Though the story may not be original (I mean, sure .hack// already took the idea of a virtual reality MMORPG that kills it's players way before SAO), it has made its spot as onf of my number top anime of all time. I've been a fan of SAO since the light novel and I appreciated how the anime stayed true to it's story line and didn't modify everything to make it more appealing to the viewer (Though the light novel was way more than appealing enough so no modification was required anyways). Heck, chapter 16.5... If you know what I'm talking about. :3
Animation:
The animation was what I'd define as top notch. The fighting scenes felt smooth and were always exciting to watch. Never did I feel bored watching these awesome action packed fighting scenes because the movements flowed so well. The lighting up when a character was charging a skill, the epic skills themselves actually in both Sword Art Online and ALfheim Onine were flashy and cool to watch.
Music:
The opening has gained a spot in my heart as one of the best anime openings of all time. Just by listening to it with the animated sequence that accompanied it at the end of episode 1, I knew this series was going to be epic. The battle music was also great and well composed to match the moment.
Characters:
Each character has it's own unique personalty that made them likable or hate-able, depending if they were the protagonist or the antagonist. In almost every SAO episode, we are introduced to a new character and even if their appearance is only an episode long, they still play an important role that makes the story move on. In the ALO arc, a new set of characters was introduced but they are as lovable as the SAO ones. So much shipping..
Storyline:
As mentioned earlier, this anime isn't the first of it's kind, but it honestly surpasses by a long shot it's predecessors (Maybe cause the animation is better due to technology advancement? I did enjoy the .//hack series very much though.) In 14 episodes, Sword Art Online has showed most of the important moments of the novels and I felt like I was reading parts the novels as I watched a new episode of SAO every Saturday. Same with the ALfheim Online arc.
Overall:
Sword Art Online was very satisfying and the story was great, I wished in lived in 2022, a time where NerveGears allow people to dive into the world of their game of choice, SAO in my case and I wouldn't mind being stuck in the game world and risking my life, because that's what makes it thrilling and makes me want to surpass myself in order to survive. Without any risks, any game would be so dull.
Rating:
Even though SAO was absolutely amazing, it still has things that could have been improved and so it can't get a perfect score.
