Review of Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online (or SAO for short) is perhaps one of the most controversial anime of recent times. And not because of some offensive joke, questionable morality, or avant garde presentation. Anime fans are just so decisively split on whether or not SAO is actually a good show. Many swear it's one of the best anime of the past ten years. Others say it's one of the worst of all time. The answer, as it so often does, lies between these two juxtaposed positions. SAO is the story of Kirito, a gamer who purchases the titular virtual reality game Sword Art Online on launch day. Upontrying to leave the game, however, he comes to a horrifying realization: They cannot leave the game and are in fact stuck inside the world of SAO. If a family member tries to remove the virtual reality device, the poor player will have their brain fried. And if you die in the game, you die for real. The only hope for salvation is for a player to complete the game and defeat the hardest boss on the highest floor of the world of SAO.

This idea isn't particularly original, but SAO executes it very well. The entrance of the Game Master is full of tension and horror, as well as memorable visuals. Kirito himself makes for a surprisingly solid protagonist. While it is true that he adheres to many of the light novel tropes that keep most adaptations down, he does actually have some flaws and develops as a person throughout the show. People die because of his mistakes, and he has to live with that. The show also implies that in real life, Kirito is a complete loser. Living in the game world is a chance for him to be someone important, someone cool. The "skills" he wasted his life honing are so suddenly very valuable indeed. But of course, he is a light novel protagonist, and he has more than a few moments where he pulls of feats so completely senseless and narrative-breaking that it almost renders the emotional weight of the story moot.

Thankfully, the supporting cast is there to carry him when he fails (Or, succeeds too well, I guess). The other characters are fairly archetypal, but fun archetypes nonetheless. You may have noticed that the running theme in SAO is "unoriginal ideas executed very well." SAO has great animation, scoring and creative scene staging to make tired ideas seem fresh and exciting. It's very easy to forgive it for relying on tropes when it just does it in a way that's so much fun. Back on the subject of characters, Asuna is far and away the show-stealing side character. She acts as Kirito's love interest, but she is a fully fleshed out character in her own right and acts with full independence. She's also implied to be the second baddest dude in the game (after Kirito himself of course), so she rarely needs to be rescued and in fact saves Kirito's bacon more than a few times. Anime is full of underdeveloped female leads, but Asuna is not one of them. She and Kirito also have a very believable chemistry and their relationship feels very real, in a way few anime romances do. When so many anime feature romantic subplots that go absolutely nowhere (Or even backwards!), seeing a relationship that actually blossoms, grows and ends with a fulfilling result felt more refreshing than a Sprite water fountain in the deep south. And the anime as a whole reaches a very satisfying conclusion. Episode 14 ends the series on a strong note, and the viewer is left with an enjoyable anime series to reflect on.

Wait, what? It's not over? What's this elf nonsense? Why does the opening suck? Who is this new chick? Why is Asuna in a cage? No... no!

Halfway through the show, the action shifts to a new game world and everything that was enjoyable about the show previously is thrown out the window. Kirito ceases developing as a character, an awkward and VERY uncomfortable romance suddenly appears between him and his sister (WHY MUST ANIME DO THIS?), and Asuna is all but completely removed from the show as she becomes a damsel in distress. Not just a damsel in distress, but one frequently subjected to degrading fan-service (which the previous arc was almost entirely free of). The sharp drop in quality of the show is INFURIATING. It feels so needlessly tacked on, especially considering the show's strong ending with Episode 14. As if to insult the viewers, the great opening song from the first arc ("Crossing Field" by Lisa) is replaced with an entirely forgettable new number. It lets you know right away "Hey kids, hope you're ready for this show to suck now!" The worst part of the new arc is how it blatantly emotionally manipulates the audience to continue watching. I was FULLY invested in the Asuna-Kirito relationship, and I NEEDED to see them end the series together. The villain of the second arc frequently tortures Asuna and is such a disgusting human being that I couldn't help but watch the entire second arc in a single night, just so I could see him get his comeuppance and finally put this show behind me. Of course, that feeling of being FORCED to complete the show only served to further soil the enjoyment I had taken from the first arc.

The sister romance is also incredibly uncomfortable. Though perhaps she isn't related to Kirito by blood (maybe she's actually his first cousin? It wasn't entirely clear), she has DEFINITELY acted in the sister role for their entire lives. And one does not simply become attracted to your sibling, blood related or not. The show cranks up the fanservice in this arc as well, as if it knows it desperately needs to keep your attention with such a tepid and uninteresting plot. I couldn't care in the slightest for any plot lines in the second arc, save for Kirito's end goal of rescuing Asuna. Consequently, the episodes become an absolute slog to get through. There is little to no real tension. Coming from the first arc where people could die at any moment, having an arc where Kirito is for all intents and purposes just playing a video game leaves the stakes feeling very low.

If there is one good thing to be said for the second arc, it's that the voice acting (in the dub at least) remains top-notch. There is a particular emotional confrontation between Kirito and his sister that resulted in me having a genuine emotional response. I legitimately felt bad for his sister, despite not giving a crap about her for ten or eleven episodes at that point. This is entirely thanks to the amazing work of her voice actress. Way to go, whoever you are.

The drop in quality from Arc 1 to 2 cannot be overstated. SAO begins as a fine show, full of familiar elements but executed with talent and a sense of fun and creativity that keeps it flowing to a fairly strong ending without skipping a beat. But immediately after the second arc starts, everything goes downhill and the viewer is tortured by the connections they made in the first arc into finishing the show. Would I recommend SAO? Yeah, it was good. But for the second arc, just watch the first episode and the last two. Spare yourself the pain.