Sword Art Online Episode 1

Oh this show…I’ve been anticipating it like crazy. This first episode just acts as a setup of situation: Creator of the VR game Sword Art Online traps its players in the game. The only way to get out is to beat the game and death is permanent. Our main character Kirito is a player from the beta with a good sense of the game.

I’d say the main reason I anticipated this anime was that I liked the game…it’s a skill-based MMORPG (I say skill-based because you have to actually perform the correct motions to attack) that has no magic. Seriously…mages ruin games for me. In addition to this, I’m a big fan of the .hack series, so the similar concept has me excited.

The opening song is a very nice song done by LiSA (who did the first Fate/Zero opening)…I look forward to hearing the full version of that. I think in the manga chapters I read, the NerveGear had an EMP in it, and the anime has a microwave. Theoretically, an EMP shouldn’t be able to affect the brain (I won’t bore you with the scientific details), so I think this is a good change.

If I had to point out something annoying, I’d say the fact that the attack animation for both strikes in this episode were simple horizontal slashes. But that could just be because they were level 1…as long as that doesn’t remain the case, I think we should be fine. I have high hopes for this show…