters that only made an appearance for one episode, these episodes took up quite a bit of the first half of the series, and these characters barely got any development! The only character that got any real development was Kirito, although Suguha was later added and given a fair share of development. Even Asuna became a bland character, where did she come from? What is her back story? Though she was one of the main characters, none of this was revealed. This downside made it hard to connect with any character aside from Kirito and Suguha.
Honestly, it felt like they went with quantity over quality with the characters.
Enjoyment (7/10)
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This section is based off of my personal feelings toward the series.
Although I gave quite a few low grades on the show, I personally enjoyed it quite a lot. This could be because I'm an Fantasy MMORPG junky and this appealed to me on a large scale, but I did find most episodes exciting enough to keep me watching. I just wish the battles were more relatable to that of an RPG as opposed to a hack-and-slash style, as it would fit it's image better.
Overall (4/10)
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The show isn't really anything special, it does get quite a lot of hype that may or may not be deserved depending on the viewer. It's like any other anime, it will attract many, repel many, and simply lure people who like to hate on over-hyped fads.
In the end, it's up to you whether you choose to like it or dislike it, this is just my two cents!
