Hello all,

We're curios to know if anyone here has been following the Sword Art Online anime series. Kitty and I have been following since it's debut and we've both thoroughly enjoyed it thus far. It has almost a .hack// feel to it but in a more up-to-date style. Kirito kind of reminds me of what you would get if you mixed Squall with Zidane.

Post your thoughts on the anime here - but please no spoilers ^^

Hero

I am only on episode 5, because I am rather preoccupied with PSYCHO-PASS right now, but I really enjoy it! You are definitely right about the .hack// feel, when I watched the first episode that's exactly what I thought of lol I was a little hesitant though, because I read reviews on myanimelist before watching a new show and for some reason people have been giving it extremely low ratings.. at least when I last checked. So far though, I really like it!

I am only on episode 5, because I am rather preoccupied with PSYCHO-PASS right now, but I really enjoy it! You are definitely right about the .hack// feel, when I watched the first episode that's exactly what I thought of lol I was a little hesitant though, because I read reviews on myanimelist before watching a new show and for some reason people have been giving it extremely low ratings.. at least when I last checked. So far though, I really like it!

I seen the same ratings on animenewsnetwork but all my friends have loved it so I tried it out and I'm waiting for next week's episode lol ^^" I think people don't like the similarities between .hack and SAO but that's just speculation.

Hero

Been watching it. Finished the "first season" so to speak (up to episode 14 or something). Nice series, very interesting. Of course it has a .Hack vibe, with the medieval/fantasy online game and, as Orie pointed out to me, Yuki Kajiura's Soundtrack. I like it more than .Hack, it has a simpler, more straight to the point storyline.

I seen the same ratings on animenewsnetwork but all my friends have loved it so I tried it out and I'm waiting for next week's episode lol ^^" I think people don't like the similarities between .hack and SAO but that's just speculation.

Hero

Actually you make a good point, I never thought that they wouldn't like it because there are so many similarities. (・ヘ・; )
But I don't think that's a good reason to dislike an anime, just because it shares similarities with other stories.. lol

I agree, but it wouldn't be the first time it's happened. A lot of people don't like FFXII because of it's similarities to Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. To be honest, a Final Fantasy themed star wars... or Star Wars themed Final Fantasy... was pretty nice since I'm a fan of both titles.

I've actually watched all 23 episodes so far i have to say that the show has me hooked.

However i dislike how.......well sappy it is sometimes. Like i don't think i've seen one episode where someone DIDN'T cry. I'm not to much into the whole romance thing either. Makes me wanna barf sometimes. Oh and that cyber baby? Oh god.......

The animation is very nice probably the best of this season actually. Everything is nice to look at and i can't complain to much about the character design. There are a few derpy faces her and there but it's hardly noticeable. My biggest issue with it is Kirito being a tad overpowered. The only time he loses is when his opponent cheats basically. I'm aware of how hard he worked to get that far (read a bit of the light novels) but the anime doesn't show that process (probably to save time). This isn't their fault of course animation for this anime is pretty expensive. But it's hard to feel like he's in any danger. He can just power through just about everything easily. "Entire army of enemies?" Nope "Massive monster well above most everyone's level?" nope "Best player in the game?" Nope nothing stops this guy.

Yeah i know he's supposed to have that Badazz image and have every girl he meets fall in love with him character but i feel that's a tad cliche.

But those are just minor issues. There are only 2 more episodes left till it's over though :(.
We still have 2 arcs to go but given the shows popularity i'm sure it will either get a second season or OVA's.

Kitty likes the sappy stuff

Hero on the other hand fully agrees with Leatherhead.

IMO its too a overrated series... But still its enjoyable, good music, good animation, a decent story (which will be repeated again and again like the novels xD). Sometimes there is a lot of crap of "sentimentalism" (which i dont say that i dont like it, its taht there is too much...).

PD: And i thought i was the only one who think in Psycho Pass as one the best '12.

Most good things are over-rated. Just look at the website you are currently on. It's a website fanbase for "Final Fantasy." There are better stories out there but we all cling to what we love the most and there just happens to be a lot of us..if that makes sense? lol

Overrated? That's weird. Oh well, I began to watch it because a friend recommended it for the MMO vibe, and since I've not searched for info or fan pages about it, seems strange to hear about that.

IMHO it's sappy, yes, but less complicated that .Hack. One of the things I stop watching .Hack past Sign and Twilight was the convulted storyline with the sequels, the games and such. It didn't hook me as much as other series, so I didn't care that much. SOA seems to be more simplistic to me and, so far, the sappy factor hasn't taken a toll on me.

Sappy? That's anime for you.
Anime tends to over-exaggerate emotion and scene, sometimes the characters are mad over a whole nothingness, making them looks stupid sometimes, but maybe that's just me.
Back to SAO, I've only watched 3 episodes so far, but it's quite good and perhaps I'll continue to watch it when I have some time.

Okay, I appear to be in the minority here, but I really don't understand what is so great about this anime... While I don't consider it to be a bad show, I certainly don't get why everyone thinks so highly of it. It seems sort of cliche to me besides the setting. Oh, and I am through with the first season (which most people who like it have told me is the better one). Mayhaps somebody can explain to me what is so fantastic about it?

THey really know how to get an anime's popularity snowballing, right until they decided to slam that snowball into a fiery pit of fail. That's the direction SOA took after the half way mark. I'm still very sad they chose such a horrible path to end the series with.

Okay, I appear to be in the minority here, but I really don't understand what is so great about this anime... While I don't consider it to be a bad show, I certainly don't get why everyone thinks so highly of it. It seems sort of cliche to me besides the setting. Oh, and I am through with the first season (which most people who like it have told me is the better one). Mayhaps somebody can explain to me what is so fantastic about it?

You are not alone, I watched the first season which is supposed to be the most memorable, the one that started it all and to be honest it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. I have to agree the music was good and the animation on part with current releases but, that is IT. Nothing special at all. So I'm not sure what's the hype behind this anime.. Perhaps "herd mentality" which is the number one cause with most trends.

As an update, haven't found the strenght to start watching it again. I guess it was really forgettable.

This anime was a unique and strongly weaved anime during 2012. Although you may disagree with me when I say it started to become disappointing for the 2nd half of the story. Not going to add any spoilers but the show completely shifts in a new direction halfway through. To me I felt this twist shouldn't have been necessary and would have been fufilling if they had just focused on the setting, plot, etc that was in the first half. Despite saying this I recommend anyone to go check this anime out, the concept is really enjoyable to watch, as well as the badassery of the main character.

You are not alone, I watched the first season which is supposed to be the most memorable, the one that started it all and to be honest it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. I have to agree the music was good and the animation on part with current releases but, that is IT. Nothing special at all. So I'm not sure what's the hype behind this anime.. Perhaps "herd mentality" which is the number one cause with most trends.

I would normally think that it's just just a mob mentality thing too, except I have a buddy who hardly even watches anime who ranted and raved about how fantastic it was. I have since finished watching the show except for the last 2 episodes, and I only made it this far because our school anime club was watching it. I just thought it was boring the whole way through, which is sorta weird because I'm pretty forgiving of most shows with flaws. I guess it was just the new setting which set people off or something. Oh well, glad to know I'm not the only one!

Yeah , the SAO is great.
But SAO and ALO are only the first and second novel content.
There are still 10 books to go (now the latest volume is 12 , and is not end yet).

For the type about players are blocked in OLG world , there is still another one novel is very nice - LOG HORIZON.
It is going to be anime in the next season!