Review of Sword Art Online

To call this anime amazing would be a far stretch, seeing as it has been done before in .hack//SIGN and the early Accel World -- which, ironically, is by the same creator as SAO. Let's start off with the basics. Your investment in this anime is going to either be positive or negative. If you like the MMO genre, then you will probably love it. But if you have seen this story before, you will probably pass. The story starts off great, but leads to some problems later on. The second "arc" of the anime feels rushed, and half done. The first season is probably themost developed, and doesn't feel pressed for time. To be honest, ALfheim Online/Fairy Dance arc should have been a separate series of its own, and not crammed into one season.

The Story:

Kirito Kirigaya is a beta tester of the new virtual reality game, Sword Art Online. Along with thousands of other players, he realizes he is trapped within the game and cannot log out. Throughout many adventures, Kirito becomes stronger and strives to beat the game so that everyone can be free.

This arc is the best in the series, and fully develops the characters. You have gorgeous music from Yuki Kajiura. The world feels realistic, and you feel invested in the characters.

But before you start the second arc, think about what I just said. You feel invested. You understand why you care so much about them. You really feel sorry for them. They feel like Mary Sue's and Gary Stu's, but you let it go. You shrug it off. It's a great story. It has heart. It has emotion. You feel certain that the characters will achieve all they hope to.

But then you watch Episode 14, and you barely feel invested in any of the characters. The story pushes too far forward. Not to mention, at the end of the story, you barely feel any romance between Asuna and Kirito because of Suguha.

The Music:

Like I said, it's superb. Really great work by Yuki Kajiura. I love the music and it makes me feel more aware of the battles being intense, whereas if it was rock music.

The Art:

Graphics are great, feels realistic, but also easy on the eyes.

Total: 6/10, solely because it has been done before. And time and time again, the characters do things that do feel unrelatable. Also feels like they are trying too hard to throw in scenes that are not too easy on the eyes -- tentacles, rape threats -- and make it uncomfortable, and just awkward. These could be done better, but just feel forced after all the characters have been through.