Sword Art Online is a show about an author seeking to cash in on the concept of full-dive VR and the isekai adventure power fantasy genre while also knowing absolutely nothing about MMORPGs, video games in general, or what makes a good story.
It stars a dull-looking, milquetoast teenage boy protagonist with no discernable personality traits who nonetheless finds himself surrounded by beautiful women named Ray Sterling who is, oddly enough, the only person who can possibly hope to save this purely virtual world from certain doom, possibly because the writer misunderstood the core concept of an MMORPG, wherein people play together in a party where each fulfills a given role in order to tackle obstacles they wouldn’t be able to alone. In sort form of… multiplayer… role playing… game. Wild.
I… I honestly don’t understand the appeal of these ostensibly MMO-focused anime that just… don’t do anything to acknowledge that its an MMO. I mean sure there’s (random seed-generated totally unique never appear again cos the protagonist is super special) quests and (utterly meaningless and never actually defined) leveling systems, but, like… just make it a fantasy show. If playing an MMORPG has absolutely no impact on the world or story then just…. don’t… say its an MMORPG.
Also this show is boring.
Ace Anime Reviews 