When I watched the first episode of sword art online, i was shocked by how amazing this anime was, the storyline was just great. I just loved the episodes where they were in the world of sword art online. I went by those episodes at the speed of light since i liked them so much... But then came the world of alfheim online. I find that the creators didn't take the time to detail the world of alfheim and just rushed with kirito's main quest: save Asuna. Basically, all what happened in the world of alfheim was this: Kirito meets Leafa, Leafa informs kirito about the world tree, Kirito finds out that Asuna is up in the world tree and saves her. There wasn't anything else that was happening except that, and that's why I was disapointed because in the world of sword art online, ther was not only one main quest but also plenty of other subquest that kirito had to do, like helping the girl smith retrieve minerals for a sword or the girl that kirito met and he helped her get a flower for her pet. Anyways, this anime is very good and i recommend it to the people who love mmorpg's and action animes.

SPOILERS - THIS IS MY PERSONAL OPINION
A few ep's in and i sincerely fell in love with this anime. It was exciting and attention grasping. I enjoyed the character of the protagonist, i prefer the quiet cool type compared to the boisterous loud type. But what really made this work for me was the ability to die in a game; this added the much serious tone and emphasised the deaths of people within the game. They were no longer 'losers taking a game too seriously' but death meant death.
the emotional scenes such as sachi's death were reinforced by this principle and gave depth to the scene. The fact everyone was working together to get out made sense, and clear logic flowed.
I could even understand the antagonist, i mean, who wouldn't want to create a virtual world to become a god-like figure? (At the start i even found myself already making theories as to why he may have done this, finding myself taking big interest - one of my most interesting theories being it was all a lie, that no one actually died and he simply wanted to create the total gaming experience by making it seem real; and that all this media, newspapers and forced teleport was all a rouse).
This also appealed to me as i do, if i don't say so myself, consider myself a romanticist. Asuna's character being a great match for Kirito. With heartwarming scenes of vicarious living in the forest, really did make me happy.

However......
After episode 14 i was truly disappointed. I'm not sure if the author just ran out of ideas or someone else took over but everything fell off the rails. The story definately fell under its expectations that it had set up in the first arc. If they had ended it there, at episode 14, i would have given this anime 5*s, a definite.
Lets talk about ALfheim. This realm being one where you cannot die. So straight away the imminent sense of danger is removed. What really angers me though is that it lost common sense; i myself, am an online gamer, WoW, LoL, Guild wars, you name it. But these people DEFINITELY take the game too seriously, you can't die so it just doesn't make sense as to how far people seem to take it seriously. This really angered me, how they took the best concept, the underlying principle that made the emotion scenes more deep and murdered it.
Everything up to episode 22 seemed like a poor blur to me, the only highlight being a focus on the character development of his little sister which is the only emotional connection to the second arc i could see.
Now surprisingly, i found Sugou to have a fitting character for an antagonist for the second arc, even though his appearance... well, he was a butterfly. His character being evil, maniacal and horny. The last fight was a disappointment, being shadowed by that of the first arc.

I do, however, want a second series as i thoroughly enjoyed the first 14 episodes. I hope this anime will redeem itself as it shows it has the potential to be a classic 5*.
NOTE:
I would have much preferred it if they spent the whole 25 eps focusing on SOA instead of the poor second arc. The first was rushed IMO.

As an avid anime fan who has seen hundreds of anime, I can honestly say that this anime is one of the most memorable anime to have been released in the past few years. Everything about is is high quality. From the artwork to the voice acting to the animation, everything is well done. Many people have complained through their comments that the pacing of the first season (ep. 1-12) is too fast, or that the the relationship between Kirito and Sugu, in season 2 (ep. 13-25) is incest. THESE ACCUSATIONS ARE NOT TRUE. I agree that the pacing or timing of the first season was fast, but it had to be because that's how it is in the light novel that the anime is based off of. Also the whole first season takes place over a period of 2 years, so seeing the day by day would have been boring. The pacing of the second season is also good for the time period that that arc took place which was approximately a week. As for the incest issue, the relationship between Kirito and Sugu isn't that. Incest as you all know implies a sexual relationship between two family members, but there is none of that going on between those two. It is simply shown as Sugu having a crush on her cousin and nothing other than that is implied. That aside I'd like to finish by mentioning that I personally believe that this anime will continue to endeavor and survive the years to become a classic anime that defines this decade and it's genre.

Sword Art Online seemed really cool to me in the beginning. I loved the art style, the animation was gorgeous, and the music really fit the show. For the first five or six episodes I was really into it, eagerly awaiting each new release at the end of the week. It was an intense show with an interesting premise that I enjoyed watching. I didn't really care much for the main two characters (Asuna and Kirito), but in the end it didn't matter because the rest of the show and characters were enough to hold me over.

However, about the time the show started focusing more on the relationship between Kirito and Asuna, the show started to take a turn for the worse. By the end of the first half of the anime, Asuna went from a strong, capable leader to a whiny, dependent girl who could barely take care of herself. When Kirito was going to go off to fight a boss without her, she clung desperately to him, whining about how if he died she'd kill herself, and blah blah blah. Way to destroy her character completely, guys.

Kirito went from somewhat interesting to... well, somewhat interesting, I guess. He barely changed throughout the show. Little character development and a bland personality a good character does not make.

But the real breaking point for me was episode 14. The show then proceeds to completely break all its pre-established rules (for no reason, might I add. Kirito is killed, yet somehow wills himself back to life to beat the final boss? I don't think so. Asuna magically overcomes paralysis to save Kirito from dying, with absolutely no explanation? Ugh.). After that, the show just isn't worth watching. The plot for the second half of the show is generic and mediocre at best, and with characters you can't even really like, there's little worth coming back for. Asuna does nothing but mope and cry, Kirito spends half his time messing around and the other half of it like, "I MUST SAVE ASUNA!!!1!11!" so there's never any real sense of urgency. Sugu is a decent character, but the show does nothing but slap her around every episode and it's really hard to watch.

Overall, I would not recommend this show to anyone. It started out so good but ultimately failed to live up to the hype.

As many other reviewers point out, this show is good however it is overrated. Many who can relate or want to relate to the main character will find enjoyment in the show. However if you read any of the reviews out there that are not 5 stars you will get a better picture of what the anime has to offer. Now most of the faults that are in the anime are due to the limitations of a seasonal Anime, such as huge time skips or lack of character development. However i was a sucker and enjoyed the concept of the series and found a translated copy of the light novel. I have to say the written story fills in where the anime lacks. Just like when a book in turned into the movie, many aspects have to be cut from the story to fit the format that is a movie/film. Now its always difficult to compare an anime to its written counterpart (manga or light novel). which is why i give this show a 3/5. If you want read a better review, search for any review that's 2-4 stars. They are likely going to give it an honest review with out the Fanfreaking.

Plot was great at first. From watching the first episode I really saw potential in this show and really thought it would be a very promising adaption series, unfortunately that impression didn't stand for very long. Episode by episode it became really hard to grasp the original plot in this series, The unnecessary fillers, fan service, and unbelievably fast phase of it all left me with a headache every time. Really though, screw all the action, lets make Asuna and Kirito play Husband and Wife for the next three episodes.(: The main characters identify perfection. Kirito is a beater whose masculinity cannot be touched by anyone mortal, every single girl digs him -- yes, even his own cousin, and also gets a special ability not given to any other player because he is just that great. Asuna is a Babe with the cooking skills of a housewife, money, and beauty, making Kirito look even more of a badass than he's already set out to be. So perf, you guys. (: Side characters barely got enough showtime and may never come up in the series again, sad to say. For the Pros though... the animation is great, and the music was highly enjoyable. Overall, this show gets a 3 from my perspective. I know I skipped a few things in this review, but I wanted to make this short and almost brief. This anime could have been so, SO much more, but unfortunately fell a victim of the glamorization of fan-service that is the anime industry today. Hell, It would have been my favorite show of all time if it wasn't for all this.

This anime is practically the best and most entertaining anime that thousands or maybe millions of people are enjoying each time a new episode is out and funny moments happening. Also i have to say the romance part is practically the "second" best part about this anime so far (Action is #1). if this is an on-going anime (EXTREMELY HOPING IT IS!) then many people will be extremely happy (MOSTLY ME OF COURSE!! ^'O'^).

After watching 3 episodes of Sword Art Online (SAO) I finally decided to make a review for it.

This anime draws you into the messy world of MMOs. It is impressive that each episode makes the anime realistic compared to MMOs being played right now. When a person plays MMO, the game won't stop every player who's been there way before you just to notify that YOU are gonna be amazing or be the strongest person in the server. People don't stand out in the game just by standing there and not even introducing yourself to anyone (for the guy who reviewed this anime poorly... you need to get real and not expect the most cliche types of anime where the player is just too damn strong compared to everyone)

If you start watching this anime, the thing that might bother you the most is the big time leaps in each episode. This is actually something that makes the anime better and more realistic. If you play MMO, most of the times you just grind or do boring quests daily. Each episode shows you the more interesting parts of an MMO and also a story that shows the characteristics of the protagonist and how he is shaped into another person after meeting people during the game

This anime is really good and playing an MMO gives more appeal to this show because of the nostalgic system, begginer's stage, etc. This series is something worth watching that wont actually let you down in each episode (well of course, I'm only saying this to the current episodes)

First things first-
Read the Light Novel, it is amazing.
Secondly, right off the bat, the plot of SAO had me hooked. I cannot even count the numerous times I dream't of being in a VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Role-Playing Game) it would certainly be the end of my life-
But at the same time create a entirely different one.
Although the situation these characters have to endure would not to be exactly preferable..
If you have ever played a MMO, you'll find yourself feeling the bitter sweet nostalgic memories of your past game time. You'll be able to relate to almost everything and with that connect to the world almost instantly.
If you haven't played an MMO.. well, shucks you really aught to.
That is about all I'll say for now. Perhaps i'll write another review when the show is finished so I squeal and blubber about it like a tiny little fan girl.
Till then my friends.
Trah-la-la.