Review of Sword Art Online
Sword Art Online is an either hit or miss anime. With the whole idea of depicting a future where the games you love can have real life consequences, SAO had alot of potential to illustrate real life conflicts we are currently facing with our boom in technology. However, it definitely only used a fraction of its potential, that I feel like could have been alleviated by making more episodes that could cover up many of the plotholes it fails to explain, with the story and characters being especially fragile. Story: The storyline of SAO could be summed up as very jumpy and inconsistent. The firstseason was filled with a bunch of characters that the main character, Kirito, had to interact with on his journey to beat SAO. Despite them feeling like fillers, I really enjoyed them, and how they were representative of potential future interactions in MMORPGs. I found the relationship between Kirito and Asuna to be especially touching, and definitely the best part of the series, despite it being little cliche. The series did annoy me with its random time skips and inadequate explanation of the game's mechanics, but for 25 episodes, I realized that they definitely made a good effort at it.
Although the first arc of the series maintained a fast and pleasant pace, the second half of the series really tries to divert your attention to something entirely different from what the first half established. The entire ALO arc just felt very forced, and definitely slowed down the pace of the anime, taking a sharp turn away from the development of the two main characters in the first half of the series. I am probably not alone in my opinion that the ALO arc just felt no sense of urgency, that the SAO arc created. The last few episodes just felt significantly less motivated than they were for the SAO arc, and in the end, just felt like the characters were taking a game way too seriously. While the first half may have been one of my most lovable animes, I feel like I need to separate it from the second half, that just displays one of the biggest dips in quality I have ever seen in anime.
Art and Sound: There were obviously very high production values involved in the creation of the anime. The battle scenes and scenery were definitely one of the highlights of the show, with lots of details and vibrant colors. The soundtrack was also very good in my opinion, with several amazing battle/piano soundtracks, in addition to some of the best OP and EDs I have heard. The characters had extremely well made designs, which probably contributed to an overwhelming number of SAO cosplays.
Character: I can honestly say that if you do not like the main characters, this is not the anime for you to watch. The personalities of the characters are pretty much the only things they have going for them. Most of the characters are quickly forgotten after a single episode, after (I know this sounds harsh) serving their purposes as sort of a side quest. Despite that, I found two of the characters to be very lovable: Kirito and Asuna. The greatest reason I continued watching was because I wanted to see where their relationship led them, and after the heartwretching emotions I felt towards the end of the SAO arc, I anticipated an equally or maybe even better conclusion to the series. However, the inclusion of the sister's relationship just seemed very irrelevant and out of place, and towards the end of the series, felt like it added unnecessary drama that contributed very little to the emotional impact of the series, and only created extremely awkward situations. The ALO arc completely took away from the relationship that was very well progressed and built up in the SAO arc, and despite how much I loved Kirito and Asuna's relationship in the first half, I found myself forgetting the emotions I felt as I watched through the second half.
SAO is a great and fun anime if you simply just try not to think too hard about its flaws, and try to relate to the characters. While I feel many of the haters of this anime have their points, they are missing the real point of any anime: the enjoyment and emotional aftereffect they feel after it is over. Despite having a weak and inconsistent storyline and fickle and unnecessary character development, SAO was honestly a very enjoyable watch if you focus more on the adventure, and put yourself in the shoes of a character in the series. SAO will definitely strike a chord in the hearts of people who have known how great the adventure and thrill of playing a MMO can be. SAO translates those desires to anime form, and brings out some of the very best experiences you could possibly have in a future that may include virtual reality.