User Reviews

First Half: NO SPOILERS.

Sword Art online is a terrifying but beautiful story of a boy names Kirito who is stuck in this virtual video game in which no player can leave until the final boss is defeated. Throughout the game, if one were to be killed, the player would also die in the real world.

In this anime, you never know who is going to die next which keeps the viewers constantly on edge. A character that might have seemed important could be killed at any moment and the fact that those characters actually die in the real world makes the story even more emotional. The story itself is definitely unique and entertaining. The action/fighting is good and the emotions run high in this anime, however, it does have a few flaws.

First off, everything feels rushed in the first half of this anime. In a world that has 100 floors, you only see about 10 of them. To me, I found it annoying to find out that the next episode he had made it 20 floors higher without any explanation. I understand that you can't show him fighting on each floor level, but it could have been more gradual than going from (ex.) floor 20 to floor 47. The first story is completed within 14 episodes and that is it's problem. They do not give enough time for the stories to develop fully. You meet new characters in the beginning of an episode and towards the end of that episode many days have gone by within the anime but truly you've only seen them throughout one episode of 20 minutes, not 2-3 episodes. So when those (not-so) new characters die at the end of the episode where they were first introduced, it doesn't pack the punch it could have had those characters been in the anime longer.

Secondly, SAO lacks Character depth. After watching 14 episodes of Sword Art Online, you know barely anything about the main characters. They still manage to make you like and care for them, but I think that these feelings could have been amplified had we known more about them.

----------- Now for the second half: SPOILERS

The story continues into a new video game in which Kirito enters in order to save his lover Asuna. In this new game if you get killed, you simply respawn. After watching the first half of SAO, this second half right away seems pathetic and childlike. This story focuses on love instead of survival and in my opinion it should have never have been made. They really should have just spent the extra episodes on the first story. This would have fixed the two flaws I pointed out: They could have added more character depth and not made the anime feel as rushed. It's really a shame, because this second half ruins SAO for me.

-------- END SPOILER

All in all, I would highly recommend watching the first 14 episodes of SAO but don't even bother watching anything past that.

I completely agree with some of the reviews written here - the story was fantastic up until episode 14. The show literally ended for me right there - and I will explain why with possible spoilers below.

My suggestion for this show is to watch it with some solid MMORPG background and watch it only up to episode 14. I promise you will enjoy it very much. :)

-------------- SPOILERS AHEAD --------------------

As a gamer myself, this story is like a gamer's dream come true. Virtual reality and MMORPG together is as awesome as gaming can get - and this story laid out all the possibilities that a gamer could imagine. As you travel through the story following the protagonist Kirito, you really do feel what it's like to play MMORPG like you are actually living in that virtual world.

But that's not all... The story has the amazing premise that you put your life on the line to play this game. With life and death involved, it becomes far more interesting as you see what kind of choices the characters make, and their emotions are much more raw and real - fear, despair, hope, courage, love... etc.

Even though you already know by fact that the protagonist does not die in stories EVER (99.9% of the time), but you still can't help but be on the edge of your seat whenever the characters' lives are in danger because it is a real "death game". For me, what got me the most hooked was the characters' strong will to survive, their way of sacrificing for each other, and their ability to unite as one in will and heart in order to "save the world". All these sound so cliché but they are truly the most attractive qualities of the show. :)

With that being said, the life-and-death risk ends at episode 14 where the game is cleared. To be honest, I didn't like how the game was cleared (at least in the anime), because it was never explained how Kirito "came back to life" and how Asuna did too later on. I know they are the main characters, but that does not align with the rules of that virtual world... D: It makes me frustrated how there are "exceptions" to the system just to make certain things happen. But the other amazing parts of the story can make up for these minor flaws.

What happens after episode 14 is really the main flaw of SAO. It should've just ended at episode 14 to wrap up this wonderful story. With no life-risking factor in the following arc of the story, everything becomes bland and less meaningful. I won't go into much details because simply to put... the second part was a waste of time.

Overall, the story (up until ep.14) is 9/10 in my book. :)

By the way, if you are a gamer, the music compositions will surely make you nostalgic. They are just like how MMORPG OSTs would sound like!!

I really enjoyed this anime. I binge watched both seasons in 2 days. To start off with the first season, that was the one i enjoyed the most. I looked forward to the next episode every time. The concept was exciting and had lovable characters. On the downside, i thought the time jumps were a bit too much. I like that it was fast paced, but to jump many months between and in episodes was a bit too much according to me. You hardly got to see how they settled in to the life style of being in a video game. It was just like BAM, everyone is a pro at this and we didn't get to see them grow into that. It's also a bit sad that Asuna started off as a mysterious badass and turned into a weak girly girl.

Onto the second season. I enjoyed it, but i never got the same thrill as i did with the first season. I'm still torn how i feel about the whole fairy theme. Did i accept it or was it too different from the first part? I'm not sure. The villain was too over the top stereotypical. I cringed every time he laughed. Also, the main excitement with the first season was the seriousness of life and death. If you die, that's it. By taking that part away for the second part, it lost a huge thrill. I felt a bit like, okay, you die, then just try again and again until you succeed. You don't really have anything to worry about. And don't even get me started on the sister. I didn't like the whole incest thing. They should've just got her and her male friend together instead. Made a stereotypical, clumsy, awkward, young romance. That would've been much better.

Actually, i wish they would've made both seasons about the first game. They could've made that go on forever. They could've shown every single level of the game. Come up with a bunch of cool monsters and characters to kill off. But overall, i really did enjoy this show. I'm excited for next season, but i'm not keeping my hopes up too high.

Minor Spoilers below. Note: this review is only based on the original SAO, not the second season released in 2014.

The common line which carried SAO to it's popularity was that it was 'a sprawling epic with an inventive concept'

This is simply not the case... while the concept has some fun new twists it's hardly original, the 'if you die in the game you die in real life' is almost becoming a cliché, even more so since SAO increased it's popularity.

And while the animation and music are definitely up to snuff in regards to providing an epic and grandiose spectacle, the story and characters are certainly not.

the lead protagonist Kirito is perhaps the worst protagonist i've ever seen in any televised series, ludicrously overpowered to the point where he's seemingly able to break established world rules at his leisure with no prior explanation as to how. he also has quite bafflingly... no clear motivation for the entire first half of the series. there is simply nothing to him personality-wise either, he's cocky, but other than that there's not much there, he was made as plain and simple as possible to serve the purpose of wish-fulfilment. he's not a character, he's a skin for the viewer to wear.

as for the story, for the first half it's at the very least competent if uninspired it's heavily let-down by a few filler episodes and abuse of timeskips but it's at least bearable. but for the latter half? every mistake that could have been made WAS made, all tension was thrown out of the window as the consequences for in-game death were removed as was the sense of being trapped in the world. and the mysterious villain of the first half was thrown aside in favour of a new, completely flat, completely unintimidating moron.

In summary, the series is the closest approximation of a train-wreck that i can imagine, flat characters, schizophrenic pacing, a glut of rather creepy fanservice... the fantastic animation and music are nowhere NEAR enough to redeem it.

3/10 is being rather generous...

(A short review)

The first season was fantastic, its setting and plot immediately drew me in. It truly felt like I was watching a real life MMORPG take place. The characters really grew onto me throughout the season and I was intrigued by this world that the writer had created. I would always come home, hop onto my computer and watch some episodes of Sword Art Online. Unlike many other anime, I did not feel bored throughout the whole first season. Every episode was interesting and felt amazing to watch.

Then the second season began. At first it was quite interesting and fun to finally see the real world that Kirito lives in. However, when Kirito enters the world of ALO the show began to decline. ALO no longer felt like a proper game. The plot itself became a prince saves princess sort of story with an added love triangle. While the main characters still remained lovable, the world did not. Kirito arguably cheated his way to the end (Didn't really gather proper gear,level,etc). The villain felt plain, like those in a fairy tale. In the end, ALO didn't feel like a MMORPG anymore and completely broke off from SAO.

Don't get me wrong, the series as a whole is still great and I would definitely recommend it to some of my friends. Like many of you people, I'm keen on seeing the next season or arc. Overall it was still a joy to watch. Unfortunately the second season just wasn't up to par with the first and that was a real disappointment.

first season:9/10 second season:6/10 overall rating:7.5/10

OK so first things I enjoyed.

The first three episodes. Some of the time the animation is glorious. Especially in the first episode. When they're showing you the world of SAO it is fantastic, and some of the fight scenes are great. The first three episodes really shows this off.

Episodes that I liked: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9... that's it really.

The main character - whilst probably just the avatar for the creator's wet dream - is actually kind of cool sometimes. I enjoyed his moments of badassery. Asuna (supporting lead) was pretty damn cool when you first meet her. She plays the tsudere role pretty well at first, but towards episode 10 or so she increasingly becomes nothing more than the helpless waifu to worry when Kirito is in danger.

And now I start with the problems in this show.

This is the basic format for the first half: 1) Introduce cute female character. 2) Let us see lots of her breasts and other body parts 3) Ideally invent some situation that involves her accidentally showing a bit too much body, then getting really embarrassed or angry. 4) Invent random monster for Kirito to fight, female character must be in need of protection. 5) Have some speech about love or hope or something 6) Rinse and repeat.

There's a little bit of a sidetrack with some hentai porn, but that's most of the first half. Then we have a similar situation in the second half, but just with the same female character (Sugu) on repeat whilst the supposed 'love' of Kirito is all trapped in a cage being molested so all the creepy people watching can masturbate.

To illustrate Characters who appear in more than one episode:

Kirito, male - basically Goku

Sugu, female in love with Kirito

Asuna in love with Kirito

Lisbeth, f in love with K

Silica, f in love with K

Alicia, f who hits on K

Sakuya, f who hits on K (lots of fan service)

Klein, m

Agil, m

Kuradeel, m

Basicaly most of the characters who actually do things are females and what they do is have their bodies exhibited for the viewer while they're saved by the all powerful Kirito who they then fall in love with.

I could go on about the grand lists of plot holes, things that don't make sense, amount of boring dialog/things that happen and the fact I never once feared for any of the main characters. But that'll just be waffle. You either enjoy the misogynistic misadventures of kirito with a side of side boob, or you don't.

This is one of the best anime's out there right now. It is as excellent as it is genre diverse. There is fantasy, science fiction, romance and gaming. The world is detailed and beautifully animated, and the characters are well rounded and interesting. The first half of the season is utterly perfect. Now the part with spoilers: In the second half, it isn't quite as good. It's still worth watching, especially if happy endings are important to you, but it reduces Asuna to a damsel in distress and has some weird parts. (incest and tentacle rape, but it's not graphic) So in conclusion: The first half was perfect, definitely watch it, and the second half, while not as good, is still excellent.

Sword Art Online is one of the best anime ever created. Combining a moving plot, interesting characters, and an incredible soundtrack, the first arc of the show even outshines the Frieza Saga of Dragonball Z.

The show is split into three main arcs: Aincrad, Fairy Dance, and Phantom Bullet.

The Aincrad Arc is basically a futuristic Lord of the Flies with more social issues. 10,000 players are trapped in another world and must find a way to beat all 100 floors of the game to escape. However, if they die in the game, they die in real life. Unlike many anime, this show refuses to put its main focus on the actual fights and violence. Rather, it focuses mainly on the actions and lives of the players outside the fighting. This rare trait brings out the true nature and depth of the show. The show uses this to scrutinize social issues such as racism, and philosophical ideas such as the natural man and reality itself. The most interesting aspect of the show is its depiction of racism through the characters' views on Beta testers such as Kirito. Many characters look down and persecute Beta testers because "they ditched all the beginners…. They snagged all the good hunting spots, and they grabbed all the easy quests too!… We should make them apologize to us, and we should make them all give up their money and the items they got!" This accusatory idea permeates throughout the narrative and is a clear parallel to European prejudices against the Jews around World War II. Rather than take responsibility for their own actions and idleness, the majority of the characters choose to blame the successful group for their own problems. This same idea in Europe created hundreds of years of persecution against the Jews and eventually the Holocaust itself. Furthermore, the show analyzes the natural man, similarly to Lord of the Flies. The Laughing Coffin is a guild of players intent on only murder. They sabotage the other guilds' efforts to end the game by infiltration and cold-hearted murder. Like Jack's tribe in Lord of the Flies, this group represents the evil of the natural man. However, this guild does not all the bad in human nature. Instead, the show presents these traits, such as laziness, selfishness, and unwillingness to take responsibility, in every character. However, the show also presents the good in humanity in characters such as Diabel, Kirito, and Asuna because of their altruism, respect, determination, and love. Unfortunately, this story also contains inappropriate scenes such as Kirito accidentally grabbing Asuna's breast and Asuna undressing. On the other hand, these scenes are very brief and could be skipped without any maleficial effect on the plot. Furthermore, Kirito's resolution to stay sexually pure—even in a virtual world—is nice to see.

The Fairy Dance Arc is basically the creators' attempt to squeeze every last penny out of their fans (though it is still better than Dragonball after Frieza). Similar to an unintended, rushed Disney sequel, the story line is unnecessary and far worse than the original. It describes Kirito's quest to save Asuna from a nerdy rapist who has trapped her in Alfheim Online. This plot also narrates the strange and frankly creepy love of Kirito's cousin, Sugu, for Kirito. This arc focuses much more heavily on the power and determination of Kirito and the violence. Despite this added focus on fighting, however, the show does not exceed its previous level of excitement and merely reemphasizes the power of the human will and ignores many other important themes, only adding the hopefully obvious theme that rape is wrong. Furthermore, this arc adds much more unnecessary sexual and otherwise inappropriate content, including the antagonist touching Asuna inappropriately and even tearing off her top as she is chained up. Furthermore, this arc portrays Kirito as more of a "player" as every girl he meets instantly becomes infatuated by him and attempts to "seduce him" with their.… Fortunately, each of these scenes could be removed without damaging the plot. Thus, despite its many downfalls and failure to measure up to Aincrad, this arc remains an interesting—or, if nothing else, fun—show to watch. Nevertheless, I would not advise admitting to watching this arc until a clean version exists.

The Phantom Bullet Arc is basically the creators' attempt to make up for Fairy Dance. The show addresses new problems and reduces some of its inappropriate content though it still focuses heavily on the fights and violence. This arc follows Kirito as he investigates a series of real-life deaths allegedly caused by the in- game deaths at the hands of Death Gun. Both Kirito and a new character, Sinon, must now come to grips with their past after killing people who otherwise would have murdered them and those whom they loved. This arc emphasizes that who you are in a virtual reality will reflect on who you are in reality and attempts (but fails) to provide a definitive answer on how to justify murder in self-defense (though I believe one exists). This is arguably the worst arc and has the worst themes. The sexual content includes Kirito being in a room with a mostly undressed woman, a few male characters looking at Sinon in a sexual way, and one attempting to touch her in a sexual manner in real life. However, this specific content is much reduced from Fairy Dance and can still be easily skipped without effect on the plot though the final scene would still have to suggest the antagonist's intents for the plot to make sense. Though this is the worst arc, it remains fun to watch.

The show's side arcs (especially Mother's Rosario) are also fun to watch and avoid all sexual content. These are still worse than Aincrad, but better than Fairy Dance.

Overall, this is one of the best anime because of its characters (especially Yui), beautiful soundtrack, impressive themes, and well-constructed plots.

I made an account just to say this.

I don't get why everyone is so extremely positive about this series. It's good, but it's not that good. The first 2 episodes were very promising, but the ones after those are worse. They are just some unnecessary side stories. Plus they really skipped a lot of time in these episodes which I normally like, but only if you have a good reason for it.

It was still okay and fun to watch but then the plot of the first part wtf .I don't know how the f*ck you can f*ck up a story like that. How do you come up with an idea like that? WARNING SPOILER: Alfheim online omg I died when this started. It's almost funny. Almost. Suddenly there's a new game with elves and magic and stuff like that. It's like Winx Club if you know that. I was embarrassed when someone asked what I was watching. END SPOILER

There are more bad things that they should have thought about before making it such a (i'm sorry to use this word but it's true) 'gay' series. Don't misunderstand me, I don't mind a bit of love story, but there are other things like the WARNING SPOILER: NPC daughter END SPOILER that made me cringe so hard.

The overall story is pretty good but it's definitely not a perfect anime. Fullmetal Alchemist was better. Watch that instead.

Sword Art Online was an anime I went in being very excited for. Being a long time MMO player and anime watcher, an anime about an MMO seemed like it would be right up my ally. How wrong I was.

The show revolves around the main character Kirito and his in-game (and later IRL) girlfriend Asuna and their story after they get trapped within an MMO that causes its players to die for real if they die within the game. It seemed like an interesting concept that was executed in all the wrong ways.

I was looking forward to an anime about the struggles of being trapped within an MMO world and the quest to level up and beat the final boss to "escape" the MMO. However, instead of focusing on that quest, the series focuses heavily on the romance aspect of the series. Much of the leveling and dungeoning process is simply skipped over in favor of giving the main male lead Kirito more time with one of his many lady friends (namely Asuna). At one point during the show, the series goes way off track when Kirito and Asuna decide to get married in game and go have a honeymoon for 2 whole episodes (Two whole episodes of this!). I would have rather seen a series where the leveling and dungeoning process was the main point, and the romance was simply secondary. Instead, the romance takes up much the the series, and the actual MMO parts are pushed to the side or simply skimmed over. This seems rather contradictory, as one would think the characters would be more focused on leveling and beating the game instead of romancing each other, considering they are trapped there and could potentially die.

However, the most glaring problem with this anime is the inconsistency with the two main characters. Asuna, the main female lead and Kirito's love interest, changes multiple times for apparently no reason throughout the first season. She is first portrayed as a strong player that is also a loner, and refusing any offers to partner up with others. Later, after a timeskip, she is shown again, but this time instead as a Tsundre, bossy person that is now in a guild for some reason (despite claiming to be a loner). Some time after that, she turns into a doting, pushover, waifu type of character and remains that way for the rest of the series. All of these personality changes occur without any explanation or plot element that would explain a shift in personality.

However, with as bad as Asuna is, the main character Kirito is 100x worse. He is by far the worst gary stu I've ever seen in an anime. The series essentially revolves around proving how awesome and special Kirito is. Kirito, like Asuna, is originally described as a loner that prefers to play alone, also known as a "beater" in the game. The series gets this wrong right off the bat as they tell us he has this personality instead of showing us. This supposed loner personality is constantly contradicted, as only a couple episodes into the show, Kirito joins a guild and is constantly meeting, playing with, and helping other players. A pretty odd thing for a loner to do right? Oddly enough, all of these players he helps are attractive females in revealing armor that all fall in love with him for no real reason. After a few episodes of this, I realized that this was in fact a harem anime, not the action/adventure I originally thought it was.

Instead of showing leveling and dungeoning progression, each episode of this anime either has Kirito wooing some new girl to add to his harem or romancing Asuna. Amongst the girls that are in his harem, there is also his sister/cousin that has also fallen in love with him for some reason. Of course, Kirito ultimately chooses Asuna, since she is the prettiest and most powerful girl in the game. Don't expect to see many male characters that aren't evil or incredibly peripheral in this series, there's only room for Kirito and his various harem girls.

Kirito always wins his battles through some kind of plot armor, exaggerated to the point where it even breaks the rules of the game at a couple points. He has a special dual wielding ability that no one else has for no other reason aside from the fact that he's special, and also frequently uses other abilities that shouldn't even be possible. At no point is there ever a fear of him dying or even losing, as you know there will always be some random power up he gets that allows him to win.

And unfortunately, this series and its plot only get worse as the series progresses. As bad as the first half of the first season was, it only gets worse. After escaping Sword Art Online, later arcs portray Kirito and his harem girls in their adventures in other mmos. For one, you'd think the characters would be hesitant to play other mmos after their experience in SAO (not much is really said about the people who actually died from the game). But nope, they jump into other mmos without even thinking about it. And these other mmo arcs lose what little plot suspense the first arc had, as they take away the risk of dying that the first mmo arc had.

Ultimately, Sword Art Online is just a harem, fanservice anime with little plot/character development or consistency. Everything about it is gimmicky and poorly executed to the point where it has no saving graces (that is, unless you're into the fanservice). There are plenty of good shounen animes out there and this simply isn't one of them. It's highly overrated and doesn't deserve the hype it gets.

If the final episode of Sword Art Online had been episode 14, I could safely say this would be one of my all time favorite anime series. Unfortunately, someone had the terrible idea to bring the show back for a second season filled with bizarre and terrible creative decisions. The first season was built around a fascinating concept: a virtual reality MMORPG turned into an inescapable world with life and death consequences. It introduced a relatable protagonist, likable side characters, an emotional love story, and excellent action, all culminating in a heart wrenching finale. Then season 2 came along and left me feeling physically disgusted. Here are all the new elements season 2 introduced: the life and death stakes from the first season are removed almost entirely; the vast classic fantasy RPG themed world audiences marveled at in season 1 has been replaced with a smaller, less satisfying Norse mythology and fairy themed environment; the male protagonist's younger adoptive sister is apparently in love/lust with him; the strong, charismatic female love interest from season 1 is now in the clutches of the villain and is literally locked in a cage for the male protagonist to rescue; and this new villain is one of the creepiest, most perverted, most over the top despicable characters I've ever seen (As a specific example, while speaking to the protagonist he reveals his plan to forcibly marry a 17 year old coma patient, smelling her hair as he does it). I don't know what happened in between seasons 1 and 2, but my recommendation is to watch the first 14 episodes and pretend that no more episodes were ever made.

I have mixed feelings about this show. It has many good things, but it also has its fair share of bad things. The first half of the show, I like. It's just pure entertainment, with absolutely nothing else, but it's watchable and addictive. The animation is great, I love seeing the world of Sword Art Online, the threat of death creates a little tension, and watching our two main characters Kirito and Asuna fall in love is sweet and charming. The second half I hate. I don't like the new world Alfheim Online. It never captured my interest the way Sword Art Online did and the threat of death is gone. The whole arc with Kiritos' sister is unbearably annoying and I really wish they had just cut that out. Lastly, Asuna, the all powerful Asuna, is reduced to the clichéd damsel in distress, which is stupid, dumb, and makes no sense. All that being said, I still enjoy the show and recommend you watch it. There are stupid things and it may not require much brain power, but you can have fun with it.