Review of Sword Art Online

Virtual reality - one of the wonders that the future can possibly hold. Virtual reality gaming has started giving way to new possibilities in entertainment. Here, death is nothing but a minor inconvenience, for you can just come back and try it again. But what if the convenience of respawning was taken away? This is one of the reasons why Sword Art Online begins so effectively. NOTE: Summary at the end. (Conclusion) It begins very simply. Explaining the rules of the game Sword Art Online with zero thrill with a general feel of safety and the goal of being inside the world is clear: It's all justto have fun. These are average everyday people. However, things go awry and the logout button is missing. The creator of the game, Kayaba Akihiko appears and reveals that the only way to escape is to complete the game and if they die, they die permanantly.

The beginning of the Aincrad arc is a masterful piece of work, showing how everyday people suddenly need to cope with a life or death situation. Some people can't take the pressure and go insane. Others have a strong resolve to complete the game. Soon enough, they get to together and form up. This results in a society not unlike a post-apocalyptic one. There are those who go to extreme ends and kill other players in order to survive.

All this is shown throughout the first 7 episodes and gives Sword Art Online a lot of potential. The focus of the series is on Kirito and Asuna. Both of whom are fighting upfront clearing out levels upon levels of bosses. Their time with each other is fun to watch and it has a certain charm to it and shows just what lengths they'll go through to protect each other. The filler episodes that come up next help you give an understanding of the society that people live in, showing the promise of a wider scale.

Unfortunately, that promise is never fulfilled. Rather than opening up to the promise of meeting various people in the world and seeing how they adapt, the series skips two years ahead, and thus, skips through the potential journey to be had and the meaningful character development. What's more, it gives us a smaller understanding of the people who are forced into the virtual world. There's not much action to be had, either. The boss battles are mostly skipped and left unshown.

However, one can just say that wasn't what Sword Art Online was intended to be, but rather, it was intended to be the relationship between Kirito and Asuna. And in that light, Sword Art Online excels. There is a lot of development for Kirito and Asuna and they have a charm to them. Over time they grow. And just like everyone else in the world, they're scared.

Now without running into spoilers, the ending of Aincrad feels rushed. Without much combat shown and a cheesy way to victory. Not to mention the characters other than Kirito and Asuna were underutilized and had minimal screen time. But despite that, I loved the Aincrad arc. It's artwork was amazing and the story was dramatic. Despite the flaws, missed potential and missed personal preferences - it all doesn't matter as long as I've enjoyed it a lot.

ARC 1 RATING: 9/10

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Now how did the rating go all the way down to 7? Well, the answer lies in the next arc - The Fairy Dance Arc.

Unfortunately, the next arc feels very forced down the throat. It features an overlong damsel in distress story that lacks thrill. The threat of death is gone now and there seems to be little reason to prolong the series. But instead, they do. In the end, it manages to be entertaining *enough* to pull me all the way through. I can't describe the Fairy Dance Arc further without spoiling Aincrad. So, the review ends here.

ARC 2 RATING: 6/10

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CONCLUSION (TL;DR)
All in all, Sword Art Online is decent anime to watch, but be prepared for a huge drop in quality along the way.

Averaging my ratings for Arc 1 and 2...
OVERALL AVERAGE RATING: 7/10