How Many Episode Are in Sword Art Online Season 1
Synopsis
In the year 2022, virtual reality has progressed by leaps and premises, and a massive online function-playing game called Sword Art Online (SAO) is launched. With the aid of "NerveGear" technology, players tin command their avatars inside the game using nothing simply their own thoughts.
Kazuto Kirigaya, nicknamed "Kirito," is among the lucky few enthusiasts who get their hands on the beginning shipment of the game. He logs in to find himself, with 10-chiliad others, in the scenic and elaborate world of Aincrad, one full of fantastic medieval weapons and gruesome monsters. However, in a cruel plough of events, the players soon realize they cannot log out; the game'southward creator has trapped them in his new world until they complete all 1 hundred levels of the game.
In club to escape Aincrad, Kirito will now have to interact and cooperate with his young man players. Some are allies, while others are foes, like Asuna Yuuki, who commands the leading group attempting to escape from the ruthless game. To make matters worse, Sword Art Online is not all fun and games: if they die in Aincrad, they dice in real life. Kirito must accommodate to his new reality, fight for his survival, and hopefully break free from his virtual hell.
[Written past MAL Rewrite]
Background
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Characters & Vocalization Actors
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Reviews
April 6, 2014
25 of 25 episodes seen
| Overall | four |
| Story | four |
| Animation | viii |
| Sound | 8 |
| Character | ane |
| Enjoyment | three |
--The review contains minor spoilers--
Since I've seen a plethora of scores of x for this testify, I thought I'd write what I feel is a more realistic review for this evidence. Sword Art Online is more or less the equivalent of a fanfiction in it's writing and quality. Whether people want to overlook it or not is upward to the individual, only I believe information technology fails at the fundamentals for writing a skilful story. This review will go into details as to my opinions on why I feel this way.
1) Story - This is first major problem is the prove. Let's first from the kickoff shall we. The first arc consists of fourteen episodes. The showtime 2 episodes are honestly pretty proficient and set upward the plot of the show that should follow. You're introduced to the chief characters and it shows mmo mode of play. I mean with 2 episodes that are amazing, surely what follows volition be more of the adventures of the main characters and these mmo dominate fights...correct? Wrong. What follows are 5 completely irrelevant side character episodes and unnecessary terrible time skips that ruin any sense of a story the first 2 episodes ready. And so due to some illogical reason, we're at present downwardly to 7 episodes to tell the balance of this story. Notwithstanding doable right? Right? Wrong once again. The series wastes another ii 1/ii episodes on pointless filler garbage. And then there you lot have it over half of starting time part of the story has nil to do with the overall plot. Well what about the other episodes you ask? The remaining "plot" episodes are filled with deus ex machina in its purest class. Even the finale of the first season makes absolutely no sense. This isn't a fantasy earth, it's a freaking video game, y'all can't have miracles here. So that concludes my issues with season i, which the bulk of SAO fans consider to be the best part....Yeh you heard me, the 2nd function is fifty-fifty worse. 2) Art - The art is fantastic. Colorful characters, bosses (the few we see), and settings are all here. It's easily worth an 8. 3) Sound - Again fantastic. Cipher incorrect with information technology at all. viii. 4)Characters - Here we go...This is easily the worst office of the series. I'll separate the main characters and lump together the non so primary characters. Kirito/Kazuto - The main character of this show is the epitome of the current definition of a "Gary Stu". He has no personality whatsoever. He is skilful at everything he tries for no reason. He'southward an amazing player, an super sleuth, a ladies man, and a main hacker. You name it, he tin can practice it. At that place's no reason given for this other than he'south merely that adept. Girls all love him, guys want to be him, and villains are jealous of him. He also solos MMO boss fights...yeh wrap your caput effectually that one. Side annotation - I ofttimes come across people claim they dear this bear witness because they're hardcore gamers. I have to say as an avid gamer myself I find this show to be insulting. Unless yous've hacked or cheated , I don't understand why you're content with a character who does. Side notation over. Asuna - The main female person lead/most blatant waifu character ever. Asuna is introduced as a strong player who can stand on her own with Kirito, that is for the first couple episodes. Once she reappears she barely does anything other than cook for Kirito. That's correct, her ass stays in the kitchen, while Kirito does all the of import stuff. In part ii she does admittedly zip...seriously. She once more has no original personality...textbook Tsundere. Yui - This grapheme is terrible in all senses of the word. She's walking deus ex machina, nada more. This grapheme should be hated by any gamer, since she's a cheat device, who adds nothing to the story. Villains (pocket-size spoilers) - There are 2 major villains in this series and they're both terrible. The starting time one forgets his motives for doing everything in part 1 and the part 2 i is so comically evil he can't even be taken seriously. Other Characters/ Who the hell cares - The female characters all desire to accept sexual practice with Kirito and accept no personality by this. The male characters don't get to practice anything because Kirito hogs the show from everyone. That'south really all there is to say about that. Suguha - This is Kirito's sister. She honestly has layers and was a plus to the prove in my opinion. I don't know why she'south in this testify, she doesn't belong in it... And then yeh, Gary Stu and Waifu - these characters are pathetic (1). 5) Enjoyment - Needless to say I didn't savor information technology. Poor show (iii) 6) Overall - This show has and then many fans, and I really don't know why. Its plot is rushed and terrible. Its characters and so flat, it's near funny...most. Its romance is highly misogynistic and terribly developed. I felt insulted watching this, and don't sympathize how any could like this show. Even Gamers.
Without going into spoilers, the 2nd part of the series takes place in a unlike setting, with a mostly new cast bated from our primary hero. This part of the serial probably deserves the award for nigh unnecessary story in the history of anime. This arc is pretty much a mario game. Our hero must save the princess in the castle. Non really much to say about it. Oh yeh deus ex machina finale hither too...oh and in that location's an incest subplot...for some reason. This concludes the plot department. I think I'chiliad being pretty generous with a four here.
Feb 26, 2013
25 of 25 episodes seen
| Overall | 7 |
| Story | 6 |
| Blitheness | 8 |
| Sound | 9 |
| Graphic symbol | 6 |
| Enjoyment | 8 |
I don't really desire to go into too much depth, merely I'd like to give an overview of the series and give my opinions information technology. If you haven't noticed notwithstanding there are many negative reviews out there for this anime, and while many of them bring up some pretty off-white points, I recall some people are being a bit too harsh on it. Let me explain.
Aye it'south a popular anime, yes information technology has flaws, no information technology's not perfect, but at the very least in my stance it is enjoyable. The pacing is off, the beginning peculiarly feels rushed, at that place were moments where I thought I skipped an episode because of the time skips which made it difficult to really connect with whatsoever of the characters in the showtime, and there were some less than stellar instances where it felt like the anime was trying to brand me care merely declining hard. Some characters felt to be completely forgotten throughout nigh of this series too. For instance in the beginning nosotros are introduced to a character named Klein who is quickly pushed aside after the get-go episode and barely seen again and doesn't actually brand much of an bear upon at all on the story later on. This seems to happen a lot throughout this series where there might be some emotional moments where a graphic symbol dies, or something dramatic happens but there is really no emotional bear upon from it, and the main character seems to not really care that much nigh it or it doesn't really effect annihilation significantly. I really felt this series shined from around episodes four-13 and I wish they would have kept with that pace instead of rushing an catastrophe midway and throwing something new at us. The second one-half just felt completely unnecessary and forced. Pushing the negative aside, I found the overall theme and atmosphere of the series to be great, and being an avid lover the MMORPG genre obviously a lot of things in this series appealed to me. I really enjoyed the idea of being stuck in a game that was incommunicable to escape from without winning and having real consequences, it actually made everything much more dramatic and meaningful in the story. Sadly this quickly goes away midway through the plot. If I had to choice two of the all-time things this anime did well for me it would probably be the animation and soundtrack. They both were really well done, and honestly without them beingness as adept every bit they were this serial would have gotten a much lower score from me, and when I say I really enjoyed the soundtrack I mean that I loved information technology, it was superb. I think what it really comes down was but the fact that I enjoyed watching it. I tin look at the flaws and choice the anime apart pretty easily, but those flaws never really stopped me from enjoying this anime.I really exercise feel though that it had a lot of potential to exist a meridian tier series, information technology just made far likewise many mistakes. Looking at it considerately I just cannot requite this anime higher than a vii. Information technology was good because I plant information technology to be enjoyable, but it wasn't great or astonishing. At the terminate of the solar day I watch anime because I want something that volition entertain me and keep me interested, and I experience that Sword Fine art Online did a skillful task at accomplishing that.
Oct 12, 2014
25 of 25 episodes seen
| Overall | two |
| Story | ii |
| Blitheness | 7 |
| Sound | vii |
| Character | ii |
| Enjoyment | five |
Once upon a time, in a land far abroad, at that place lived a brave young boy. He was the best swordsman in the state and the manliest human being of all. He overcame countless trials with lilliputian effort and won the hearts of many fair maidens.
Yes, information technology's time for Sword Art Online, the origin of many angry rants.
The premise doesn't sound too bad. Ten thousand players of a virtual MMO are trapped in the game and forced to consummate it to escape, except that death in the game leads to death in existent life. Simply think about information technology: this could be a tragic story of struggle where death is backside every corner. A story of sacrifice and despair. A story of alliances and expose. A story of the struggle to retain humanity in front of impossible weather condition. ...But why have any of that when you lot can take romance and harem? That'southward right; the survival game is just for testify. Don't expect deep interpersonal or political conflict. Don't expect psychology or moral dilemmas. Don't expect tactics or mind games. Really, don't expect witty dialogue of any kind. And that is the biggest trouble with this show. It is bankrupt in substance. It's more often than not just uninspired romance and harem, with a scrap of action here and there. There isn't much thinking involved. A few plot holes I could forgive, but if the show isn't well-nigh annihilation worthwhile, there isn't much to do. What makes this problem all the more credible is that the premise promises something entirely different than what it delivers. The show has thrown its hands up in the air and said, "We don't care." So why should the viewer? Information technology doesn't aid that the testify has grown infamous for glorifying its protagonist, who in the eyes of many has become the epitome of a Gary Stu. He can defeat anything, he can solve any problem, and he gets all the girls. It'south well-nigh like this show was meant to be a propaganda piece in his favor. Story: iii The start two episodes are decent, building up the premise. Nosotros are introduced to the protagonist Kirito and the concept of the death game. Shortly plenty, nosotros are told that a calendar month has passed and two thousand players have died offscreen. ...Wait, not even a short montage or annihilation? Obviously not. Anyway, these two episodes are pretty much the but decent ones, and so enjoy them while you tin. The third episode begins to evidence more serious problems. We are supposed to form an emotional bond to new characters in a few minutes, and we take to get through over-the-top angst over irrational actions. Merely there is besides optimism in the air; of course we can revive someone whose brain has been fried, right? What follows is an sharp leap to harem and romance antics. The next few episodes are about various girls of a sudden falling for Kirito, often the aforementioned solar day they met him. This typically involves uncontrollable blushing, fanservice, and people acting Tsundere. You probably get the motion picture. It doesn't aid that many of these episodes take a very filler-esque feel to them. The main plot ‒ if yous can telephone call it such at this point ‒ takes a backseat in favor of these random new girls. The girl called Asuna, who chop-chop becomes the token love interest for Kirito, has at least met him before, but in that location is still very picayune buildup to their human relationship. Unless information technology took place offscreen. You see, some other affair that becomes very noticeable is the pacing. There have been timeskips of months between episodes. This wouldn't be a trouble if these snapshots contained all the events that were critical to the story, only information technology's obvious that the author has picked rather boring events out of all the possibilities. Why is it that thousands of people dying is covered in a few lines, while nosotros have to sit through hours and hours of romance and harem? I hate to be beating a dead equus caballus here, but information technology's unavoidable because it comes upwards once more in just well-nigh every episode. By at present, it has also get obvious to the viewer that Kirito is invincible to the point of tedium. He has a level college than anyone, the best equipment, and a seemingly endless pool of abilities, just most importantly he always wins. In that location is sometimes faux tension, sure, but you know he will survive anyhow. You tin only stomach and so many clutch survivals before yous start rolling your eyes. The residuum of the story arc involves Kirito and Asuna hanging out in the countryside to spend their honeymoon. They even prefer a daughter to portray a typical happy family. The problem is that their human relationship is really non that interesting. Only "dem feels"! Nah, sorry. I take a center of stone. This is followed by a sudden confrontation with the primary villain, which Kirito wins because the power of beloved conquers all. And past that I mean the power of dearest conquers the programming of the game. Well, okay, maybe there was some "ability of love" clause in the code somewhere. It wouldn't surprise me at this point. Predictably enough, melodrama ensues. Tears, promises of love, etc. You tin can probably imagine. At to the lowest degree now we're washed with this prove, correct? No, think once again, that was just the good part. There are actually 11 more episodes left, and the journeying takes u.s.a. further downhill. Nosotros enter some other game, this time without the death aspect. Before we get to the plot itself, even at a glance this thought brings up a few problems. The harsh reality hits yous faster than you can say "cashcow." This second arc feels completely unnecessary. It has been tied into the original story with an overly convenient plot device for no apparent purpose other than stretching information technology further. At least know to quit while you're ahead. Merely no, they just had to drag this show through the mud to rip apart whatever shred of nobility it had left. It doesn't assist that at that place is no death anymore. While this makes the piece-of-life content more plumbing fixtures, it also removes the established selling point of the show. The alter is too sharp, and the divergence in tone is too jarring. If y'all want to make a piece-of-life of ordinary MMO players, practise it from the outset. Now, for the plot itself, and information technology isn't pretty. We get direct to a Mario game, past which I mean saving a damsel in distress trapped in a muzzle. And that isn't a metaphor; she is quite literally trapped in a cage. Add together tentacles and incest to the plot, and you have a winning combination. The incest attribute is provided by Kirito's sis Suguha, who also provides additional fanservice. At least now the pacing is less erratic and at that place is seemingly less development taking place offscreen. It's merely too bad that there is likewise very lilliputian meaningful taking place onscreen. There are some new characters and even an ingame war going on, merely it'due south all and then irrelevant to the main story that it'due south hard to maintain interest. Long story short, Kirito beats the second villain with the assistance of more deus ex machinas. There are also more tears, promises of beloved, etc. And so now we're done, right? For now, yes, but there'south still season 2 to look forward to. Setting: This is technically part of the story category, but I really remember it deserves its ain section here. You see, the very foundations of the setting make no sense. People in Sword Fine art Online are as well frequently acting like they are in a normal game, not in a life-and-death scenario. For instance, why is at that place and then much resentment towards beta testers who have greater knowledge of the game? This isn't a competition; the faster someone beats the game, the faster anybody gets out. And, similarly, why are beta testers reluctant to share information? Are they then worried most other people using their newfound abilities to kill them for no reason? Expect, you lot tin can't have both a casual slice-of-life of MMO players and a grim expiry game at the same time. Pick one. This casual attitude becomes more pronounced later on when information technology becomes obvious people are wasting tons of time with unproductive quests, romance, and just hanging effectually. Kirito himself spends time on seemingly useless sidequests, and Asuna spends time cooking for him. Come to think of it, why has Asuna wasted points on a useless skill like cooking in the showtime place? Are these people even trying? And why are so many players dying when towns are safe zones? Are they stupidly rushing into high-level dungeons? I suppose so. Y'all come across, for a grim death game it sure is hard to die in SAO. Bosses won't respawn, so anybody can advance frontward, fifty-fifty weak players. Going from boondocks to town is also easy plenty with teleport crystals. Well, okay, there is that problem of challenging people to a duel while asleep, merely that can't take out then many. There is no lack of critical resources because you lot tin hang out in the rubber of towns indefinitely. Sure, exp and coin are limited because the regeneration of monsters is limited, which is strange game pattern itself, merely they aren't necessary if you stay in boondocks. At to the lowest degree, the show never implies that they are necessary. Oh, and for the tape, I'm treating the testify as self-contained and ignoring the source material. So why do they dice? I'd put my money on rushing stupidly into dungeons because we get to see one notable case. Let'southward imagine you lot plant yourself in the following state of affairs. Before you and your guild are about to enter a high-level dungeon, you learn that one of them lied about his level. Knowing this, you realize you lot are underleveled and probable to cease up expressionless, while avoiding death and warning the others would be as simple as staying in boondocks. What would yous do? Would you A tricky i, I admit. Nosotros are also introduced to groups of player killers. Sounds good until you realize this isn't a normal game. At least, I thought it wasn't, but it looks like some people didn't become the memo. In a situation similar SAO, there should be no reason for these killings. This isn't Danganronpa, where the chief indicate of the premise is that you tin can but escape by killing someone. This is a game where information technology makes the most sense to team up and shell the game. There is no prisoner's dilemma; cooperation is the all-time plan and any sensible person would go for it. If you kill someone here, you only get some coin and equipment. While it may assist y'all beat the game a footling faster, odds are that it will only hurt your chances of survival overall. Just off the top of my head, a few reasons: Actually, does the equipment even aid that much? Kirito seemingly uses the same equipment for long periods of time, however he is practically invincible. On the other hand, he does say that equipment can be worth many levels, then did he get the best stuff for himself and then fast? Is it strange game design or cheat codes? It'due south anyone's estimate. Of form, if y'all have fiddling interest in beating the game, killing other players makes more sense, if just a picayune. I suppose getting more money tin can aid yous obtain some luxury items, merely is it worth the risk? The implied reason is that they are killing people for laughs, but why did so many murderous psychopaths decide to log into this MMO on its opening twenty-four hour period? Is this some kind of stab at gamers, maxim that they are unable to distinguish betwixt real violence and fake violence? Maybe, or the author forgot that this isn't a normal MMO. Over again. So is information technology a legit program to stay in the virtual world for the residue of your life and give up on getting back to the real world? If so, it would explain a lot. While the range of pastimes in there is smaller than in the real world, maybe there is enough for some people. The choice between staying in relative happiness in a virtual world and risking your life returning to the existent world could have been an interesting one. Unfortunately, their bodies are deteriorating in real life, which makes the option very 1-sided. For some reason, Asuna has to point this out to Kirito because apparently the land of his real-world torso had never occurred to him over the course of ii years. Yeah, adept job, Kirito, y'all certain were fast on the uptake. Lying down on the grass and having a carefree nap doesn't sound so smart anymore, eh? Finally, why are virtual MMOs nevertheless legal afterward the SAO incident? Certain, the new hardware is supposedly safer, but the previous death trap must take equally passed through "strict" government examination, so who in their right mind would trust them? And even if we assume it is safe, since when has people's hysteria hinged on facts? People fear new engineering even when it'due south harmless, let alone when a massive incident similar this happens. In that location would be mass protests in the streets in favor of banning them. Characters: 2 You may take noticed that I have only mentioned three characters by name and so far. For some other evidence, this might be because the cast is so vast that there is no time to go through them all, but here it's rather that there are very few characters worth mentioning. Kirito, and by extension Asuna and Suguha who are divers by Kirito's graphic symbol, pig practically all of the screentime. Anybody else gets thrown nether the autobus. Girls but exist to autumn in dear with Kirito, and males only exist to exist inferior to him. The villains in item but be every bit fodder to the guy. Kirito: I accept barely touched on Kirito's personality. Well, blame the show, non me; information technology should at least be willing to meet me halfway. We know very little nigh him, other than being invincible and inexplicably good with the ladies. Essentially, he is the manliest man on the planet. That'southward pretty much all he is. Even his dialogue ends up pretty bland. At that place are no witty insights, no clever jokes, no skillful give-and-take games. Much of his dialogue consists of saying that the world is a virtual one, explaining game mechanics, wishing to save everyone, or loving someone forever. The sort of stuff you'd expect from a paper-thin cutout hero in a situation like this. Information technology can be a facepalm-worthy experience to witness girl later girl falling for Kirito similar aught, often the same day they met him. The show incessantly drills into the viewer that he is the sexiest man alive... for some reason. I go that rescuing people tin requite y'all points in their eyes, but come up on now. I tin only assume at that place is a subconscious manliness stat and his black jacket comes with a +999 boost. Equally far every bit his invincibility goes, the win streak by itself isn't the biggest problem. The problem is that he always wins through creature strength. That is to say, his character skills and stats. There are no tactics worth mentioning, no psychology, no politics, no thinking whatsoever. He volition just go out in that location and pull off his generic action hero stunts. Sure, developing those skills and stats may have required some tactical thinking. Peradventure he has optimized his skill tree or has amazing grinding strats. In theory. We run across no hints of it. It all happened offscreen and offscreen doesn't count. I'm pitiful, it but doesn't. To add insult to injury, some of Kirito's abilities are completely forgotten later on. I'yard sure that health recovery thing would have come in handy whatsoever number of times. And when even his skills and stats aren't enough, he is saved by plot armor at the concluding second. It's besides a mockery of MMOs in the sense that Kirito is able to solo raid bosses. And he is able to attain a level higher than anyone despite playing solo, supposedly considering he doesn't have to divide the exp. His virtually unique ability is revealed to be... *drumroll* dual-wielding, which nobody else is allowed to exercise in this game. This doesn't audio like any MMO I know of, or was the idea to portray a histrion with god-mode cheats on? I'k seriously thinking that the bear witness would have been a lot more than tolerable if Kirito lonely had been replaced by one of the side characters. It nevertheless wouldn't take been a masterpiece or anything, only at to the lowest degree the Gary Stu accusations could have been avoided. Asuna: She is about as bland in personality equally Kirito. She is as well portrayed as fairly powerful for no substantial reason only of grade nothing compared to him. Equally time passes, her nearly notable trait becomes being a textbook Tsundere. ...Well, that was fast. Moving on. Suguha: As mentioned earlier, her main role is providing fanservice and a tacked-on incest subplot. It'southward but another element thrown into the plot for cheap shock value, if anyone is all the same shocked past incest in anime present. Villain #i: The get-go villain barely appears, and his motivation for trapping the players is vague, to say the least. He basically did it out of personal interest. He wanted to create a virtual world where death has meaning like in the real one, but as for why he was interested in the idea, he forgot. Err, alright then. Moving on. Villain #2: The second villain is pathetic and a disgrace to antagonists everywhere, coming across as a cartoon villain who does evil things for the sake of being evil. The conflict here is portrayed as completely black-and-white, just in instance someone had sympathy for the guy, equally unlikely as that is. His chief focus is essentially raping a comatose girl. And that is over obtaining tons of cash, presumably in the millions. If he had left the girl lonely, he probably would have got away with information technology, so for all intents and purposes, he chose raping a girl over millions in greenbacks. Talk about priorities. Come to recollect of it, information technology'south already ridiculous that the family unit of the asleep girl is planning to have her marry the guy. I hateful, she is in a coma. As in unconscious, unable to state her own intentions, etc. Where are child protective services when you need them? Thankfully, the police disagrees, so they can't use for an official marriage. Instead, he'll be adopted by her family every bit their son in spirit... Wait, what? Furthermore, his sheer incompetence is mindboggling. He openly explains his evil plans and his security is practically at Dr. Evil level, up to entering a secret keycode in plain sight so that the prisoner tin can run into. Thankfully the regime and his company are equally incompetent and are non monitoring his enquiry group closely despite its reliance on infamous applied science used in SAO. Are these the same people who deemed the new tech safety? If and then, I'd like a 2d opinion. I wouldn't trust these people to operate Aroused Birds, let alone a virtual MMO with potential health risks. Art: vii So this is where the money went. The backgrounds look nice but inexpensive fanservice scenes not so much. Audio: 7 Not as well bad either. The soundtrack and opening and ending songs work pretty decently, and the voices are likewise alright. Enjoyment: v Funnier than I was expecting but for the wrong reasons. In that location is something earnest virtually how the prove is trying to portray escapism and human being relationships, but information technology falls just short enough to create a dissonance. Overall: three Sentinel information technology to witness the writing yourself. But more importantly, by watching the show y'all can amend sympathize the reviews or, better yet, write one yourself.
a) Record a bulletin in advance, knowing that y'all wouldn't last long, or
b) Stay in boondocks so that yous wouldn't become killed in the starting time identify?
one) If people beginning killing each other, information technology obviously increases the risk of dying yourself, both in retaliation and spontaneously.
ii) Killing people reduces manpower needed for beating the game, and the distrust that follows volition make it even slower. You could merely kill useless depression-level players, simply they probably don't have much money or expert equipment to begin with.
iii) There is the adventure that you will state murder charges if you escape from the game and officials find out.
Dec 31, 2012
25 of 25 episodes seen
| Overall | three |
| Story | three |
| Animation | 8 |
| Sound | half dozen |
| Character | iii |
| Enjoyment | 6 |
Once in a while, there comes forth a title (be it movie, book or anime) that takes the audience by storm, sweeping numerous off their feat, leaving several with a bad aftertaste in their mouth and making a few pass the work off as 'boilerplate' or 'mediocre'. Online communities, forums, chat rooms and every other nook and corner of the net known to man plow into arenas of debates, discussions, fanboyism/fangirlism and flaming. It's credible that when something is pop, it doesn't always become to bath in praises. With the acclamation, comes a sheer amount of criticisms. Likewise, it goes without saying that popularity doesn't necessarily equate to quality. Sword Art Online, abbreviated every bit SAO from this bespeak on, is no exception. SAO, the anime adaptation of a series of light novels of the same proper name by Kawahara Reki, has been the much talked most show of the Summertime and Fall 2012 seasons, and taking into consideration the incredible hype surrounding it with reviews of mixed sorts, it's likely to stay that way for quite some time. Keeping in mind the faddy of MMORPGs and the demand for something 'captivating', the squad behind SAO attempts to bring an enticing work to the table by executing the intriguing premise of 'players trapped in a VRMMORPG where death equates to expiry in existent life and the only way out is to clear the game'. Unfortunately, SAO fails at many levels which is a shame because when the anime kicked off with the highly anticipated first episode, all seemed well and information technology gave the vibes of something truly worth spending your time on but then it does a flip and from this bespeak, things go awry. And here we have it— one of the most controversial anime of the recent years. Before proceeding with the review, let'southward get ane thing straight. I have non read the original source material— the low-cal novels, that is. Hence, I'yard not going to draw whatever comparing betwixt that and the anime. With that out of the way, let's keep the ball rolling. SAO on the surface has a fairly interesting premise, no doubt, and it'southward executed well to some extent or so did it initially seem. The very thought of a large number of people logged into a VRMMORPG with the intention of embarking on a virtual reality adventure but simply to be struck with utter horror equally they're faced with the shocking truth of the game has been put into consequence quite satisfactorily in the first episode. It's pretty much what I'd phone call an excellent beginning. However, SAO effortlessly manages to send all my expectations and enthusiasm downwardly the drain for information technology takes the prove merely an episode or two to reveal its true colours followed by the thwarting it has in store. Then, what goes wrong? Well, many things. Post-obit the Great Get-go, the get-go arc decides to take a detour and invests on a few episodes dealing with side stories in which our protagonist Kirito gets acquainted with 1 girl per episode and ends up rescuing her from a jam. This is precisely why I similar referring to this bunch of side stories as 'episodic harem' wherein the main heroine of the story and Kirito'south love interest Asuna is assumed to be abiding and the other girls are variables. Now this isn't necessarily a bad affair. However, these side stories have very niggling to nothing to contribute to the series equally a whole. Absolutely, they equip the viewers with some clever, little details hither and there regarding how the game world works but they inappreciably have any begetting to the overall plot. The master goal of these filler-like episodes appears to be that of giving our hero clad in blackness an opportunity to flaunt how much of a chick magnet he is and how he has it all that takes to be the coolest dude in this globe made up of zillions of pixels. To boot, the characters (read: cute chicks) that appear in these episodes have admittedly no substantial role to play in the story later. 'Side' characters indeed. And SAO knows how to effectively sideline them. When the arc finally gets itself back on track, it's simply natural to hope that the show will now accept something worthwhile to deliver. All the same, that isn't the case. If anything, some astringent cracks brainstorm to appear equally very soon the focus of SAO is the romance betwixt the ii leads which is, in one word, cheesy. At this point, opinions are divided. The romance aspect, for some, tin can be appealing while for others, it can exist a major plough off particularly if they don't like the characters involved. It all comes down to personal preference. However, personal preferences aren't a disarming alibi by any ways to overlook the fact that the story, world building and everything else have a backseat for the sake of allowing the two leads to be lovey-dovey in the backdrop of gorgeous sceneries. When the arc does manage to divert its focus on to some 'serious business', things wait good for a while but with a rather unimpressive catastrophe, the first arc concludes on a pretty bad note in my volume. And and so begins the second arc which, to exist blunt, is a letdown again. The 2nd arc or the ALO arc is set within ALfheim Online, a VRMMORPG successor to SAO. Kirito logs in with a mission to rescue his wife (Asuna, duh) from the clutches of an archetypical antagonist who is a disgrace to all the villains in fiction we have come up across so far. This arc showcases some really eye candy visuals but that's pretty much its only redeeming betoken. Information technology doesn't take anything much going on except for a few climactic action sequences now so with intense battle music playing in the background that last only for a while. Not to mention, there'southward some other girl added to Kirito's harem. And then the hilarity ensues. The style in which ALO is brought to a close is bloodcurdling to say the least and at the aforementioned laughable considering information technology doesn't hesitate to apply the much notorious plot device dues ex machina, ruining whatever hopes there were for the final confrontation with the villain. The poor determination could be excused if it was handled more cleverly and convincingly but a blatant donkey pull is by no means satisfactory. If annihilation, it only proves that the author faced a dead terminate and was unable to recollect of annihilation better and creative, and expected the audience to consume downwardly whatever he could come up upward with, no affair how downright stupid information technology is. Amidst all the other things, the well-nigh hands noticeable flaw without a doubt is the execution of the plot itself which is all over the place. Information technology doesn't take a genius to effigy out after a couple of episodes that SAO suffers from poor pacing and inconsistency. Information technology appears to exist highly indecisive as to what exactly it wants to practice and how to get it done. This is generally evident in the first arc which is incredibly rushed at many parts. There're timeskips and the next matter you realize is that the characters take already cleared quite a lot of floors while keeping us, the viewers, in the dark. This makes the plot disjointed, prevents any sort of correlation to the win-or-die state of affairs that the characters have been put into and gives everything the feel of it being nothing more than than a piece of cake. The struggle for survival and a sense of urgency are hardly felt even though the lives of the characters have been said to be literally at pale. The episodes dealing exclusively with the lead couple taking some time off for a 'vacation' and subsequently ending upwards edifice a virtual family can further make 1 wonder: Why are they so carefree when they're supposed to chalk out plans to beat the game and make a quick escape? To put it in other words, the arc has a trend to become off track. It lays down for itself one thing but ends upwards doing something else altogether. It's uncertain as to whether to make itself come across as a story of survival gear up within a VRMMORPG or equally a fluffy love story. In due form, it decides to juggle with both but doesn't get either of them rightly done. Not to mention, when the situation demands it and the writer goes out of whatsoever creative ideas to move the story frontward, the characters' actions are made to contradict the established game mechanics and the merely reasoning that'southward provided for such miracles is 'where there's a will, there's a way, and there're times when true love and conclusion can overcome whatsoever obstacle in the game'. Now, for those who await for substance in any given story, it's almost a fact that no amount of fanservice, eye candies, cocky-insertion or guilty pleasure factors can perchance recoup for a substandard storytelling. Nevertheless that's what SAO tries to do. It brings in all the same elements to sugarcoat its sloppy writing. On the whole, in that location're no sincere efforts made to incorporate details that would contribute in some way or the other to world building or label whatsoever. While the poor quality of the writing is the key factor, the other attribute that contributes considerably to the mediocrity of the show is the characterization. But put, SAO'southward characters are banal. Essentially, the show has its focus on simply two characters: Kirito and Asuna. The others are just in that location; mere devices to move the story forward. And a few accept nothing to contribute to the plot at all. For instance, the ones featuring in the side stories. Let'due south talk virtually the protagonist Kirito first. An unsocial, reserved yet headstrong actor who knows how to get things done his style and is determined to beat out the game. That's basically how Kirito is portrayed in the beginning. At this signal, he seems like a practiced riddance from the generic wimpy male leads that have get so much of a commonplace in anime. A skillful main graphic symbol who knows how to bargain with things is something refreshing to witness once in a while. Unfortunately, the impressions didn't last for long. In desperate attempts to make his character more 'appealing', Kirito is depicted as a 'perfect' being which leaves his grapheme with footling plausibility and much insipidity. Thus, he serves as a mere cocky-insert character for wish-fulfilment and at the end of the 24-hour interval, there's zip 'individualistic' about him. Gary stu is probably what describes his grapheme the best, and if paired with the Mary sue of the testify, we get a lead couple that seems to accept been cut out direct from a tacky romance fanfiction. Yeah, when I mentioned 'Mary sue', I was referring to Asuna. Asuna as the female lead is as stereotyped as they come. Much like Kirito, her grapheme is heavily idealized. She's pretty, pop, kind, caring and every other human being wants to have a piece of her. Oh, and did I mention her cooking skills that level up with each passing twenty-four hours? Later all, her foremost duty is to cook for Kirito and testify how much she cares for him. While initially she's portrayed as a strong, independent female person actor with a tsundere-ish attitude, it doesn't take her long to make a transition from that to a sorry damsel in distress, requiring her knight in black robe to come to her rescue whenever she's in a bind. Kirito fighting her lodge leader to earn her some time for honeymooning is laughable to say the least. It soon becomes apparent that she doesn't have much of a role other than serving as the dear involvement of the protagonist and being the object of fanservice now and so which might be successful in pleasing the male audience somehow but that alone tin can't make up for her badly written grapheme. In fact, the other female person character the show cares to put the spotlight on too ends up condign the target of fanservice but doesn't have anything else going on for herself. If you oasis't guessed it already, I'm talking well-nigh Kirito'due south beloved imouto. Throughout the first arc, the writer must accept had been itching to include a love triangle in the story but couldn't find a potential candidate to become the task done. As the beginning arc comes to a closure and the second arc begins, he grabs the opportunity, puts Asuna behind the bars (then that she'due south not an interference in what he'south attempting to do) and introduces Suguha, Kirito's cousin sister. The sole purpose of creating her character, it appears, is to make way for a generic honey triangle and melodrama. Suguha loves her cousin but can't do anything well-nigh it because he loves Asuna. That's the bitter truth. Hence, she looks upward to a certain someone she happens to befriend within ALO and hopes that he'd be able to sooth her aching heart. However, she gets trolled… badly. This, in turn, leads to more than drama that's somehow supposed to be heart wrenching but it isn't. The remaining cast consists of two antagonists, both failing to brand any sort of impression though the one making his debut in the second arc can exist a good comic relief at times, and a bunch of side characters that wouldn't have had made whatsoever difference even if they hadn't existed. The lesser line is, the characters of SAO are a half-baked lot devoid of any depth or development. They could've perhaps turned out to be interesting if they were more fleshed out only who cares well-nigh that as long as they appeal to the intended target audience? Onto the technical aspects now. In the department of visuals, A-one Pictures does a pretty proficient job. Inside the game, the vast tracts of greenery, the beautiful cities during the night, the castles… they're all a pleasure to behold. The animation is too well-handled for the most part. Initially I wasn't much pleased with the graphic symbol designs but they gradually grew on me, and I personally discover a few characters like Asuna, Heathcliff and Lisbeth to exist very well designed. The music is equanimous past ane of the near renowned composers in the anime industry, Yuki Kajiura. While the soundtracks aren't bad by whatsoever means, none of them stand out much except the one that plays during gainsay/intense scenes. In fact, that's the just track that can exist heard playing most of the time in the entire prove. A few other tracks, though they aptly fit the scenes they're played in, are easily forgettable. The aforementioned applies to the opening and ending themes. Zippo groundbreaking in that location. I'm a fan of near all of Kajiura's works and if compared to her previous works, SAO'southward music is lacklustre to say the least so much and so that it'due south hard to believe Kajiura is the composer to begin with. To wrap upward the review, SAO had the potential to be something good but that potential goes downwardly the drain due to poorly executed plot and bland characterization. It starts off in a satisfactory style merely goes downhill thereafter. Nevertheless, it tin can be an entertaining ride if one keeps their expectations low and swallows down whatever information technology has to offering without questioning anything. One of the reasons why SAO has been a letdown is the anticipation the majority had for it prior to its ambulation merely that'southward justified since the light novel series from which the anime is adjusted is one of the most popular ones out in that location. [Edited on March 20, 2017]
He'due south a guy with a heart of gold.
He has an 'ideal' girlfriend/wife.
He'due south admired by those around him.
He can 'unintentionally' make every other woman adore him, romantically or otherwise.
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Source: https://myanimelist.net/anime/11757/Sword_Art_Online
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