Sword Art Online (SAO) - An Anime Masterpiece

Sword Art Online is a legendary anime, one that instantly captivated and conquered the heart and mind of millions around the world. Just the first season alone, no matter the very often weaknesses of the script and sometimes cringe feeling, it still created a suprising result, one that definitely was hard to replicate in later seasons.

Sword Art Online, or SAO, is a love it or hate it anime. It has fans that love everything about it, but also has fierce critics that have understandable argumentation.

For me, Sword Art Online, is one of the top Anime of all time. At least the first and second season that have been exciting. I've watched the third but stopped after a while. It was becoming boring, unclear of a purpose, and didn't delve deeply into the background of the characters.

In this review, I only cover Season 1, only because I don't remember a lot from the rest Seasons. I have watched this anime in 2012 and didn't revisit, so I also have some help from the wiki page of SAO.

Sword Art Online (SAO) - Press START to Play!

This could be a sub title for Sword Art Online. The reason is it is a game. I am talking about the Anime, stay focused!

SAO is an Anime about a game! And not just any kind of game. What genre was selected for the first season was one that had at the moment hundreds of millions of fans around the world.

SAO is a Massive Multimedia Online Role Playing Game. Or simply an MMORPG!

The genre that has brought us some of the top titles with millions of fans playing for ten or even twenty years. Some of the top MMORPGS are World of Warcraft (2004), Guild Wars 2 (2012), EVE Online (2003), RuneScape (2001), TERA (2011), EverQuest (1999), and many others, these are just those that I played the most.

So the story of SAO revolves around a game. It is set in the near future, but with technology that is probably from science fiction and not yet able to become popular until perhaps 100 years later.

The anime was released in 2012, right about when I was full into MMORPG and it gave me and every other player of these games goosebumps.

The World of SAO - "Aincrad"

The anime is set in the year 2022. Not too far from today, but it was still 10 years far, when it was released (2012).

Aincrad is medieval looking world, that sets the stage for what is the first VRMMORPG. Yes, as said the technology is far from reality, since with the help of a modern VR device players could completely abandon their physical body to enter the game and experience it like living a real life, have feelings and use all seven senses and rely on them, inside a virtual world.

The main characters of the game are:

• Kirito &

• Asuna

There are numerous other side-characters that fill the plot but most were very loosely represented and did not manage to get to this special place of connecting with. Kirito and Asuna are the that carry this anime into a masterpiece.

The villains, hm, they are many, but except the main one, the last boss (there is always one!), I think that it will be spoilers if I present here.

There is one problem with the world of SAO though, that I have to explain. This game was perfect even when in beta testing (Kirito was a beta tester), but when the main version of the game launched, there was a huge bug (or feature).

Sword Art Online, has no Exit Button!!

Well, I can't write more and spoil the fun. I was going to watch any anime based on online gaming anyway, especially at a time I used to be a hard core online gamer.

Some games when we quit them, we often remember some good times we've had. How we managed to progress and become good gamers, or some even reaching top status. I remember top players in some of the games I've played. MMORPGs require extreme skill that requires countless days of playing time.

And this does not have to do with paying. You can't pay for skill and the skillful will obliterate you.

Kirito is a top gamer. Top of the cream. A solo player that never planned to join a guild, since these were limiting him.

Throughout my gaming years with MMORPGs I've came across players that were really great. But I've found just two of them matching the skills but also the character set only Kirito and Asuna possess. Their names: Otsune and Alyca. There is a very small chance they will ever read this, this is doom, and wanted to pay this tribute to these two.

With some games at times it felt like living in the magical world of SAO. It is an enthralling adventure that puts you in a game that you will have a lot more to risk than you imagined.