Sword Art Online Season 1

I know Sword Art Online is not the first anime to take place in an MMO, but its the first one I have watched. I have loved MMO's since my days back in Ultima Online, and to have an anime which takes place in that universe is perfect for me. SAO has had my interest from the beginning, and with season one over, it never disappointed. 

I wish I could draw a comparison from .Hack, because from what I have heard SAO has a similar premise. The next big tech in gaming is here, and its called nerve gear. Nerve Gear is a helmet that a gamer wears, which accesses the players brain and takes full control of the senses, for a complete virtual reality experience. Sword Art Online takes full advantage of this system and is the first MMO to use the technology. The anime starts with gamers anxiously awaiting the launch of this next great thing in gaming.

Things change quickly however once the game launches and players are trying to get comfortable in their new virtual world.  All players are teleported to the main city where the game creator give a speech, revealing his diabolical plot. Everyone who is now in the world is stuck there, until the game is cleared. People can not log out, and if the nerve gear is removed from them from the outside, they will die. Whats worse, is that if you die in SAO, you will also die in real life. 

Boss Battle

The stage is set, and all players are tasked with making a difficult decision; risk your life to clear the game and save everyone, or stay in the safety of the city and hope someone else does. Kirito is the main character,  someone with the privilege of being part of the beta test for SAO, so he quickly becomes one of the most powerful players in the game. As episodes roll on, I love how they integrate aspects and rules of the MMO universe into each dilemma that arises. the story can jump around a bit, and moves forward very quickly, which can be jarring at times, but each episode brings forth its own interesting story, and I enjoyed each and every one.

Kirito with his first guild

The animation was great all the way through, and while the character designs were kind of generic, the environments were beautiful.  As far as music, I think the background tracks were fantastic, really capturing the mood of a fantasy world. 

With season one of Sword Art Online in the books, I can only say that I highly recommend it. I couldn't hold out on the story and read the light novel after a couple episodes. I wish I hadn't to be honest, because I think the anime does a better job with some of the big moments. I'm glad I didn't read past season one, because a couple episodes into season two now, and it looks like its going to continue to be a great show.