Why Do So Many People Love SAO? - The Art of Mass Appeal 

Important information - my haiir in this video can be explained by the hat I wore in this one ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LmRfmJqE0kM.html

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I liked Asuna for being a believable woman who can actually take care of herself while also having a flirty relationship with the main protagonist that isn't characterized by being over the top aggressive or passionate. It felt more realistic than most other popular anime. Then Fairy Dance happened.

To be honest, i really like the premise of the first half of season 1. The fact that they were trapped in a killer game and thier attempts to get out was compelling. I liked seeing them adjust to the new life, some being broken, others finding sometimes a better life. There was always an underlining feeling of doom, like eventually you're luck would run out. Then they shit on that and made wierd elf rape land.

Honestly I just like imagining if I was in SAO

I imagine Geoff has a glass case labeled "break in case of emergency" on his wall, containing a stack of papers listing Sword Art Online video ideas

"We all liked sao at some point. For some it was their first, for others it was a push deeper into anime."~Albert Einstein (probably)

Kirito and asuna getting together early was THE ONLY THING that kept me watching 100% That and the fact that I love Asuna (*sigh* at how they broke her later on)

I wish the actual SAO death game was spread out into multiple seasons so we could explore the characters and their psychology more.

"Casual anime fan who has only seen a FEW DOZEN series" O_O

When you haven't paid this months rent.

Kayaba: This is a death game Asuna: Ok lemme just max out my cooking skill...

"Hence I'm a professional shi..." ad plays "...tbag"

Had a talk with a friend who's first anime was SAO the other day. he told me that one of the biggest upsides to having SAO be his first was that anime in general only got better from there on, so there's that.

"And with the Hunger Games phenomenon just starting to catch fire" puns ... puns everywhere!

I’ve gone through kind of a weird relationship with SAO where I went from “HELL YEAH” to “this sucks actually let’s watch 10 billion RU-vid videos about why it sucks” to “eh I don’t really care one way or another” to “watching people tear things apart is pretty fun but I do have some genuine nostalgia for this series simply because of how much I liked it when I first saw it”

Just imagine how many people would die after asking their friends “Does this game have fall damage?”

6:15 "casual anime fan" "a few dozen series"

"Why is SAO so good?" "Because it helped funding Crunchyroll."

I've always thought it was strange that Asuna didn't look like Skeletor when she woke up. Kirito did, and it makes sense that after literally no exercise and living of an IV for two and a half years, someone would look a bit like Kirito after waking up. I guess they just didn't want pictures of slightly less attractive Asuna floating around.

SAO was the first anime I had ever seen and I frickin loved it. It appealed to everything I liked in a story, and I couldn’t get enough of it. Coming back to it I’m realizing it’s major character flaws, that it was poorly written, and that it’s disappointing that the potential the show had wasn’t fulfilled. But hell I’m rewatching that shit after seeing this video

Sword Art Online is like your first girlfriend. Everything started out great, you fell in love and the first months were amazing. Halfway through the relationship, things start getting weird, both of you start having some fights but still manage to stay together. There are a few setbacks, but after talking about it things feel better. But suddenly, some unresolved issues come and you start fighting again. You both no longer feel in love, and end up breaking up. A couple of months pass and you never talked again, as it is probably the best thing to do. The following year, you get in another relationship. You check your facebook after a long time of not using it and see that she also now is in a new relationahip. You drift into a small nostalgia trip, and embrace the happy memories you both shared. And after all, you feel happy for her, because both of you managed to move forward, and you bear no resentment.

Bold exclamation: check Sword art online: check Game theory green: check Giant letters: check All systems set, get ready for RU-vid moneys

I like your assessment, to be honest the whole show should have ended on kirito waking up in the hospital, whenever I rewatch this show I stop there and move on.

I will always like SAO. Not because it's well made or original, but because it was a true gateway into anime for me. Thanks, in part, to it not being very unique, it was show that provided a very easy look at the tropes I could expect from anime, and a simplistic overview of Japanese culture that I otherwise didn't understand

Yes please make a "Why we love FMA" video.

*"casual anime fan that's just watched a couple dozen shows"* I've watched about a dozen total and I'm considered by a lot around me to be an anime nerd.

19:53 I totally agree with you as I was one of those people. SAO was one of the first anime I ever watched and I thought it was great. I recently watched its latest season and I despised it. It is a great introductory anime but if you’re more experienced in the world of anime then it will just annoy you.

I love this show, I loved the first half of the 1st season. But I wasn’t very satisfied with the Alfheim arc either. In the second season, I loved the gun gale arc, but again, I hated the Alfheim arc. So far, I’m loving Alicization

Why I liked it: - One of my first animes - Likeable cast of characters - Visually pleasing art style on an action anime (which is oddly hard to find) - Okay storyline, was interesting and as someone who hadn’t watched much anything before, it was new to me.

You've got a damn good point about the direction here. I went into it a little bit on Twitter, but there are a few great cuts that the Abridged Series left out that detracted a bit from its quality. Like how, right after Kirito uses his dual wielding skill for the first time and goes unconscious, he initially sees Sachi for a second while he's waking up before he realizes it's Asuna. That was a seriously great cut, even if the whole story with Sachi fell a bit flat. Really upset it was left out of Abridged. I've also been trying to figure out why people think the fights in SAO are good, and you're right, the stellar backing track definitely makes a huge difference.

12:51 God I remember the Abridged version of that scene and nearly spat out my drink.

*Clears throat* "COFFEE, SODA, COFFEE PASTA, COFFEE SODA, GIVE ME COFFEE!"

Dude I'm down for any sort of video on FMA

one "Why we love JoJo" video please

Seeing Yuki Kajiura being praised here gives me so much joy omg 😭

I love SAO, it was my first anime. I like the graphics, the fight scenes, and some of the characters (Leafa can go step on a lego), but I gotta admit, Kirito can be seriously over powdered at times. Like in War of Underworld, where he deflects a dagger with his "will power" while being in a comatose state. Tbh, I think it was pure bs, but I keep watching it because I wanna see more of Alice being a badass, and I also wanna see Asuna and Sinon join in on the action.

say what you will about this being another SAO video but, Geoff always brings something new to the convo, not just recycled arguments and nitpicks

Kirito has a fidget spinner on his chest. Time to kms

"All the key characters have plot armor" _cries in Sachi_

If only SAO centered its plot more on Aincrad, the struggles of Kirito, Asuna and everyone else as they try to climb every floor all while coping with the fact that they're in a virtual world.

SAO is a candy anime for me. I know it's not great, I know Kirito can be bland as hell at times. It's kinda like liking even the bad episodes in a show I love. It's dumb, but I like it. Also it's nice to see a guy surrounded by girls who want him but DOESN'T turn it into the whole "oh no who will I choose" thing. No, be goes 'that's my wife' and while the other girls are into him he's not a cheating cad. So ya know, there's that.

"There's value in being able to turn your brain off." Then the video buffers for me. Timing.

The romance part and appreciating what you have was the only thing that stuck with me. When Kirito is relaxing despite his situation and saying “it’s a beautiful day in Eincrad” whatever life any of you are living in, try to appreciate the small things you have and the people around you. There will always be beautiful days to experience

I liked SAO, it was easy to feel that the characters there goals and personality’s where real and just enjoy them.

Finally speaking the truth : "You don't have shit taste or stupid for liking SAO..." Hope those haters could realize this easy fact.

this entire review was done at gunpoint

SAO was the second anime I ever watched (not counting Pokemon) and still one of my favorites

That ad transition though. 10/10 for smooth as silk.

SAO is fun in a popcorn action flick sort of way.

I would like to see a Why We Like on FMA. Sounds fun.

Imagine a world in which SAO was actually like GoT and Kirito getting killed shortly after his commitment to Asuna. That could have been one of the most critically acclaimed Anime of all time.

Yeah, this anime was one of my firsts and I used to really like it. I didn't enjoy Fairy Dance because I thought it was too cloying. I kept watching because they hit me with the emotional investment, but the point where I quit was the end of the first half of season one. One of the things that kept me watching was wanting to know why the villain did what he did. I wanted to know what kind of person would trap thousands of total strangers in a death world and watch the population slowly dwindle from within the said world. When I heard him say that he didn't even remember why he did that I almost screamed. I tried to watch the next episode but didn't get far into the rest of the season because I couldn't enjoy the story anymore. Not only did I feel betrayed, but a lot of the problems with the show became more apparent after that massive disappointment. I will say I'm still grateful for the joy it sparked back then, but I do mourn the lost potential of a truly fantastic story.

I wonder if they scrapped the fairy arc and made asuna stuck in the 100th floor or different floor of SAO would have been a better way to end it. That arc and lack of development and use of SAO killed it for me. Why make a new game when you have a great game already.

time for some more... *Ｅ　Ａ　Ｓ　Ｙ　Ｍ　Ｏ　Ｎ　Ｅ　Ｙ*

Tbh, I love SAO for the emotions I always feel when watching it, and for characters. Yes, Idc that Kirito is op he is my fav along with others. I just interpret it in some way that is makes me think it's a really beautiful anime/light novel, I feel really close-knit with this series. And I know, it's not perfect, but I actually love that fact, I mean, nothing can be perfect, but you can still love it... Right?

SAO was my first anime so it definitely did hit that 2nd point and since it was my first anime, it became one of my favorites, even after I’ve seen so many animes now. It really opened me up to anime and it gives me nostalgia even though I watched it not that long ago.

9 minutes into the video: "F it! Time to watch SAO again!"

1. great soundtrack 2. it came out at the perfect time 3. action scenes

This video really brought back a lot of my first impressions from when I watched the show, I was new to the anime community, I'd only seen a couple of other anime; Naruto, Tokyo Mew Mew, and the first season of Sailor Moon. So when I clicked into Sao on crunchyroll it really was something new and different that I'd never seen before. The genre jumping of the different episodes always brought something fresh to the table, and Kirito's character arc of opening up to other people and the set backs he faces with that were interesting! The animation of the world of sao WAS beautiful and engaging in it's own unique way. The fact that Asuna was her own person with her own personal reasons for fighting the good fight in order to get home was incredibly cool and the fact that she goes about it in a different (but equally valid) way to kirito made me love her character and want to see more of her and of their dynamic with them bouncing off each other every time it happened: Kirito's character always shone most around Asuna as opposed to the other side characters imo as she contrasted his more pessimistic traits while also highlighting that there was more to him than that in how he immediately notices when she's feeling vulnerable and supports her, she solved the blandness problem. And the overall plot WAS a great overarching goal to look forward to. For me the series went off the deep end towards the end in a big way, Yui while cute enough to roll with for the most part, was random and weird, when it came to fantasy wish fulfilment a sudden full grown child to be responsible for in the midst of a death game seemed an incredibly weird curveball to throw at us. The fact that she appeared to be about the same age as another female character that had expressed romantic interest in kirito earlier on in the series... made it weirder, and the final revelation that she was an AI when previous mention of AI that advanced and human was absolutely zero, was deus ex machina enough to make me drop what little interest in her I had. When she was gone into Asuna's necklace at the end of the episode I was relieved. But the fact that the show has such a useful tool of genre hopping as this video pointed out, made it okay for me because i knew the next episode could be something I liked. In the end I think what disappointed me most about the series was the ending of the sao game, I was so hooked to find out why, just why the game creator had done this to all these people, what dream could have possibly motivated THIS and then to find out that he'd... forgotten? Ugh it made me so mad! And then they're restored to reality only to find out that heyyy asuna's still awol, even after all that. I enjoyed aspects of fairyland especially Kirito's mad struggle in a real fight for once out of game in reality that had such high tension. And gungale was Excellent, apart from kirito's big focal ptsd triggering event that didn't actually happen and the sudden? struggle with killing even though he's always been ready to cut a bitch? But the ending left me feeling like there was no point remaining invested in Kirito and Asuna anymore because it would just be round after round of the same thing but in different games with a new side character for the harem every once in a while. So it lost its lustre for me in the end and I lost all interest, but it's really nice to remember why i liked it in the first place so thank you for bringing this back to me @Mother's Basement !

SAO hit a sweet spot for me in 2016, when I was going through the worst period of my life, I wanted this. I wanted to be in this world. I wanted to be someone that could do all these amazing things I can't do in the real world. So I suppose I grasped onto the premise more than the actual story/writing due to my fixation to be in this world.

I will fully admit to SAO being a completely horrible anime in most aspects, to the point where I couldn't try to defend it even if I wanted to, but I'm just the type of guy that likes to turn his brain off and watch an overpowered character get himself a harem

I really liked SAO when I was watching it as it first came out and I had already seen lots of anime by that point yet it still seemed like a novelty to me for whatever reason. That said, after rewatching it by binge-watching it, it definitely isn't as good or as thrilling as I remember. However, I will always love the cute love story between Kirito and Asuna, I just wish they didn't cheapen it by throwing girls at Kirito all the time ^^;

Just a quick comment: I love Baby Steps, and I think the way the relationship develops is one of the nicest and most natural feeling I’ve seen in an anime. I’m sad that it’s not on Crunchyroll anymore.

I had an online friend who would watch any anime, he didn’t like anything that came out until he saw SAO. He went from calling anime stupid to watching it with me. We don’t talk anymore other than a few sentences but his pfp is an anime girl and two of the five conversations were about anime lol

I'm a hobby game designer. SAO (or more accurately, the nervegear) is the holy grail when it comes to gaming hardware. I agree with every single piece of criticism I've heard so far. The show is horrendously flawed, in so many aspects, but to me, the visuals and premise during the first arc (rapey fairytale arc, not so much) was enough for me to simply imagine gameplay and stuff that actually worked. I used the analytical aspects of game design to fix the flaws in that area during watching, which blinded me to the narrative flaws since I couldn't focus on that while doing game design thinking. Overall, it provided enough for me to have an enjoyable experience. After watching a bunch of reviews, I can't rewatch it. The flaws are spelled out, the game design aspect can't keep me distracted, I can't enjoy it. SAO abridged is amazing though, I've rewatched that several times, and it's pure genius.

You pretty much nailed why I loved the SAO arc. I despize the aflheim arc with the power of a thousand suns but if I let a horrible sequel/arc/episode/plot twist fully ruin a story I loved for me, I'd prety much be out of most of my favs. So I instead reject canon past a certain point and keep what works. Headcanons are my jam. :3

Thank you for bringing up the music, I think that's such a huge part. There are a lot of reasons I liked this series that don't hold up under further scrutiny, but I always felt like it was a blast to watch, especially the action - I realize now how much a the music was part of that feeling.

It was my first anime so as he says it felt really nice and clean and it was easy to connect to the characters. It will always hold a place in my heart even though I’ve seen ones that are much better now.

one thing people don't realize is that sword art online was originally a one shot story and that half the episodes are side stories from volume 2 . this is why the stories pacing is the way it is and why the plot is the way it is. I encourage people to read volume 1 and decide for themselves. However anything after season 1 is fair game to gripe about.

I agree with your assessment. I watched SAO in 2014 when I was first getting into Anime because I liked the idea and started watching it just for entertainment at like 3 AM. I genuinely enjoyed every season, every episode, everything because I was invested in the characters and didn’t know better. And I liked Kirito and Asuna’s relationship and I liked her independence. I didn’t complain about most of the ALO arc because I felt Asuna was still TRYING to be independent and defiant in the ways she could while trapped. I was FURIOUS at the rape scene, but I thought that was it’s point, to make us mad so we understood why Kirito did what he did. Looking back now I know better, but that’s why I liked it. And sometimes I’ll still go back and watch GGO because I like the world and I liked Sinon. Also the animation was beautiful to me and I felt the stakes were pretty high. I plan to check out Ordinal Scale when I have the time, but I do recognize that SAO is fundamentally flawed and kinda sucks most of the time. I’m just still invested in the characters and premise somehow.

Thank you for breaking this down! I knew the animation and main relationship kept me hooked despite the probs, but the points about the timeliness of the lethality of the premise and the direction really filled out that picture.

I loved this video. Summed up my feelings entirely. You should do more of these videos!

The best thing SAO did is be the source material for one hell of an abridged parody

You can tell Geoff is really trying to say good things about SAO. This is a knew kind of torture for him

Quick question If in the future a "full dive system" was created and a game like SAO was made for it would you play it.

You were bang on in this video, especially with the ending bit about the characters.

I think another aspect of SAO is it's a great anime for couples who play video games together. My wife and I have been playing games together since we met 14 years ago and we've watched a few anime shows as well but nothing really grabbed us as hard as SAO because we finally saw a couple that reflected us. 2 people who met through a game and found that gaming strengthened their bonds to each other by building a mutual culture that worked as a foundation for the entire identity of their relationship.

Videos I want out of this new format: Why do we love FMA Why do we love JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Why do we love Mob Psycho 100 Why do we love Berserk (The manga)

After watching this I realized that the success, failures, popularity, love for, and hate of SAO and Twilight (both of which I love, and both of which I quite vocally criticize sometimes) are remarkably similar. There's so many logical and pacing issues with both, and then I think the massive popularity fueled the massive hate in turn. But the committed, monogamous romantic relationship drives both stories, and they both succeed at appealing to the emotions and entertainment factor in readers/viewers. I personally think the last book and two movies of the Twilight films were the best/strongest, and those both go over the events of the main character's lives after their wedding. And I personally watched SAO in the first place because I loved Kirito and Asuna so much in the abridged series and wanted to see more of them. Anyway, I was just surprised to see how true so much of what you say about SAO applies to Twilight as well, including the premise and timing in the teen book market at the time.

SAO ends at episode 15 PERIOD.

It's nice to have someone who is actually talking about the positives of a show instead of just yelling and complaining and listing everything that is wrong with a show.

How many SAO videos can you make in the frozen time, Geoff?

I always think you're right about what you say but I can never notice these things myself

I'm really surprised at the sheer number of points you got right about my relationship with this anime ! I know this video is a little old, but congrats on that ! It feels really great when influential people get how you're feeling and why you're feeling that way-

Loved the first twelve episodes. Than it got slow and tedious and then the rape thing made me quit the show. I'd love to see an FMA analysis

Great assessment. Hope you continue this brand of analysis

"And you can freeze on almost any frame and use it as a pretty decent wallpaper" *Proceeds to show a scene of a girl covering herself from an up-skirt view*

this is exactly why i dont rewatch certain anime, some of them are just a thing to fill time as you shut your brain off and go through some fun bad-ass action thats why i like SAO

Oi whats this guy's email? I wanna send him death threats for calling me stupid for sending him death threats

I stayed with this show for a VERY long time mostly on the strength of loving Asuna and enjoying her relationship with Kirito.

The first anime I ever watched was sword art online.I was around 7 at the time and it just showed up on a kids channel at about 10pm which was the one night I stayed up and I was hooked on anime ver since. As much as I know that sao is far from good it holds a special place in my heart.

The only reason why I like SAO is that it gave us the far superior abridged series

People can enjoy Sao all they want. We all have different tastes. And I'm glad their are some people out there who can enjoy something I can't. For me personally the whole Kirito thing broke me. He doesn't need all those girls that worship him. For me its kind of overplayed at this point.

This is actually a really interesting dive into the show and what makes it likeable! I am certainly part of the group that likes the show, and I'm fairly certain that's almost exclusively because it was the one that introduced me to the world of anime. One of these days I'd like to hear you cover the 4th arc though, as I've not heard anyone talk about despite it taking up half of season 2.

Sao was my childhood anime, thats the reason why i love it. It just feels nostalgic everytime i hear crossing field.

Most people I talk to liked the first season but fell off once everyone turned to elves.

People need to understand that there is nothing wrong with enjoying something as shitty as SAO, I enjoy Adam Sandler movies, yes, I am well aware that they're pure trash, but that doesn't stop me from liking it

This was the second anime I ever saw, and I absolutely loved it... right up until Yui died. I think I’d gotten really invested in Asuna and Kirito forming a happy little family, despite the whole situation being absolutely horrible. Then their adopted little girl died a confusion and fairly pointless death, despite being revealed as almost a god. After that I started noticing all the various plot holes and disappointments, and even if I don’t hate it with the vitriol some others do, it’s still annoying.

This was an interesting video! The part about it being many people’s first anime’s and having it come at the right part of their lives struck especially true for me! SAO was my first anime when I was in the 5th grade. While I never watched gungale and the fairy dance arc lost me. Even five years later I do my best to defend the aincrad arc (somewhat embarrassingly) to my friends.