Sword Art Online- Aincrad

 

Imagine you are standing in line waiting for the newest and most groundbreaking game and software bundle that you have seen in recent memory. All of your friends have been camped out since early morning just to get their hands on this new software called the NerveGear that can supposedly put you into virtual reality using your own brainwaves. And to top it off there is a brand-new game in which you ascend floors and fight bosses/minions called SAO that has just come out. Sounds like a normal MMORPG with a new twist in VR (aka VRMMORPG), what could go wrong with strapping your brain into a piece of metal that can read your brainwaves and put you into a game? Well turns out there are actually a lot of things that go wrong with this. Who would have thought? Sword Art Online (Aincrad Arc) focuses on our main character Kirigaya Kazuto better known as Kirito. We see Kirito as he loads into SAO (nickname for "Sword Art Online") for seemingly the first time! He and a host of other gamers are gathered on the starting floor of Aincrad. Aincrad is the name of the structure/world the game takes place. We now see Kirito walk around the starting floor and make conversation with a character name Klein, where we learn that Kirito seems to have a good understanding of his surroundings. When he is questioned by Klein about this, we learn that Kirito was one of the few beta testers that got a sneak peek at this game before the grand launch they are in now. After this Kirito gives us some insight into the game that is being played and the basics about how to level up and some tips on fighting in order to help out Klein. Klein is shown to be satisfied with Kirito's advice and remembers he needs to get off the game, but when he tries to log out, he notices there is no button to sign out of the game. In the midst of their confusion, Kirito and Klein are whisked away to the starting area, where they see seemingly everyone else who is logged into the game as a clock chimes. They then see a big figure rise in the sky who explains to him that he is the game master Akihiko Kayaba and he controls this world they are standing in. The mood of excitement and adventure is immediately changed to that of horror and confusion when Kayaba announces that the log-out button is not on their menus for good reason, as that is not the way the game is designed. Everyone looks up baffled as he explains that they will not be able to log out of the game of their own free will or be released by anyone from the outside world. They learn that if anyone from the outside world tries to log them out of the game by taking off or destroying their NerveGear that they will have their brain fried by a powerful microwave transmitter inside the NerveGear. It is now learned that this is no normal VRMMORPG, this is a game of life and death, and other players of the game have already been killed as a result of friends/family removing their NerveGear. We learn that the only way to leave this game is to clear all 100 floors of Aincrad and that if your hp drops to zero your character will permanently die along with yourself in the real world. This is a shocking revelation, to say the least, and is the basis of the story of SAO (Aincrad Arc) The rest of this Arc takes us on a journey with Kirito as he tries to beat the game, along with meeting new friends, and even a love interest! The level grinding is slow and methodical, the boss fights are really exhilarating and carry a real sense of stakes, as they are playing for their lives! And the characters that we are introduced to all have their own niches and make for good storytelling. Kirito's fight to clear the game and exit the NerveGear is a valiant one as we see a person who has been a loner most of his life, forced to shed his skin a little and work together with other players to clear the game. Overall this story is a very compelling one and without the short episode count for this arc, the show had a lot of potential. Although it does deliver in the episodes that are shown there is a sense of rushedness and gaps in the show that just can't be filled for 100 floors of action and story development. This show, although leaving you wanting more, does this for all the wrong reasons as it leaves you feeling that this seemingly massive goal is carried out in a rushed manner, and therefore the impact of the result is diminished. Although there is talk of a reboot to be had in this show that doesn’t bolster the emptiness at the end of the show and does affect the overall success of this first arc in the show. For this first arc as a whole, I have decided to give the show a 7.2/10 as although the base of the story and characters are good the rushed nature of this first arc really strips the show of all progression and instead replaces that progression with an unrewarding conclusion. Overall this show has many hits and misses but is overall decently solid. Rating- 7.2/10