Review of Sword Art Online

I'll preface this by saying that SAO is most likely a very different viewing experience depending on whether or not you're into video games, especially MMO's and RPG's with companions/character development. As a big gamer myself, I thoroughly enjoyed SAO. Art and Sound are all high quality, so there should be no complaints by anyone in that regard. Story as a whole was nothing overly noteworthy, but the strength of the anime lies more in its characters, the world, and how they interact with one another. Just like in a real MMO, where the story is usually just there to create a setting for everything else. This is notthe anime with the most badass action scenes you'll ever see. There's plenty, and it's good enough, but it's not the main focus.

There isn't a super complex story that twists and turns and has some insane mystery about it. There's some, but it's not the main focus.

The focus really is on the characters and how they come to terms with the game world, with themselves, with each-other.

And I must admit, the friendships and the romances are done well. You get to like quite a few characters, appreciate their feelings and enjoy watching them grow as individuals and as friends/lovers.

I know I couldn't stop watching once I started. I needed to know how things panned out. For the characters.