Review of Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online is a story about a young man, Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya, who embarks on an action-packed adventure in an MMORPG by the same name. This is made possible by NerveGear - think of an enhanced Oculus Rift and you'll get the general idea. The storyline is well-made. Every episode was a new adventure or a continuation of an unfinished one. There were no unnecessary characters, nor a lack of characters either. The absence of filler/useless episodes made the show that much more enjoyable to watch. The art was generic, though well-made. By generic, I mean that it wasn'tanything special when compared to shows across the multiple sub-genres present in anime. Not being special doesn't mean "bad." It was put together well, there were little to no glitches, and the animations were both fluid and non-choppy.

I watched the English DUB of this show and I'm pleased to report that all of the characters and their respective voice actors meshed well. No voice felt out of place nor forced. The music tracks and sounds/SFX were decent. I enjoyed most of the intros and outros though a couple weren't to my liking.

Nearly all of the characters were somewhat well-rounded from the get-go and underwent changes throughout the show. This is something that I was pleased to note as it's less common in anime than you might think. I may even be able to say that I could relate to a character or two as well. Both the protagonists and the antagonists had solid backgrounds, character development + expansion, and clear-cut goals. It was a breath of fresh air, I must say.

I throughly enjoyed watching Sword Art Online. Nearly every episode was gripping and the show was interesting enough to keep me binging for multiple episodes at a time. The storyline was fresh, the character personalities were on point, and the art sealed the deal.

This is a perfect starter show for an anime newbie. It was my first. Definitely re-watchable once I knock out some of the major shows on my to-watch list.

You can't go wrong with this one.