Review of Sword Art Online
Sword Art Online. Quite an anime. One of the most mainstream anime there is. It's just so weird. For me to enjoy such a criticized show. Many of you "review-readers", specifically those who read to see if anyone agrees with your opinions, who harshly feel like SAO is shit... you guys may be wondering why I gave a 7/10, when really, "SAO deserves a 3/10". Well look we need some trashy anime in our lives right? Am I right? If not agree, then please exit to the door on your left. Thank you. Those who are reading this review just for praises, please exitto the door on your right. BUT WAIT LISTEN, I have nothing much to praise as a critic. IF I were a dense, weeaboo, "mainstream- anime-watching" guy, I would say otherwise. The only notable thing about this show was its first half. Thank you and good bye.
Otherwise, those who are staying to read my review... I'll do my best to refrain from spoiling.
Story: 5
The story is so generic. It has all the cliches of a harem, a shonen, and an ecchi anime. It has that main protagonist who happens to be a boy with flashy hair. Yeah. We have all heard of the "damsel in distress" cliche, right? I'm tired of predictable anime. So if you have been considering to watch this show, it'd be best to watch only the first 13 episodes or you can move on to better shows like "Log Horizon", "Konosuba", "NGNL"...
The story is mediocre at best.
If I were to tell you anything that I found interesting about the story. it would be the idea of being trapped in a game. In this anime: if you die in the game, you die in real life. Sadly this hopeless, depressed tone does not lasts for long. And this concept doesn't last for long. I loved a select few episodes from the first half. Second Half? I didn't like it at all.
Character: 4
Kirito is an O.P. ("overpowered" for those unfamiliar with internet/game slang) male protagonist, without any flaws. The internet addresses him as "Jesus-kun", for a good reason. Whatever Kirito comes across he succeeds to pull it off.
Asuna, it would have been nice if only she was treated with respect. In the second half of the series, she does not act or play a similar role to her former self in the first half of the series. It just lacks character consistencies. This series felt very plot driven.
Lisbeth. She is one of my favorite characters whom I wished could've been in Asuna's place sometimes.
The rest, well the potential waifus... yeah they lack any depth.
Suguha, I respect... sorta. She has the same problem as Asuna, they both aren't respected.
Other than Lizbeth, the rest of supporting cast is not that notable. Oh wait, except Sachi. Yeah Sachi is definitely memorable.
Sachi, she was the reason to why SAO got better. She was the reason to why SAO maintained some of its tones.
As for the main antagonists, Heathcliff, Akihiko, and Sugou/Oberon, they too lack any depth. Oberon/Sugou is just so weak, as a character and his physical capabilities. As for Akihiko, he doesn't remember why he created SAO. WTF?!
Characters and Story were the weakest part of the show.
Art: 9
A-1 pictures, well known for their titles like the famous shonen, "Fairy Tail" and the tearjerking, "Anohana".
From what I can see, the animation is just great when it comes to fight scenes and the scenery they are just beautiful!
Why a "9", you may ask? Because, there are very little cases when it's not a fight scene, the characters are not really animated as great as other studios like Ufotable.
Sound: 8
I enjoyed both the Japanese and English dub. I didn't know this before watching Rezero but the voice actor for Kirito played as Beltugese. I find it impressive.
As for the English dub, I enjoyed listening to the cast, except Bryce Papenbrook. Although Papenbrook did a great job with his voice, I found his voice to be generic. Absolutely no hate on the voice actor, but the casting... I dunno it was just too familiar. He plays as many famous male protagonists, one of them being Eren from Attack on Titan. I dunno about how I feel exactly about the casting. It would've been interesting if we got a different voice actor for Kirito, for the English dub.
As for the soundtrack, it wasn't different from Yuki Kajiura's other works, like for the Fate franchise, or Kara no Kyokai (Garden of Sinners). It felt generic too.
As for the openings and endings, I found "Crossing Field" to be the most memorable opening. Lisa did a great job with that single. As for endings, I found "Yume Sekai" my favorite SAO ending out of the two.
Basically, the sound of SAO was great but not the BEST, for being so generic.
Enjoyment: 9
This was an enjoyable series! But because of certain plot revelations, there aren't as many moments there for me to give it a rewatch. If I were to rewatch, I'd rewatch the first half, the Aincrad arc.
Overall: 7
Overall, this overrated and overhyped anime is still worth a watch. I would not really go for a "buy" rating though. Not only because this anime isn't something I'd keep but because of its price. Yeah... $70 for 25 episodes. No way. And I cant make out what the author's message was... "Carpe diem", gaming PSA? I'm sure his purpose was to entertain. But as a viewer what am I to gain from this? Boobs, butts, lame protagonist, boobs, butts. I don't think so. This anime didn't really have a message. And the romance between Kirito and Asuna feels too rushed.