Review of Sword Art Online
(No Spoilers) Sword Art Online is not the greatest anime ever made, as some 13 year old girls will tell you, neither is it a worthless ripoff of the .hack// series as others would say. But it is, in my most humble opinion, the best anime I've seen this season, and one I'll remember for years to come. The story, as you may have heard, involves the characters being stuck in a virtual reality MMO, this concept is not wholly original, as mentioned the .hack// and a few other shows have taken this route before. However no other show in this 'genre' has ever immersed me inthe world as much as SAO, and thats worth mentioning. The story itself plays out interestingly, after entering the game and becoming trapped, the protagonist Kirito, a loner by nature, ventures off by himself to gain an advantage while other players remain confused. From this point the story takes on a "Wandering Swordsman" style of show, where every episode is in a different setting, usually with a significant amount of elapsed time since the previous episode, and Kirito uses his incredible skills to help someone new. While some people hated this, claiming the episodes were pointless fillers, I felt differently. Not only are some major characters introduced in these episodes, but it also reveales and develops Kirito's character. Eventually the sporadic episodes line up more and the series reaches a climax halfway through the 25 episodes, from here, the second half of the show wasn't quite as awe inspiring, or riveting, but it wasnt terrible either. The story, averaged across 25 episodes, was a solid 8.
SAO's art is fantastic, from breathtaking landscapes, to character animations, to epic fight scenes, the show is beautiful from start to finish.
Sound is impressive as well, a solid soundtrack (and impressive opening theme, always a bonus) left me with no complaints, and character voice and sound effects were equally good.
The characters in SAO left a little to be desired. While I feel the lead Kirito was the only truely three dimensional character (and some would argue even that) other characters still had a degree of depth. Asuna and Sugu, the love interests and female leads, both had fascinating relationships that developed with Kirito, and you learned alot about them through those interactions. However those moments came along with other scenes that left me wondering "why is she doing that?" or "this feels kind of forced and cliche..." Other characters are charming, sweet, funny, and sometimes lame, but their archetypes are ones you've seen before. Overall characters in SAO are an 8/10
As I mentioned earlier, SAO dosn't earn a 10 or even a 9 in story or characters, and in most cases, good art and sound dont make up for a lame story. And SAO isnt an exception, but SAO gets a 9 for enjoyment because of the vast, incredible world it builds. Being trapped in a video game with your life on the line sounds like a nightmare, but as the story progresses the viewer (like the characters) begin to realize the beauty of the world theyre living in. But I have to reveal my bias, as a casual MMO gamer, the setting and world did appeal to me more than it might to others. To put it another way, the game itself: Sword Art Online, would be a gamer's fantasy. From how the game operated, to the bosses, to the virtual reality, to everything else, SAO is what gamers hope we'll have in another 20 years, and seeing that in an anime was INCREDIBLY fun to watch, and would be for anyone like myself.
Overall SAO is a solid 9/10. An above average story and characters, a sweet, if at times cliche romance, amazing action coupled with stellar art and sound, and a world that'll have you wishing, like countless others, that you could be 'trapped' in that game too, these are the things you can expect from SAO. If that sounds like your kind of show, watch, enjoy, and thank me later.