Review of Sword Art Online
TL;DR : "They got us in the first half, I'm not gonna lie" I don't write many reviews but I think I need for this one, which is in some ways good, and horrible at some others. Story : 5 The plot of the first episode is quite interesting. But very soon, you realize that's not what you will get. It's like : "Hey, you will have a BMW" What you get : "This is a Rolex"Both are great (relatively), at least you cannot complain. But you were about to have a car, not a watch. It may be a good watch, but you signed up for a car.
This is what SAO is about : not giving what you expect.
If you were to watch a romantic teenage anime centered on a lonely boy, it more of a 7 to 8 than a 5 or less. This review is for what it was announced, not what what it is. And I surely didn't want to see that kind of Anime.
So it's a 5 for the story, given they tried to do a 2 part story, but it was rushed, because all the episodes were about that the main character discover he can have feelings, and not related to the story. If they had more episodes, they could have done something deeper, for both public : those here for the initial story, and those who stayed for the "teenage crisis resolution" kind of anime.
It's watchable, but I won't ever watch another anime of this series.
Art : 7
It's fairly good for the age of the anime. I've seen fairly worse. The only point is that they had the technique but the story didn't gave them something to put their art on. It's like having premium pencil, and having no canvas to write on.
Sound : 4
Yeah, it follows some basic stuff supposed to be there, but nothing noticeable.
Character : 3 (one very little spoiler you'll discover on episode 1 or 2)
Mhhhh, how to put it ? There's as much complexity in characters that there is hair on Saitama's head. You have new characters entering the anime and disappearing 10 minutes after and forever. It's nearly pointless. Just focus on 2 characters basically, and that's it.
And about Suguha. Yeah. Frack, what a horrible concept they found ... Why his cousin ! It could have an adoption with no family link and with priors in relationship. But no.
It literally ruined the scenario of the second part, which could avoided by "I adopted your cousin" by "I adopted a random kid that you told it's your brother".
Enjoyment : 6
This point fairly depends on who you are. If you have some background on mithology and MMORPG/ Online games, you'll find it interesting enough to see how it ends (I would have stopped at the first half if I could, it was a bit rushed, but still enjoyable). While the first part is rushed, the second is slow as hell. I think you can skip some episodes, it wouldn't make a dent.
So it's a 8 for the first part (the story is good even if rushed), but it's a sad 4 for the second part which could have fit in 6 episodes.
Overall : 5
I will not be as harsh as some may be, you have to remember when it was produced. Even if it's not well paced, not the story you wish for, or not properly equally giving purpose to other characters, you still want to know know how it ends (the first half).
But it was 6-7 useless episode in the second part which killed the -few- good moments of this anime. You're forced by the narrator to watch it because you're clueless on why there's a bunch of 12 episodes.
Compared to "A certain magical Index", and more to "A certain scientific Railgun" which is better IMHO, which aimed at the same type of public in the first place, it's not good work.
Any - random - guy - on - this - planet - could have written a story as much enjoyable as this one.
It's the same feeling that you have when reading Fullmetal Alchemist and then watch the first anime : you wonder what you just saw : "Sir I asked for a burger and you gave me a pumpkin pie". It's not FMA, it's something else. Sound was good, even great sometimes, but that's it. FMA Brotherhood is what was expected, and was mastered clearly, even if openings (sound) were less good compared to the first series.
This anime had potential, but it was wasted, and I have no clue why.