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Sword Art Online is an anime which has truly caused some controversy. As most other popular anime, there is a desperate war being fought between the ongoing praises of its huge fanbase and the never-ending provoking of its haters. Belonging to the former group of people, in the following review, I will tell you why Sword Art Online is a good anime, receiving way too much hatred for all the wrong reasons.

First of all, let it be said that Sword Art Online is a deep, psychological survival horror death game anime, tackling many interesting, thought-provoking questions about the future risks of (online) gaming and how ... people act quite differently in contrast to the norm when their life is at risk. And while it is overall a very enjoyable ride, it also touches upon a broad variety of darker themes, like suicide, desperation, regret, showing weakness, the urge for revenge and many, many more inner conflicts, proving that entertainment media can actually convey inspirational messages and go beyond the limits of just simply wanting to amuse its audience.

Furthermore, let me state that the concept of being trapped in an online game is very innovative, ingenious and truly intrigued me (and a lot of other fans as well). By now, several shows such as .//hack, Hunter x Hunter's Greed Island arc and (to a certain degree at the very least) Serial Experiments Lain have ripped it off and tried to capture its complexity, more often failing at such a difficult task than not.

What sets Sword Art Online worlds apart from its numerous (in)famous clones, however, is the quality of writing. The pacing is really superb and makes it apparent that this is a show where a good story was a set priority unlike with other shows like, say, Naruto. Sword Art Online always makes progress and never feels like it's stretched out for the sake of bringing in more money (hey there, DBZ, One Piece and the shounen genre in general). Time skips ensure that you're not getting tired of exhausting grinding but provide variety. In one episode, Kirito has to fight a dragon to gain material for a stronger sword. In another one, a brilliantly constructed murder case occurs and Kirito has to solve the mystery. Then there's an episode about player killing, another one about AIs (= an artificial intelligence), there's even one on fishing. Within a few episodes, Sword Art Online manages to accomplish so much more than most other anime out there and most of the twists it had up its sleeve were real shockers, proving that SAO really got a killer plot to boast with. The games are also just like real MMORPGs and you absolutely want to play them (even though the discern for the elves is somewhat warranted). That's obviously a good thing as it is sound proof that the careful, well-crafted world building absolutely worked out.

One of the show's strengths are the characters. Kirito is totally badass and I'd love to have some adventures with him in Aincrad. He's totally different from all those wimpy male protagonists from other shows. Asuna, too, is a good fit for a heroine. Not even once does she prove to be useless as it's sometimes the case with female characters in anime and more than once, she manages to save Kirito's life. She is one of the strongest players which is a rather welcome change to anime's usual portrayal of weak female characters. Competent characters like those two are omnipresent in Sword Art Online and successfully carry the show. The entire drama revolving around Suguha - with no doubt one of the most outstanding characters in the history of modern anime - was probably one of the most soul-crushing things known to anime fans and once more demonstrates that in Sword Art Online, active characters drive the plot forward rather than just being a part of it while it happens around them. The show also has great villains. Both Kayaba, who is very deep character and Sugou, who you can easily hate to no ends, have very well-written personalities and manage to fulfill their roles. Those are not your run-of-the-mill antagonists, that's for sure.

The romance was handled really well. The character interactions between Asuna and Kirito were extremely pleasing to watch and far from the generic standard romance you would expect from most anime. There's actual progress rather than an endless amount of resetting the developments of their relationship and returning to status quo. The author also manages to embed some family values in the story which is a rare but nonetheless appreciated element.

The presentational side of things is almost without any flaws: The animation is brilliant as anyone who has taken a look at the stunning background art can tell. The OST is very befitting of the show and does a wonderful job - not really a surprise, seeing how it was composed by none other than Yuki Kajiura (Madoka Magica, Kara no Kyoukai). The use of CG is okay because they are playing a game.

Many nitpicking haters, jealously bashing on the show because it's popular and they can't do any better, have tried to ruin the show's reputation, saying that there are many plot holes and stuff, whereas in reality, most of them have already been explained by fans or the light novel anyway. Most of the time, Sword Art Online requires you to think about what's going on but alas, that's just too much to ask for for some people. As a consequence, their lack of understanding leads to many wrong accusations, perhaps even spoiling other people's enjoyment for the show.

So, contrary to what some people claim, Sword Art Online is not a tombstone but a milestone of anime history. Long story short: Know the difference. This is, that I can guarantee, a good anime.