Sword Art Online

 So, like the good little otaku that I am, I finally caught up on one of the "modern classics" of anime, Sword Art Online or SAO for short.

A series that caused quite a fuzz, as it relates to many MMORPG players out there, who would want to be able to really live in a virtual game world.

Okay, bar the permanent dying part perhaps...

In the year 2022, virtual reality has progressed by leaps and bounds, and a massive online role-playing game called Sword Art Online (SAO) is launched. With the aid of "NerveGear" technology, players can control their avatars within the game using nothing but their own thoughts.

 

Kazuto Kirigaya, nicknamed "Kirito," is among the lucky few enthusiasts who get their hands on the first shipment of the game. He logs in to find himself, with ten-thousand others, in the scenic and elaborate world of Aincrad, one full of fantastic medieval weapons and gruesome monsters. However, in a cruel turn of events, the players soon realize they cannot log out; the game's creator has trapped them in his new world until they complete all one hundred levels of the game.

In order to escape Aincrad, Kirito will now have to interact and cooperate with his fellow players. Some are allies, while others are foes, like Asuna Yuuki, who commands the leading group attempting to escape from the ruthless game. To make matters worse, Sword Art Online is not all fun and games: if they die in Aincrad, they die in real life. Kirito must adapt to his new reality, fight for his survival, and hopefully break free from his virtual hell.

 

They succeed in this during episode 14 (after a real tearjerking episode 12, very annoying if you tend to watch during your lunchbreak at work), but Asuna doesn`t awake.  Kirito learns that about 300 players from SAO have had their consciousness trapped in another game, Alfheim Online, developped by Kabaya's former assistant to develop a way of mindcontrolling people for military purposes.  Kirito must return to a virtual world to try and free her, unknowingly aided by his sister...

 

 

Okay, so this is a good series, and certainly relatable indeed.  But I must confess, I don`t find it so super uber great as some make it out to be, though it is very enjoyable... and not per se aimed at kids with themes as rape, genocide, betrayel and the slaughtering that Kirito does on the final boss...

 

You won`t regret watching this, that's for sure!