Review of Sword Art Online

**SPOILER FREE REVIEW** In case you haven't noticed by now, Sword Art Online is the most polarizing anime since Neon Genesis Evangelion; maybe even more polarizing. That is not hyperbole; SAO actually is that divisive. People will either put this show on the highest of pedestals and claim that it's the greatest masterpiece ever erected, or they will crucify it for being the most overhyped, flawed, inconsistent piece of sh*t in anime history. Well newsflash anime fans: SAO does not deserve either one of those stigmas. The truth about SAO lies on a neutral ground; it must be watched without the sky-high expectations that thefan base has given it in order to objectively review it. It has many strengths and many weaknesses; there is nothing about SAO that is just "okay". Every aspect of it is either very good or very poor, making it hard to review.

Plot: 3/10
In the near future, a Virtual Reality MMORPG video game called Sword Art Online has been released where players control their avatars with their bodies using a piece of technology called Nerve Gear. However, players soon discover they cannot log out of the game, as the game creator is holding them captive until they reach the 100th floor of the game's tower and defeat the final boss. However, the twist is that if they die in the game, they die in real life too.

As a fan of video games myself, the concept of SAO had my attention from the very start. However, the first few episodes set a poor tone for the series. SAO makes a pretty horrendous first impression by giving its first four episodes some of the most poorly paced and badly written content I've seen. The first few episodes are supposed to capture the emotional trauma that the characters of the game are going through as they realize the situation that they are in, particularly the protagonist Kirito, which is exactly what they should have tried to do; however, it is executed terribly. Everything simply happens way, way too fast. The audience is expected to develop emotional connections to characters that have been on screen for about ten minutes total, there are several time skips of significant length at inopportune times, and worst of all, the show expects you to believe that Kirito has undergone some sort of emotional transformation. Kirito, whose biggest problem is the fact that he is completely flawless (more on characters later), was clearly supposed to be dynamic and actually learn something or change from these first episodes, but they didn't spend half the time they needed to on this aspect of the plot to effectively portray Kirito's flaws. The lackluster nature of these four episodes end up dragging down the rest of the anime, all the way until the final episode, which is a shame.

Luckily, starting at around episode five, SAO finally starts to have an enjoyable plot when it enters its first real story arc; trying to clear the 100 floors of the tower and beat the game. The element of suspense and knowing that characters who die are dead for good ends up being the driving force of the plot, and for a while, it works. The immersive atmosphere of the game is actually pretty enjoyable and it made for a more engrossing storyline then some people give the show credit for.
The other main aspect that begins to develop is the romance between Kirito and the female lead; Asuna. The romance appears promising at first glance; two people who are going through difficult emotional times begin to rely on each other until they eventually fall in love. Unfortunately, the relationship between the two becomes increasingly unrealistic and feels less genuine as time goes on. This is because Asuna develops an unrealistic reliance on Kirito while Kirito is… well… perfect, as usual. It becomes less about the relationship between the two and more about Kirito being a badass and propping up the completely objectified Asuna, but again, more on characters later.
When SAO enters its second arc following a major plot twist, SAO really begins to go downhill fast. I can't elaborate on anything in the second arc due to spoilers, but here is the gist of it: the suspense of the first arc is nowhere to be found, nothing the characters do has any meaning anymore, an unbelievably uncomfortable side-plot is added, and the behavior of the characters becomes completely inconsistent and nonsensical. It is this second arc that completely sunk the plot of SAO and really took away any chance the show had of becoming a great anime. Really the plot was just very poorly written.

Art: 10/10
Absolutely stunning, eyegasmic, breathtaking animation. The animation in SAO is maybe the absolute greatest I have seen in any anime I've ever watched. It's bright, colorful, crisp, fluent, and just plain beautiful. There is an argument to be made that SAO is worth watching for no other reason then to see this masterful artwork. Some of the most well-animated action scenes in history.

Sound: 8/10
A pretty great soundtrack. The first opening is very good and the in-show music is utilized very well. The voice acting is superb in both the sub and the dub. The sound in SAO is well above average.

Characters: 1/10
The characters are the worst aspect of SAO for reasons that are not hard to see. Even if you put aside the fact that the protagonist is a poorly written character, there is absolutely no excuse for the complete and total objectification of the female characters, which consist of about 80% of the remaining significant characters.

Let's start with the protagonist; Kirito. If you have seen one character like this, you have seen them all. Kirito is a perfect human being; he is purposely written to be ridiculously awesome so that the younger male viewers of the show (SAO's target demographic) will put themselves in Kirito's shoes. All the girls are falling in love with you for no reason, you are a total badass who can take anyone in a fight, etc. Kirito was made to pander to the male-power fantasies of the younger audience, so to be fair, SAO accomplished exactly what they wanted to with this character. Unfortunately for the rest of the audience who isn't in this demographic, Kirito is just irritating to watch. There is nothing special about him and yet the entire universe kneels and worships him as a God; it just makes absolutely no sense what so ever.

At first, Asuna seems like she might be the only female character who isn't treated as a object in the show, but much to my dismay, whatever integrity she may have had is stripped away in the blink of an eye and is further molested with each passing episode. In episode 21, the show hits absolute rock bottom in this regard (you know the scene I'm talking about, fans -_-), and watching this process is just nauseating. It's not just Asuna either; every female character that Kirito meets falls absolutely head over heels in love with him for no reason what-so-ever and proceeds to spend the remainder of their screen time swooning over him like the hopeless toolbags that they are. It is just downright insulting to women, and you don't have to be a female to be offended by that. SAO is a pretty good model of how NOT to write characters, particularly female ones; they have no real motivations or complexity at all.

Overall: 4/10
Does Sword Art Online live up to it's hype? No, it most certainly does not. However, if you watch it without sky-high expectations, MAYBE it could be worth your time; but only if you are someone who can appreciate truly masterful animation. Be prepared to suffer through a very poorly written plot and horribly written characters, should you decide to watch it. I don't recommend it, but hey, clearly a lot of people liked it.