Review of Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online, one of the most controversial anime out there. For good reason too. I myself found it to be enjoyable, but sorely lacking, and somewhat disappointing considering the interesting premise the show has. The story starts out really good, it is something I myself, as an mmo-player, can relate to pretty well. The premise is very interesting and sets the bar rather high in the first few episodes. What happens immediately after that is disappointing though. If there was a synonym of rushed it would be Sword Art Online. They could've broadened the story at so many points, yet they decide to reduce thebest part of the show (considering an mmo), the progression and the development to a minimal degree. And it only gets worse after that. The second half of the show is severely lacking in logic, reasoning and general pacing.

The animation and sound however are very impressive and make up for some of the story's shortcomings. The experience overall improves a lot because of the excellent action scenes and the impressive scenery.

The characters are somewhat boring and bland, and the only character which had an actual personality, sadly not our main character, loses this personality entirely in the second half. Most of the supporting cast is just there to support our main character's harem, they don't really serve another purpose.

Overall the enjoyment is still fairly good though. Sword Art Online is an anime which disappointed me overall, but that didn't retract from the fact that I was entertained watching this. I would recommend it if you are a fan of good animation and some decent action, but if you're looking for a good plot and sensible character development, I'm afraid you're at the wrong end here.