Review of Sword Art Online

In a century, when video games are becoming an indispensable part of our society, new manga and anime series emerge with the concept of getting trapped in a virtual world are emerging from the anime industry. For the most part, their success is great. However, on the Summer-Fall 2012 seasons, one of this kind show emerged from A1 Pictures that broke the world apart into two groups: the ones who called it "The Second Coming of Christ" and the ones that saw beyond the surface of the show and hated its guts claiming it as "The Worst Anime of All Time". If you have not guessedby now which show I am talking about, let me tell you: it is Sword Art Online.

Now let's start tearing it apart. The short answer for whether I recommend this show is no. But, the long answer is...

Story: 2.8/10

Let's begin! Well, the first two episodes were actually ok. They built up the setting, they introduced the characters, they showed the world and tactics of the MMO and you witness the first boss fight. In the first two episodes, although the plot's pacing was very fast and we were told about the death of people like it is your everyday Sunday morning news, instead of shown, there was nothing particularly awful about it. And then, the third episode comes in and it introduces with the speed of light new characters out of nowhere only to spark a melodrama in the end. After this mediocre episode, everything goes down to the drain. The pacing is goddamn awful, the filler episodes are put in a more ruthless fashion than in Naruto and the second arc is on the same level of terriblness as Boku no Pico and Tenshi no Drop.

Characters: 0.3/10

The one thing that bugs me about this show is how many who have seen it say that the characters are good. Let me tell you what I think about them:

-Kirito (Kirigaya Kazuto): The king of Gary Stus himself. I am laughing when I see people saying that he is relatable. He is fed with a diamond spoon with the biggest hax powers in the world and he is only 14 years old! He is a beta-male harem lead who is on par with Ichika Orumura from Stratos and he is the most wanted bachelor in the WHOLE GAME! Every girl he meets literally submits to his Gary Stuness and she craves him like a succubus. 10/10 relatability am I right? I hate this guy so much.

-Asuna Yuki (Assuna): The badass edgy female in episode 2 that started as a dynamic lead character only to end up becoming the good, generic tsundere housewife of Kirito-sama. Oh and she is also used for fanservice, because why the hell not?

Klein: The only character that seems likable in the beginning since he seems like a nice guy, but you will never give a damn about him since he has close to zero screentime in the show. RIP Klein Screentime. He is the one I dislike the least.

Kirito-sama's harem: A useless tits-mcgee, a loli and his cousin? All of them want his d so badly that when they finally meet each other, they all hate the KiritoxAsuna thing. Seriously, this guy has nothing likeable and still all of them want him. All of them are equally useless, equally horrible and equally dumb.

Yui (And you thought that I was done): This little annoying piece of trash is one of the reasons why I loathe SAO. She is the most irritating overpowered plot device I have seen (Wow A1, I see you never learn. You still have to use characters as plot devices.) In the second arc, she reveals her true form by getting an upgrade into Link's annoying fairy. Yeah she gives mt=e flashbacks from that one.

The villains: I can't say anything about them unless I spoil the anime but in short they are both as horribly-written as Biba from KnK and Yashiro from Erased.

Egil: Well, unmemorable and nothing wrong with him. He is just soulless.

Art/Animation: 7.5/10

I have to give praise where the show actually deserves it. The world in the first episode looks damn good but as the show moves on it gets repetitive. The battle choreography is boring and it relies extremely on sakuga (flashlight parade). And yes episode 24 is the ugliest one of all. It was so lazily done. Otherwise, the animation was good.

Sountrack: 4/10

It may come as a surprise to many people but I absolutely hate LisA as a singer. I find her voice irritating. Even the OP was annoying for me. I hate the OP as a song. It is ok overall. But the other tracks were either mediocre or forgettable. I especially did not like the second OP, which is sang by Eir Aoi who has done many great tracks such as the first ED from Fate/Zero. But, the one she did for SAO was boring and unimaginative. The ost is at most average done by Yuki Kajiura. She has done better in her career, such as in Fate/Zero, which is orgasmic. While here, her tracks become extremely repetitive after a while. It is not bad in terms of content but the way it was used was horrible.

Enjoyment: 2.8/10

I did not like the first half and how it ended, but I hated even more the second half which was one of the worst arcs I have seen in Anime History.

Overall: 3.48/10

I do not recommend this title, but I think it would be good to watch as a break between better series just to relax. Maybe you will find it as a guilty pleasure.

Recommendations:
-No Game No Life for its beautiful art and fun games.
-Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! for its lovable cast of fools and its comedic look on the genre.