Anime: Why do people hate SAO (Sword art online) so much?!

[Le Lion de Barreras]

I only really enjoyed the first season.

[Vitalius]

I believe the only anime with the same setting would be Accel World, and it's from the same author... (I don't know of any other anime with a Virtual World setting.)

LOL, I never took that one into account . My bad.

You need to watch .Hack. Now.

.hack//SIGN was released in 2002. .hack//INFECTION (the PS2 game) was released the same year. 

[tobben]

i watched it, didn't like it all that much, definitely didn't live up to the hype. But hate is a strong Word, the thing is, a typical show like sword art online might hit a cord With a big portion of the general populus, but it doesn't cater to the core anime fans that will see the flaws, so when something becomes very popular and hyped up, People who disagree get a strong urge to Express strong opinions to say it doesn't deserve it, especially now as most of the People who liked and hyped up sword art online probably weren't solid anime fans to begin With, shingeki no kyojin was almost the same, atleast With the popularity and hate, although i liked that one alot more.

 

i'm saying probably, not saying you can't be an avid anime watcher and like sao at the same time, incase anyone gets offended..

[Vitalius]

See, what I think gave SAO the hype was how brutal it seemed in the beginning. It's very similar to what I believe makes Attack on Titan popular. The brutality of what the people have to face. 

However, AoT does it 100x better. SAO doesn't keep up that atmosphere throughout the whole show. 

It's the same thing that makes Zombie shows enjoyable. For some reason, that's what people like. Even if the survivors do indeed survive in a zombie show, society is still FUBARed. So, in a sense, there's no real hope of every going back to their normal lives. 

In AoT, that's the case. The Titans break through the wall and humanity falls back. In SAO, that's what it felt like was going to happen. Like, within this virtual world, there was no hope. People were screwed, but it didn't continue with that or keep up the quality that it seemed like it was going to have. 

[StingBull]

Incidentally, Sword Art Online would be the most generic name for a Korean MMO.

[LAwLz]

I gave it a 6/10 (slightly above the average show).

 

My problems with it:

1) It requires a ton of suspension of disbelief. There are a ton of plot holes in the show and as soon as you connect your brain the story kind of falls flat.

2) Kirito is just so damn annoying. I am not a fan of super OP main characters and he is just a Gary Stu and it gets boring.

3) The end of SAO and the entire ALfheim arc was a mess.

4) Bad villains. Uninteresting and bland. I don't even remember the name of any of them. *minor spoiler* There is not really any buildup to the final showdown. He just reveals that he is the GM and then the fight starts, and then it ends. *minor spoiler*. I like the way shows like Madoka does it instead. You don't really get to see Walpurgis until at the end (unless you count the brief moment in episode 1 when you have no idea what's going on) and yet the whole atmosphere around her, the way people talk about her and such, makes her seem really strong and wicked. The payoff is just so much better that way compared to "oh I am the main boss! I am going to explain my entire plan now and then we will fight! Oh no I lost!".

5) A lot of stuff feels really rushed (like the Kirito X Asuna romance) while other things feels really dragged out without progressing the plot. I am totally okay with some SoL or short, irrelevant story arcs in the middle of the show, but it kind of felt like other areas of the plot suffered because of it eating up time.

6) The ending was terrible. I am not a fan of "friendship saves the day!" and other deus ex machina stuff.

7) It's just overrated. It's kind of annoying seeing shows like these get so much praise, and other shows get completely neglected.

 

 

Overall I think the show was entertaining. I really like the world the made and they handle exposition very well (unlike Mahouka which is a huge train wreck in that department), but it's not anywhere near close a master piece like some people say.

 

 

 

 

Also shino. Go wear something you oversext bitch. Maybe the mayor reason why it's been watched is secretly fapping. Dunno.

Her outfit is one of the best aspects of her.

I like how they always draw the crack even if they neglect other, bigger details on her outfit (in shots where she is standing far away). It's kind of ridiculous but still a nice touch.

Liz and Silica are still the best girls though.

[kgrose102]

5) A lot of stuff feels really rushed (like the Kirito X Asuna romance) while other things feels really dragged out without progressing the plot. I am totally okay with some SoL or short, irrelevant story arcs in the middle of the show, but it kind of felt like other areas of the plot suffered because of it eating up time.

 

 

I think the big part about the rushed feeling is that episodes jump big gasp in time. I think between 2 episodes at one point it jumped like 2 years in show time, and didn't elaborate on what really all that happened in between so it's a big difference to see a show where they were doing one episode and then next the jump 2 years into the game where people have settles in a life of the game world instead of motivation to get back.

 

The time gaps might also help with the fact that Kirito is so OP cause all he does is train, which is why he gets isolated by all the people at the beginning cause that's all he does.

[Thorium19]

I like SAO, it's one of my favourite animes at the moment, but the second half of the first season annoyed me a lot, I don't think ALO was explored enough and seemed like too much of an afterthought in my opinion. I also didn't like what happened just before SAO was beaten, the way Asuna suddenly became incapable of doing anything "because of love" yet she was probably the 3^rd most powerful player in the game at the time.

For season 2 I find it a bit boring at the moment, but I do like the integration of how Sinon has a reason for her weakness, and not just because she has a love interest and how Kirito is suffering himself with the return of LC, yet puts on a brave face for Sinon.

I find the basis of the series, both light novels and anime very good. It is realistic to a degree, makes us all lust after having full dive virtual reality and has an attainable future.

[ComradeHX]

Bascally first season's first half covered most of volume 1 and 2.

 

Everything after is just milking cashcow.

[TheGamingBarrel]

@MyInnerFred is this the anime you watch, if it is please enlighten us

[v3nture]

Log Horizon "ripped off" (sort of -- not really, but the basic story concepts are virtually identical) Sword Art Online a couple of seasons ago. The two series were actually published really closely to each other initially with Sword Art Online being all the more popular because the story is much more well-written, the characters are more developed and colourful and, of course, it was first out.

Let me start off by saying SAO is not original in any way, shape, or form, and thus Log Horizon didnt rip it off.

 

 Log Horizon is, in my very arrogant opinion, a slightly toned down and drier version of Sword Art Online -- and no lives are at stake in that one, so it makes it a bit duller, but that's just me...

In Log Horizon dying means losing your memories of your life prior to being trapped in the world of Elder Tale. While this isn't death it can be just as bad as they're losing the knowledge of everything which they would hold dear.

[Crion]

You need to watch .Hack. Now.

.hack//SIGN was released in 2002. .hack//INFECTION (the PS2 game) was released the same year. 

fyi, Kawahara Reki originally published Sword Art Online on the web the same year.  Not defending the not so great writing but they came out about the same time.  I've read the novels and I will say the story does get better as Kawahara's writing ability improves with experience.

 

It's not the best story ever but it's entertaining at best and the first episode is generally a good hook to get people interested in anime. 

[TheProfosist]

I dont hate it so much. It just that well its not so good and has obvouos issues.

[XTankSlayerX]

First season was fantastic, although they could of managed time a lot better. Its a little over rated.

 

Second season Is shit, there's too much drama and not enough fighting.

[TheProfosist]

First season was fantastic, although they could of managed time a lot better. Its a little over rated.

 

Second season Is shit, there's too much drama and not enough fighting.

What you said would make it a bit more than a little overrated.

They also abandoned the whole fighting system as well as the levels. As for managing the time better they basically has filler everywhere instead of having an episode or two set aside for it. For an anime that was already thin that didnt help.

See many people fail to realize this but the anime is about the drama not the fighting. They try to trick you in the beginning by setting up the whole fighting system.

[Guest]

Don't know, same reason people hate Naruto and Bleach I guess, they are popular.

 

I call them elitists.

[TheProfosist]

Don't know, same reason people hate Naruto and Bleach I guess, they are popular.

 

I call them elitists.

The reasons are very different than the ones for near infinitely running shonen series aimed at middle schoolers.

[Guest]

The reasons and very different than near infinitely running shonen series aimed at middle schoolers.

Nah, it's fun imo.

[TopWargamer]

I liked it, so...