Reviews

Sword Art Online- Overrated Much?

Overall Rating- 3 Star: Average

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a hater of mainstream anime, I'm not even hating on SAO ( 3 stars means average, peeps ), I just am not fond of this anime. I have good reasons, though, so please, SAO fans, put away your virtual katanas and read my review.

Plot: Poor
Season one had a reasonable plot. Virtual game converted to death game. Nothing awfully complicated yet a touch of originality; season one had a nice concept. Unfortunately, when season two arrived, everything went to hell.

For unknown reason, Kirito survived his confirmed death due to Kayaba-unmotivated-antagonist while his and our waifu, Asuna-dearest, remained confined by the menacing world of MMORPGs, while looking pretty damn fabulous IRL (please humor me and insert a 'seems legit' meme here). Thanks to convenient perverted rich faggot, SAO was successfully turned into the most cliche anime known to otakukind. Season 2's sole plot-backbone relies on Asuna-dearest suffering the plague of *character loss* (a rapidly spreading disease that is infecting the character development of our favorite anime characters worldwide... Or maybe just in Japan). Now Asuna-dearest is nothing more than another one of those sexy damsels in distress, waiting for her beloved OP main character, Kirito, to save her from her epic birdcage prison before convenient rich faggot can steal her precious virginity...a thing that only Kirito and Asuna know that she's already lost. The most surpising turn-of-events in season 2 was the bizarre sexual desire that Kirito's not-so-sister feels towards him.

Now here comes season 3, Gun Gale Online, where SAO did the impossible (made Kirito more insanely adorable) and added another girl to Kirito's growing fanclub, this time one with a killer ass. Okay, now getting back to plot, GGO had a pretty decent one. It was nice and simple and sprinkled with originality, similar to the plot of season 1. But seriously, once again, predictable antagonist much?

Now let's go on to that assortment of episodes at the end that were added probably just for the sake of SAO fangirls. The last plot...wait, what plot? Oh that's right, it doesn't exist. All we did was parade around with Kirito's fanclub so that they could meet the famous Excalibur before he went to California (Soul Eater anyone?). The first time I watched SAO, a year or two ago, I hated the last season so much that I couldn't bear finishing it. Still haven't finished it to this day.

So, for plot, seasons 1 and 3 had decent plot while season 2 and (is it four?) brought it down.

Sound: Decent
*keep in mind that Smiles watches sub*

The voice acting was fitting and enjoyable and the soundtrack was nice and not to repetitive...except for one repeated song... COFFEE, SODA, COFFEE, SODA, COFFEE, SODA, GIVE ME SEX PLEASE!..........Also, Kirito's screams... Please no...

Art: Excellent

The art of SAO was exceptional. The character designs were great, the backgrounds were beautiful, and the art really brought the action scenes to live. Fitting for an MMORG anime.

Characters: Poor

Along with plot, this is where SAO stumbled and fell. The characters were straight-out unbearable. First off, the main character, Kazuto Kirigaya. He was just one intensely kawaii cliche. We've all had our fair share of unbelievably OP characters, and Kirito tops the charts. Also, his personality, which was as nonexistent as the plot in the Excalibur Arc. Now, Asuna-dearest. Having been a headstrong, tsundere piece of waifu material gone through *character loss*, her true personality remains undiscovered to this day. Let's go to the raging mass of Kirito's fanclub, shall we? Okay, so besides Sinon, all of their personalities began blending together until their character designs were the only thing that identified them. Sinon, as I recently mentioned, was by far the only enjoyable - and realistic - character in the entire cast (plus that ass guys), so the characters category would have gotten an 'awful' if not for her.

Other honorable Mentions That Suppress My SAO Fangirl:

I feel like I already mentioned this, for some odd reason, but: the fanclub. Kirito took episode after episode in the first season building up his fanclub and enraging his watchers, including me. None of them are individual or have any soul at all and their only purpose is to provide us with fan service (am I right, or am I right?)

This was a better aspect: action. The action in SAO was incredible. I can't even get into how pleased I was with the action scenes. From guns to katanas to rapiers, SAO had all that it needed to provide us viewers with superb fighting scenes.

***

Overall: SAO had a ton of wasted potential. With great art, action, and sound, the lack of plot and unrelatable characters brought it down.

Please post your opinion in the comments section! I love feedback! While you're here, don't forget to click that star! I'll be back with more reviews later!

P. S: I can go into more detail in plot and characters, but I didn't to keep from boring you, however if you want me to expand on my reasons for disliking the plot and characters of SAO, then post it in the comments. Ty!