April 24, 2014
As a gamer, and a fan of MMORPG's, I tried to keep my expectations not too high, because you know what they say: "The bigger they are, the harder they fall". Unfortunately, SAO fits this saying to, as it was one of the most disappointing anime that I've ever seen in my life. Why? Lets deconstruct it right here:
Story: (3/10) The story of SAO involves players getting trapped within an VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game), in which they are required to beat all 100 floors of the game in order to leave. The catch is, however, that if a character's HP drops to zero before clearing the game, not only do they die in the game, they also die in real life.
The concept of this story is absolutely brilliant. Unfortunately, the execution of this story is poor. I felt that it was too rushed, and there was so many things they could've done with this plot. One minute they are explaining how difficult it is to past the first floor in episode 1. Then in episode 2 they are already on the 20th floor. This immediate rush throughout the anime ruin the feel for me and just make the anime embarrassing and overall impossible to watch without shaking my head in disappointment. Overall, the story was just utter CRAP. A good premise at first, but was terribly executed due to poor writing.
Characters: (2/10) In my opinion, the characters of Sword Art Online were by far the weakest part of the show. The main male character, Kirito, is just a Gary Stu, and nothing more. But somehow, he has the ability to attract girls by just looking at them. Why are these girls attracted to him? I'll never know. The main female character, Asuna, was introduced in Episode 2 as a badass who I had high hopes for. And what happens with her? The writers decide to turn her into a generic tsundere, and in the Alfheim arc of the show, she basically turns into Princess Peach? Suguha, other than being there for the sake of fanservice, and to be part of a love triangle that involved a little bit of incest. And to go into deeper detail about Kirito and Asuna, I could not for the LIFE OF ME understand the romance with Kirito and Asuna. It felt so forced and plot-driven that it made me feel absolutely frustrated.
The supporting characters were either uninteresting or just really annoying. The only character I had actual interest in was Klein, but even then, he was pretty much tossed aside. And as for Sugou, he is one of the worst villains I have ever seen. Period. He just absolutely disgusts me.
In the end, next to none of the characters were interesting or likeable in the slightest.
Art/Animation: (10/10) This was the only thing that made me able to watch through the entire anime. Without it i would've said it would had been impossible to finish. If i was ever asked what do I like in SAO? That's easy, I would say that I love how it looks. The art in this show is absolutely beautiful. From the scenery to the action scenes, the animation is consistent and fluid, and the scenery is just gorgeous. Maybe it's the fact that graphics/art is one of the major things I look into within a video game.
With animation, this anime hits a perfect bullseye.
Music: (8/10) Since I'm not a person to critique VA, I'll just talk about the music. Just like the art, I also really enjoyed the music of Sword Art Online. It reminded me of the countless hours I used to spend on MapleStory, World of Warcraft and other MMORPGs leveling up my character. The first opening, "Crossing Fields", got me pumped for an episode; giving me SOME hope that the show would somehow redeem itself (Sadly, it didn't).
Nevertheless, the music was as good as the art!
Enjoyment: (4/10) While I did enjoy Sword Art Online in the beginning, progressing through it turned into more of a chore than an enjoyment. Most of the SAO arc was "meh", and the Alfheim arc was just painful to watch. If it wasn't for the action scenes, this would've been rated MUCH lower.
Overall Score: (3/10) In my honest opinion, Sword Art online was just painfully average(lower if not for the animation and music). While the art and music are amazing, the story and characters prevent the show from being anything memorable (At least for me). Like I said before, it is definitely one of the most disappointing anime I have seen this year. Although it's not a 1 in my eyes, it's also not a 10.
Was it worth the hype? No.
Will I watch it again? Never.
Final Words: I honestly believe i could've done a better job with Sword Art Online than their entire writers combined. This is your boy Alan, signing off~
SynopsisIn the near future, a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) called Sword Art Online has been released where players control their avatars with their bodies using a piece of technology called Nerve Gear. One day, players(Source: Crunchyroll) |
Read more at http://myanimelist.net/anime/11757/Sword_Art_Online#kvlmx7RZDi88GfrP.99
