Review of Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online is an anime that popularized the "trapped in another world" storytelling premise that is overexposed in varying capacities with a number of recent anime and was originally explored a decade earlier than Sword Art Online with .hack//SIGN. Like the mentioned show, both have divided opinions among fans for one reason or another as many were turned off by .hack//SIGN for being dialogue-heavy and not as full of action compared to Sword Art Online, an element which is one part of what drew fans more easily to the series. However what may be more accessible to casual anime fans does not always necessarilymake for a good quality series, and Sword Art Online is rife with plenty of issues throughout its run.

First, let us explore the core element of Sword Art Online that drew in its fans in the form of its "trapped in another world" premise. For the world of the series, the thousands of players trapped in the online game are forced to play through it in order to free themselves from within it and will actually die in real life if their online avatars are killed while within the game. The series gets into some decent ideas with exploring how this could affect players in differing capacities, but a myriad of reasons related to story focus and pacing kill the amount of depth this could have gotten and felt too dumbed down as characters like Kirito seem too well-adjusted mentally to their dilemma. This pales in comparison to its predecessor series, .hack//SIGN, which actually devotes time to exploring the mental trauma this situation would have on its affected player, Tsukasa, who goes through varying stages of development with his character throughout the series as he copes with and tries to comprehend the circumstances that have him trapped in the MMORPG he is in.

Plotting is another issue that Sword Art Online suffers greatly from. The anime is divided up into two arcs with Kirito getting into different conflicts with two MMORPGs that he takes part in for Aincrad and Fairy Dance. Many fans think of the Aincard arc as the best arc in regards of quality since Kayaba Akihiko was a seemingly competent and morally ambiguous villain with the plans he had to trap the players within his game. However, the arc suffers from rushed pacing that makes the narrative a bit disjointed as it jumps through different points of time in exploring Kirito's interactions with different players and fighting against either enemy monsters or rogue players. While Fairy Dance arc has a more smoother narrative, its storytelling lacks the high stakes of the Aincrad arc and has a rather pitiful excuse of a villain compared to Kayaba. Also as the series is heavily focused on Kirito (who has his own issues I will elaborate on shortly), he is rather overpowered as a player as this kills the stakes of any major battle we see him in and in cases where he would be in some sort of crisis, the anime resorts to deus ex machina a great deal to have situations swing in his favor.

Characterization is also an issue with Sword Art Online as this seems to have quite a bit to do with the series being a sort of otaku gratification title with how it is structured. As our lead character, Kirito doesn't have much going for him in the way of depth beyond being your typical good-natured hero who is overpowered and feels too much like an audience surrogate for fans to get immersed into his experiences within online gaming. In addition, he seems to have a lucky streak in attracting many relevant female characters within the series to him thus leading to a needless harem scenario. As there aren't many other major male characters within this series, the choice of having nearly the whole female cast attracted to Kirito appears to be deliberate from the show's creators as the mentioned female characters are not allowed to be on Kirito's level in combat and don't get much depth beyond whatever affection they have toward our male lead. This especially hits the female lead of the series, Asuna, hard in later episodes when she becomes Kirito's main love interest and her character's strong-willed demeanor from the Aincrad arc takes a big hit in the Fairy Dance arc.

In terms of visuals, Sword Art Online is a bit of a mixed bag. It sports gorgeous and highly-detailed scenic shots found within online and real-life settings that are a treat on the eyes and character designs are decent in detail as well. Battle scenes are a mixed bag as there are moments of decent animated sequences, particularly during the Fairy Dance arc when the flying mechanic is utilized. However, animation shortcuts are utilized at a number of points with still and pan shots, which stick out rather prominently during heated battle scenes.

Overall, I find Sword Art Online's reputation for the "trapped in another world" premise of anime to be greatly overhyped. It comes with plenty of issues for its plotting and characters, and feels too much like an otaku gratification title with the depiction of Kirito's character throughout its run. If you really want a good "trapped in another world" anime within an MMORPG, you'd be better off tracking down .hack//SIGN as the series does a much better job with exploring the psychological effects of being trapped in an online game.