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Originally Posted by relentlessflame
I think the "rushed" nature of the character development is greatly exaggerated. Their relationship in particular was developed over the entire course of the story, starting from Episode 2, thorough the various side stories, and all the way to Episode 14. That's more time and covers more events than a lot of one-cour anime (and even some two-cour anime) do. Certain specific events may seem rushed at first glance, but if you look more closely at the connected events and situations, it makes a fair bit of sense -- to me, anyway. Events are deeply connected to one another in ways both subtle and obvious, so I've found episodes usually warrant a second viewing to pick up on things missed during the first round.
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I think my main issue is with the Kirito/Asuna romance. I'm, lacking a better word, "unconvinced". They went from "zero to hero" so quickly, that it felt rushed over - that the script writers just glued them together as a couple and tell us to accept it.
Maybe my standards have been warped by having watch too many (to be healthy) harem/romance anime, where romance is the main plot, but I kind of expected better. For example, Amagami SS's Tsukasa Ayatsuji's arc was amazing and it was done in only 4 eps - with considerable backstory too. While SAO is over 14 episodes and I still don't quite "feel it".
PS: IMO they could also have shorten/speed up some of the side plots and reallocated the time. Those took up a considerable amount of time and dragged on a bit.
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Other than that... I've played a number of MMORPGs, so the subject is instantly accessible to me. I think the world is interesting along with a number of the concepts explored, and I find the characters quite engaging (both main and side). I find the art and animation quite decent, many of the in-game vistas presented to be quite beautiful, and the music is quite nice as well. And, for whatever flaws the story has, I still generally enjoy it a lot more than not. I also think the franchise does generate some interesting fan discussions (even if there is an ever-encroaching army of novel readers who want to give everything away).
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The setting was the only reason I made it to ep 14 - the OP and ED were good too. But now that the arc has ended ...
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So I guess the long and short of it is that everyone has their own tastes, and I guess the things I enjoy about the show just aren't compatible with your tastes. I think the reason it's likely popular is because it blends elements of so many different genres (sci-fi, fantasy, action, romance, etc.) so there's potentially something for everyone... but that also means that more people will try it out and find it isn't for them (possibly because it doesn't focus strongly enough on whatever genre they are most drawn to). If the story were more narrowly-focused to start with, fewer people would try it (but those who try it after researching it may be more likely to enjoy it). For a late night anime, you could probably say this is about as close to mainstream entertainment as anime gets.
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I guess I expected it to be better executed. :/
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Originally Posted by Divini
Well I can't speak for anyone else, but I will give my personal reasons:
1. I'm a fan of the source material, which in my opinion is well... epic. It makes me recognize, but ultimately overlook the storytelling flaws of the anime.
2. Kirito is the ace, not indecisive when it comes to love interests, and not a butt-monkey. Which is rare for a LN protagonist.
3. It's based off MMOs, and the setting is really enhanced if you're used to its culture. I used to be a heavy MMO-gamer, so that appeal is always there. The way it's VR is wish-fulfilling.
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I think that I not having read the source material is what is hurting it for me. Having viewed it as a standalone anime, I'm more or less judging it on it's own merits - which I found wanting.
Heh. I have no issues with indecisive, butt-monkey male leads. The indecisive-ness is necessary to maintain the love triangles (polygons) and the butt-monkey-ness is mostly comic relief as the lead plays "straight guy" to the most of the time fairly wacky cast.
Played quite a bit of WoW a few years back. For most part it works for and against me when it came to shows like this. It's like being relative well versed in how computers worked and then see a movie when the someone "Hacks a satellite !!!" ... YOU CAN'T DO THAT! Those things use custom hardware and software, there is no way anyone can hack into it "just like that" without months of information gathering and research, and this is overlooking the fact that the said satellite must have the shittiest security ever.