How Much Sword Art Online Episodes Are There Total
Synopsis
In the year 2022, virtual reality has progressed by leaps and bounds, and a massive online role-playing game called Sword Art Online (SAO) is launched. With the assistance of "NerveGear" engineering science, players can control their avatars inside the game using zero merely their ain thoughts.
Kazuto Kirigaya, nicknamed "Kirito," is among the lucky few enthusiasts who get their hands on the first shipment of the game. He logs in to find himself, with ten-k others, in the scenic and elaborate world of Aincrad, i full of fantastic medieval weapons and gruesome monsters. Nevertheless, in a cruel turn of events, the players soon realize they cannot log out; the game's creator has trapped them in his new world until they complete all one hundred levels of the game.
In gild to escape Aincrad, Kirito will at present accept to interact and cooperate with his swain 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 Fine art Online is non all fun and games: if they die in Aincrad, they die in real life. Kirito must adapt to his new reality, fight for his survival, and hopefully break free from his virtual hell.
[Written past MAL Rewrite]
Background
Related Anime
Characters & Voice Actors
Staff
Reviews
April 6, 2014
25 of 25 episodes seen
| Overall | 4 |
| Story | 4 |
| Animation | eight |
| Audio | 8 |
| Grapheme | 1 |
| Enjoyment | three |
--The review contains minor spoilers--
Since I've seen a plethora of scores of 10 for this show, I thought I'd write what I feel is a more realistic review for this evidence. Sword Art Online is more than or less the equivalent of a fanfiction in information technology'southward writing and quality. Whether people desire to overlook it or not is up to the individual, but I believe it fails at the fundamentals for writing a good story. This review will go into details as to my opinions on why I feel this fashion.
1) Story - This is first major problem is the prove. Permit'south starting time from the first shall we. The offset arc consists of 14 episodes. The first 2 episodes are honestly pretty adept and fix the plot of the show that should follow. You lot're introduced to the main characters and it shows mmo style of play. I mean with two episodes that are amazing, surely what follows will exist more of the adventures of the primary characters and these mmo boss fights...right? Incorrect. What follows are 5 completely irrelevant side character episodes and unnecessary terrible time skips that ruin whatever sense of a story the commencement ii episodes gear up. Then due to some illogical reason, we're at present downward to 7 episodes to tell the rest of this story. However doable correct? Correct? Incorrect again. The series wastes another 2 1/2 episodes on pointless filler garbage. So at that place you have information technology over half of first part of the story has nix to exercise with the overall plot. Well what well-nigh the other episodes you enquire? The remaining "plot" episodes are filled with deus ex machina in its purest form. Even the finale of the get-go flavor makes absolutely no sense. This isn't a fantasy earth, information technology's a freaking video game, you can't accept miracles hither. So that concludes my issues with flavor 1, which the bulk of SAO fans consider to be the best office....Yeh you heard me, the 2nd part is fifty-fifty worse. ii) Fine art - The fine art is fantastic. Colorful characters, bosses (the few nosotros see), and settings are all here. It'due south easily worth an viii. iii) Audio - Again fantastic. Nothing incorrect with information technology at all. 8. 4)Characters - Here we become...This is easily the worst part of the serial. I'll split up the main characters and lump together the not then main characters. Kirito/Kazuto - The main graphic symbol of this show is the epitome of the electric current definition of a "Gary Stu". He has no personality whatever. He is good at everything he tries for no reason. He's an amazing player, an super sleuth, a ladies human, and a master hacker. You name information technology, he tin do it. At that place's no reason given for this other than he's just that practiced. Girls all love him, guys want to be him, and villains are jealous of him. He also solos MMO boss fights...yeh wrap your head around that ane. Side annotation - I often run across people merits they love this show because they're hardcore gamers. I have to say as an avid gamer myself I notice this show to be insulting. Unless you've hacked or cheated , I don't empathize why you're content with a character who does. Side note over. Asuna - The main female lead/almost blatant waifu grapheme ever. Asuna is introduced as a strong role player who can stand on her own with Kirito, that is for the starting time couple episodes. Once she reappears she barely does anything other than cook for Kirito. That'due south right, her donkey stays in the kitchen, while Kirito does all the important stuff. In part 2 she does absolutely nothing...seriously. She again has no original personality...textbook Tsundere. Yui - This grapheme is terrible in all senses of the word. She's walking deus ex machina, goose egg more. This graphic symbol should be hated by any gamer, since she'southward a cheat device, who adds nothing to the story. Villains (pocket-sized spoilers) - In that location are 2 major villains in this series and they're both terrible. The first 1 forgets his motives for doing everything in part one and the part 2 one is so comically evil he can't even be taken seriously. Other Characters/ Who the hell cares - The female characters all want to accept sex with Kirito and have no personality past this. The male characters don't become to do annihilation because Kirito hogs the show from everyone. That'due south really all in that location is to say about that. Suguha - This is Kirito's sister. She honestly has layers and was a plus to the testify in my opinion. I don't know why she'southward in this show, she doesn't vest in it... So yeh, Gary Stu and Waifu - these characters are pathetic (1). 5) Enjoyment - Needless to say I didn't savour information technology. Poor show (3) vi) Overall - This show has and so many fans, and I really don't know why. Its plot is rushed and terrible. Its characters so apartment, it's almost funny...well-nigh. Its romance is highly misogynistic and terribly adult. I felt insulted watching this, and don't sympathize how any could like this testify. Fifty-fifty Gamers.
Without going into spoilers, the 2nd part of the series takes place in a different setting, with a mostly new bandage aside from our main hero. This function of the series probably deserves the award for most unnecessary story in the history of anime. This arc is pretty much a mario game. Our hero must save the princess in the castle. Not really much to say about information technology. Oh yeh deus ex machina finale hither too...oh and there's an incest subplot...for some reason. This concludes the plot section. I think I'one thousand being pretty generous with a 4 here.
Feb 26, 2013
25 of 25 episodes seen
| Overall | 7 |
| Story | 6 |
| Animation | viii |
| Sound | 9 |
| Character | half dozen |
| Enjoyment | eight |
I don't really want to go into too much depth, but I'd like to give an overview of the series and requite my opinions it. If you haven't noticed yet there are many negative reviews out there for this anime, and while many of them bring upwardly some pretty fair points, I think some people are being a bit too harsh on it. Allow me explain.
Aye it'south a popular anime, yes it has flaws, no it'southward non perfect, just at the very least in my opinion it is enjoyable. The pacing is off, the showtime particularly feels rushed, there were moments where I thought I skipped an episode because of the time skips which fabricated it difficult to really connect with any of the characters in the beginning, and there were some less than stellar instances where it felt like the anime was trying to brand me care only declining hard. Some characters felt to be completely forgotten throughout most of this series too. For example in the starting time nosotros are introduced to a grapheme named Klein who is quickly pushed aside after the first episode and barely seen once again and doesn't really make much of an impact at all on the story later on on. This seems to happen a lot throughout this series where there might be some emotional moments where a grapheme dies, or something dramatic happens simply at that place is actually no emotional impact from information technology, and the main graphic symbol seems to non really care that much about it or information technology doesn't actually event anything significantly. I really felt this series shined from effectually episodes 4-13 and I wish they would have kept with that pace instead of rushing an ending midway and throwing something new at us. The 2nd half just felt completely unnecessary and forced. Pushing the negative aside, I found the overall theme and temper of the series to be smashing, and existence an avid lover the MMORPG genre obviously a lot of things in this serial appealed to me. I actually enjoyed the idea of being stuck in a game that was incommunicable to escape from without winning and having real consequences, it really made everything much more dramatic and meaningful in the story. Sadly this quickly goes away midway through the plot. If I had to pick two of the all-time things this anime did well for me it would probably be the blitheness and soundtrack. They both were really well done, and honestly without them being equally practiced equally they were this serial would take gotten a much lower score from me, and when I say I really enjoyed the soundtrack I mean that I loved it, information technology was superb. I remember what information technology actually comes downwards was only the fact that I enjoyed watching it. I can look at the flaws and pick the anime apart pretty easily, but those flaws never actually stopped me from enjoying this anime.I really do feel though that it had a lot of potential to be a top tier series, it but made far too many mistakes. Looking at information technology objectively I just cannot give this anime higher than a 7. It was practiced because I found it to exist enjoyable, but it wasn't peachy or astonishing. At the end of the day I lookout man anime because I want something that will entertain me and proceed me interested, and I experience that Sword Art Online did a skilful job at accomplishing that.
Oct 12, 2014
25 of 25 episodes seen
| Overall | 2 |
| Story | 2 |
| Animation | 7 |
| Audio | 7 |
| Character | two |
| Enjoyment | five |
Once upon a time, in a state far away, there lived a brave immature boy. He was the best swordsman in the land and the manliest homo of all. He overcame countless trials with piffling effort and won the hearts of many fair maidens.
Yes, it's time for Sword Fine art Online, the origin of many angry rants.
The premise doesn't sound too bad. 10 thousand players of a virtual MMO are trapped in the game and forced to complete it to escape, except that death in the game leads to death in real life. Simply think nigh information technology: this could exist a tragic story of struggle where death is behind 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 conditions. ...Just why accept whatsoever of that when you tin can have romance and harem? That's right; the survival game is just for show. Don't expect deep interpersonal or political conflict. Don't expect psychology or moral dilemmas. Don't wait tactics or mind games. Actually, don't look witty dialogue of any kind. And that is the biggest trouble with this testify. Information technology is bankrupt in substance. It's by and large simply bromidic romance and harem, with a fleck of action here and in that location. There isn't much thinking involved. A few plot holes I could forgive, but if the show isn't about annihilation worthwhile, there isn't much to exercise. What makes this problem all the more than apparent is that the premise promises something entirely unlike than what information technology delivers. The show has thrown its hands upwardly in the air and said, "Nosotros don't care." So why should the viewer? It doesn't help that the evidence has grown infamous for glorifying its protagonist, who in the eyes of many has get the paradigm of a Gary Stu. He can defeat annihilation, he can solve any problem, and he gets all the girls. It's near like this show was meant to be a propaganda piece in his favor. Story: 3 The beginning ii episodes are decent, building up the premise. We are introduced to the protagonist Kirito and the concept of the death game. Soon enough, we are told that a calendar month has passed and two thousand players accept died offscreen. ...Wait, not even a short montage or anything? Apparently non. Anyhow, these two episodes are pretty much the only decent ones, so savor them while you can. The 3rd episode begins to show more serious problems. We are supposed to grade an emotional bond to new characters in a few minutes, and we accept to get through over-the-top angst over irrational actions. But there is also optimism in the air; of class we tin can revive someone whose brain has been fried, right? What follows is an sharp spring to harem and romance antics. The next few episodes are nearly diverse girls suddenly falling for Kirito, often the aforementioned mean solar day they met him. This typically involves uncontrollable blushing, fanservice, and people acting Tsundere. You probably get the film. It doesn't help that many of these episodes have a very filler-esque feel to them. The main plot ‒ if you can telephone call it such at this indicate ‒ takes a backseat in favor of these random new girls. The daughter called Asuna, who speedily becomes the token love interest for Kirito, has at to the lowest degree met him before, merely in that location is all the same very little buildup to their relationship. Unless information technology took identify offscreen. You run into, some other affair that becomes very noticeable is the pacing. In that location have been timeskips of months between episodes. This wouldn't be a problem if these snapshots contained all the events that were critical to the story, but information technology's obvious that the writer has picked rather irksome events out of all the possibilities. Why is it that thousands of people dying is covered in a few lines, while we have to sit through hours and hours of romance and harem? I detest to be beating a dead equus caballus here, but it'southward unavoidable because it comes up again in merely about every episode. By now, it has also get obvious to the viewer that Kirito is invincible to the bespeak of tedium. He has a level higher than anyone, the best equipment, and a seemingly countless pool of abilities, but virtually importantly he always wins. There is sometimes imitation tension, sure, but you know he will survive anyhow. Y'all can only stomach then many clutch survivals earlier you lot commencement rolling your eyes. The residuum of the story arc involves Kirito and Asuna hanging out in the countryside to spend their honeymoon. They even adopt a daughter to portray a typical happy family. The problem is that their relationship is really not that interesting. Just "dem feels"! Nah, pitiful. I take a heart of rock. This is followed past a sudden confrontation with the main villain, which Kirito wins considering the power of love conquers all. And by that I hateful the ability of dear conquers the programming of the game. Well, okay, maybe there was some "ability of dear" clause in the lawmaking somewhere. Information technology wouldn't surprise me at this point. Predictably enough, melodrama ensues. Tears, promises of dear, etc. You lot tin probably imagine. At least now nosotros're done with this show, right? No, recollect again, that was just the good part. There are actually 11 more episodes left, and the journey takes the states further downhill. We enter some other game, this time without the death aspect. Before we go to the plot itself, even at a glance this thought brings upwards a few bug. The harsh reality hits you lot faster than yous tin 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 to the lowest degree know to quit while you're alee. Just no, they just had to elevate this testify through the mud to rip autonomously whatever shred of dignity it had left. It doesn't help that there is no death anymore. While this makes the slice-of-life content more than fitting, it likewise removes the established selling point of the evidence. The change is as well abrupt, and the difference in tone is as well jarring. If you desire to make a slice-of-life of ordinary MMO players, exercise it from the start. Now, for the plot itself, and it isn't pretty. We go straight to a Mario game, by which I hateful saving a damsel in distress trapped in a muzzle. And that isn't a metaphor; she is quite literally trapped in a cage. Add tentacles and incest to the plot, and yous accept a winning combination. The incest attribute is provided by Kirito's sister Suguha, who also provides additional fanservice. At least now the pacing is less erratic and there is seemingly less development taking place offscreen. It's merely too bad that there is also very little meaningful taking identify onscreen. There are some new characters and fifty-fifty an ingame war going on, simply it's all so irrelevant to the main story that it's difficult to maintain interest. Long story brusque, Kirito beats the second villain with the help of more deus ex machinas. There are as well more than tears, promises of honey, etc. So now nosotros're washed, right? For now, yeah, but there's withal season ii to look forward to. Setting: This is technically part of the story category, but I actually retrieve it deserves its ain section here. Y'all see, the very foundations of the setting make no sense. People in Sword Fine art Online are too often acting similar they are in a normal game, not in a life-and-death scenario. For example, why is in that location so much resentment towards beta testers who take greater cognition 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 so worried about other people using their newfound abilities to impale them for no reason? Look, you can't take both a casual slice-of-life of MMO players and a grim death game at the same time. Pick one. This casual attitude becomes more pronounced afterward on when information technology becomes obvious people are wasting tons of fourth dimension with unproductive quests, romance, and just hanging around. 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 first place? Are these people fifty-fifty trying? And why are and then many players dying when towns are safe zones? Are they stupidly rushing into high-level dungeons? I suppose so. You meet, for a grim death game it sure is hard to dice in SAO. Bosses won't respawn, so everyone tin can advance forwards, even weak players. Going from town to town is also easy enough with teleport crystals. Well, okay, there is that problem of challenging people to a duel while asleep, but that can't take out so many. At that place is no lack of critical resource considering you can hang out in the safety of towns indefinitely. Sure, exp and money are express considering the regeneration of monsters is limited, which is strange game design itself, but they aren't necessary if you stay in town. At least, the evidence never implies that they are necessary. Oh, and for the record, I'm treating the show as cocky-contained and ignoring the source cloth. So why practise they dice? I'd put my money on rushing stupidly into dungeons because nosotros get to come across one notable example. Let's imagine you constitute yourself in the post-obit situation. Before you lot and your guild are about to enter a high-level dungeon, you learn that 1 of them lied about his level. Knowing this, you lot realize you are underleveled and probable to end up dead, while avoiding decease and warning the others would be as simple equally staying in town. What would y'all exercise? Would you A tricky ane, I admit. We are besides introduced to groups of player killers. Sounds good until y'all realize this isn't a normal game. At to the lowest degree, I thought it wasn't, but it looks similar some people didn't get the memo. In a situation like SAO, there should be no reason for these killings. This isn't Danganronpa, where the primary point of the premise is that you can only escape past killing someone. This is a game where it makes the most sense to team upwardly and beat out the game. There is no prisoner'due south dilemma; cooperation is the all-time plan and any sensible person would go for it. If yous impale someone here, yous only get some coin and equipment. While it may help you beat the game a picayune faster, odds are that it volition only hurt your chances of survival overall. Only off the top of my head, a few reasons: Actually, does the equipment even assistance that much? Kirito seemingly uses the same equipment for long periods of fourth dimension, nonetheless he is practically invincible. On the other hand, he does say that equipment can be worth many levels, so did he go the all-time stuff for himself so fast? Is information technology strange game blueprint or cheat codes? Information technology's anyone's gauge. Of course, if you have little interest in beating the game, killing other players makes more sense, if only a little. I suppose getting more than money can assistance y'all obtain some luxury items, but is it worth the hazard? The implied reason is that they are killing people for laughs, but why did so many murderous psychopaths determine to log into this MMO on its opening solar day? Is this some kind of stab at gamers, saying that they are unable to distinguish betwixt existent violence and fake violence? Maybe, or the writer forgot that this isn't a normal MMO. Again. And then is it a legit plan to stay in the virtual world for the rest of your life and give up on getting back to the existent world? If so, it would explicate a lot. While the range of pastimes in at that place is smaller than in the real world, perchance in that location is plenty for some people. The choice between staying in relative happiness in a virtual world and risking your life returning to the real world could have been an interesting one. Unfortunately, their bodies are deteriorating in real life, which makes the pick very one-sided. For some reason, Asuna has to betoken this out to Kirito because obviously the state of his real-earth torso had never occurred to him over the course of two years. Aye, expert job, Kirito, you sure were fast on the uptake. Lying down on the grass and having a carefree nap doesn't audio so smart anymore, eh? Finally, why are virtual MMOs still legal after the SAO incident? Sure, the new hardware is supposedly safer, merely the previous death trap must accept as passed through "strict" government test, so who in their right heed would trust them? And even if we assume it is safe, since when has people'due south hysteria hinged on facts? People fear new technology fifty-fifty when information technology'south harmless, allow alone when a massive incident like this happens. There would be mass protests in the streets in favor of banning them. Characters: ii Y'all may have noticed that I accept only mentioned 3 characters by name and so far. For some other show, this might be because the cast is so vast that there is no time to go through them all, but hither it's rather that there are very few characters worth mentioning. Kirito, and past extension Asuna and Suguha who are divers by Kirito's character, hog practically all of the screentime. Everyone else gets thrown nether the bus. Girls only be to fall in love with Kirito, and males only be to be inferior to him. The villains in particular merely exist as fodder to the guy. Kirito: I take barely touched on Kirito's personality. Well, arraign the testify, not me; it should at to the lowest degree be willing to see me halfway. We know very little near him, other than being invincible and inexplicably good with the ladies. Essentially, he is the manliest man on the planet. That's pretty much all he is. Even his dialogue ends upwards pretty bland. There are no witty insights, no clever jokes, no skillful word games. Much of his dialogue consists of maxim that the earth is a virtual 1, explaining game mechanics, wishing to save everyone, or loving someone forever. The sort of stuff you'd wait from a cardboard cutout hero in a state of affairs similar this. It can be a facepalm-worthy experience to witness girl after daughter falling for Kirito similar aught, often the same day they met him. The show endlessly drills into the viewer that he is the sexiest man live... for some reason. I become that rescuing people can give you points in their optics, but come on now. I can but assume in that location is a hidden manliness stat and his black jacket comes with a +999 boost. As far equally his invincibility goes, the win streak by itself isn't the biggest trouble. The problem is that he e'er wins through brute forcefulness. That is to say, his character skills and stats. There are no tactics worth mentioning, no psychology, no politics, no thinking any. He volition just leave there and pull off his generic action hero stunts. Sure, developing those skills and stats may accept required some tactical thinking. Maybe he has optimized his skill tree or has amazing grinding strats. In theory. We see no hints of information technology. It all happened offscreen and offscreen doesn't count. I'k deplorable, information technology just doesn't. To add insult to injury, some of Kirito's abilities are completely forgotten later on. I'grand sure that health recovery affair would have come in handy any number of times. And when even his skills and stats aren't enough, he is saved by plot armor at the last second. It's also 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 because he doesn't have to divide the exp. His most unique power is revealed to be... *drumroll* dual-wielding, which nobody else is allowed to do in this game. This doesn't sound like any MMO I know of, or was the thought to portray a player with god-mode cheats on? I'g seriously thinking that the testify would have been a lot more tolerable if Kirito alone had been replaced by 1 of the side characters. It still wouldn't accept been a masterpiece or anything, but at least the Gary Stu accusations could take been avoided. Asuna: She is about every bit banal in personality as Kirito. She is also portrayed as fairly powerful for no substantial reason but of form cipher compared to him. As time passes, her most 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's only another chemical element thrown into the plot for cheap stupor value, if anyone is still shocked by incest in anime nowadays. Villain #1: The first villain barely appears, and his motivation for trapping the players is vague, to say the least. He basically did information technology out of personal interest. He wanted to create a virtual world where expiry has significant like in the existent 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 equally a drawing villain who does evil things for the sake of being evil. The conflict here is portrayed every bit completely black-and-white, only in case someone had sympathy for the guy, as unlikely as that is. His principal 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 lone, he probably would have got away with it, so for all intents and purposes, he chose raping a girl over millions in cash. Talk about priorities. Come to remember of it, it'southward already ridiculous that the family of the comatose daughter is planning to have her marry the guy. I mean, she is in a blackout. As in unconscious, unable to state her ain intentions, etc. Where are child protective services when you need them? Thankfully, the constabulary disagrees, so they can't utilise for an official marriage. Instead, he'll be adopted past her family as 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, upward to entering a hush-hush keycode in plainly sight so that the prisoner can come across. Thankfully the government and his company are every bit incompetent and are not monitoring his inquiry group closely despite its reliance on infamous technology used in SAO. Are these the same people who accounted the new tech safe? If so, I'd similar a second opinion. I wouldn't trust these people to operate Angry Birds, allow lonely a virtual MMO with potential health risks. Art: seven So this is where the money went. The backgrounds look nice simply cheap fanservice scenes not and so much. Sound: 7 Not too bad either. The soundtrack and opening and ending songs work pretty decently, and the voices are also alright. Enjoyment: 5 Funnier than I was expecting but for the wrong reasons. There is something hostage about how the show is trying to portray escapism and man relationships, only it falls but short enough to create a dissonance. Overall: 3 Sentinel it to witness the writing yourself. But more than chiefly, by watching the show you can better understand the reviews or, better however, write one yourself.
a) Tape a message in accelerate, knowing that you wouldn't last long, or
b) Stay in town and so that you wouldn't get killed in the first identify?
1) If people beginning killing each other, it obviously increases the risk of dying yourself, both in retaliation and spontaneously.
2) Killing people reduces manpower needed for beating the game, and the distrust that follows will make it even slower. You could but kill useless low-level players, just they probably don't accept much money or good equipment to begin with.
iii) There is the gamble that you will land murder charges if you escape from the game and officials detect out.
Dec 31, 2012
25 of 25 episodes seen
| Overall | 3 |
| Story | 3 |
| Animation | viii |
| Sound | six |
| Character | 3 |
| Enjoyment | half dozen |
Once in a while, there comes along a title (be it picture, book or anime) that takes the audience past storm, sweeping numerous off their feat, leaving several with a bad aftertaste in their rima oris and making a few pass the work off as 'average' or 'mediocre'. Online communities, forums, chat rooms and every other nook and corner of the internet known to man turn into arenas of debates, discussions, fanboyism/fangirlism and flaming. It'southward apparent that when something is popular, it doesn't always go to bath in praises. With the acclaim, comes a sheer amount of criticisms. Also, it goes without saying that popularity doesn't necessarily equate to quality. Sword Art Online, abbreviated as SAO from this betoken on, is no exception. SAO, the anime accommodation of a series of light novels of the same name by Kawahara Reki, has been the much talked about show of the Summer and Fall 2012 seasons, and taking into consideration the incredible hype surrounding information technology with reviews of mixed sorts, it's likely to stay that way for quite some time. Keeping in mind the vogue of MMORPGs and the need for something 'captivating', the team behind SAO attempts to bring an enticing piece of work to the table by executing the intriguing premise of 'players trapped in a VRMMORPG where death equates to decease in real life and the only fashion 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 kickoff episode, all seemed well and it gave the vibes of something truly worth spending your fourth dimension on but then it does a flip and from this signal, things get awry. And here we take it— 1 of the most controversial anime of the recent years. Earlier proceeding with the review, let's get 1 affair direct. I take not read the original source material— the low-cal novels, that is. Hence, I'1000 not going to describe any comparison between that and the anime. With that out of the manner, let's keep the ball rolling. SAO on the surface has a adequately interesting premise, no doubt, and it'south executed well to some extent or so did it initially seem. The very idea of a large number of people logged into a VRMMORPG with the intention of embarking on a virtual reality adventure merely only to be struck with utter horror as they're faced with the shocking truth of the game has been put into effect quite satisfactorily in the first episode. Information technology'southward pretty much what I'd call an excellent start. However, SAO effortlessly manages to send all my expectations and enthusiasm down the drain for information technology takes the show only an episode or two to reveal its truthful colours followed by the thwarting information technology has in store. Then, what goes wrong? Well, many things. Following the Great Kickoff, the first arc decides to accept a detour and invests on a few episodes dealing with side stories in which our protagonist Kirito gets acquainted with i girl per episode and ends up rescuing her from a jam. This is precisely why I similar referring to this bunch of side stories every bit 'episodic harem' wherein the master heroine of the story and Kirito'south dear interest Asuna is causeless to be constant and the other girls are variables. Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing. However, these side stories have very little to zip to contribute to the series as a whole. Absolutely, they equip the viewers with some clever, piddling details here and there regarding how the game world works but they inappreciably accept whatever begetting to the overall plot. The primary goal of these filler-like episodes appears to exist that of giving our hero clad in black 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 fabricated upwards of zillions of pixels. To boot, the characters (read: cute chicks) that appear in these episodes have absolutely no substantial part to play in the story after on. 'Side' characters indeed. And SAO knows how to finer sideline them. When the arc finally gets itself back on track, information technology's but natural to hope that the testify will now have something worthwhile to deliver. Nevertheless, that isn't the case. If annihilation, some severe cracks brainstorm to appear as very soon the focus of SAO is the romance between the two leads which is, in one word, cheesy. At this point, opinions are divided. The romance aspect, for some, can be appealing while for others, information technology tin exist a major plough off especially if they don't similar the characters involved. Information technology all comes down to personal preference. Withal, personal preferences aren't a convincing alibi by any means to overlook the fact that the story, world building and everything else take a backseat for the sake of allowing the 2 leads to exist lovey-dovey in the backdrop of gorgeous sceneries. When the arc does manage to divert its focus on to some 'serious business organisation', things wait good for a while only with a rather unimpressive ending, the first arc concludes on a pretty bad note in my book. And then begins the second arc which, to exist blunt, is a letdown again. The 2d arc or the ALO arc is set inside 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 and so far. This arc showcases some really eye candy visuals merely that'due south pretty much its only redeeming signal. It doesn't have annihilation much going on except for a few climactic activeness sequences at present and then with intense battle music playing in the background that last only for a while. Not to mention, there'south another girl added to Kirito'due south harem. And so the hilarity ensues. The style in which ALO is brought to a shut is appalling to say the least and at the aforementioned laughable because it doesn't hesitate to use the much notorious plot device dues ex machina, ruining whatever hopes in that location were for the final confrontation with the villain. The poor conclusion could be excused if information technology was handled more cleverly and assuredly but a blatant ass pull is past no means satisfactory. If anything, it only proves that the writer faced a dead stop and was unable to recall of anything better and artistic, and expected the audience to consume downward whatsoever he could come upwards with, no matter how downright stupid it is. Amongst all the other things, the most hands noticeable flaw without a doubt is the execution of the plot itself which is all over the identify. It doesn't have a genius to figure out after a couple of episodes that SAO suffers from poor pacing and inconsistency. It appears to be highly indecisive equally to what exactly it wants to do and how to get it done. This is generally axiomatic in the first arc which is incredibly rushed at many parts. There're timeskips and the adjacent thing you realize is that the characters have already cleared quite a lot of floors while keeping us, the viewers, in the nighttime. This makes the plot disjointed, prevents any sort of correlation to the win-or-die situation that the characters take been put into and gives everything the feel of it being zero more than a piece of cake. The struggle for survival and a sense of urgency are inappreciably felt even though the lives of the characters have been said to be literally at stake. The episodes dealing exclusively with the lead couple taking some fourth dimension off for a 'holiday' and afterwards ending up building a virtual family unit tin further make one wonder: Why are they so carefree when they're supposed to chalk out plans to shell the game and make a quick escape? To put information technology in other words, the arc has a tendency to go off track. It lays downwards for itself one thing just ends upwards doing something else altogether. Information technology'south uncertain every bit to whether to brand itself come across as a story of survival prepare inside a VRMMORPG or as a fluffy dear story. In due form, it decides to juggle with both but doesn't get either of them rightly washed. Not to mention, when the situation demands it and the writer goes out of any creative ideas to move the story frontward, the characters' actions are made to contradict the established game mechanics and the but reasoning that's provided for such miracles is 'where in that location's a will, there's a way, and there're times when true dear and conclusion can overcome any 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, heart candies, self-insertion or guilty pleasure factors can possibly compensate for a substandard storytelling. Yet that's what SAO tries to do. It brings in all the aforementioned elements to sugarcoat its sloppy writing. On the whole, there're no sincere efforts made to incorporate details that would contribute in some way or the other to world edifice or characterization whatever. While the poor quality of the writing is the key cistron, the other aspect that contributes considerably to the mediocrity of the testify is the characterization. Just put, SAO'due south characters are bland. Essentially, the show has its focus on only two characters: Kirito and Asuna. The others are merely in that location; mere devices to movement the story forward. And a few have nothing to contribute to the plot at all. For instance, the ones featuring in the side stories. Let's talk about the protagonist Kirito first. An unsocial, reserved nonetheless headstrong role player who knows how to get things done his manner and is determined to beat the game. That's basically how Kirito is portrayed in the beginning. At this point, he seems like a good riddance from the generic wimpy male leads that have go then much of a commonplace in anime. A proficient principal character who knows how to deal with things is something refreshing to witness once in a while. Unfortunately, the impressions didn't final for long. In desperate attempts to brand his character more than 'highly-seasoned', Kirito is depicted equally a 'perfect' being which leaves his character with little plausibility and much insipidity. Thus, he serves as a mere self-insert character for wish-fulfilment and at the stop of the day, there's nothing 'individualistic' nigh him. Gary stu is probably what describes his character the all-time, and if paired with the Mary sue of the show, we get a lead couple that seems to have been cut out directly from a tacky romance fanfiction. Aye, when I mentioned 'Mary sue', I was referring to Asuna. Asuna every bit the female lead is equally stereotyped equally they come. Much like Kirito, her character is heavily arcadian. She'south pretty, popular, kind, caring and every other man wants to accept a piece of her. Oh, and did I mention her cooking skills that level up with each passing twenty-four hour period? Subsequently all, her foremost duty is to cook for Kirito and evidence how much she cares for him. While initially she's portrayed every bit a potent, independent female player with a tsundere-ish attitude, it doesn't take her long to make a transition from that to a deplorable dryad in distress, requiring her knight in black robe to come up to her rescue whenever she'due south in a bind. Kirito fighting her lodge leader to earn her some fourth dimension for honeymooning is laughable to say the to the lowest degree. It shortly becomes apparent that she doesn't take much of a role other than serving as the dearest interest of the protagonist and being the object of fanservice at present and and then which might exist successful in pleasing the male audience somehow simply that alone tin can't make upward for her badly written character. In fact, the other female character the show cares to put the spotlight on likewise ends up becoming the target of fanservice but doesn't accept anything else going on for herself. If you oasis't guessed information technology already, I'm talking about Kirito's beloved imouto. Throughout the first arc, the writer must have had been itching to include a love triangle in the story but couldn't find a potential candidate to get the task washed. As the offset arc comes to a closure and the second arc begins, he grabs the opportunity, puts Asuna behind the bars (so that she'south not an interference in what he'southward attempting to practise) and introduces Suguha, Kirito'southward cousin sister. The sole purpose of creating her character, it appears, is to make way for a generic love triangle and melodrama. Suguha loves her cousin simply can't exercise annihilation about information technology considering he loves Asuna. That's the biting truth. Hence, she looks up to a certain someone she happens to befriend inside ALO and hopes that he'd be able to sooth her aching heart. Nevertheless, she gets trolled… desperately. This, in turn, leads to more drama that's somehow supposed to be heart wrenching just it isn't. The remaining cast consists of two antagonists, both failing to make whatever sort of impression though the one making his debut in the 2d arc tin exist a skilful comic relief at times, and a bunch of side characters that wouldn't accept had made any departure even if they hadn't existed. The lesser line is, the characters of SAO are a half-broiled lot devoid of any depth or development. They could've peradventure turned out to be interesting if they were more fleshed out merely who cares virtually that as long as they appeal to the intended target audience? Onto the technical aspects at present. In the department of visuals, A-ane Pictures does a pretty good job. Within the game, the vast tracts of greenery, the beautiful cities during the nighttime, the castles… they're all a pleasure to behold. The animation is also well-handled for the most part. Initially I wasn't much pleased with the grapheme designs but they gradually grew on me, and I personally detect a few characters like Asuna, Heathcliff and Lisbeth to be very well designed. The music is equanimous by one of the near renowned composers in the anime manufacture, Yuki Kajiura. While the soundtracks aren't bad by any ways, none of them stand out much except the one that plays during gainsay/intense scenes. In fact, that'due south the but rail that can be heard playing most of the time in the entire show. A few other tracks, though they aptly fit the scenes they're played in, are hands forgettable. The same applies to the opening and ending themes. Nothing groundbreaking in that location. I'one thousand a fan of almost all of Kajiura'due south works and if compared to her previous works, SAO'southward music is lacklustre to say the least and so much then that it'due south hard to believe Kajiura is the composer to begin with. To wrap upwardly the review, SAO had the potential to be something skillful but that potential goes down the drain due to poorly executed plot and bland label. It starts off in a satisfactory manner but goes downhill thereafter. Nevertheless, it tin can be an entertaining ride if one keeps their expectations depression and swallows downward any it has to offer without questioning anything. I of the reasons why SAO has been a letdown is the apprehension the majority had for it prior to its ambulation but that'due south justified since the light novel series from which the anime is adjusted is i of the well-nigh popular ones out at that place. [Edited on March xx, 2017]
He's a guy with a heart of gold.
He has an 'ideal' girlfriend/married woman.
He'southward admired by those around him.
He can 'unintentionally' make every other adult female adore him, romantically or otherwise.
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Source: https://myanimelist.net/anime/11757/Sword_Art_Online
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