[Kaijo]

Initial thoughts: I liked it, found it rather decent. It has a couple of flaws here and there (mostly my own personal dislikes), but overall is better than most out there. At least it didn't have any real glaring plot holes, although it did lack a bit of information that was apparently covered in the light novels. Also, I'm predisposed to disliking something that is hyped (most of my favorites are smaller, less-well-known anime), so I was a bit surprised this one worked under my guard. Perhaps because I've played MMOs, that this one worked for me.

Anyway, onward.

Likes:
Visuals - lush surroundings, well-animated fight scenes, beautiful cinematography. They spent some effort on this, and it shows. No cut-outs, no random abstract still shots or backgrounds designed to save on cost, while trying to look avante-garde. There were background shots, of course, but they were what you'd expect from someone giving at least half an ass.

Sound/music - The swelling notes that punctuate the crescendo of battle, and the softer tones that draw out the emotional reaction of touching/sadder moments... it's all there. I never felt the music was out of place. And since usually I rarely note that music is even playing, I felt pleasantly surprised when I could feel the music and was aware of it... and yet it only added to my enjoyment of the scenes.

Say what you will, no one can say this wasn't a piece that skimped much on the audio/visual aspects.

Characters - This was a little bit more of a mixed bag for me. Since I really dislike stupidity in my characters, I was relieved to see intelligence and wisdom here. Obviously, just enough to make them seem real to me, as to how I would react, but not enough that they see through every situation. Kirito and Asuna both have flaws, but the characters *aren't* their flaws, but rather the flaws are just a small part of a larger character. I notice the tendency sometimes, for some to make deeply flawed characters as a way to ground them in humanity, ultimately forgetting that humans are more than that. Just because you make someone emo, does not make them a real character. When you resort to that, you make them less of a character. So I was glad to see they didn't go that route.

Story - While I had an issue here and there with the story (which I'll get to with my dislikes below), overall I found it a refreshing tale. While everything has been done before, it's always in the execution, the nitty gritty details, that determines whether the story works. There were no major plot holes. And it speaks to us on another level, especially as our society approaches the VRMMO concept in reality. Is a "fake" world really so fake? What if it were as real as our own? Love, hate, sadness, joy, despair, and hope.... despite the world not being "real," the feelings that persist in the virtual world are still very real themselves. Often are MMO'ers told "it's not real" but the relationships and comradery that are formed within, and the challenges and adventures that are undertaken, will develop feelings and bonds every bit as real as the real world.

I should also mention that I tended to like the second arc more than the first, just because it was tighter and the end goal was kept in focus better. I felt the first arc, as good as it was, rambled a bit too much, but I'll get to that a bit later.

Dislikes:
These concern more specific things, cliches and story turns that I didn't quite like.

2 years - the length of time they were in SAO. Personally, I felt it was a bit too long, especially given the number of episodes that cover that time span. Much of the first few episodes taken several time skip jumps, which is jarring. It makes it hard to emotionally recognize that they've been in there that long, even though rationally you know they have. Had it been me, I would have reduced the time spent to a year or less, and perhaps stretch SAO out over 24 episodes, with season 2 tackling the second arc.

Lack of real world info - Obviously, a hard part to really address. Early on, I wondered how their real bodies would survive. If they could move Kirito to a hospital, that would imply they could separate his helmet from the computer, and thus take it off safely. I would have liked to see this addressed much earlier, perhaps an explanation from him how it would be handled.

Cliche #1: Little sister plot. Maybe it's me, but I've been seeing this fetish pop up more and more lately, where the little sister has a crush on her brother, but it's okay because it turns out they aren't really brother/sister! It really turns me off, and makes me wonder why they couldn't just do a different subplot for Suguha (I would have liked to see her and Recon explored more). Having said that, I felt they did a fairly good job of it. Obviously, Kirito wasn't going to end up with her, so we knew the heartbreak was coming, and once more the theme of the virtual world being the same as the real world comes back to us, as she tried to let her feelings go and fall for Kirito instead, only to have that thrown at her.

Cliche #2: Every girl falls for the main character. True, he's a good guy, but seriously? Can't we see a story where most of the girls just end up friends with him? And they usually want to jump him within hours of meeting him, too. The only thing that made it bearable, was that we knew he was spoken for with Asuna. So the "harem" felt fake and tacked on. Honestly, I was at least hoping they'd put in the female character or two who comes onto a guy to get free gifts, so if they were going to do anything in a girl falling for him, they could have at least done that much.

Cliche #3: The crazy bad guy, Sugo. Wasn't much to him, other than he was nuts, trying to play God and have everything. Kayaba at least had some subtle and interesting aspects to his character (as little as we saw him). Sugo was fairly one-dimensional, coming across more as an "I am evil!" bad guy. I would have preferred seeing more revelations and complexity to Sugo(and perhaps Kayaba as well), to fully flesh them out as antagonists.

Those were the major cliches that were the downsides for me. Not things that were really wrong, per se, as they work within the narrative established. Just ones that I would have preferred get handled differently, based on my tastes. My only real issues, plot-wise, are how the real world aspects were handled in the first arc, and the length of time. I would have preferred something a bit more like the second arc, where we see more of the journey and get a real feel for Kirito's growth as a character (in both aspects). I liked him, and felt he was developed well enough; we just didn't get to see as much of it as I would have liked.

And I will state once again, that it is very refreshing to see a character encounter great sadness, and not let it break them to the point of being emo. But instead forging on despite that.

And the same can be said for Asuna, who I felt wasn't present or addressed quite enough. As I said, I would have expanded the first arc to 24 episodes, and given plenty of time to develop Asuna as well, both as a stand-alone character, and her relationship with Kirito. We got the bare minimum, when there was so much more that could have been done.

Overall:

But, it is my opinion that these negatives didn't quite ruin an otherwise good story. The moral implications of VR are coming, and it is the role of sci fi to explore such social changes before they happen. Or even as they happen, given the prevalence of MMOs in the marketplace today. This story accomplished that, I felt, and did it while humanizing real characters, who were perhaps more human as simple avatars, then many "real" humans I've seen in some series and shows. The feelings in an online world are just as real as the real world. And someday soon, the barriers between worlds might not be so concrete as they are today.

I laughed, I cried, and I felt moved more than once. I initially gave it a 7/10 in the poll, but if I could revise it, I'd move it up to an 8. It's not perfect, not by a long shot. But it was a very good entry and well worth a watch.