Sword Art Online is the anime adaptation of the popular series of light novels of the same name. This first season covers the first two story arcs. I'll leave it at that to avoid spoilers. It follows Kirito and later on, Asuna, through their journey and experiences within a virtual reality game called Sword Art Online (what a coincidence...). The twist in the plot here is that the MMORPG Sword Art Online launches and 10,000 players log into the game. This is set in the future, 2022. As players find themselves at the end of the first day, they are unable to log out and the big bombshell announcement happens.
The players are trapped in the game until someone can clear it, which means completing all 100 dungeons, complete with bosses. Plus, to add gravity to the situation, any death that happens in the game means actual death in real life. This is a true life or death scenario. Kirito, being a beta tester of the game and after experiencing the brutality of the game firsthand, ends up deciding to solo the game. Needless to say, soloing an online game is extremely hard. Sword Art Online explores the psychological and social aspect of the MMORPG and virtual reality gaming. We see the choices Kirito makes and the foes that he encounters. Deaths happen that significantly impacts Kirito, and the viewer, emotionally scarring and influencing choices later on in the anime.
While the solo aspect was heavily focused upon in the early beginnings, once Asuna comes into play, it is dropped pretty quickly, to the point where it feels somewhat unusual. Obviously, Kirito and Asuna fall in love (quite suddenly in fact, there wasn't a real warming up period in which they fell for one another) and we get a bunch of episodes where we see the gentleness and intimateness of their relationship. We also see the peaceful nature of some other players who have given up trying to clear the game. It causes into question the reality of the game. Does what happen in virtual reality really happened? Are your actions meaningful? Are you ready to live out your life here? It implicitly presents these doubts and questions to the viewer.
If you think they are only going to spend a week or a few months in the game, with the premise as a one big joke, then think again, they literally spend years here. Each character is likeable but of course, you are going to root for Kirito and Asuna. The antagonists does their job well and sometimes, you feel as if they did not suffer enough before dying or their fate isn't as satisfying as it should be, especially after the horrible things that they had done. Sword Art Online does a great job at making you hate the antagonists. The anime often tugs at your heartstrings, whether it was the relationship between Kirito and Asuna or between Kirito and Leafa.
It can be an emotional ride as the characters face the bosses, knowing that with each floor, the power of enemies grows exponentially to the point where you don't know if they have overreached themselves. The plot slows down after the first few episodes where it focuses more on "normal day-to-day" events before it pushes itself towards the finale of the first arc. The epicness of the battle against one of the last bosses (Episode 13 or so), coupled with the incredible music, made the final scene simply amazing. It pumped you up with the teamwork, morale and of course, the visual spectacle. Do yourself a favour and listen to Swordland, it is a fantastic piece of music.
The finale of the first arc was surprising in that you didn't really expect something like that to happen, especially with 12 more episodes coming but it made sense. The characters were speeding through the game, often clearing 10+ levels from episode to episode. The second arc has a fairy element to it and there are slightly more fight scenes in which you can cheer Kirito on. I know that the second arc is widely regarded as one of the weaker story arcs of the series but I thought it was okay. The concept is not as interesting but still carries on the momentum until the end. The events that happen may feel brief but they made sense and kept the story at a brisk pace.
On the other hand though, the game had potential for some stellar fight scenes against floor bosses or even against regular enemies. In the first arc, there aren't many fights which was a little bit of a disappointment. It tended to focus on the romantic side of things, which is relatively more boring. At least with the brief fight scenes we had, they were great. The Extra Edition episode is 1 hour 40 minutes long (released about a year after the season ended) and a common description is that it is a clipshow, basically providing a summary of the whole first season in preparation for the second. A lot more effort was put into it than you would expect, as there is a fair amount of original content, probably around thirty minutes' worth of new animation.
These new scenes make watching the Extra Edition episode much more worthwhile, even if it might not have added anything new into the mix. Overall, Sword Art Online was entertaining and does present deeper issues. The first story arc is the better one as the second arc tended to have too much fan service and the incest-ish relationship made it seem like a completely different anime. While the final episodes were good at getting the anime at a good stopping point, the antagonist became too much of a pervert and caused the creepiness factor to skyrocket. Other than that, it is definitely worth watching and has already gotten me intrigued at the Sword Art Online universe and seek out the light novels. Bring on the second season!
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