Review of Sword Art Online

Sword art online is definitely an anime I have mixed feelings about. Since SAO was my first ever anime when i read the plot I was hooked already, it's not until years later I realised it wasn't as good as I remember it. When you first dive into the plot of SAO it does entice you. Thousands of people trapped in a virtual reality game. only way out is to beat each 100 floors of the game. If you die in the game you die in real life-a good, dark and tragic concept. For the first couple of episodes it does well introducing main protagonistKirito and sets up good world introduction and stakes which gives us great tension.

Sadly, after these beautifully constructed episodes the rest of the story ended up being rushed, with pacing all over the place and Kirito meeting new girls every episode, these interactions cleared a path into the cliché harem which ended up taking away the seriousness and dire situation of the plot. The episodes are poorly paced with bad focus going to dark elements to happy elements of the show.

What I will say about the show is the visuals and sound are good, they did well with world building and combat scenes. Cities, guilds, waters and the skies are created beautifully which puts a vast contrast with the dark potential theme of the show. The music in the show is also well balanced having peaceful background music to tense battle music.

Was SAO horrible? No. Would I recommend this? Maybe. there are some good elements of the show that were great, yet I can only give it a 6/10 due to it's delivery. The synopsis set out great protentional yet it didn't deliver it left me disappointed.

-Story 5/10
-Art 7/10
-Sound 7/10
-Characters 5/10
-Enjoyment-6/10