Review of Sword Art Online

When you watch something, usually you wonder "is it enjoyable?". It's a wrong question. You should ask yourself "HOW do you enjoy it?". Just like there is a way to drink wine, there is a way to watch a show. And it actually differs from one show to another. So, how do you enjoy SAO? You probably heard a lot about this show. Many love it, many hate it. And I would say this is deserved. When it comes to art (graphics, animation, sound), SAO is among the best that can be found in japanimation. There is nothing to argue here. But when it comes to story and characters,there are lots of flaws. Again, nothing to argue. The characters can be enjoyable, but we can't deny most of them are flat and poorly written, as we can't deny that the story is rushed and/or badly handled.

STORY : The quality of story differs a lot from one arc to another, so it's hard to decide. Aincrad has a great plot, but fails near the end ; Alfheim Online was a great idea for a sequel, but gets spoiled by way too much romance... BAD romance ; GunGale Online has many plotholes, but also has the best chara-development of this show ; Mother's Rosario has the most emotional story, and doesn't have any major flaws.
Basically, season 1 has a great plot, spoiled by too much poorly written romance. Season 2 is better, but the first arc is full of plotholes ; it makes up for it with the last arc.
So, overall, I would say the story is decent. Far from the best, but definitely not the worst as many people claim.

Art : It's one of the most beautiful anime when it comes to visuals. The heroic-fantasy style of environment is dreamy, the light effects are perfect, the animation is very fluid and dynamic (which helps to make great fights), and the chara-design is quite detailed (especially the hair).

Sound : Kajiura Yuki is the compositor, so there is nothing to argue here : the OST is great. Personnally, it's even one of my favourite Kajiura OSTs ever. The seiyuus make the job, alghough there is nothing outstanding.

Characters : This is a special case. The characters are mainly flat and poorly written, as are their relationships.
But the main characters work well together. Not really as a couple, just as a duo. I really enjoyed watching them battle together.
As for the side characters, I found them enjoyable as well, although I won't deny they are flat as hell...

Enjoyment : So, how do you enjoy this show? Well, you focus on the art, which is definitely incredible (and that's enough to make it out of the "bad anime" state).
Also, I would say it's a perfect show to start watching anime. Because if you don't have much experience in japanimation, you may not notice all the flaws of the story, thus you will enjoy it better.

As a conclusion, SAO fails a lot when it comes to story and characters, but is perfect when it comes to art. That makes it in the good average of japanimation.