Thing is, I play MMOs all the time. Sure I wont die when I die in game. But death sucks no matter what. When I see someone being attacked I rush to protect them. It's the right thing to do. Stand for something. Show someone some affection and it'll make a lasting impression. Kazuto even says that they don't know just how much those two years affected him. He saw friends die and kill themselves for crying out loud. If a friend of his were to die at this point, even if she still lived afterwards he would be hit pretty hard.

Most older games inconvienced the hell out of you when you died. That could mean days of hard work, a week, or so on depending on the game. To some these games mean their whole world. honestly I think they do a decent job with what they have. They show something that is not just plausible but realistic.

In the end, it's based off of light novels. They don't have much to work with. Most of the first arc wasn't just side stories ya know.

I like SAO. I'll agree the beginning was epic imho but I still like the second arc. I do agree with earlier comments that it is weird the anime is still called sword art online when they've moved on to a new mmorpg but if you think about it to change the name would be just too confusing especially to new fans introduced to the series by the first anime. I hope they make each arc from the light novels into anime although right now it looks like just the first two are planned. I'm actually sad there is only 4 more episodes left, this is an awesome anime and I usually hate following ongoing series.

I agree completely, but there's one thing you didn't mention that I think that shows just how poorly executed this show is. In order to make up for the fact that one cannot die in the game, they introduce the idea of a ticking clock with Asuna going to be married off in a week. Ignoring for a moment how stupid the idea of our bland main villain wanting to marry Asuna for no reason is, this could be used to create some tension as Kirito doesn't have much time to accomplish his goal, and death could still be a powerful motivational factor as the loss of pickups could make it much harder for Kirito to get to Asuna in time.

But they completely squander that by not only not mentioning that, but by taking their sweet time in their rescue mission. They(Kirito and his sister) have times for detours in their route to the world tree and don't really seem that motivated to get there in time. The whole entire trip there is laid back and there is no sense of urgency. For example, when the servers go down for maintenance, Kirito isn't bothered by this because it takes away precious time he should be using for rescuing Asuna, he just doesn't care. When days pass in episodes, again he doesn't care. He doesn't seem to care at all until in Episode 21 he is reminded of everything we already know and then freaks out for no reason. If the characters don't care about the driving conflict of the show, why should we?

Have you read the light novel to this story? because i personally think the plot is great, the reason the anime series didn't end at the winning of SAO is because their is more for the characters, i mean if you where writing the story for SAO and enjoying it, you would want to continue writing about the characters adventures, right? thats just my thoughts though don't let them dawn on you :3

i personally think that the anime is the greatest....i love it and yes sudden death killer world was awesome but fairy land is cool too..the anime was way more than just the fight scenes...and this what anime is all about ...

i think the plot is fine for now. i like all the characters ^o^ it's true that the first 14 episodes were more intense and it had more suspense but remember that the anime is based on a light novel. i haven't read the novel so i don't know if they changed anything but i know that the novel has different games kirito goes into, so same with the anime, with different characters and antagonists @__@

the anime... omits a lot of stuff. this is it's downside. the SAO arc cut a fair bit of content that was in the novels, but the fairy dance arc has only cut one thing so far. the rest has been fairly faithful to the source material. with the exception of character internal monologue. the entire series has omitted it, which cuts out a lot of understanding of the characters.

*SPOILERS*

I think the plot is absolutely great, and I think there is more of a psychological aspect to the show. Besides the fact that ALFheim Online is "just a game" which, it's really a guy using the creation of Kayaba Akihiko, creator of SAO, to use peoples minds for experiments, he also has Asuna. Not to mention, Kirito spent two years fighting in a game watching people, some being comrades, die. I think him still taking the game very seriously, besides the fact he does have a mission which effects real life, shows a lot of depth into the characters mind. There's also a chance the manga itself will be followed entirely, meaning, ALFheim online may not be the last game we actually see in the show.

On another note, I think that mangas/shows like this are the creation of these writers minds, and artists alike. They aren't necessarily meant to entirely abide by what we think we should happen, it's more something we're supposed to enjoy. And if you don't, then it just isn't the show for you and doesn't mean it's bad... it just means it's not your thing.

You would be correct to add a "Harem" label to it, as it is expressly written to be such (and as the author acknowledged and apologized for in every author's note). You may blame whoever made the tags for not adding that one.

My biggest problem is that Kirito is lacking in the anime because we so rarely get to see what is going on in his head-and that is vital for an understanding of a lot of what he is doing.

At least someone realizes incest drama in anime are low-tier plots. +1
Sugu's love is one-sided/unrequited and she knows it's wrong as Kirito is only interested in Asuna.

As for SAO lasting 25 episodes? Probably not unless you wanted filler. They could have stretched Red-Nosed Reindeer into 2 episodes and expand/include some First Day + Aria in the Starless Night info but then you'd still be short on material.

As for acting serious and not letting party members die, remember that he lived in a death game for 2 years so it's not easy for him to see others die. Especially since he is still a kid.

SAO, while good, was never suspenseful except for the 74/75 floor boss (even the 75th boss fight was a letdown since they only showed the ending moments). Enjoyable? Looking at Vol. 1 sales, I'd say yes.

Now for AHTL's post:
Kirito and Asuna were able to surpass Kayaba's game design and do what's normally impossible to do. Normally I would agree except Kayaba himself states that was his goal for Aincrad in the first place (to surpass reality's laws and restrictions) and that they did the same by breaking the rules.

As for the female bit: Yulier, That one girl from A Murder Case in the Area, Rosalia (Granted she was evil), Argo the Rat (haven't read the LN but I don't think she has romantic feels for Kirito, as least from what was shown in the anime), and maybe one or two I'm forgetting atm.

Beater/Cheater hate was justified since they left them in the starting town and stuff. Hell, Kirito does it to Klein and the one beta guy basically tells the other newbies to stay back in order to get the last attack bonus himself instead of killing the boss safely. Not like this sentiment lasts for long since a majority work to help the clearers.

The Illusion bit. Nowhere is it mentioned that illusions can't do damage, just that they suck. The Salamander Caster even said that they have extra reach range (which implies they're capable of attack). Just because AHTL decides to use the dictionary definition of illusion (which is already lol since it's anime) to support his stance, doesn't mean it overrides what's shown in the anime which is that illusions are able to attack/deal damage. That and unlike other Spriggans who likely have trash-tier stats which is why Leafa said Illusion magic sucks, Kirito is maxed from SAO so his illusions are, get this, useful.

Now I'm not going to completly disagree with Kirito being able to beat Eugene, he does have a chance since maxed stats, the fastest reaction time in SAO and likely ALO, and being able move fast enough in order to block incoming attacks so with 2 swords (even I can't explain how he was able to take Leafa's sword) he can basically shut down the usefulness of Eugene's MagicalGhostSword.

Animation team deals with boob size for the anime, loli was included AFTER SAO's original story was completed, Sugu's love is unrequited, you got me on the tentacle, opinion, Kirito is basically the Author living out his fantasy through the character so yeah.

Kirito was unable to save Sachi/Moonlight Cats Guild, Yui had to SAVE Kirito from The Fatal Scythe, Asuna had to save him from Kuradeel.

Asuna was able to convince Kirito to take her to the Dungeon on the 74th floor and the Boss Room on the 75th, am I wrong?
I don't click on random links; sorry.

Too lazy to remember the marriage issue episode again.

ALO is considered the weakest arc so yeah...

Want to see a Gary Stu? See Naruto during the 4th Shinobi War Arc for "Get back to the kitchen gaiz, I can solo cause I'm the chosen one!"
Kirito's the Main Character who already had shown flaws prior to ALO and if you had read the LNs you'd know that he isn't even the best player.

+ it's already established that Kirito is fasinated in computers and stuff when they explained he built his own computer and found data on the registry. Pretty sure most people have already labeled him as a hikikomori.

Will be double posting since TC required so much space

You must enjoy playing one MMO since a majority of them (at least coming from Asia) is point and click/hack and slash.




Omissions does not = following the source material perfectly.



You either don't watch shonen or you don't bother to realize the characters in other shows are Gary Stu (if they even are).
He only won against the 1st boss with Asuna and Agil's help, "lost" in the trap room, lost against Heathcliff, was overleveled against Titan's Hand, was overleveled against the Ice Dragon, lost against The Fatal Scythe, Worked with others to defeat The Skull Reaper.
Heathcliff used System Assist to block Kirito's attack so it wouldn't reveal that he was an Immortal Object.
Asuna's a tsundere?

Kirito even admits himself games that use leveling systems are unfair. What do you expect when you're one of the highest levels? Lose to a slime? (Or in SAO's case, a boar)

It's really sad to me, how much more they could have done in the sao world. I mean we missed SO MUCH TIME, and so many floors. I think it could have really lasted if they showed more fights on more floors and so on. I kind of wish it ended after episode 14 actually, but there's still some potential I guess.

It is indeed following the novels. However, it is doing it while leaving out important bits and pieces, as well as completely changing things to reduce cost of animation, voice actors, number of episodes, etc. It could of been done a lot better from episode 1. They completely altered several of the short stories and left out a lot of what could of been used as character development in every episode.

I guess we can just be happy it wasn't shit on like Campione and several other LN based series.

The author has started a new series called SAO progressive which will cover all the floors and run along side SAO and Accel World novels. However it will be several years before there is enough material to be animated. Right now, they could of done up to floor 9 iirc, but it require making up a lot of stuff.

Well that sounds cool at least, thanks for the information. It's too bad I'll have to wait for the animation.