Hi guysI apologize in advance if there is already a thread like this one xP.I am just curious about the anime since I heard that the light novel was the number 1 top selling light novel series in Japan for some time.Therefore,can you guys give me your personal reviews about it so that I can decide if I'll watch it or not?

In my personal opinion, Sword Art Online is a terribly written Anime, with an AMAZING concept. First of all, the series has a handful inappropriate scenes within it, so it's not something for young viewers really, but they're easily skippable.

The whole virtual reality thing was pretty cool at first, but the story progressed more and more away from saving the world and more towards the protagonist's relationship issues.  Which, I think if done right Kirito's and Asuna's relationship would have been a good part of a great story.



Except it wasn't.

It turned out more like a nerd's love story where within just a few minutes the girl magically falls for the guy with no real development in the relationship. Just guy, girl and poof they're in love.  Also, the series is full of ridiculous incidents of the EVERY female character falling for the protagonist in the whole series. Including his sister... SAO Writers: "But it's not REALLY his-" I DON'T CARE IT'S STILL RIDICULOUS!

And don't get me started on the whole "Going back in a virtual reality game even though I was traumatically trapped in one for two years" thing!

Anyways, with all my venting put aside: You should probably just watch it an decide for yourself.

cless alvein : The simple answer is..No,not really.

The first 3 episodes are great,next 10 are good,and the others are really..Really bad.As someone else in the thread said before,the writing is not very well written,and the romance is awful.It's almost like a teenager wrote this,and just assumed what romance is like.Couple that with a..Possible incest plot,and a terrible final antagonist,and you got yourself something very bad.

However,that's not to say that its all bad.The world is interesting,and the concept is awesome.Also,the boss battles are amazing.

Season 2 suffers from a similar problem,but at least the characters are written a bit better.But i still say you should give it a go.I would never tell someone to never watch something,ever.But if i do..It's most likely really bad,and you should stay far away from it.XD

7.5/10

Eh....I'll say it is an ok anime. I mean I did like it from the start but as the other put it. The story concept just fell down. I haven't watched season 2. I  will not watch season two, as I have a feeling it will be like the first season. When you have watched a certain anime that starts out great then falls down as the episodes go, of course the fans will get upset by this. I really did like sword art online until that happened. They missed out many things in the plot there. That's what I personally think. '-'

Like many of the other people said, the first episodes I pretty great. Originally, it is super focused on action and beating monsters and bosses. As the anime progresses, the focus switches a little more towards romance (But it feels a little sudden at first, and then it feels like the plot should be continuing on rather than focusing on the romance.

The good:
-The main character is pretty likable.
-The concept is really cool.
-The series has an actual end, or at least the seasons make super logical stopping points in the plot and storyline.
-The boss battle scenes

The bad:
-It starts to get a little less interesting over time.
-Almost every female falls for the lead
-The story-line does not live up to the potential of the concept.

Hopefully this helps!

While I would rather watch something better (like FMA, for example), I originally started watching it for how bad of a rep it had, and I would make fun of it. While I thought that the concept brought up by the 1st story arc was pretty neat, I thought that they botched it up. The ALO arc was to me my least favorite, because, it was a little boring (that, and it occurred to me that Kirito is a freaking pimp at this point; even his sister is falling for him). The GGO arc was probably my favorite, and then after that it just became a hodgepodge of random stuff and it became boring again. Heck, I still haven't watched the last episode (probably because I'm too busy watching FMA Brotherhood). I think it's at least worth a watch, kind of like a side project.

It sucked after the first few episodes, but now it is just some waifu rubbish about some nerdy kids love story inside a video game.

I'd have to agree with most of what these people have said about the anime. It's one of those that had a lot of potential but got short changed in the end. Disappointing I know but you see it all the time in animes. I would say watch at least one season to make up your own mind like I did but don't let us steer you away from judging it for yourself. For the type of anime it is I would put it about middle of the pack as far as how good I think it is. There are much better ones in my opinion like : Log Horizon, .Hack, Accel World, No Game No Life, Ragnarok: The Animation, Tower of Druaga: the Aegis of Uruk, Selector Infected WIXOSS, Death Parade, and Btooom! There are more but those are off the top of my head. Enjoy those that you haven't seen and like I said at least try out season 1 of SOA before you give up on it or like it . :O)

I have only seen season one, however I will say that what I have seen, and you only have to watch 2 episodes before you start to realize this, is that the main character has absolutely no interesting flaws. He is virtually perfect in every way that the story deems important. The first few episodes get you really interested in the concept and world...however the series at large focuses on the main character's god complex and unsubstantial romance. The result, in my opinion, has been an overall stagnant experience, one that I kept giving more chances, but still an over all unfulfilling experience both in what I wanted from the series as well as what they tried to make a focus. You may find it to be just what you wanted. Season one is on Netflix, so it isn't a big risk to just check it out.

Wow!Thank you so much everyone!.I've read all of your reviews and apparently most of you agree on the amazing potential in the concept and world of Sword Art Online that sadly(according to you all)didn't managed to be exploited with the "right" substance in the writing part for the sake of succeeding in reaching the same level of awesomeness for the rest of the series,which was left behind in the form of "the first impression", and adhering to such potential.Many of you commented about the love story between Kirito and Asuna and how their romantic relationship was possible without any development at all(Now,THAT is weird! xP)Then,there is Kirito who is considered to be both a god(inside the virtual reality game,of course)and a pimp in the anime since every female character falls for him including his so call SISTER?! O.O(Oh well,I had seen far WORSE things in anime before so yeaaaaaah ><)Oh,there is also the boss battle scenes!.Lastly,you guys told me to try out the first season of SAO(even if it turns out to be unfulfilling and disappointing for me too lol)before I decide if I like it or not....Or if I end up hating it COMPLETELY plus 0% love for it,haha!.If worse comes to worst,then I'll read the light novel and forget about the anime.Thanks again and don't forget to check my upcoming threads in the future,see ya!