Was Sword Art Online THAT Bad?
Article at a glance:
- People love to clown on SAO now, but was it always that bad? I don’t think so, and I want to talk about when things really started to go downhill.
- I actually like SAO — or at least, I love what it could have been. Aincrad was peak, and it’s frustrating how much potential got wasted after that.
- This is just me revisiting a series I used to love, pointing out what worked, what didn’t, and where it all started to fall apart. Let’s get into it.
This is an article idea I had been sitting on for a while. I finally found the motivation to write this while rewatching a number of old anime, including SAO. People seem to think that Solo Leveling is basically this generation’s SAO, and yeah, there is some merit to that idea. But there are certain things I like more about Solo Leveling. But, this article is not about Solo Leveling, I just want to discuss if Sword Art Online was always THAT bad, or well, when did it start getting bad?
Before I start, I want everyone to know that I actually like SAO and I will always be sad about the sheer amount of wasted potential in its story. So welcome back to another article, and today we are talking about whether Sword Art Online was always THAT bad? And yeah, let’s get started.
My Thoughts on SAO
To answer the title of this episode, NO. There was a time when SAO was genuinely awesome. No matter what happens, you will never stop me from glazing the Aincrad arc of SAO. That single arc was so iconic that it popularized a whole new sub-genre of isekai. The “trapped in a game” isekai. There is a reason why I and so many other SAO fans love SAO Progressive. Progressive is what the Aincrad arc should have always been: slow, character-driven, each death has a weight, and each floor cleared comes with a cost.
It seriously drives me mad that we never truly realized the potential of the Aincrad arc in the original anime and instead were made to sit through the Alphiem Online arc. And we got that mediocre ass arc after getting an underwhelming and rushed ending to the Aincrad saga. Seriously, bro, what the hell? The GGO arc after that was FINE, but then the whole 2nd half of Season 2 consisted of filler arcs… I can’t man.
And NO, the Alicization arc is not good either. It started off really strong, don’t get me wrong, but again, the 2nd half was basically like every isekai anime ever. I genuinely believe that if we got the Aincrad arc as it is portrayed in SAO Progressive and the whole series was limited to the Aincrad arc, SAO wouldn’t get nearly as much hate. I think at some point, the author realized it, too. Otherwise, why else would they bother expanding the Aincrad arc so much by releasing Progressive?
And no, I am not blind to the other issues of the series. But again, if SAO was limited to the Aincrad arc, a lot of the future plot holes could’ve been avoided.
That is all for now
As you might have guessed, I like SAO. I don’t like what it became for a while, but Progressive really did reawaken my love for the series. If you have not watched it yet, please go watch SAO Progressive; it is simply awesome. With that said, I will take my leave here. Let me know what you guys though in the comments. I will take my leave here. See ya!
Oh, and hey, the Summer Season is already here, check out our full Summer Season release guide for anime here!
