Review of Sword Art Online
*WARNING - THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.* As you can see, despite the popularity of SAO, I gave this a really low score. Why? Oh boy, where do I start? The good: The artistic elements of the anime are excellent. Visuals are good and the soundtrack is pretty nice. The bad: 1. The Main Story - The first two episodes are pretty good, and that should have been where the show could have gone. But then it went downhill. It's so quick. Too quick. Everything happens too quickly. There is a 2-year period between two episodes where absolutely nothing happens. Something must have happened,right? It suddenly jumps from completing like 20 floors to maybe 70. It makes no sense whatsoever. The first story (that actually takes place in SAO) only goes on for 14 episodes - this could have been an opportunity to extend the story - the main plot and the love story both (but I'll discuss the love story in my next point).
Of course, the first arc ends with a deus ex machina.
Then - arc change. The second part is worse. There's a sexual assault subplot for some reason. The plot is the most cliche 'save the princess' kind of thing.
2. The Love Story - This is one of the worst love stories that I have watched if I'm honest. There's almost no development between Kirito and Asuna in the anime. Smiling at someone after they wake up under a tree isn't development, I suppose. They end up at the furthest part of a relationship after just 10 episodes. It doesn't make sense to me. It may be just fictional but surely more development is necessary for this?
3. The Characters:
Kirito/Kazuto - Oh dear. I have a few criticisms about Kirito. Firstly, he's way too overpowered. He always wins. He always gets his way. He's like the greatest player, but we have no clue about how he got that way. We have no idea how he fared during the beta version of SAO, and how he became such a good swordsman. He has virtually no flaws except he's too dense to realise how others feel about him. He never loses. Sure, he would end up dying if he lost, but he could have at least retreated or failed at something. Secondly, almost every female character has a sort of crush on him during series 1. Even when the first arc is over, in the second arc, the female lead has a crush on Kirito. Thirdly, he has zero personality. He is what my artist friends call a 'Gary Stu' - he has absolutely no personality and no flaws at all. Creating a 'Gary Stu' or 'Mary Sue' is what all artists and character designers need to avoid.
Asuna - Just the typical waifu character. At the start, she's seen as a promising strong female lead and can fight without Kirito, but she ends up with Kirito, of course, and basically relies on working with him for the rest of the series. After she and Kirito end up together, we don't see this strong character any more. Shame. In the second arc, she literally does NOTHING. and when she tries something, we don't see her strong side.
Yui - Walking cheat-sheet. There's nothing else to say here.
Supporting cast - All the supporting girls end up falling in love with Kirito. The male supporting characters literally do nothing.
Evil characters - They're both so bad, and the second one is so cliche it's almost hilarious.
Kirito's sister (I've forgotten her name and I can't be bothered to look it up right now) - Her character is actually brilliant. But she doesn't belong in a mediocre anime like this. It's unfortunate - I liked her character.
4. Enjoyment - It's just boring.
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Overall, I just found it boring. All of it except the visuals and audio are extremely bad and the plot is boring, the characters are half-*ssed, and the development is actual crap.