Review of Sword Art Online

Disclaimer: Minor plot spoilers below! Let's all agree that every season has that show that everyone talks about until the season ends, but even among those, there are the ones that make conversations 10 years later. It is with no doubts, along with a few other shows, Sword Art Online was like a nuclear bomb in the industry, not only making a huge name for itself but also revolutionized the Isekai genre that we still get the most out of even to this day every season. SAO, as far as we've gotten, is a modern classic, and no, this is no RE:Creators either. I guess, during theyears I've watched Anime, I knew enough about the show even without having to watch it, I have watched several Isekai that serialized after SAO, but SAO never had the appeal to attract me, that is, until I got addicted to MMORPGs, just until when I will give this landmark of a show a try, it's almost 10 years now, everybody knows about it. So here goes nothing.

- Story (8/10):
Prior to starting the show, I went in with completely zero expectation, thanks to the popular hate the franchise received, yeah I said, it's definitely going to be just another average screening.
I have to give it to SAO though, it was one of the first in the genre to explode, so I probably shouldn't nag too long on every cliché trope that makes most of it for the sake of its age.
I really prefer this idea of trapped in a game more than the over-saturated otherworldly teleport, it has more grounding on the real world, and with the rise of VR technology in the recent years, it's actually closer to real-life than most other Isekai.

The show runs through two arcs, the first one, and the more popular one, the Aincrad arc which spans a total of 14 episodes, well, from what I've seen, almost every little praise the show gets is because of this arc, and I can see it. It establishes the identity of the series from the get-go, gives you a basic setup of what's going on which several episodic short min-arcs that build up on top of each other.

The second arc, the Fairy Dance arc is a controversial one. Many people claim that the show was better-off ending on episode 14 “End of the World”, well, I can kind of agree on the questionable ending to the Aincrad arc, however, 2 episodes into the arc you really get the feeling of the new atmosphere. New game, and a new adventure in ALfheim Online. I really liked this arc, unlike what the popular opinion says, I found the drama to be superior, maybe the stakes weren't as high as the first arc, but I really liked the shift from focusing on in-game avatars to switching a great deal of the focus on the people behind that avatar. To make it short, Kirito's relationship with his step-sister had more weight and interest than anything that happened prior to it.

- Art (8/10):
For a show from 2011, I would say, throughout the year, we've seen better. Visually speaking. That's not saying that SAO was an amateur fest. The dialogue chill sequences look very generic, nothing that piques the interest, the characters are very static, the backgrounds are just good enough. The action sequences, however, had all the budget thrown into them apparently.

The character designs are very bareboned, at least, until the Fairy Dance arc where we get more vibrant and fun characters. Kirito as the main character looks like every generic background crowd character, he doesn't stand out even among the dullest wooden planks. Asuna is distinguishable enough, I would say, the supporting cast is more visually unique from their surroundings.

- Sound (9/10):
I loved the vocals in this show.
First of all, the opening and ending sequences are just beautiful, I have listened to them out of the blue on several youtube videos in the past years, but this time, I had to experience them the proper way. The songs themselves are very good and match the theme of their story arcs perfectly, I would say, the first opening is just so iconic at this point, but I think I prefer the second one. The ending songs are also very good and fun to listen to.

The OST fits a fantasy game very well, it doesn't get in the way. The voice acting was subtle and fine, nothing really praise or anything. I think I really got used to Asuna's and Kirito's voices since their very first appearance.

- Characters (7/10):
Well, we all heard the Kirito protagonist jokes. The dude has even made to be the stable benchmark for shitty Isekai characters in all sorts of reviews, but I would say, I failed to pinpoint what it was.
Perhaps, I just got used to the fact that the newer Isekai shows have way more underdeveloped, uninteresting protagonists, Kirito, in comparison at least, is a decent stand-up as the cool, kind-hearted kid that never gives up on saving his friends.
Asuna, however, is a completely different deal. It's very rare that we get usefully capable female characters in similar shows, and for a blue-print for the later shows, Asuna does a lot that the rest miss on.
The rest of the supporting cast is interesting enough to stay relevant, although they don't get much of screentime, they undertake proper character development and turn for the better.

The villains are probably the weakest thing that's holding down SAO in my opinion. Kayaba Akihiko was a good mystery for the better half of the show, but then, his motives were probably the most anti-climactic thing that anyone can come up with. And then, the rapey creep that took on the role of the villain in the Fairy Dance arc. If the writers wanted us to hate his guts, then they did a great job, but not because of how great of a villain he was, it was his pathetic creepy side that did not please the eye.

- Enjoyment (9/10):
I enjoyed this way more than I anticipated.
It's been very long since the last time I sat down and binged a bunch of episodes back to back, something like hoarding 25 episodes in 3 days is unheard even in my thoughts, but I was somehow able to fit that in my messy schedule.
I really liked the characters, I enjoyed the action and I appreciated the grind. I still don't get the hate behind this show, it still screwed sometimes but at the end of the day, it was quite the wild ride.

- Overall (8.2/10):
If you're into Isekai, especially if you're the type of viewer that munch on the seasonal Isekai trash, try going back to the roots for once in a while. For the initiator of this great era of Isekai, it really has less in common than you'd expect that it appears like a great show compared to stuff like Conception or Isekai Magician Cheat. Watch it.