Konnichiwaaa~
Today I'll be giving a review on my favorite anime. (Obviously)
Sword Art Online ソードアート・オンライン
I'll be reviewing the characters, artwork, sound and overall enjoyment.
Although it is obviously my favorite, there are parts of the anime I did not enjoy.
So lets get started~
ソードアート・オンライン
Sword Art Online
I seriously dont even know where to begin with this anime. But obviously its my favorite and I have reasons why I do and why I dont like it.
I guess I'll start with the story. Me being an avid gamer of 16 years and also an otaku for a little less than that, I think its safe to say I jumped on this anime as soon as I heard about it in 2012. An anime about MMORPGs. What more could I ask for?
The story is over all a 10 for me automatically because I just simply am a sucker for love stories and at the same time I HATE them. I'm not really a sappy love story person so I dont really lean toward anime that are like that,but SAO really brought it upon me to not be able to tear myself away from the series because of my instant love for the story which leads me into the characters.
Kirigaya Kazuto (Kirito)
My opinion of Kirito was obviously heart-eyes all the way through the series. As Kirito found himself throughout the game and learned along with everyone else that shits literally about to get real, and that it was time to really strive to live through this game no matter how long it took, even if it took being a solo player. Given that he was chosen to be a part of the mere 1,000 beta testers in the game, he became the greatest solo player IN the game. He gained the "dual blade swordsman" nickname fairly quickly as a result of his 2 swords, The Elucidator (he bought) and Dark Repulser he acquired when he met Lizbeth. Kirito is generally a calm and collected character. He has a bit of a sense of humor and teases his few friends in the game, but over all, Kirito just keeps to himself and ultimately wants to beat the game as quickly as possible until he preforms the finishing blow on the first boss and gets accused of being a "beater" of the game. Kirito enjoyed that idea as he smugly put on his prize the monster dropped. A jet-black coat. Shortly after he earns himself the title The Black Swordsman. His attitude throughout the game was that he was independent and he didnt really need a guild or to party up with anyone else. Until he met the one person who really amplified who he was and how he felt through and about the game. Which leads me to Asuna.
Yuuki Asuna (Asuna)
At first you meet Asuna in the first town with only a cloak, which doesnt really say much. Shes just.. there. Once the story progresses to the first boss, thats when Asuna really shines and everyone sees who she truly is and actually pays attention, especially Kirito. I was really disappointed in the fact that Asuna just cooks the whole damn first part of the show. Yeah, her ass is in the kitchen getting 500/500 maxed cooking skill while Kirito is doing all the work. Asuna soon finds herself as the sub-leader in the guild Knights of the Blood. She is very focused on her role and will stop at nothing to get through the game. As the show progresses and as Kirito and Asuna grow near eachother they fall in love and soon spend all of their time with each other and Kirito soon expresses that he would like to stay with Asuna for a night after almost having a near death experience before Asuna saving him, and from there, its basically history. While Asuna is one of my favorite characters, she isnt a 10/10 character. Although her weapon IS my favorite. Her Lambent light rapier is a bright turquoise blue with white accents and a blue gem on each side. I, personally, love speed and movement over attack in mostly any weapon.
Yui
"The artificial intelligence" more like the artificial gtfo. I absolutely could NOT stand Yui. She wasnt a help to anything except to my annoyance. Kirito and Asuna are literally 15-16 years old and the writers literally "gave" them a child in this hell game. One of my favorite parts in the series is when Kirito and Asuna go on their trip to the cabin and I thought it was just downright adorable and perfect in every way. Then they had to drop a damn kid in the story and basically ruin everything. I really cant wrap my head around why everyone went nuts over this character, maybe its because they overly tried to make her cute and I just shut down to that idea. Or maybe its the fact I hate kids. Who knows. But if I could give negative scores on characters..
Klein
I actually enjoyed Klein's character in the beginning of the series. He was witty and silly and one of the cutest males in the story. But thats just it. The BEGINNING of the series and ONLY that. He literally got pushed aside after the first episode and they just sacked him off with another guild after Kirito and him had their hilarious little banter calling each other cute. I really wish I could rate Klein but I cant say I can because of his absence throughout the whole anime.
Sachi
Near the beginning of the anime Kirito meets Sachi. A quiet, timid member of the guild the Moonlit Black Cats. They became close as Kirito helped Sachi to be a stronger fighter as she desired to be in the front ranks while fighting through Aincrad floors. As she spends more time with Kirito she develops feelings for him while they share inventories and feelings of the game after she runs away from the guild one night as well as running away from her feelings. Kirito finds her later under a bridge contemplating her role in the game as well as life itself. She admits to Kirito that she is okay with dying in the game and that she enjoyed her time with the people that she had met so far and she was especially glad that she met Kirito...Shocker.
Kirito then promises her that he will keep her alive as much as it takes, but later his guilt eats away at him when the guild fell into a trap and the members fell into turmoil and were murdered. Kirito continuously blamed himself for not being able to let them know in time. When Kirito finds the message Sachi left him telling him that she forgave him and asking him to live on and he knew he had to do that for his guilt would not let him think of nothing else, until Asuna of course.
Silica
I really enjoyed the fact that there was ACTUALLY a beast tamer in the series. The only classes that were ever shown were basically swordsman. YES I know its called SWORD art online, but when they introduced Sil it really surprised me and it got me excited to see other weapons and classes in the game. She has a dragon named Pina and takes care of it like it was the only beast in the world. But Silica, much like Yui annoyed me as well. Of course they made her infatuated with Kirito - after he agrees to help her revive her deceased dragon Pina - because well, who isnt. He's a damn pimp. But the fact at one part of the show where they angled her.. just...so.. I dont know. She was half naked at one part and bent over a table at another part. Shes supposed to be 12 and she ages through the arcs but I dont believe shes ACTUALLY 12. She acts and looks younger than that. But its not like Japanese writers say "Lets have all the females of this anime fully clothed without a sex drive" I can never understand Japan writers, as much as I want to.
Liz
It was really refreshing to see someone that wasnt in a particular class. Lizbeth is a blacksmith. She's cheerful and fun and has a bit of a temper when she almost strangled Kirito to death when he broke her sword and forced him to quest with her to find materials for a new one. But as the quest went on and as they spent time together she - here it comes, SPOILER ALERT - wants to bang Kirito too. But on the other hand she doesnt let her feelings get in the way. She's the best friend to Asuna first before she's an admirer of Kirito and I was happy that the writers wrote in that respect and I really enjoyed Asuna having a close friend in the game.
Agil
He's a small character role in the series but obviously I enjoyed him enough to review him. He's a friendly player that runs a merchant shop and gives Kirito a place to stay and also helps lower level players when he can. He really doesnt metion anything about his background other than the fact that he is African-American but he moved to Japan. He has a wife and she ran his shop during his absence, but thats really about it. I would have really liked to know more of his story or at least had him in the show a little more than than usual.
The sound was obviously good. The effects and the music were spot on, nothing was really out of place for me. The opening.. by god it is one of the best openings of all time. I played and sang endlessly to that opening everyday.
The artwork was by far the most gorgeous artwork I have seen in a long time in an anime. Each shot of the Aincrad all the way through the Fairy Dance/ALFheim arc. The bright and vivid character shots, to the weapons, to the weapon animations. Especially Asuna's Lambent Light scenes.
    |
| I mean damn. Look at these shots. They're absolutely fantastic. |
My enjoyment for the anime was somewhere around a 9.8 or a 10. The characters I DID get to know were outstandingly stunning. But some of the characters just got pushed aside and were never touched on again. The anime could have been longer but the ALfheim arc really didnt cover it for me.
Overall it is by far my FAVORITE anime. It would be perfect if it had some blood and a little bit of gore in it. (but thats just me and I'm a freak about that stuff.) I understand that its really blown up since its release in 2012, but what I dont understand is the same amount of people that like it are the same amount of people that hate it. Some animes arent for certain people and thats perfectly fine. But this anime was for me and it was meant for me and everything listed above is why it's going to stay that way.
Anyway
Also enjoy this picture of my Asuna cosplay~
When I finally received it in the mail I was like
The sword and shoes are on their way. I shall post pictures of the full cosplay before Momocon~
-HannahHyrule
