Review of Sword Art Online

When any show gets popular, naturally hype will generate as to where the show is headed and how good it could possibly be. Because not everyone feels hype the same way, some people may find something thought of as great to be mediocre, or see something that people hate to be more enjoyable than people let on. Naturally, the more popular something gets, the more likely it is that there could be backlash from a show not meeting those extremely high expectations, and this is shown very well through the widely popular Sword Art Online. Since this show released on 2012, people have been very dividedas to whether the show is amazing or a bottom of the barrel fanfiction story. I feel the need to set the record straight by saying that Sword Art Online is neither an amazing anime nor a terrible one.
It's just...alright, but qualities in good and bad areas stand out.

Story (5/10)

The story follows Kazuto Kirigaya and 9,999 other players who are trapped in a massive MMO RPG called Sword Art Online, and right in the 1st episode, the game's creator removes the log out button, saying they have to overcome 100 floors of challenges to escape.
What ensues is a story of survival, suspense, action, romance and ultimately the themes of reality vs virtual reality and how playing virtually can isolate you from other people until you learn to accept them.

The first three or so episodes set up the idea that climbing the floors is a massive hurdle for many players and they show how what happens to someone close to the main protagonist, dying ultimately shapes how he, Kirito will operate in this world. The next couple episodes are mainly side stories from this quest dedicated to showing off the world and different ways people react to the death game.

Although the suspense does drop a bit for these episodes, they still expand the world and characters. It's just a shame many only last an episode. They were entertaining, with episodes 5 & 6 in particular being an interesting implication of how people acting in this world leads to problems.

Then comes episodes 8-13, where it begins to set in that the show isn't going through its original commitment, but trying something else entirely; a blossoming romance starting between the two leads.
This romance is actually one of the show's highlights, demonstrating how even in a virtual world, the thoughts, experiences, and ultimately love they gain for each is real. Action is still present to accommodate for the setting, but there are many scenes of the two leads just lying down and having heart to hearts, which both reflect their thoughts on situations and how they feel about each other.

The story has three main problems: pacing, side character shafting and lack of proper explanation. The pacing is a problem when some events happen too fast and are skimmed over while others go very slow and take several episodes. Side character shafting because characters are given purpose and well established characteristics but then aren't seen again, and lack of proper exclamation on certain things, mainly the lead's immense player power.

These parts are done decently well, but they decide to end the arc...rather abruptly, hallway through, in a way where the show couldn't explain itself a little better, and threw villainous motives into ambiguity.
There's little floor climbing, but the arc before does feature character growth from the leads and a good idea of what the world is like, so it was entertaining regardless.

Then they do something totally different, and I'm mixed. Some pacing issues were fixed and they maturely handled one subject and added a bit more to the action...but completely botched the other and had content seemingly out of the show's reach. What happens to the female lead is...painful to say the least, the villain is fitting but 1 dimensional as cardboard, but at the very least it provided a sense of urgency in Kirito's quest. The best part of this was easily the ending though, with it leaving out on a really nice note. 7/10 and a 5/10, which balances out to about a 6

Animation (7.5/10)

The animation is SAO is incredibly smooth and polished. The designs of the MMO worlds and the landscapes in general really pop, and most of the weapon and boss designs are solid as well. Even the effect of monsters dying, menus, and pixels shattering all around look professional, CG is well incorporated to make bosses seem intimidating.

Character designs are really good, if a bit similar to one another and fitting a typical mold. It's in the action scenes where animation really shines through though, delivering epic battle scene after epic battle scene, with just the right amount of flashy not to discount the sword skills. A flying battle in the 2nd half gets special mention on the animation front. True, it sometimes gets a bit too flashy or zoomed at times in the action scenes, but for the most part it's fairly well done.

Sound (8/10)

The composer for this series is well known already for great music, and it doesn't disappoint here. Songs accompany both the sweet quiet moments and the intense action scenes appropriately. Crossing Field is a major contender for one of my favorite openings, and Kirito's main theme, Swordland that plays when he finishes a fight, evokes a sense of awesomeness. Pretty great all around even if a bit similar to her past works.

Characters (5/10)

This is where it gets rough. Many people hate the characters in this show with a passion but personally, I didn't think they were BAD characters, some just needed a bit more.

The main lead, Kirito, is notorious in the anime community. With accusations about him being perfect, attracting girls for no reason, or being wish fulfillment for teenage boys.

None of these felt true. Our lead is flawed by a loner complex shutting others out emotionally, survivor guilt, a reckless tendency to throw himself into danger and nearly die for it, and it's through other characters he learns to overcome these flaws, maybe not developing too much in personality or strength but in will. It's through his admirable qualities he is well liked by the game's female populace, not just because he's the main character. It's because of something reasonable kind that gets this attraction, and he does end up truly falling for the main female lead, so the others don't provide a big thorn in the show's side. As for being wish fulfillment, think of it this way: almost any popular well known fictional hero, be it in movies, comic books or TV shows, fulfills some form of wish fulfillment, but they have relatable qualities in spite of that. The same can be said for Kirito. My only problem is that his strength is unreasonably high on several different occasions, but we do see him struggle more than once and fall into problems emotionally because of his faults.

Next, Asuna, the main female lead. She starts off a mysterious badass, but then overtime shows her softer side, as someone emotionally vulnerable pushing herself to the upmost limits to get out of the game as soon as possible. It's through Kirito's help that Asuna grows as a person to appreciate life rather than throwing it all away, and from her point of view it makes sense why she would like him. He follows a different path than her, but they both learn from each other to keep each other sane and happy in a merciless world of death. Her attraction and Tsundere mannerisms make sense given her dignified position and over time it properly develops into true sweetness and compassion without losing her cool edge. The 2nd half does something drastic with her, unnecessarily extreme definitely, but it doesn't necessarily hurt her character since she escapes by her own actions.

The female lead in the 2nd half, Leafa, actually has a personal relationship to Kirito, and despite having feelings for him, the problems with that are played straight and both of them once again learn from each other. It's her arc to get over those feelings to truly help him in his quest.

The rest sadly get only a little bit of screentime, but at the very least those like Klein, Agil, Lizbeth, or Recon do leave a nice impression on their appearances. The villains are mixed. One is a well handled foil to our protagonists, while the 2nd arc's is a foil to that villain, but they went too far in that direction to make him sadistic to a painful extent. He gets what's coming to him though.

Enjoyment (8/10)

Though overall, despite having somewhat disappointed expectations the concept didn't go further, I enjoyed this anime a lot. The writing and characters were alright, but at least engaging enough to be invested and see where it goes. The setting was beautiful, the soundtrack was music to my ears, fight scenes were action packed, and I looked forward to seeing where it would go. Just don't expect anime Nirvana or anime Twilight.