Sword Art Online, also known as SAO,  is a 2009 Japanese novel series (or manga) written by Reki Kawahara. In July of 2012, it was released as a full anime series, then one year later, an English version of the show was revealed.  The basic plot of the anime focuses on a gaming system called NerveGear that is created in the year 2022. It allows players to experience and control their in-game characters with their minds. When 10,000 players log into the SAO’s mainframe for the first time, they are unable to log out. They discover they must reach the hundredth floor of the game’s castle and defeat the final boss if they wish to be free. Those who die in the game or get their NerveGear helmet taken off outside of game will die in real life.

First off, as a fan of video games, I loved this plot. It had such high potential in my book, then it all kind of flopped. We meet Kazuto “Kirito” Kirigaya, the series main character, who is the most overpowered character in the series. He was one of the 1,000 beta testers for the game, which made me upset. Since he played the game before release, he was a lot more powerful than the other players. This is brought up in the anime, where they repeatedly call him a “beater,” or “beta cheater.” Later on, after leading on multiple women, Kirito meets a beautiful gaming noob named Asuna Yūki. Even though she has never played a game in her life, she is somehow amazing at this game. She’s so amazing, in fact, she becomes a sub-leader of a high level clearing guild, the Knights of the Blood. This is an elite player group that is at a higher level than most other players, and focuses on leveling up and getting better equipment in order to clear all levels of the game. Asuna and Kirito meet each other and “fall in love” in one of the most forced relationships I’ve seen in an anime. It was like a gaming, futuristic Romeo and Juliet. I like anime where fans can come up with their own character pairings, which is why it just didn’t feel right to me. When they got married after giving up the fight to get out of SAO, it was the final straw for me. They gave up their family, their friends and their lives to marry someone in a video game. After this episode, I only watched the rest of the season to find out what happens in the end. I didn’t watch the other two seasons because of the awful reviews I read. To be frank, I don’t want to watch them either.  If I have to give the anime any credit, it’s for the graphics, which are some of the best I have seen in a while. I personally love this art style and animation quality. Although the music is subpar, the images of the main characters are really amazing in the opening theme. Kirito is seen slaying monsters in a very majestic manner. The one thing I noticed is that, unlike most animes, there is no blood when he slices them with his sword. This is seen through the entire series. Whenever a monster or even a player dies they burst into an explosion of sparkles, which was the only thing I disliked animation wise. All and all, I do not recommend this to anyone unless they love obvious, cheesy romances.