Review of Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online's excellency rests on 3 great pillars: a great plot, strong characters and good looking visuals. The setting of a survival game within a video game lends the show a very strong feeling of reality. This isn't a parallel reality, it's our world, just a decade in the future, where virtual reality no longer a dream. And yet, because it's set in the world of the game SAO, it's fantasy, a world filled with 10000 soldiers fighting all kinds of various monsters to save their own lives. So we get enough fantasy for it to be new and engaging, and enough of a connection toreality for it to not feel like something you can't relate to. This makes it easier to place yourself in the character's shoes. And the characters of SAO are exceptional.
The protagonist is Kazuto Kirigaya, a.k.a. Kirito. he played the Beta of SAO, and knows a fair amount about the world he is imprisoned in. He is a smart lad, and an interesting guy, in that despite being one of the best players in the game, never really takes credit for everything he has achieved. he is a lone wolf, and is shunned by the game's society as a "beater" a person who cheated in the beta. it's never made clear whether this is true about him or if he just lied about it to make things easier for those around him after the first boss battle.
After a while, he ties himself in a romantic relationship with Asuna, an equally skilled fighter whom he encountered early in the game, but didn't get close to till about a year after the game's release.
They are both strong, solid characters with plenty of depth, but many shows have solid main characters. What really makes SAO's characters exceptional is the depth to the supporting characters.
The characters that we meet, even only for an episode,are all fantastic characters, with meaningful actions, some influencing Kirito, some influenced by him, some simply standing by him in combat. They all have personal motivation, some happy to live in the world of SAO, some afraid of what the real world may be able to give them after the wonders of SAO, some preferring to die than give up on their lives. Somehow, as a viewer, every character succeeded in triggering an emotion in me, be it good or bad. the point is, no one is out of place, they all have a purpose within the story. Every victory is something to feel good about, and every death feels like a tragedy. You truly want them to make it out of this evil game.
Finally, I would point out the beauty of the art: the designs of the level bosses are always fantastic and progressively more impressive, some even getting to the point of being terrifying. The animation is smooth, even when the characters are shooting across the screen in a speed attack. Not one of their moves is lost, and every single action they take can be followed and appreciated, and the emotions are often easily apparent in the drawing of the characters, through facial animations or body language.
So, is this the perfect anime? Would seem so, if you were to read the rest of this review. Unfortunately, SAO has one major flaw: the Alfheim Arc.
Now, i want to avoid spoilers, so I won't say much about this, but I'll tell you this much: about two thirds of the way through something happens which sort of negates the plot pillar, and with that gone, the show overall is considerably weakened. the great characters and art are still there, and it's not like we're no longer in a mix of reality and fantasy, but the change removes the motivation for the characters to do their all to get out of the SAO world. And things start to feel slightly bloated when an entire new world has to be presented to the viewer.
But overall, SAO is an excellent show, and a must watch for all anime fans. It has a bit of something for everyone, so whether you're after action, drama, comedy, romance, mystery or horror, you will get it out of SAO. And if you're a gamer, you'll probably find yourself jealous of the players, because you want to experience the perfect video game, SAO, too.