Review of Sword Art Online

Why is this in my top 10? I have no clue. I think I just needed a guilty pleasure. This show screws up on SOOOOOOOOOOOO many levels, but I still had fun watching it. I think I'm turning masochistic. Send help. This will only be a review of season one, as season two is a WHOLE other ballgame(with oddly, the same overall rating from me. huh) Story: 5 *bangs head on desk* Not gonna lie: this story is a train wreck. For those unaware, the story has two very distinct arcs. The first is referred to as Sword Art Online (often abbreviated SAO), and the second is Alfheim Online(or ALO).

The SAO arc actually has a solid premise: a few thousand people become trapped in the new VRMMORPG-MP3C3POXKCDLMNOPAARPTTYLROFLMAO. Sorry, got carried away there. The main catch of this RPG is that players cannot leave the game, any attempts from the outside kill them, and if they die in the game, they die for real. It's actually a thrilling premise, and the show's villain, Kayaba, starts off with quite the intimidating entrance. The problem with the SAO arc's story is in the narrative. It's full of poorly executed time jumps, and it often feels like vital information got skipped. (Like, seriously Klein, what happened to that freaking revival item) I'll praise the story in the first three episodes, but after that, it just begins to spiral into chaos and fluff. So much fluff. So many contrived romances.

The ALO arc skips those problems entirely (thank goodness), but it kind of lost something important along the way. Like a GOOD PREMISE. ALO is basically Super Kirito Brothers, and Kirito's princess is in another... video game. Now, as I said earlier, the narrative is fixed, with this arc taking place over only a couple of days, rather than two years of fishing minigames. Plus, this is the arc with the well-written, albeit poorly thought out, romance. I'll touch on that in a bit. Oh, and the villain in this arc is stupid. And a rapist. I HATE this arc.

Art: 8
SAO's high point. This show ALWAYS looks pretty. It's no Fate/Zero, but it's flashy as hell and a JOY to watch. It has a few slow moments, but even then, the art direction is solid. I can't praise it too much, since critiquing art is my weak suit, so let's move on.

Sound: 8
Many would argue that this is Yuki Kajiura's weakest work, and it may well be. HOWEVER, it's still gorgeous. If you don't believe me, go to youtube right now and start listening to Swordland. I'll wait.

You back? Good. As far as voice acting goes, I've got to give props to the actors. In the original Japanese. This is one of the few shows I've ever seen where I listened to the English dub as well and ran for my crucifix. This dub is BAD, especially in episode 3. The original actors put genuine heart and soul into their work, and the dub just sounds so... wooden. Listen to subs, most definitely. Oh, and the openings are phenomenal. Both of them. Watch them now.

Character: 3
*bangs head on desk harder*
It's so bad. I can think of two characters I legitimately liked in this season, and one of those two was in ONE episode. As for the rest of the cast: apathetic at best.

Let's start with our hero: Kirito. He's boring to no end. He'll always win, no matter what. Even if it defies several laws of physics/program rules. (seriously, you gave Klein a revival item in episode 3, and never explained it being used in the show. Why didn't you use it to save Kirito? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY?) Calling Kirito a Mary-Sue would be an insult to Mary-Sues. Plus, harem king. FOR NO REASON.

Next up is our female lead, Asuna: the biggest insult to tsundere lovers everywhere. She starts off well enough, the resident BAMF of the show. She later becomes a generic love interest, which I was alright with because she could still hold her own in a fight. Then, everything changed when the ALO arc attacked. She gets princess peach'ed and nearly raped. Twice. I. HATE. THIS. ARC.

Next up is one of the two characters I actually enjoyed: Suguha. She's Kirito's cousin/sister, and she starts playing ALO after Kirito gets trapped in SAO. She's the most fanservice-heavy character in the show, but I never felt like she was too bad in that department, though people would disagree with me. (Guys, FMA had cleavage too. It'll be okay. At least it's not HOTD) My big issue with Suguha is her romance subplot. Remember how I said ALO had the well-written romance. Yup, this is it.

So it starts off incestuous. I wouldn't have as much of an issue with the cousin romance thing, since in Japan it's not the taboo that it is in America. (note: I do not endorse or support sexual/romantic relations between cousins, or incestuous relations of any kind. I'm just not here to call out other cultures because of their differences). My issue is that they were raised as BROTHER and SISTER, and that's still a taboo. Seriously, like wtf guys? And to make matters worse, they make her fall in love with Kirito twice, since the two are unaware of the other's RPG personas. Like, don't set up incest and try to make me feel for the girl. BAD Sword Art Online. Got to the corner.

The one other character I liked was Sachi, and she showed up for one episode. She's about the only human character in the show, and in that short time, I felt a connection to her. She was terrified, and alone. You know, how a person should act when faced with life-changing circumstances like SAO. Heck, she gives Kirito's character depth and weakness. For about ten minutes.

The rest of the cast are primarily minor, with only Klein getting any more than one episeode. Well, I mean, there's Agil, but he's got like five lines of dialogue, so he might as well have been in one episode. I stated my thoughts on the villains above.

Enjoyment: 6
This was a roller coaster. At times, I loved the show. The action scenes were glorious. At times, I hated the show. Use the revival item, Klein! Why are you so useless? I'd keep it at five, but I'll be nice and bump it a point for the music's sake.

Overall: 6
Should you watch this show? Only if you'd already set on it. While it's in my top ten, I can't recommend it. It's just not worth it. If you've got nothing better, be my guest. Personally, I'd recommend Log Horizon. The art's not quite as good, but the world building and characters are much better, and at least the faffing about doesn't detract from the story.