SAO, quite possibly the most popular anime of 2012. Was all the hype worth it? Was SAO really that great of an anime? Well, in my opinion I suppose that sort of thing is generational. Older anime fans will have mixed views, while the newer fans will most probably gobble SAO up like there was no tomorrow. I'm part of the older generation, I grew up with 90's anime and have seen more anime than I can count. I have in essence "seen it all". But there was something different about SAO, something that drew me in instantly. I consider myself a gamer, but I wouldn't say that was the only aspect about SAO that drew me in. No, SAO had that "something" that clicked with everyone at first sight. Its the reason why it was so popular before even debuting. The LN is quite popular but even then, LN readers are a minority, that wasn't enough to hype this anime up. What made this anime click with people was its production value. Yes, most people won't even consider that when thinking about what made SAO good, but this anime's high production value played a huge role. To properly animate a story centered around an MMORPG (VRMMORPG to be more specific), you have to have everything from scenery's, character designs, music, and VA cast on point. And indeed, SAO had all of that. And yet, it didn't mesh in well enough to be considered a classic...
This anime is all about a popular virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing game (VRMMORPG) called, Sword Art Online (SAO). In the anime, virtual reality helmets are the norm among young people. People dive in to the different worlds they want to, when they want to. It really is like a different world separate from this one to those people. Upon the release of a hugely anticipated game called Swort Art Online, our main character Kazuto is somewhat of a gaming prodigy and immediately buys SAO upon its release. Going into the game he meets a couple of people and begins playing like everyone is doing. But something goes wrong, he nor anyone is able to log out. The gamers gather at the town square where they have been summoned by the game master (admin, owner, etc). He tells them that the game is no longer a game, but is now part of their reality. They cannot log out, they cannot escape by any means. The only way to get out is to win the game, which means completing all 100 floors of the huge tower in the center of everything.
Dying in the game means dying in real life, and thus, the events of SAO unfold and we are introduced to various characters such as Asuna who along with Kazuto, are on the front lines to complete all 100 floors and be rid of their nightmare.
The rest of the anime is basically what you would expect to see in a game. Character interactions, missions, fighting, cheating, death, pretty much everything that makes a game, a game. But because SAO is an anime, it has to take things at its own pace. It attempts to construct a story as it progresses. I say "attempt" because even though it has mini time skips that force the viewer to ask what happened during that time skipped, it does construct a decent story for about the first 10 episodes. After that however, everything becomes one huge mess. Inconsistencies, plot holes, conveniences, SAO is plagued by obvious attempts to fix mistakes made in previous episodes by the production team. The second half of the anime is the biggest indicator that the production team had an idea of how to properly transition this part from the LN, but went to hell along the way. But to be fair, it wasn't really the story people watched SAO for, it was its amazing action.
If SAO excels at one thing, is its action sequences. My god, such amazing sequences have not been seen in anime for a long while. It was the main reason I kept watching, and pretty much the saving grace for the show. The character development was also done nicely early on, but went into recycling mode in the second half. What I mean by that is that the anime didn't continue the development of the characters from where they had left off, but instead opted to start their development over again. I suppose the reason for this is obvious if you know what starts in the second half, but it still doesn't sit well with me. It was like watching the first half all over again, like I said, recycling. The introduction of Kazuto's sister was refreshing because the show was now focused on a different character and her story, but at the same time I couldn't help but think she was basically replacing Asuna and her early character mold. Again, recycling.
My verdict on this anime is simple; It had potential, an immense amount of it to be exact. This could easily have been the anime of 2012, but failed early on its execution thanks to the inadequate attempt at animating the transitioning of the arcs in the LN. Instead of focusing on the action part of the second arc, it tried to once again "attempt" to continue what the creators thought was, to them, a "story". To lay it down in a much more simpler way, this is another case of an adaptation gone wrong because it didn't follow the source material properly. Was this enjoyable to watch? Sure. But if your a veteran in anime like me, you will probably have more than one bone to pick with the creators. Watch this anime for it was largely watched for, the amazing action sequences. Do that and it won't be so bad of a watch...
Score - 7/10
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