Why Sword Art Online Sucks · 12:45pm Jan 22nd, 2016
Oh boy, this is a real doozie that I'm stepping into here. This is one of the most love/hated animes in recent years, and the opinions are just that: you love it or you hate it.
Now, keep in mind that I'm not here to bash you for liking it. If you do, that's fine. My goal here is to shed some light on some SERIOUS issues that the anime has, and I want you to take them into consideration when you watch it (which means you don't listen to me).
I'll start with the premise: there's a video game where if you die, you die in real life. And it's exclusively multiplayer with the combat limited to swords only. Cool enough concept, plenty of potential for sure. But then we get to the characters...
Kirito is a COMPLETE Gary Stu in every sense of the word. He has little to no flaws, he succeeds every time on the first try, gaining no experience from failure, and, the most annoying aspect of all, EVERY SINGLE FEMALE CHARACTER DEVELOPS A CRUSH UPON EYE CONTACT. Uh, no... that's not how it works. Among other flaws in the characters is the development... or, in all honesty, the lack thereof. There is so little character development that it's character UNdevelopment. For example, there is this girl. She is a TOTAL badass and can kick some serious booty. As soon as she meets Kirito and joins his group? INSTA-SUCKAGE. Wait, what?! She is awesome beforehand, but now, because she met the protagonist, she sucks now? Does that make ANY fucking sense??? No, no it doesn't. The characters are TERRIBLE and have NO development or personality whatsoever. And that kills such a cool idea for a show.
Now for the plot. Oh wait, there really isn't one. It's so bland and predictable that you see it coming a mile away. AND THIS IS ONLY THE FIRST SEASON. Yeah, there's a second season to this shit. AND IT'S EVEN WORSE. Seriously, just because it's a good idea DOES NOT MEAN IT'S GOING TO BE PERFECT. I'm well aware that the show has an almost cult - like following. But does that make it good? Hell no. Is the idea good? Yes. Is it original? Kinda. But was it executed well? Not in the slightest.
Now, I've heard Gun Gale Online is actually kinda good (must be better than this crap) but I still don't intend on watching it. This show is just SO terrible. The only people I can see defending it are those who think that girls in anime should be taking a back seat to the male leads and should only exist for boobs, panty shots, and constant DID syndrome. And those who think that Mary sue characters are an OKAY concept. Which, I can assure you, they are not.
I feel like this show got the Attack on Titan treatment. Except it's actually bad. Is AoT overrated? Yeah, I think so. But is it bad? No. No it isn't. SAO is in the same position, except it IS bad. It had so much potential to be a good anime, and it just... wasn't...
Say what you want, but this is my opinion. Am I going to get hate for saying this? Well I'd assume so. But is that going to change my mind? No. Thank you, and goodbye.
Is It Cool To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon is supposed to be similar, but they handled it better. I haven't seen a lot of it since I'm waiting for a bit to see if a dub happens.
It's a shame though, considering it is supposed to be better, hardly anyone knows about it, whereas everyone knows about SAO.
I totally agree with everything, apparently season 2 is worse than season 1, but I dare not watch another season of that rubbish anyway. Even my brother who, for some bizzare reason likes SAO said that season two is bad.
Yeah, Kirito also tends to bend the rules. Coming back to life, getting a skill that only he can get.