SAO sucks - A Phase-wise analysis (Should you watch it?)

##See the brilliance behind sao is that you really can’t see the crap it throws at you coming

Sorry if this annoys the people who like it but it is clearly one of the worst anime shows of all-time. And the people at the “SAO is awesome” camp just can’t see it’s many flaws. I’ve had people passionately defend Sword Art Online for no solid reason. Reasons such as 'But, Asuna is so cute ’ ‘Leafa-chans tits are amazing’ agreed on both points but that isn’t what makes a good anime and after hearing the same old crap ‘Kirito-kun is the best anime character ever’. And I’ve decided to to share my viewpoint on why sao is !@#.

*also this is the first blog type post i see on this forum but hopefully this encourages more people to share their opinions as well, whatever they may be.

Okay so lets look at this part wise

1. Plot
The biggest problem with sao’s plot is there isn’t one
Now, now calm down and let me explain
In the beginning (and we are talking like first episode here) everything is cool we’re relaxed, seated in front of our computer and ready to start an series we’ve heard is good, has killer artwork, is about gaming and comes from a respected studio (A1-Pictures) that is responsible for epic anime like AnoHana, Oreimo and more recently Shelter. So we really have no doubts that this is going to blow our minds and through the the first episode it fairly does impress us the show doesn’t really maintain the same pacing and then from episode 4 onwards we keep waiting for the “mind-blow” and we wait, and wait and wait but it does not really happen. Soon we begin to lose interest and the show doesn’t really add any new elements plot-wise to keep us engaged. Now I’m not saying that there aren’t any good plot devices in the first few episodes for example the mini-arc how the Moonlit Black Cats die and how Kirito reacts is really handled well and gives a solid reason Kirito for becoming a solo player but other than this there isn’t really many more new plot devices or twists because from the beginning the players in SAO are given a single goal “clear the hundred floors” And this really dampens the chance for any major plot twists to occur. And the the extent to which the plot is broken is obviuos where at the end of the first arc when Kayaba Akihiko is asked why he traped everyone in the game he says “I can’t remember” which really shows some Grade-A crap writing.

2. The Grade-A crap writing
Introducing Reki Kawahara - The King of never-played-a-mmo in my life
Where to even start with this one. Reki gives us an plot so full of holes it might as well been written by an 4 year-old. Featuring an unrelatable OP as f main character, minor characters that are each given only 1 episode of development and are really just additions to Kirito’s harem (which by the way includes a guy) and worst of all a terrible game (the game being SAO). Andi mean by that is the game inside the anime “SAO”. Now the problems i have with the MMORPG is that it just isn’t realistic. You can clearly understand that the writer hasn’t done any research into the gaming industry or how gamers interact with even the shitiest MMORPG. First of all we have the launch of the game itself which is limited to 10000 copies upon release. Now this doesn’t make any sense because the launch is where most game companies aim earn back most of their invested money this how games like GTA V survive because all the hype that is built over the game is because potential users don’t really know whether the game is going to be bad and all they have to go on are the promotional material released by the developer. So limiting the amount of copies to be sold is stupid move that the financial backers of the game would never allow because a game like SAO would probably cost millions of dollars to develop. Also something that doesn’t make sense is the fact that nobody other than Kayabe Akihiko knew about it being a death trap. Obviously Kayabe couldn’t have developed the entire game himself, especially a game as big and complex as SAO. Also MMORPG usually don’t have one big goal to end the game, they have overwhelming number of Quests and Side Quests coupled with a huge map, both of which never ends due constant updates and patches from the developer team. Another place the writing really craps out is character development. While the main characters motives aren’t also very well explained, the side characters were lucky if they got more than an episode for themselves and this just fills the anime with with static and flat characters. Even more absurd is the fact that everybody (Kirito-sama + harem) who played the game apparently lived close to each other and met at Agil’s cafe. Agil by the way is the only black guy in all of SAO. Need I go on?

Either way I’m thinking of splitting this into a two part post.
Maybe ill write the rest after seeing how the feedback for this post is.
Lovers of SAO present you counter arguments in the comment section.
Haters of SAO Just Keep Hating also comment .
If anyone read this that is. :smiley:
To quote digibro “Hating SAO is my hobby”

Yours Truly Kuro Shinigami

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I neither love or hate it, but I sense over-analyIsm here. SAO’s plot is basic, sure, but it makes it up for it with the action and smart combat system. I don’t really remember but I THINK there was slightly character development elements there too.
The idea of giving a simple goal doesn’t give away the entire plot. I mean, it’s not as if all they have done is focusing on that same exact goal.

As for MMORPGs, or gaming, something I’m far more experienced at than anime,

A location based launch isn’t that rare. Pokémon GO is a good example. They DID have beta tests, but that didn’t stop them from taking this approach Especially the fact that it’s VR + MMO meaning a worldwide release would be an epic cramp at the servers. Not all MMORPGs have to contain a lot of quests and side quests. I remember a certain game where the one and only goal of it is to remove layers of a certain box, with the world working together. The one who reached the inside of the box got to be the God of another MMO by the same developer.

Btw, not hating on character related episodes, but trust me, it’s never that good to have too many filler episodes. Remember Naruto?

That’s as much as I can defend it. All the other points, I agree with you.

Thanks for reading,
See the main thing you have to understand is that jumping into plot on the first episode is never a good thing. Secondly I don’t have a problem with the goal or plot being a bit basic (The plot of anohana was to grant menma’s wish, simple, but there are so many twists that its an emotional roller-coaster) but SAO doesn’t really add any plot elements later on; From the start we know that if you die you die IRL and you can’t logout or if anyone forcibly removes your helmet you die. The only plot twist is how Heathcliff is Kayabe and this is only on the last episode. My problem with SAO is its f-ing boring. Thirdly the location based launch is not the problem the problem is that it’s only released to ten-thousand players. Furthermore the only characters that were developed was Asuna and Kirito. Also on that note the point about having good action scenes is true and this is totally the hard work of the studio and it’s A1- Pictures so to be expected. As for the combat system, Its a heap of crap I’ll explain this more on my next post. Next can you name the MMO about the box please. cause it sounds like a DLC addition and exactly proves my point developers don’t just end MMOs. About character related episodes what I meant was that the characters don’t really get anymore development after their episode. The naruto fillers are boring because its a long running series and we already have a fully developed cast of characters, shows this short don’t have fillers but side characters would definitely have benefited from some episodes focusing bit more on them. BTW on an unrelated note the entire second arc feels like a filler.

My view on SAO is "It was an anime that was going well until turned into an gay, incestuous piece of crap "
Feel free to quote me

Its not that I hate you I hate the anime okay?
Also should I post part two of this post?

Well said, comrade. Will wait for part 2 to comment further. :stuck_out_tongue:

However one thing I can say is that it was adapted by an light novel. There might have had sales reasons to adapt it faithfully to the original LN. We do know that most light novels are not masterpieces and in any way.

I feel that most SAO hate comes from it not living up to some of it’s expectations. The best thing (at least for me) that keeps SAO interesting is that the great character art design and animation work by A-1 pictures and the cast of amazing voice actors they hired.

Bottom Line: There’s lot of bad anime, but SAO is a bad anime with nice art that’s fun to watch.

Will wait for part 2 of your analysis myself too. :thumbsup:

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Well put. I think that the only reason SAO survived without becoming a total !@#$ anime is probably because of A-1 Pictures @da.loli

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SAO was an okay anime for me, I know it’s not good as it pretends to be and agree with you on most parts. but I liked the SAO arc and the first part of the Alicization Arc. Also, I was able to convert few people to anime with this (they haven’t said anything bad and seems to love the show), so I’m not ready to put SAO with Twilight and JB LOL :smile: Hope you post your second part of this post.

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I do agree that it maybe a good beginner anime but for more experienced watchers and otaku i think that its plot holes and bad writing is obvious. So maybe not as bad as a singer who hasn’t hit puberty yet but as far as anime goes I give it a 2/10. Also forgive my ignorance but whats the “Alicization Arc” ?

it’s the 4th arc of the story(light novel), Kirito works part time testing a new game of sorts. in that one, Kirito starts off as the lowest. so no overpowered Kirito. anyways 2/10 isn’t that too harsh, how about 5 for animation and action :slight_smile:

Ohhhhh. kk. I haven’t got to the LN yet because the anime was dissapointing but i hear its better than the anime. Though the thought of SAO makes me dizzy I’ll check it out.

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oh, you don’t have to, I read it because I like to read. and reading things you don’t like is a pain.

I like to read LNs a lot like No game No Life and such but i do want to read the SAO LN cause a loot of people say it’s good, How much would you rate the LN alone at?

As a person who don’t normally read LNs, I think it’s pretty similar to the anime except Kirito’s thoughts & Asuna’s charecter. Asuna was dumbed down in the anime, and Kirito thinks more in the LN. :sweat_smile:

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@kuro_shinigami I don’t hate SAO so how about 7/10 It was nothing special, didn’t hunt my dreams. it was more like an action movie, liked it while reading it but I don’t check translators site regularly for updates.

@da.loli Asuna went from tiger to kitten just like that, even normal Tsunderes under a harem kings retain some of their identity, Asuna just went out like a balloon. the girl who went from zero to hero by reading a book is nowhere to be seen.

I don’t think that asuna could even be considered a tsundere. Because the tsun part of her was i think 4 eps and the rest was all dere. While Tsunderes aren’t my favorite archetype i still there should be a balance of the tsun and dere parts. I don’t like girls who stretch the tsun part either like Kirino from Oreimo, where she only shows her dere part at the last two eps of two seasons. Either way i think that there should be a balance in character when using common archetypes especially when it has nothing to do with the plot of the story.

I think there has been a lot of controversy here on stuff like the combat system (@Manual) and characters (@CatInATeacup) so Ive decided to write the aforementioned Part ll to this post expect somewhere around next week, minna-san. :slight_smile:

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Guys I also don’t think SAO sucks. True as kuro pointed out it does not have a consistent plot what so ever. But the reason I don’t think it sucks that much is cause I’ve turned a few people into otaku cause of SAO, probably because of its genre. So yes as a mature otaku I too think it sucks but cause of this reason I do give it some credit so…
4/10 it is

alright make it interesting :slight_smile:

i don’t think that just beacaue an anime has converted normal people otaku. You can’t say its an good anime, as ive stressed many times before, because noobs don’t know that they’re watching crap

No offense minna.