A Downhill Decline
Sword Art Online (casually referred to by fans as SAO) was acclaimed as one of the best anime of 2012 yet was quite overrated. The plot line was enjoyable and adventurous, but the way the animators portrayed it gave it a rather silly disposition.
SAO is set in the yet-to-come year of 2022, where technology has given video games a more superior advancement as to what we have now. The Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, Sword Art Online, has just been released and players are ready to adventure through a whole new world of gaming by passing floors and defeating monsters to achieve glory. Playing with the Nerve Gear console, players can use their senses and control their in-game characters to interact with the virtual world around them.
Kirigaya Kazuto, our brave and rather anti-social protagonist, is ready to take on the challenge that is Sword Art Online. On November 6, 2022, an incredible quantity of players log on for the first time. However, a problem arises when they learn they can no longer log out. The creator of SAO, Kayaba Akihiko, suddenly informs them that they cannot log out until they reach the final floor, floor 100. The catch is, if they die in-game, they die in real life, too. With a new, life-threatening situation, players soon begin to panic and flee. They must either fight to the finish, or die in the process.
Interestingly enough, I found this anime rather fascinating, as I can relate to the many players with my love of gaming. However, in a position like theirs, the dangers of death become horrifyingly obvious, and the fight might be too much. As much as I loved the plot line, I’m rather skeptical of how the animators displayed it. The characters look like they came out of a fun and high school romance-based anime. Not very fitting for one with adventure, drama, and only a hint of romance. The animators additionally seemed to milk the series too much. It started off great, but it was like they just ran out of ideas. Also, I’d rather not show any spoilers, but the ending of it seemed extremely disappointing, like a full-course meal with the most delicious foods but no dessert. Such a great anime ruined by the (if I may say) trashy ending.
I speak my opinion when I say that this anime was overrated and just went downhill, but if you say otherwise, feel free to oppose or even take a peek at it if you’re interested.
References:
1. mostly personal preference and experience
2. http://swordartonline.wikia.com/wiki/Sword_Art_Online_Wiki
3. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=13858
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_Art_Online
