I did a search and didn't find anything, and I also didn't find anything on the forums manually going through the pages. I feel like I made a topic about this not too long ago, maybe not?
I started watching this anime when it was around episode 3, since then I have watched it explode and become a huge and popular anime, and for good reason. This anime has got me stuck to his light novels which were the original series as well.
Basically, I just want to know what your thoughts are on this anime? It is currently completed with it's first season (25 episodes), which in the light novel form is light novel 1-5, and they will probably come out with a second season, containing the contents of the 5th and 6th novel and the side story that happens afterwards.
Summery:
A Virtual Reality helmet has been released called the Nerve Gear which allows you to "Full Dive" directly into a game or simulation where your entire body is a part of it, and you can use all five of your senses to experience things in this reality. The creater of the Nerve Gear also has made a Virtual Reality MMO called Sword Art Online which was beta tested by 1,000 lucky few, one of them being Kirito. As soon as the game's launch he jumped right back into the game to find out the creator has trapped all of them inside of the game, and the players must beat the boss at the end of all 100 floors of Sword Art Online before they are able to log off, and inside of the game if they die, they die in the real world too.
Seriously, if you haven't watched it yet and like anime, get to it.
My girlfriend and I enjoyied the first 13 episodes. After that, we kept groaning. It was awful, I wished they'd stopped it after that. It was a good series, and prompted me to track down the first books. But right about the end of the first arc, it really seems like they threw away any logic. How did Kirito defeat the creator with zero HP? Why didn't the guardians of the world tree fire a single arrow when the other people arrived? Actually, HOW did the other people know to arrive right when Kirito wa in trouble? The second half is the absolute worst though! We got a terrible damsel in distress arc, they never explained why when he made his character in Elfheim, he spawns into a different territory, we got an awkward tenticle rape scene. And what the hell happened to the rest of the crew? We met a bunch of interesting characters in the first few episodes, then they all just go away, except for a few token scenes. They spent two years building these relationships and Kirito hardly talks to any of them. Even his buddy who was fleeting in the first episode, we never see him interact with until the end.
I would say if anyone wanted to watch this, watch the frist 13 episodes. You'll know the point where the story wraps up, and it feels completed. That's the end. The other episodes don't exist. DON'T GO LOOKING FOR THEM. It quickly goes from "Pretty Good" to not even laughably bad. Just...bad,
it's ok, I enjoyed it, but looking back at it, it probibly wasn't as good as I thought it was. It reminds me of .Hack way too much, it's almost like a clone of .hack, just not as good. If you liked it, watch .hack sign.
When I was reading it I felt more of a relationship between Kirito and Asuna but in the anime it was very forced. Plus Kirito was a complete fucktard in the anime and was more of a badass in the books
If you were to read the books, read the 1st, 3rd and 4th and leave it at that. I felt they were trying to milk the series after the 4th book
I thought it was meh, most episodes were fillers, the love story was bland and pushed. The second part was completely retarded. Animation, music and art was pretty good.
First 13 were definately better than the rest, however this is mostly because of how the anime feels pushed far ahead. The light novel series told the story of the alfheim arc much, much better than the anime did. Also, he ended up beating Heathcliff with 0HP because of a his willpower and spirit. You get a bit more of this when he's talking to Kirito when Aincard is being destroyed, and also towards the end of the Alfheim arc.
I guess more or less, my recommendation goes straight to the books rather than the full series of episodes they have out now, as the rest of the episodes seemed rushed to push what was essentially ~1000 pages into 25 episodes.
I really liked this anime. But I do agree with most people. the first 13 episodes were the best, the rest of the rest of the show was not up to par with the first part. But still, very enjoyable, and it made it to my top 10 list, but only because of the first 13 episodes.