Review of Sword Art Online

Now, here comes another review for Sword Art Online! Well, mostly. After receiving positive comments for my SAO II review about the guts I had to even post one, let alone an enjoyable review, I am now tackling the beginning and first adaptation of the SAO series. Hopefully, this review is different enough to appeal to both lovers and haters, anime newcomers and veterans, and anyone who doesn't fit into those very broad categories. Now onto my review of Sword Art Online, a two part, side-by-side comparison. Why? Well, let's proceed, shall we? Story: 6.8 (Sword Art Online Arc) The first half of the series fields a fairlygood story, all matters aside. It has a great introductory episode, an okay but slightly confusing followup, and then a typical, and unfortunately rushed narrative. Take all of what I said before, and the story for me is a 5.5. But what makes it’s a 6.8 are the side-stories. Mind you, not the supporting character introductions, but rather the more psychological, technological, and series defining aspects. To better understand my POV, look at every novel in the SAO series starting from the Gun Gale Online arc, where Reki Kawahara finally begins to realize the value of what makes this series special, and more precisely, all of his novels beginning with Mother's Rosario onwards, including his reboot of the original series, SAO :Progressive. The three episodes that showcase these characteristics are "The Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Murder in the Safe Zone “, and “Illusionary Avenger”. These episodes really are what makes SAO so appealing, both as a show to watch and a hypothetical case study. Without revealing any other details, let’s just say Kawahara finally learned how to utilize these elements very well beginning with Mother’s Rosario. Only because of them, do I believe the story is a 6.8. These episodes on their own are around a 7.6, with some of the best writing in the series, mainly because they were actually written much later than the actual narrative, but nonetheless, being paired with the “okay”, illogical, over-dramatic, mood-swinging, and very fun to watch narrative, as well as the “meh” character introduction episodes, SAO’s story isn’t terrible— It just isn't anything close to the top tier such as Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

Story: 5.2 (Fairy Dance Arc)
The second half of the anime has three good things. Real life interactions and immediate impacts, continuation of the technological case study, and a satisfying, if not provocative ending. This arc, out of all future and current arcs, seems destined to be the worst reviewed and weakest. The introduction of Kirito’s cousin and her own experience with virtual reality was actually very nice, as it revealed how her own foray into the virtual world was what Kirito’s could have been if not for the SAO incident. Her own real life training with her brother was a surprising and fun to watch sequence, drawing Kirito in his SAO fighting prime life back into the real world and how it would be different. But everything else can be seen as a failure. Asuna is reduced to a helpless maiden, who Kirito has to save, and a certain character forms a disastrous and inane love triangle. The side characters play little to no part in the arc compared to secondary characters of the first arc, and have little to no mention in SAO II. Asuna has to deal with a sexually-driven and mediocre villain, with the ending of the arc cruelly featuring the once powerful battle commander as an adult toy. The best parts are how SAO is present technologically in the game, and how virtual reality could be used as safe tool for study of the human brain and mind. If not for the conclusive yet series continuing ending, which was much better than the first arc’s, this arc could easily be rated a 4.8 instead. It is what it is, but it is always good to know that Kawahara learned and improved from his faults in his later novels.

Art and Sound: 9.7 (Sword Art Online and Fairy Dance Arcs)
This is where SAO, and even beats out its successor series. The grand entrance to virtual reality, the distortion effect and sounds, the character action, both active and inactive, and the intense battles and atmosphere SAO provided was outstanding. With a very good opening from LiSA, and great voice actor castings, SAO, in both arcs, outclassed most of the other anime of 2012, and many other popular ones, due to A-1 Pictures’ amazing job on the series. It’s what kept the story so vivid for many anime newcomers, and what maintained the respect of critics.

Character: 5.5 (Sword Art Online Arc)
Easily the biggest and most negatively critiqued aspect of the series, with equal parts adoration and hatred. SAO, as good of a series that it is, fails with its characters. The two lead protagonists, Kirito and Asuna, are the biggest examples. Throughout the main narrative, Kirito is seen as cocky and emotionless, until he suddenly changes to emotional and caring for the rest of the arc. Asuna goes from scared and nervous, to shy and passive, to powerful and caring, to weak and dependent, all in one arc. With such random changes to characters, the basis of this all falls on the story. Being a single novel, SAO is a very rushed arc that begins with the first few months of SAO, before then promptly jumping to the last two weeks. This provides no character growth at all for the leads, and paired that with the better side stories, causes random shifts in their behaviors. The side characters are no better. Klein is introduced in the first episode, and is handled remarkably well, but is then forgotten, only reappearing in the side stories and as a background character for main narrative. Agil is introduced pretty well in the second episode, along with Asuna, but he remains the least developed character of SAO. The side stories introduce Lisbeth and Silica, two supporting characters, and effectively wraps up their value in significance, which very little to the story, in single episodes, only being mentioned off and on. Without solid leads, and a lack of secondary character usage in the arc, SAO leaves itself vulnerable to very negative critiques, and rightly so. Along with the weak secondary characters comes the love group, or harem, that Kirito forms, with little to no reason, and actually diminishes the relationship of Asuna and Kirito. However, seeing as this is a review created during the last episodes of SAO II, I have to admit one wish. SAO: Progressive, an effective retelling and reboot of the Aincrad arc, has done well with establishing the personalities of Kirito that the series later reveals, which the anime actually doesn’t feature. With a more detailed story, and good character development for Kirito and Asuna in the first 3 volumes, I expect to also see the secondary characters be better handled throughout the story, become more integrated, and also explored in ways the anime never could attempt because of lack of material. Other than that, the first arc in its current shape fields a mediocre group, who, likeable as they are, won’t be considered a good cast unless SAO: Progressive effectively recreates them and a possible anime adaption is created on it.

Character: 4.3 (Fairy Dance Arc)
With mediocre characters already to begin with in SAO, things only get worse in ALO, the VRMMO of SAO’s Fairy Dance Arc. Suguha, Kirito’s cousin, is the only notable character introduced, as she becomes part of the main cast and is a fairly likeable character, if not for a certain terrible romantic plot that effectively has not been repaired for any fan of SAO. The secondary characters of SAO are all missing in the second arc, with only Kirito, Asuna and their SAO child/fairy Yui returning. Kirito has absolutely no character development, as the mad-in-love hero tries to do the impossible in another VRMMO and save his beloved. Asuna is tortured, but not as a strong-willed heroine deserves to be, but rather as a toy for Noboyuki, the disgusting, disturbing, and sadly realistic lecher. The other side characters are gone within minutes, and only are there for more fan-service and drawn-out battles. With a forgettable story that both isn’t buoyed by its cast and a story that weakens its cast, Fairy Dance effectively adds unneeded character elements, that are fortunately removed for the most part from the rest of the series.

Enjoyment 9.5 (Sword Art Online and Fairy Dance Arcs)
The reason this part of the review is combined, other than the obvious reasons for Animation and Sound, is because enjoyment of the whole adaptation is something I think has to be considered. SAO is a very sloppy anime, with extreme lows and highs, consistent with the material it uses, and overall an okay anime. But the fact is it’s enjoyable, for the novice and for the veteran. For a novice, like myself a few years ago, the amazing sound, animation were the two things that convinced me to watch anime, and the outstanding choreography and battle sequences, faithful to the Kawahara’s writings and yet even better than what’s provided. For a veteran, the guilty feeling of watching something that looks so good can’t be denied, even if what actually occurs isn’t itself anything noteworthy. SAO earns a 9.5 in Enjoyment because, though it fails to deliver its best aspects and manages to twists and complicate its often silly story, it is fun to watch, but for guilty entertainment and simple animation joy.

Overall: 7.6
SAO was a good anime. It was enticing, aggravating, awe-inspiring, and disgusting in a small span of 24 episodes. For the show’s lovers, every episode was worth watching, and for the haters, every episode was worth a rant. And yet, both sides watched the series for their own reasons. As someone who enjoyed SAO, and appreciates its two years on, the show was a success in my book for its great side stories with their technological and psychological elements, which Kawahara now fully embraces, and for the fact it drew a large amount of people to watch it and other anime from then on. SAO is no “creation of perfection”, and neither is it a “steaming pile of shit”. It is a decent anime, that should be watched and remembered like others for years to come for its globally-altering effect. I hope that if you read this long-winded review, that you found it thoughtful and a nice read. Thanks everyone!