Review of Sword Art Online

I recently found myself rewatching Sword Art Online. 5 years after I first watched it and dozens of anime later I decided to rewatch it. This was the first anime I ever watched. This anime truly changed my life as it sparked the love of anime within me. I thought this was the best show ever made, and it truly was to me back then because I had never seen anything like it. Now, after having watched many anime from many niches including the critically acclaimed Neon Genesis, rom coms like Tora Dora, action shounen like Naruto, seinen like Parasyte, and comedies like Saiki K, Ican say that I am well rounded in a general anime knowledge.

So now as i returned to Sword Art Online after 5 years of experience, Japanese learning, and a trip to Tokyo, I wondered if it was as good as I remembered. Now of course my review must be biased based on my nostalgia, but I tried to remove myself from that as much as possible.

Sword Art Online is, in my opinion, the most "anime" anime that there is. It has aspects of pretty much every genre: action, romance, slice of life, comedy, mystery, supernatural, fantasy and displays typical traits of both shounen and seinen anime.

The thing that drives my love for this anime even today is the fact that it's placed in a not so far-off future. The desire to enter the full dive system and experience the wonderful world SAO paints still exists in me today. This is truly what I believe was amazing about the anime. The artwork that captures this and the enjoyment you get from experiencing this real MMO is astounding. The romance between Kirito and Asuna, while (extremely) cheesy at times, that is created in this world is also something that creates a sense of pure emotion I cannot describe. Especially during episode 24 with the well-placed flash backs.

The story's pacing is uneven which is great in my eyes. You get a long time to experience and learn the world of Aincrad and SAO. But the story does not stand still, the character development works well and the show isn't afraid to kill people you grow to like. The pacing is one of the best parts of the anime as you never really get bored. As the initial wonder starts to wear, it focuses more on the plot and speeds up the timeline of events.

The OPs and EDs are exciting and emotional. The action is awesome. And the voice acting is great. Whether watching SAO with 0 anime under your belt or 100, you will enjoy it. Sword Art Online manages to combine all genres of anime into one and put it in an awe-inspiring universe with a gripping story to top it off.

Now many people call it bad and like to insult it. I think that this is mainly just done because it's the cool thing to do. Anime is not meant to be Oscar-bait, it's meant to create joy and emotion within the viewer, and SAO does it perfectly. You will enjoy watching this and get invested into the story and be astounded by the visuals. I also particularly enjoyed how this doesn't fall victim to the cliché "Anime Syndrome" of not telling a character something important even though you are given the chance.

For enjoyment, this anime is 10/10 and I would recommend it to anyone. But if you want to get into what SAO does badly, the following will be my critical review in comparing it to other anime.

Like I said, SAO has aspects of all genres. The thing is that it doesn't pull them all off as well as specified anime of that genre do. For instance, the romance between Kirito and Asuna, while enjoyable and cute, is not nearly as heart throbbing as Clannad and Clannad After Story. The action is very well animated and fast and cool, but the action of Naruto or Attack on Titan is much better written and animated and extensive. The story is very compelling and dramatic, but the story of Death Note is even more dramatic and compelling. The character developing is done well but not to the level of Toradora. Do you get what I am getting at? That is one of the flaws in Sword Art Online is that while it does well in every genre, it fails to excel in a specific one. The only thing it truly excels at, in my opinion, is creating an atmosphere. Another thing commonly critiqued of SAO is the characters. I have to agree that they are not particularly unique. Kirito and Asuna are both somewhat generic with no major flaws. Sure Kirito doubts himself and spirals after losing friends, but that's not much of a character flaw and is more of a plot point. This doesn't mean you won't enjoy the characters, I very much did. Characters do not have to be unique to be likeable. The immense character developing that goes into them makes up for this and through the great plot, you will come to be attached to their stories. Another character issue is that Klein should have been more present. We barely get any scenes with him but he's supposed to be a friend. Another particular choice of this anime that really seemed weird to me was the rushing of Yui into being a daughter-like character. The relationship built with her seemed rushed to that point and somewhat forced. This seemed odd, and after having seen many, many anime, it is notable when a relationship seems odd.

Any more criticism after this point is just nit-picking. I believe that no anime can be perfect, but this anime really demonstrates the true power of anime. The emotion it creates and the captivating story it tells can be enjoyed by all and is unlike anything other than anime. I am very glad this was my first anime. Maybe that feeling of first discovering anime and my emotions at the climax of the story cannot be re-created, but the memories will still last, and I still manage to get butterflies at times after 5 years of watching anime.