"In this world, a single blade can take you anywhere."
FULL EPISODE SPOILERS AHEAD
Welcome to Sword Art Online! In case you didn't know and stumbled upon this via social media and/or random Google searches (tryna get them Swagbucks, aren't you?), I'll fill you in on what's going down for the next forty-nine days:
Everyday from now until...fifty days from now...I'll be reviewing one episode of Sword Art Online a day to commemorate the end of the second season. And to help fill the gap in time between now and Season 3, since there is no formal announcement of that. I've always wanted to do episode-by-episode reviews of a show, and this felt like the right one to do that on, since this is one of my favorite shows.
Having said that, you might think there's gonna be a bias. And there is. This is a review, with my own opinions. Still, there are some glaring mistakes that are made throughout the show that I'll bring to light and I don't mind doing so. In order to appreciate what's truly great about a show, sometimes means you have to acknowledge its faults.
With the formalities out of the way, though, let's begin with the very first episode: "The World of Swords."
The episode starts with some narration about how the show takes place in the year 2022 where virtual reality gaming is pretty much at its peak, and how people have lined up for days for this one game, "Sword Art Online." We see a young man reading a magazine, particularly an article about the game's creator, Akihiko Kaiyaba.
When the clock strikes one, he jumps into the game and we see a pretty cool segue into how he enters the game. It shows us that his fives senses are working and that all his other systems check out. I mean, it makes sense. From what we learn in a few minutes, all five senses have to be there in order for them to properly play the game.
He enters the world, Aincrad, and meets Klein, a clumsy new player. Our protagonist, Kirito, was actually one of the lucky thousand around the world to play the game in its Beta-stage (so, for those unaware, he got to play it before everyone else to make sure everything worked). He teaches Klein the "Sword Skills," which are basically high-powered attacks all players are capable of.
Here is where we get to see the beginning of the wonderful animation in store for us. Unlike what most anime would do for the monsters or animals, or heck even the players and their attacks, there is very little CGI used here. Instead, everything is all "2-D" I suppose you could say, but it's all very vibrant. The colors and textures are what stand out the most. The thing that impresses me most, and actually does so throughout the show, is how they are able to animate the sunset. Once the two are done training, Kirito and Klein hang out hill-side to discuss joining an in-game party.
Before them is a marvelous sunset that makes you forget that they're in a videogame. Of course, that may also be because the animation style does not change between real-life and in-game, but, what're you gonna do? It'd be too drastic a change, something akin to Code Lyoko. Still, the sunset animation is very impressive. Not only that, but we get to see the fluidity of the action in store, and there are some pretty cool shots that follow the player around. It's like something you would only see out of a movie.
Something strange occurs when Klein tries to log-out. Well, the problem is there is no log-out button. The two are suddenly teleported to the first town they were in, and there, along with most of the other 10,000 players that logged in, are greeted by a giant man whose face is covered by a red cloak. That man, of course, being Tokiomi Tohsaka...er, I mean Akihiko Kaiyaba.
Oh yeah, I'm watching Season 1 in the English Dub. Haters gonna hate.
There, Kaiyaba explains to everyone that the game has been suddenly changed to no longer feature a log-out button, so there is no way for a player to escape the game. Also, the attempt at trying to take off the Nervegear, which allows the players to go into the game, is futile, as taking it off will set off a microwave emitter that will fry a person's brain, ending their life.
There would be a glaring plot-hole there in that the people living with the player can simply unplug the Nervegear; however, the Nervegear has an internal battery. Of course it does. And if that battery dies, guess what happens?!
Well, I don't actually know because that never happens. But I would assume it's equivalent to taking off the Nervegear.
Kaiyaba, before he leaves, changes all the players from their new avatars back to what they look like in real-life. So if a dude was playing as a girl, they now look just like they do in the real-world. Which, as we see briefly, is slightly awkward. He then explains the catch that most people know about the show: if you die in the game, you die in real life (thanks to the microwaves frying your brain). He also shows them that 213 people have died already, just to add a sense of weight to the situation. Thanks, pal.
An interesting thing to note that I'm sure most don't notice their first time around: when Kaiyaba pulls up his own menu, his log-out button is missing. Which means he too is stuck in the game. Hmm...
Klein and Kirito escape the town before the mob turns into a frenzy, and Kirito asks Klein to go with him. Klein declines (ha, that rhymes...and so did that...ergh), and the two decide to stay allies as Kirito heads off to start the game, swearing to survive, to defeat Kaiyaba, and make it back home. We get another sunset shot as Kirito takes down a wolf while the famous Sword Art Online song "Swordland" plays in the background, and we see our opening, which I will get into more tomorrow.
Overall, this is a great first-episode. It explains everything we need to know about the game, as well as introduces us to our protagonist and what his motivation for the series will be. We also get our comic relief, which is cool, in the form of Klein. Our main villain is put on display, and he brings with him the definitive fear a main villain is meant to bring with him. The episode hammers home that if you die in the game, you're really dead, as a post-credits scene ominously tells us that 2,000 players have fallen...and Floor 1 has yet to be cleared after just two months.
See you tomorrow in "Beater."
Also follow my other blog where I talk about a bunch of other stuff at wordofsean.blogspot.com, and follow me on Twitter @seanovan13.
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