Review of Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online, or SOA for short, is a story that will either hit or miss depending on the viewer. You might find yourself attached to this "World of Warcraft" type fantasy, or completely displeased and unrelated to the environment, settings, character thoughts, and overall story progress. Being an avid games, ex WoW addict, I found myself very attached to the story, the characters were very relatable to what you would find in the online world, with a mixture of human nature in the face of crisis. I also found the second part of the story to be somewhat relatable, but I find too muchemphasis was put on part 2, for the sis-con audience, a marketing tactic of course.

Story:

I found the story to be very relatable. It's a little confusing in the first episodes, but once you get a grab on it, you're pretty much set for an emotion filled ride. I personally have been in certain positions different characters are placed in, so I had a personal relation to the story, therefore cannot be completely unbiased. And no I don't mean I've been locked in a game before lol!!!

Art/Sound:

The artwork and sound, in my opinion was very well made, in relations to the type of story plot it had. Although the music did not stand out to me, of what I can remember (and watched the series in a day, today) I was moved many times during the story, and of experience, music can have a grueling effect on our emotions, thus I have to assume that the music was quite well placed with the different events of the story. Since I found it to be a captivating anime, I found myself too involved to pick out things in particular.

Characters:
Most characters are well developed to their environment, others, not so much. Concentrating on the main characters in part one of the story, you will find certain characters out of context. Although, in part 2 of the story if you read between the lines, and understand certain problems different classes have (and yes! the rich have as many problems, if not more as the poor) you will understand other characters much better. But as in all anime, certain characters were typical copies of what sells, and others at certain times showed out of context emotions or reactions that sell in your typical anime.

Overall I loved this anime and I place it in my top 5 along with Elfen Lied, Da Cappo (orginal season), Clannad, and Usagi Drop.