Review of Sword Art Online

Given that most reviews are long analysis type reviews, I'll try to keep this tl;dr. Characters are mostly alright, with the main ones being "OP Edgelord" for most of the arc and the other being so forgettable that I can't remember much about her. Obviously, though, it's hard to deny that, as a show, SAO changed anime. Being in the target demographic when it released, I was riding the hype train from day one, and A-1 pictures delivered with some damn good animation, music and a pretty cool premise given the incoming rise of VR tech at the time. The first half of the season, the SwordArt Online arc, is good. Nothing more.As the show went on, though, the train derailed. Characters became less and less fleshed out, story points were less explored and by the end, it seemed like a rush to the finish. I would, however, recommend stopping at the end of the SAO arc for this whole season.

The Alfheim Online arc that takes up the rest of the season is disappointing at best. We have the cast of characters from the SAO but now they're in a different game and the tension of SAO is completely gone. The whole season has a different main goal, which is frankly a little disturbing, but it's mostly just forgettable.

tl;dr Watch the SAO arc, prepare for salt, only watch ALO if you must.