Sword Art Online I & II

"I bet you're asking yourselves, 'Why? Why would Akihiko Kayaba, creator of Sword Art Online and Argus do something like this?'

The answer is simple, I wanted to create this world and intervene in it."

                              -  Akihiko Kayaba, Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online (2012 & 2014)

Studio: A-1 Pictures

          Licensed By (NA): Aniplex of America

                                (Aus): Madman Entertainment

                                (UK): Manga Entertainment

Director: Tomihiko Itō

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama

Main Cast:

Kazuto Kirigaya (Kirito)- Voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (JP) & Bryce Papenbrook (EN)

Asuna Yūki (Asuna)- Voiced by Haruka Tomatsu (JP) & Cherami Leigh (EN)

Suguha Kirigaya (Leafa)- Voiced by Ayana Taketatsu (JP) & Cassandra Morris (EN)

Shino Asada (Sinon)- Voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro (JP) & Michelle Ruff (EN)

Yūki Konno (Yūki) - Voiced by Aoi Yūki

          Based on the light novel series by Reki Kawahara.

          In November 2022, the first Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (VRMMORPG), Sword Art Online, is released for the Nerve Gear. The Nerve Gear allows the player to control their avatar with their mind, experiencing the game world through their five sense, all while being cut off from their physical body, leaving it in an unconscious state.

          Kazuto Kirigaya, who goes by the handle "Kirito," a fourteen-year-old gamer who had been selected for the closed beta test of SAO, logs in on opening day, determined to progress through the game as fast as possible. Within a few hours, however, he, along with the rest of the ten thousand players, are teleported to the central courtyard in the starting city and told some bad news. Bad news is that every one of them are now stuck in the game and will not be allowed to log out until the game is completed (by defeating the boss on the 100th floor, no less.) Worse news is that there is no longer any way to revive players whose health points have dropped to zero, and if you die in the game (or if someone outside the game tries to remove your Nerve Gear) your brain will be flash microwaved by the Nerve Gear. 

          The ten thousand players must now try to survive the death game, all while leveling up and trying to beat the ever more deadly floor bosses.

I tend to reference story arcs, so here is a list of the ones covered in the anime:
          Aincrad - Season 1 Episodes 1-14
          Fairy Dance - Season 1 Episodes 15-25
          Phantom Bullet - Season 2 Episodes 1-14
          Caliber - Season 2 Episodes 15-17
          Mothers' Rosario - Season 2 Episodes 18-24

Writing

          

          I can almost hear the SAO fanboys cocking their shotguns on this one, but hear me out before you have me whacked. I really like the story of SAO. There are psychological aspects to each part of the series, and that works very well. Unfortunately, character problems (which are negative points against the writing) and pacing issues bring the score down for me. The pacing is a real issue especially in the second half of the first season, aka the Fairy Dance Arc. SO much of the story was cut out that many of Suguha's emotional issues just seem to crop up out of nowhere, where as in the books, it had so much more time to develop her character. 
          The other thing that brings the score down for me is the almost tunnel vision focus on just the main two characters of the given arc. It's like the author is staring through a sniper scope and forgets the other characters even exist. Through Aincrad, you get focus on Kirito and Asuna (with very minor peppering of Silica and Lizbeth), in Fairy Dance you get Kirito and Suguha, in Phantom Bullet you get Kirito and Shino, and Mothers' Rosario you get Asuna and Yūki. AND NOTHING ELSE.

Characters

          Here is where it really falls off for me. If there is one thing I absolutely abhor in fiction, it's flat characters. There are three types of characters in SAO. First, there are the fantastically well thought out characters, which ONLY includes the main cast I listed above (minus Kirito). Every single one of them has a back story, is developed well (but only when they are the main girl of the arc), and is all around just a great, believable character. Next you have Kirito himself; he has flaws, and even a believable back story. Unfortunately, he comes across as a little gary stu-ish (male character that is perfect in almost every way), especially in the game world. In games he is basically the best at what he does, all the time. The only thing that saves him on this is that it DOES show him putting the work in (i.e. grinding to gain experience), plus the fact that he has SO many hours logged into the VR system (which apparently counts for a lot.) Well, that and he is not perfect outside the games, a somewhat physically weak teenage boy with an interest in computers and programming (not so strange for a long time gamer.) The last type of character in this series is the ENTIRE REST OF THE CAST. The rest of the cast are basically just card board cutouts with personalities. The have NO back story, receive NO development at all, and, for all I can tell, are just there to show that Kirito CAN have a decently sized group of friends. Well, that and so there are more character types for the harem and so that there's a butt monkey that has zero luck with women AND seems slightly gay for the main character.

Visuals

          Here is where it bounces back. Being animated by A-1, Sword Art Online has near flawless animation. There IS, however, one thing that you may notice. During the action sequences, many of the characters and objects tend to "deform" which usually indicates the need for a few more key frames for each movement. This disappears in SAO II (I assume a larger budget likely had something to do with that.)

Audio

          The voice work in SAO is basically flawless... at least in the original Japanese audio. The English dub, produced by Aniplex of America, leaves something to be desired. At least at first. Bryce Papenbrook sounds way off as Kirito, and Cherami Leigh doesn't sound great as Asuna, either. In fact, most of the voices in the Aincrad Arc sound bad or mediocre. I think the only one that was pretty good was Patrick Seitz as Agil. Fortunately, as with many dubs, the VA's tend to get better as the episodes go on and they get more comfortable with their characters. 

          I love the soundtrack of SAO and, indeed, I still listen to the songs occasionally. SAO has a total of four opening themes and five ending themes. The opening themes (in order) are "crossing field" by LiSA, "Innocence" by Eir Aoi, "Ignite" by Eir Aoi, and "Courage" by Haruka Tomatsu. The ending themes (in order) are "Yume Sekai" ("Dream World") by Haruka Tomatsu, "Overfly" by Luna Haruna, "Startear" by Luna Haruna, "No More Time Machine" by LiSA, and "Shirushi" by LiSA.

The visuals alone don't do justice on just how creepy this guy is.

Personal Enjoyment

          Personally, I enjoyed SAO. I love the concept and I love how psychological the series can be. There are, however, the issues that I cannot overlook. The pacing of the Fairy Dance Arc has always bothered me. Even before I had read the novels, I could tell that something wasn't right. The characters are the other thing that bring down my enjoyment score. I absolutely hate when there are flat characters when there don't need to be.

The Final Word

          I am a fan of the series, and I have read every light novel that is available in English, but I still can't let go of the character problems (which are also present in the novels). If you look at the authors' other work, Accel World, you can see that he does actually know how to write decent background characters, but for SAO he simply chooses not to, and the reason for that is something that simply mystifies me.

For your enjoyment- A cat girl Sinon running