Jan 24, 2021
My oh my, where do I start. Sword Art Online is a show that had so much potential, but just could not live up to the hype. This show has a lot, and I repeat a lot of issues that ruined it, but ill start with what this show did well.
Pros:
SAO actually started off pretty well. The first few episodes were very well done, and did a great job of world building, albeit their was a lot to be desired on the part of character building, but ill get to that later. anyways, the first 3 or 4 episodes introduced us to main protagonist Kirito
...
and the VR game of SAO. You meet a few other characters, who become very very irrelevant very very fast. You get introduced to the conflict as well. You cannot leave, and If you die in the game, you die in real life. Simple right? Wrong. Ill get into that later.
But anyways, a few of the other pros of a rather disappointing show, is the actually somewhat impressive art-style. The design of the characters and world around you does a relatively solid job of immersing you in the world of SAO. Another well done factor was the sound design. The sound really made you feel as if you were in SAO with Kirito. Not to mention the amazing opening. a true classic.
Cons:
Now onto the shortcomings. A major problem in SAO that lingers throughout the entire story is the very, and i mean very poor characters. The underdevelopment of the characters makes it very difficult to truly care about anyone at all the entire show. Kirito is a very bland and generic anime protagonist who is basically a tryhard SAO beta-tester who carries everyone else through the game. It honestly hard to like him at all due to him being just so cringy and generic. Apart from Kirito, Asuna, the main female protagonist is the only other truly relevant character. She is actually somewhat well written and she has a rather independent and strong personality. I like Asuna a whole lot more then Kirito. She is a minor bright spot to the show and makes it a little more tolerable.
-Spoiler Warning-
The absolute biggest problem with SAO is the plot armor. Earlier I mentioned how I would get into the conflict. Here I go. So the conflict. If you die in the game, you die in real life, well if their wasnt plot armor that is. As it turns out, that isnt true. And all the people who died that we actually cared about, didnt. And why is that, plot. The show completely rewrites all of the plot and ruins the conflict.
Alfheim Online sucks...
This one should be self explanatory, but just incase, ill explain. They enter another game that is simply less interesting or meaningful as SAO or the Aincrad Arc as a whole. The entire world is under explained and not as much time is spent world building, so you grow little attachment to it. A huge problem is the incest side plot. I dont mind incest in anime all that much sometimes. The true problem is how it is done. I really like Suguha as a character. She is my true favorite character in the show. But the plot feels just so awkward and forced. Kirito makes it so much worse to with how dense he is and the fact that he doesnt realize how she feels. I understand the dense protagonist trope, but it just makes it all the more frustrating when she gets obviously turned down.
Conclusion:
SAO is a show that never lived up to the hype. It wasnt the absolute worst show ever, but it was very far from the best. I do not recommend watching it at all unless you want a shallow plot hole filled story with a weak character cast.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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