I've been putting off watching this anime in the thought that it will probably be your average RPG anime. They get stuck in this world and to be able to escape, they need to defeat the big boss. Of course in the end they probably survive and defeat the boss as they all do. Happy ending. The end.

On second thoughts, scratch that. I know it does sound really cliché and you've probably watched like, 100 other animes like this.

Trust me, you couldn't have been more wrong. This is a must see anime that puts you on a roller coaster of emotions. It's not always the whole fight scene but it's more than that. You get comedy from the funny scenes and of course the romance between Kirito and Asuna. You are taken through the tragedies and deaths that Kirito experiences which makes him and his will to live for those people stronger. And the obvious, the fight scenes which are very well presented with the really good graphics and sounds! You feel all those and more! Sometimes I feel like I am him and I'm experiencing what he's experiencing. Much like I am in the game.

I would suggest watching it from start to finish in a dark room somewhere eating pop corn and all your favourite foods with the sounds turned up really loud. Now that's the definition of heaven.

Being a man of music, I'm gonna go ahead and give my opinion of some of the music. The opening and ending of season 1 were very cool to watch and had some cool music by Lisa (who did the opening to one of my favorite shows, Fate/Zero). In the show, whoever wrote the music did not lack from creativity so I think the music in general was handled very well. The I feel the same way about the art style. Almost all of my grievances come from season 2. However, they decided to let the show go on. Season 1 was very good, simple show to watch given that each episode was pretty much self-contained. I really enjoyed the simpleness of it, everything from the kinda cool fight scenes to the romance. But then season 2 came around it's just gradually gotten worse and worse to the point where I'm not sure I want to continue watching it anymore. I believe there is still hope for this show, but it is slim and fading.

For those of you saying that this has the action of Bleach, the intelligence of Death Note, and other stuff like, I humbly disagree. If you want action, go watch Fate/Zero. If you want intelligence and intricacies, go watch Baccano! (yes, it is spelt with the exclamation point). If you want plot twists and good character development, watch Guilty Crown. For those who might be reading and haven't started yet, I encourage you to only watch the first 14 episodes, at least until they have a few more than the current 22 episodes up (I don't know how long this show will last anyways). So pretty much the only reason I'm giving this a 3/5 is because of season 1

Though I have never read the manga, I will give a review as to my interpretation on the anime.

I am thoroughly enjoying the story of our main heroes with a tragic love story, even though love triangles have bothered me very much in the past, at least two of them are in meaningful love. It is also a new take as far as I know of, to have two triangles with the main couple only trying to get to a point were life can continue peacefully for them.

I absolutely love the 'baby' of the two lovers and feel that it was brought into the story at an appropriate time and was strange but even the two 'parents' were understandably confused and handled it as such believable actions that understandably make the most sense to them at the time.

Everyone whom I know offline and online that have played MMORPGs with me speaks of their time online was real and often times more enjoyable than a real day on auto-pilot and this portrayed the experience accurately from the perspective of someone who has played MMORPGs obsessively as portrayed in the series.

Since this series hasn't officially ended I cannot properly assess an accurate score or review, however, I will give my first impressions and thoughts on this series. (Up to Episode 20)

[Genre & Audience]
Sword Art Online (SOA) starts off as an adventure/fantasy based anime. This changes later on though, as the story gears towards a more romantic story. I have to say that the romance really plays a great deal in the overall story (up to what we have seen) and it will probably stay that way. Here and there action sequences are added in order to "spice" things up and provide more variety, but in the end, the main focus is romance.

[Plot]
Digging beneath the overall plot and romance, we find a very generic and predictable story. There are many scenes that audiences could easily foreshadow and predict, thus making this a very generic anime. The plot is not unique in the way that it is not something we've never seen before. However, this is not entirely a bad thing. Those who really enjoy romance and deep character development will come to love this series. The entire experience of Sword Art Online, is being able to relate with the characters and living through them. Around halfway through the plot, there is an interesting twist that really strengthens the story's focus and characters.

[Characters]
In the beginning episodes, I found that the character development was not really strong as I felt somewhat cheated when they often introduced 1 or 2 new characters, had them bond way too fast, then killed them off all in 1 episode. This problem was resolved in later episodes, when the anime had finally established its main characters and focus. A definite plus happens near the halfway point of the series when the character development really starts to solidify and entrance the emotions of its viewers. As I am a hopeless romantic, I found myself enchanted by the character dialogue and many of the settings where they took place. I felt like I could somewhat relate to some of the characters and the hardships they were going through (not to mention the well put together romantic episodes).

Midway through the series is also when an unexpected twist changes the story heavily and throws its audience off balance (it mind boggled me). This is where the anime starts to truly shine in its use of character development. It is that point where the main character is faced with a difficult dilemma but refuses to give up. The hardships that he endures sparked empathy in me that brought me to tears.


[Art & Animation]
The art itself is gorgeous, and the fight scenes are rather well put together. There is a lot of detail put into the animation which brings the story to life. Although the story line is considered a bit generic and predictable, the environment and settings are definitely not. The farther I got into the series, the farther I felt myself trapped in this world of beauty. Constant happiness and freedom seems to linger around the game world, and it gives one a sense of relief and liberation. It begs the question to its viewers: whether a happy dream is better than a dull reality?

[Conclusion & Personal Thoughts]
I definitely had a lot of fun with this series with its top notch characters and innovative setting and design. Even though I've been stressing how the story is "very predictable" I still love this anime to pieces. I find myself very attached to the main characters and often find myself having the same emotional reactions as them in certain scenes. Thus when the sudden twist happened, I felt my heart shattering to pieces; I had never felt so vulnerable, and definitely not from an anime. Not only does this anime have a great love story to tell, it really brings out the emotions of the audience.

I definitely recommend it to any adventurers out there, fond of a basic generic hero, and a loving for a sweet, and charming love story!

I just can't wait to see how the story turns out!

If you loved .hack you're going to love Sword Art Online. The concept of, "you die in the game you die in real life" has never been done well, and SAO has done it justice. The Raw emotion and intensity displayed by the characters is amazing, and the episodes always leave you wanting to watch more, after watching just one episode I was hooked and could not stop, I literally sat down and watched all 17 current episodes in one day. Don't listen to the random hater reviews, some people just can't grasp great quality anime when it is given to them.