It feels a bit like I’m cheating, writing two reviews for one anime… but it’s not my fault there’s two archives. The original archive can be found here: http://tokyoinsider.net/anime/S/Sword_Art_Online_(TV) . An earlier review of mine can be found there too, but I’m too lazy to look for the link right now. Oh, and if you’re not seeing all the episodes at once, they’re all there nonetheless and can, if nothing else, be accessed via direct link: http://tokyoinsider.net/anime/S/Sword_Art_Online_(TV)/episode/* (just insert the episode number instead of that asterisk).
That out of the way; long review ahead.
Getting the technical aspects out of the way first, the animation is certainly up there. There’s a number of bugs (framing, background animation), but those get fewer over the course of the anime; and after all, a good part of this anime plays on the web… where I personally would expect bugs. As such, the animation might not be perfect, but it fits the overall setting, is up-to-date, and the bugs are probable not to distract the majority of viewers too much. The battles may not be particularly strategic, but they’re fast-paced and certainly eye-catching.
The artistry works as well. It’s reminiscent of modern online games, is intense in its colouring, and the line-art, if nothing else, is certainly expressive. It’s a bit odd that every single character looks striking IRL, but then again… blame it on anime; I’m not going to complain there.
The best part about the technical aspects is and stays the music though. I’m a huge fan of Yuki Kajiura’s tunes, and those still fit the scenes perfectly.
Sound effects don’t distract any either.
Compared to that, though, I found the rest of the anime to be a bit of a disappointment.
The original idea was nice--not new if you look at the .hack series, or even the HunterxHunter Greed Island arc (combine both, and you pretty much have SAO’s setup), but it’s still intriguing. A lot of people like to immerse themselves in online game worlds, if only for an hour or two; after all, in a gaming world, things are just that much easier than in real life. Though I’m not a gamer, I do know a handful of people who play games, and how often haven’t I heard “I wish that game were real”!
SAO plays on that dream. Granted, not quite in the way people would probably want it to; but where the idea isn’t new, it’s intriguing, with great potential for plot development, thought, psychology, … in short, stuff that never quite delivers in this anime.
The best thing about a two-season anime is that there’s no leftover filler space. And while there’s a couple unneeded scenes if you ask me, rumours have it that the anime is faithful to the light novel, meaning it’s filler-free. The not-so-good point is that, even without the fillers, the plot is rather jarring.
“Sword Art Online” can be divided into two arcs in grand; the first is the actual SAO arc, the second one is ALO (Alfheim Online), a different online game, and not quite as reality-threatening, but with even worse plot execution than the first arc if you ask me.
SAO’s first arc had some awesome potential. The general theme was interesting enough, the futuristic-looking fantasy setting seemed decently done, and the mixture of themes was certainly intriguing--the in-game feel; fights, fencing, chases, escapes, giants and monsters, suspense and drama, emotion, love, hope, inspiration, torture and revenge, even touches of comedy from time to time… and the list might go on if I had the patience. And for the longest run of the first arc, “Sword Art Online” was comparably unpredictable as well.
That aside, though, I did expect it to be more complex. Where it’s impossible to get lost during the run of this anime, and there are a few new twists in there, I found the overall plot to be rather obvious--even more so during the second arc than during the first, but I’ll get to that soon.
The beginning is quite fast-paced, and the first episode actually promises a well thought-out background, a connection to realism and at least a little attention to psychology. (Mind a tiny spoiler? Remember Klein getting kicked in the crotch and doubling up despite not feeling the pain? Or look at the crowd’s different reactions during the ‘announcement’ scene. That’s just two examples). However, that connection to realism, neuroscience, or psychology is completely forgotten once the first episode is over.
It doesn’t help that the pace doesn’t stay consistent. There’s constant time jumps between the episodes, making the first half of the anime episodic for the most part. Whole months, entire floors, and rumouredly strong floor bosses are skipped, all of it for the sake of… side adventures.
I may not be a gamer, and as such may not be the best-qualified person to judge just how much side adventures mean to online gamers. If I imagine being in an online game, though, I’d probably be focused on getting the quest done and postpone most of the sidetracks for later. The way the anime is, I’m getting the feeling the producers were lazy. Or maybe the author of the novel was. I honestly did expect more of a spotlight on the leading group trying to clear the game than on Kirito’s not-entirely-that-related side adventures. Even the amount of fights suffers from those.
That’s only the smaller problem during the first half of the anime. More unnerving is the multitude of plot holes. Starting from that no game such as SAO would slip through security supervision; over the fact that if any game creator were trying to limit their game to 10,000 copies, the involved companies would hit them over the head; up to Kayaba’s reasoning… and I’m not even speaking of neurology, medical facts, or any other unexplained stuff that only became obvious later on. Once the first episode is over, even the world outside of the game is completely forgotten till the end of the arc.
“Sword Art Online” may try to set up a connection to reality, but if you ask me, it fails at that. Fantasy’s awesome, but if it’s supposed to be fantasy as opposed to real world, it just doesn’t feel right to me. The background severely lacks; some things were never explained or are outright improbable; and to top it off, “Sword Art Online”’s plot threw up far more questions than it answered.
All of that aside, though, that first arc was still not bad. For those not looking for something realistic, the futuristic fantasy setting should be interesting enough. Not all of it was predictable, and though the side quests could be unnerving, it was quite awesome when it actually got back on track. The battles were intriguing, the characters were a nice mix, and the drama was decent enough given the overall setup.
I’d still give the first arc a 3/5 for story any day. Where it wasn’t new, and had very little depth, it still was entertaining, and it wasn’t entirely predictable, either.
That second arc however topped it for the worse. Blame me for still having hope for at least some depth, at least some more plot, some intrigue or whatever… but even in comparison to the first part, which didn’t have much depth or the like, it simply comes up short.
It’s just that big a turnaround in the midst of the anime: making a futuristic-fantasy-action-survival-whatever-story into a rescue-the-maiden-in-distress-one. I mean, c’mon; the romance between Asuna and Kirito was already kinda obvious before, and that maiden in distress part has been used so often it by now is simply and only clichéd. Clichéd, weird, boring, and it doesn’t help that it’s rushed.
The first arc had so much potential. Plot, character portrayal, character development, psychology, anything. It already had far more potential than got fleshed out in the end; but the second arc simply makes it worse. Its main point is way too overused, more so than the first arc’s in-game setup. The second arc still had two chances for potential; one being Kirito’s family issues (which got quite a bit weird and rather rushed), and one being the development of that other, non-SAO game world. Yet, ALO never quite got developed either beside that flying-fairy-thing, making even that point come up short.
In short, I personally found the second arc to be incessantly boring. I did see it through, I did keep up my hopes that it’d turn out for the better, but it didn’t, and I’m just not hyped. If it had been the first arc only, I’d still have shaken my fist at the plot holes and pacing troubles, but I can’t deny that it was entertaining, if nothing else… but that second arc just ruins it for me.
Oh well.
The characters aren’t exactly all helpful, but at best they’re likable and at least they don’t distract any further.
SAO’s first main setup casts the entire character cast into a situation where life and mortality are suddenly experienced anew--and as such, the setup allows for decent character portrayal and development. Even so, the characters shown are never quite deep, a.k.a. not as developed as they could and should have been.
The protagonist by himself isn’t much--he is, in fact, rather a Gary Stu than anything else. From the black garments over his strength up to the adventures with the girls and the fact that though he’s made out to be a strong-willed loner, he never quite feels like a loner. (If you don’t know what a Gary-Stu is, don’t look it up… it’s not dangerous, but if you know what the term means, it most probably will annoy you.)
The side characters may not save him, but they’re new at least, a nice mix, and still comparably relatable. The problem is that most of them have no particular relevance to the plot--in fact, most side characters just got thrown out after the first arc and were rarely seen again. Most characters’ backgrounds aren’t shown either, and when they’re shown, they aren’t exactly untypical. It’s kind of sad.
Character development is there throughout the first arc, and at least a little in the second too. It may be jarring, it may be improbable in some cases, but it’s nevertheless existent. The interaction between the two main characters is likable, and, though pretty cheesy, still comparably realistic during the first arc… which again takes a turn for the worse during the second, but I’m repeating myself.
The interaction between the protagonist and the side characters gets a bit repetitive after a while. Wherever Kirito goes, he meets a different girl; and though there isn’t the heavy harem sense many recent anime have, nor any obvious ecchi, the focus this anime puts on side character relations is quite odd compared to how much or little we see of the actual action/floor bosses. Where I definitely appreciate the resulting drama, I can’t see anyone taking side track after side track in such a dire situation. Hide, or try by all means to clear the game (aka free everyone still trapped inside), yes; but despite the fact that Kirito does try to clear the game, it’s comparably rare seeing him in an actual boss fight. Much more often, he’s seen on sidetracks with a female companion.
The resulting drama is decent though. And the dialogue, where kind of expected at times, was still easy to follow and not all-too clichéd during the first arc. Also, the voice acting’s certainly up there. The script, again, took a turn for the even-more-cheesy during the second arc, though…
Geez.
I’m pretty darn sure the hype around “Sword Art Online” hasn’t calmed down quite yet. And it’s not that I don’t get why the hype exists, at least for the first part of the anime… it’s that I’m not hyped. Had the anime continued in the sense of its first arc, or had it stopped after the first arc, I still might have gotten exasperated at its plot problems, but at least it was entertaining back then. But the second arc just didn’t sit right with me. Even if there’s ever going to be another season, I’ve got enough of this anime.
SAO had insane potential in its first arc. Playing on a VRMMORPG, quite interesting, possibly quite complex, etc. And where the first arc did disappoint at least me in terms of depth and plot/pacing consistency, it was still quite entertaining, with at least decent characters and twists that couldn’t be predicted quite as easily as in many anime of concepts done before. The mixture of drama, suspense, emotion, and action was quite intriguing, and of course each episode knew exactly how to end on a cliffhanger. Also, the art was intense, and the music more than worth listening to.
Sadly, the technical aspects were the only ones that stayed the same throughout both arcs. The second arc was nothing short of clichéd, and it wasn’t even annoying anymore to me… it was just plain boring. I may have been a fool expecting some more depth or intrigue, but I actually only got through the second arc because I did keep my hopes up… and they got disappointed. Again.
Plot otaku or not, though, I’m not changing anyone’s minds here. Personally, I’m going to face-palm and pretend I never saw the second arc. Fans can go ahead, re-watch the entire thing, disregard this review, whatever.
For those still not knowing whether to watch SAO; I’d say that if you like the concept, take enjoyment from drama, suspense, emotion, action, and a futuristic-looking fantasy setting, and can in grand ignore plot problems, go ahead and give the first arc a try; it’s probable you’ll like it. Just, stop watching once the anime feels like it’s come to an end, because it’s not getting better after that point.
Thanks for the read. (
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