Review of Sword Art Online

This is just one of those animes I have to split up into separate reviews in one because it is the only way I can address what I liked and disliked about it. The first half of SAO Episodes 1 - 14 Although a friend recommended this anime to me I still kept putting it off for a bit because I didn't know if I would like the concept of the whole "virtual world made real" but after watching some episodes of Log Horizon and liking it i decided to give SAO a chance. Afterall, SAO is said to be the more "hardcore" anime compared to LogHorizon. The first episode really got me hooked. I liked how every reacted to the news that they would be trapped inside the game with a real death penalty. The main villain was set up quite nicely and I loved how the main character, Kirito, wasn't the cookie cutter "save everybody!" type. Of course this changed as the story progressed after Kirito watches his entire guild die on him. But even so I still think the characters stood on their own. I love that a weak player like Klein didn't just up and die simply because he wasn't under the uber umbrella of protection from Kirito.

I like how strong Asuna was, how she stood on equal ground with Kirito and even saved him, a far cry from most anime girls who are just there to show boobs, cry for the main character, fawn over him, and sit around needing to be saved. I also liked the development of the romance between her and Kirito and I'm glad they didn't pull the whole asexual romance thing. Like the characters like each other but never breathe a word of it ....EVER! In this anime they actually love each other and they both know it.

My only major issue with the first half is that they wrapped it up too fast. I suppose you can say that the story was always on a time limit because they were people trapped in a virtual world with their real bodies wasting away. But I sort of felt like the main fight with Kayaba was over too soon.

Second half Episodes 15- 25

Now this is where things get convoluted and stupid for this anime. First Kirito and Asuna do not die despite getting killed yet everyone else dies and stays dead. I felt that it was a leap of "anime logic" that keeps them alive. Then they try to explain it away with villain #2 who wins the creep awards but he isn't half as interesting as Kayaba. The story tries to come up with a reason for what he's doing (keeping Asuna prisoner along with 300 other players) but the explanations males no sense at all. Like he says he's changing human emotions and this will somehow make him the God of the real world and...basically, I can't even explain it cause it was just too stupid to understand and it makes no sense how downloading these 300 brains and making them go through emotions were going to somehow make him a God.

So anyway, Kirito must now plug himself back into a new virtual game to save Asuna from the clutches of the boring evil pervert villain. And this is where you now get to sit back and watch the creators unzip their pants and proceed to urinate a hot stinking stream all over their own project. :D

Now Kirito is in the world of fairies! Now he can fly! And instead of having any real problems or handicaps he gets to keep all of his old SAO levels for no reason! And although all his items have been removed he still has his virtual daughter's heart and she just so happens to have access to the systems that now recognizes her programming although the game is being tampered with in the same manner Kayaba did. Kirito basically becomes the uber "save everybody!" character as he is super OP compared to every freaking player in the game. I know he was good in the first half but after a while you get sick of just watching the main character win everything. Which is why I liked the surprise of him losing to the Blood Oath leader (I will not spoil more for you). This second half was just ridiculous with the Kirito destroys everyone and is the God player of the world.

Asuna, what can I say about her expect express my total disappointment that everything that made her awesome in the first half was stripped from her...literally and she became nothing more than a damsel in a tower that needed to be rescued. All she does is sit around getting felt up by the perv with a fairy fetish crying for Kirito to save her. Sure they give us a token escape plan from her that ends with her in a lab getting felt up by tentacle slug monsters...which btw, why on earth were the scientists inside the VR inspecting the brains as tentacle slugs??? Naturally they want do some raping but unfortunately they have to put her back in her gilded cage.

Then we see more of Kirito's sister-cousin who...just so happens to be in love with Kirito. *eye roll* btw, what is up with all these animes and sister-cousins falling in love with their brother-cousins? Geez! Anyway, she just so happens to be playing the Elf game and runs into Kirito but doesn't know it's him even though he looks very similar to his IRL self. Anyway, all she's good for is giving us random cleavage shots and crying over Kirito. I wanted to just shout "Get the heck over it already!" And don't expect her to grow as a character. Even at the end she's sitting around pining over him and trying to interfere in his relationship with Asuna.

This half of the story receives the same wrap it up box treatment as OP Kirito defies all odds with the help of like two clans just to get him up to the impossible to get to castle and save Asuna from getting raped. Just when the chips are down and we're treated to a Berserk like ending Deus ex Machina aka Kayaba enters and gives Kirito super OP administer privileges to take down the boring, evil pervert villain.

I do like that some of the conflict spills out into the real world but overall SAO turned out to be pretty disappointing as the creators really took a good premise and railroaded it into the ground. I heard they are having a season 3. Not looking forward to the adventures of OP Kirito, his virtual system access to everything daughter, and his two wives (one of them his sister-cousin).