Sword Art Online

OK so I am just about up to date with Sword Art Online (SAO) I just need to watch the new episode that should be online by now.

If you want my views on the series read on!

****WARNING SPOILERS*****


OK so first off I have to say that I enjoy the series a lot so don't think just because I have a bit of a grudge on the series for one reason that I dislike it. If I disliked it this post would have come a week ago and I wouldn't be talking about watching the next episode. I don't watch things I don't like (unless David makes me.)

So overview...

Basically its in the future and a company has made virtual gaming a reality. The first big MMO has just arrived (Sword Art Online) and the main character Kirito and thousands of others are logging into the game for the first official day of the game (Kirito was a beta tester) but the inventor of the game and the system they are playing it on has other plans. He no longer lets the players log out, if the head gear is taken off or if the player dies in the game then the head gear will emit a micro/electro wave and fry the brain.

To return to the world they have to complete the game and get to level 100.

Beta testers like Kirito have an advantage but some people dislike them for it and call them Beaters (guess it is a mix of cheater and beta.)

Kirito becomes the top player, meeting a lot of interesting characters and falling in love on the way.

When he finally beats the game (see below for rant about that!) he wakes up but his in game wife Asuna hasn't woken up. He finds out that another company has brought the technology that had him trapped and made a new game. We the viewers find out that the new bad guy is keeping Asuna locked in the game to try and force her to marry him on the outside so he can marry into her family, Kirito goes into the game as he see's a photo of her in the game and decides to go and look for her.

He is joined in this quest by Leafa.... Who the auidence find out is actually his sister (who really is his cousin but they were brought up as brother and sister and she only found out they were cousins when he was stuck in SAO.)

And that is basically where I am up to.

I will start with the cons as it will be easier.

The biggest con is the time skip!

I go on about it so much that everyone is fed up of me mentioning it. Episode 1 is set on the first day, Kirito leaves his friend Klein in the beginners village and it looks quite heartbreaking but episode 2 is set nearly a month later! (Nov 6th-Dec 2nd)

Now not only does this mean we never got to see people leveling up or anything but it completely swept Klein under the carpet and we went from "OH NO WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!?!?!?!" to a group of people who are advanced enough now that they are going to fight the boss even though only one or two of them are beta testers.

This episode also introduces Asuna.

Episode 3 is set another four months into the future were you see Kirito joining a guild called the Moonlit Black Cats. Now in this ONE EPISODE all that guild die. Kirito went from not wanting any friends to for some reason joining a guild, to feeling he got that guild killed, to crying because they Sachi (I'm guessing he fancied her) left him a message for Christmas.

Now you might be asking why he'd be crying about a Christmas message 4 months AFTER December....

That is because right in the middle of the episode it skips to Christmas 2023.

The next episode is Feb 2024... From then it kind of only skips a month or so ahead and by the time he bumps into Asuna and starts their relationship it kind of shimmers for a second.

But as you can guess all the character development is missing. You don't care that his guild died because that's life and you haven't got to know and love any of the characters. They weren't important then they died.

There are other characters like Klein who even though they reappear here and there you never really get to know.

Which is the second biggest con.

I didn't CARE about any of the characters. There were certain characters one episode made me like them enough I felt for them, but then I was disappointed they never showed up again. Ever. Unless it was a cut scene of Klein begging Kirito to stay alive.

To be fair though the moment they joined Alfheim the series got much better. It goes day by day near enough, not that I want it to be that slow I just want development. To feel like the characters are important. In Magi you grow to love Aladdin and the girl (whose name I have forgotten) as well as Alibaba because they are all getting developed through the first few episodes. Fairy Tail slowly drips you new characters and their back story so that you can feel like part of their guild. SAO just skimmed past that.

BUT!

The story was so good I kept watching. I was disappointed that they never got to level 100 he killed the boss on level 73? Something like that anyway and then woke up.

So the pros?

Well I know this will look unbalanced because it was such a long moan and not much of a HUZZAH but the story is great, it is nice to have the whole "virtual world" thing but at least the fates of its players were at risk. And even then in the second game where dying just means you respawn it is quite nice, the stories are well thought out.

The characters are quite good, you just want more of them, and Kirito is a likable lead. Asuna is quite a brilliant character as well being a strong female without having to be a bitch or showing off every piece of skin available.

I really love the dialouge, even if it is fan submitted translations, it all flows so well and everything is explained so easily.

I mean I know I'll publish this and think up 100 other small reasons I love it and don't let it put you off, the reason my con was so big was that I WANTED TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED! I didn't want to be told what happened in the gaps, I wanted to see it! I love the series so much I actually wanted to know how Kirito goes from point A to B not have to fill in the gaps myself.




All in all the story is great, the execution is actually pretty good, the characters are likable and lovable and it has the capacity to be real sad. Now that they are in the second arc everything is sailing a lot smoother which is so much better and the only reason I am not up to date is because I've been at a convention all weekend!