Review of Sword Art Online

First review on MAL and i decided to review what i felt after watching SAO (Sword Art Online) because of all the mixed criticism it was getting. so let me get right to it then. (NOTE - MAY CONTAIN EXTREMELY MILD SPOILERS [MILD SPOILERS ONLY IN STORY REVIEW]) Story - one of the main reasons i feel that this anime has so much mixed criticisms is because of the story and the misleading start that it gave. Like all those who have watched Sword Art Online, i felt that the first 2 episodes of the anime were simply fantastic. there was everything that you ever needed toact as a step-up for the rest of the series. the whole idea of people being trapped in a video game, having to beat the whole thing without losing to it to survive was beautifully portrayed in the first 2 episodes. but then, from the 3rd episode, the story mainly focuses on the main character of the anime, kirito, rather than focusing on the entire effort of the people playing the game in order to get out of it. from then on there are a couple of side stories which focus on kirito as a purpose to build up his character. i do not personally feel anything wrong in that, but i believe that many fans are not really "fans" of the whole idea of focusing on a single character just to develop his personality for almost 1/4th of the series when the basic idea of the show is to show action and adventure.

the reason as to why i called the first two episodes misleading was that they portrayed that the anime would probably be solely centered around action and adventure. but the genre of romance is right there in the anime description. people are against the whole romance plot in this anime series because anyone would feel sad if someone turned their favourite action series into a romance. but what should be understood is that it was a romance anime from the start.

for being an action/romance anime, i give it a 8/10... 2 points away from 10 because i too feel that it could have portrayed the action and adventure part more, rather than focusing on kirito's personal life.

Art - the art throughout the entire series was very clean and eye-catching. 1 point away from 10 due to common errors in art in the fingers of characters while running

Sound - i absolutely love the sound in this anime. all the opening and ending themes were absolutely suiting to the plot. the songs themselves without reference to the plot are great and i have almost all of them on my playlist. the effects used during action sequences in the anime were also spot on, the background music as well.

character - only a 6/10 for character because other than kirito, no one else's character was well developed and their entire existence seemed to be focused around kirito alone. that was pretty disappointing.

enjoyment - if you put the thought of SAO being a purely action based anime out of your head, this anime series would be the most enjoyable one you've ever seen. each episode is unique in it's own way and you were absolutely never get bored while watching.

Overall - overall i give this anime a 8/10. if the characters and their development would have been better, it sure would have risen to a 9/10.