Review of Sword Art Online
Adapted from the light novel series written by Reki Kawahara, Sword Art Online provides viewers with something special. SAO is divided into two archs - one of which is much better than the other. It is the first half of SAO that I will review to the fullest and why I have scored this animation so high. Imagine the psychological trauma a person would face when they realized that the virtual reality game that they planned to spend a few hours in turned into a few years. The shock of being trapped within a death game with no way out except to fight wouldbe enough for people to commit suicide - this is exactly what viewers see in SAO. The anime does a phenomenal job capturing the mental state of the characters as they settle into their situation for the long run. The most enjoyable character is definitely the main character Kirito. The audience has a wonderful opportunity to see Kirito being a completely normal person and taking advantage of his advanced knowledge of the game from beta testing to get ahead of other players. His selfishness turns into such shame that he feels that he must survive alone in this world without help from others.
When Kirito does find a small group of people, it's not long until he gets them killed. Although his intentions were not malicious, his in ability to act causes his team's death and a team leaders suicidal fate. It is at this point that the dark emotion really starts to set in. Kirito rages on for months trying to find a path to redemption for his actions and yet it doesn't come easily. It isn't until Kirito meets with a character from earlier in the series, Asuna. A beautiful and capable young women who was traumatized in the beginning and yet worked to be atop a guild. Kirito emotionally moves Asuna when he shows her how to "live" within the game. This aspect is another well defining theme for SAO. After the psychological trauma dissipates, the characters start to "live". They get jobs, buy homes, make friends, and make a life for themselves - it's intense to see because I believe this is exactly what would happen. People have a tendency to make the best of something after the shock and depression drift away.
The relationship between Kirito an Asuna is great; it's mature, authentic, and warming. It may be a little light hearted at times for some viewers but I think the animators captured it well considering how young the characters are. Through the last few episodes of the remaining first half, Asuna and Kirito rely on each other very seriously which strengthens the love that they have for each other and further legitimizes their marriage.
The action in SAO is great, lots of sword play, fast paced actions, and an OP main character. If you are looking for a series that has a bad-ass main character who can solo a death game, pick-up the hottest and most capable girl, and beat the odds in humbling fashion then don't miss out.
There are a few problems that I had towards the end. The first is that the second half should have never been created - I won't go into details, in fact, I recommend only watching the first half so that SAO stays untainted for you as a remarkably ingenious piece. The second is that the mature relationship that takes place in SAO is much less in the real world - why? In SAO the two characters specifically address how real their marriage and relationship is despite being in a "game" - it's still there but it's much lighter than I would of like it to be. Lastly, I wanted to address that there are critics who speak about "overused" lines - this may be the case...however, it doesn't matter to me. There are some things that have already been said best and they work every time - their effectiveness gets me every time. You will have to watch SAO to see what I mean! Have fun!