Review of Sword Art Online

I found Sword Art Online to be more enjoyable, engaging and emotional than most of the other dozen or so anime series which I have watched over the years and was surprised to find such polarized reviews after having watched it. The premise of SAO is a VRMMO game except that an in-game death would cause death in real life. We are not following people with superhuman capabilities in a world with actual monsters. We are following normal people in a game environment facing a mortal danger that is quite real. As a viewer, I found this much more engaging. While the monsters and supernatural/superhuman powersor technologies of other series have been entertaining they ultimately feel less believable than SAO.

I also believe that the pacing of SAO is one of its strengths. Many anime series follow the hero facing a parade of ever more powerful monsters episode after episode along with a corresponding increase in the hero's capability. I find such series interesting at the beginning but after a few episodes, wish I could skip the grind thru monsters and go to the final climax of the overall storyline.

The first few episodes of SAO imply that it would follow a similar arc. There are going to be a hundred levels that the players need to clear. But then the pacing shifts and we skip thru the normally boring part of the hero's grind. So, it does not show you the boss battle on every floor of the game. It simply implies that such battles have been happening and the hero's skill has been growing accordingly.

Instead, it focuses on the periods of time which are relevant to the relationships in the story. Viewers who enjoy watching ever more epic fight sequences would be disappointed by the 'pacing' when it turns out that SAO skips the grind in the middle. When the pacing transition started it seemed like I might be just seeing some filler episodes or fan service. But it turned out SAO is actually about human connections, relationships, and devotion. What initially appeared to be filler is actually the main story. Part of this was a romantic relationship between the main characters, but there was also a part of the story which was really touching as a parent.

While I started SAO expecting it to just be a fun action anime, I don't remember most of the battle sequences. It was the emotional scenes which I found to be the best part of the series, and it was the resonance of those scenes which stayed with me after it was finished.