Review of Sword Art Online
Have you ever played an MMORPG? Sat down in front of your computer, logged into a virtual world, and then realize that the next time you got up from your seat was 5 hours later? If you ever had this kind of experience, I can say with 90% certainty that you will enjoy SAO. On the other hand, if you have had little experience with online games, you may not be able to truly appreciate SAO. -Story: 9/10 - When I completed the first arc - Aincrad, SAO was still ongoing. Unable to wait, I went ahead and read the entires series by Reki Kawahara. On the basisthat the anime is directly adapted from the light novel series, I can only say that the story is excellent. From start to end, SAO is able to capture the best elements of MMOs(leveling, questing, guild-forming, raids etc), and combine it with a realistic and entrancing vision of a futuristic game based in the floating castle Aincrad. With regards to the adaptation itself, Aniplex is able to piece together the main plot as well as the SAO side stories to give a reasonable chronological recount of the events that transpired in Aincrad. Of course, the adaptation has its flaws, mainly with respect to the development of the relationship between the two main characters.
Alfheim Online, the second arc, brings the perspective back to the real world and is an excellent follow up to the first arc.
-Art: 10/10-
The art stays true to the style shown in the light novel series. The coloring is done in a very satisfactory fashion that does justice to the vibrance of the virtual world. The lines may be over-simplistic but then that can be easily overlooked as an aspect of anime itself. In terms of animation, there is no sign of having too many stills that give a 'cheap' feeling to some other series, and the action sequences are very captivating.
-Sound: 10/10-
The voice-acting is good, although I sometimes feel that the protaganist's voice is overly soft and calm at times. The prolonged battle cries in certain scenes may also be slightly exaggerated, but that is indeed the way it was depicted in the light novel, with the multitude of "Uwa-ah-ah-ah!"s' and such.
-Character: 6/10-
As I mentioned above, the length of the anime is far too short to flesh out the characters. Especially with the inclusion of basically all the Aincrad side-stories, the love-story in the light novel that Aniplex had hoped to bring out in the animation had gone awry, and indeed does not feel right as many others have already said. With the conclusion of these two animated arcs there is also a justifiable feeling that the main character seems like a deux-ex-machina with not enough human qualities. To me, though, this is still better than the psychologically insecure/self-deprecating/extreme-sociopath/extreme-chauvinistic main characters in other animes that I will not name.
-Overall: 9-
At the end of the day, even though I knew exactly what is going to happen having read the light novel, I was still able to finish all 11 episodes of the second arc in one sitting. My advice if you are planning to watch the anime is to just enjoy the action sequences and the vibrant virtual game worlds, and not to expect too much in the way of character development. If at that point of time, you are still able to enjoy SAO, then I highly recommend the light novel series by Reki Kawahara.