Sword Art Online

This should helpfully tell you nothing.

So, after I went to Kentucky to dispose of my uncle's ashes with my family, I went to King's Island with my cousin, Steph (I may have called her Stevie in past posts). While we were walking around, I tried to convince her to watch Baccano!, and she responded by telling me to watch some show called Sword Art Online or SAO.

Well, last time I tried to get her to watch anything, she wanted me to watch Firefly which I refused to do out of pride or silliness or something.  She then refused to watch Doctor Who until I finished Firefly... which was motivation enough for me to know to watch anything she tells me to watch besides the fact that I know Steph has great taste.

What did she tell me about the series?

"It's about... a bunch of people who can't leave a video game until they win it... and then it becomes a love story."

Now, I should warn you that the only videogames I ever really played were Mario Brothers, Mortal Kombat and games like that, The Sims, and Kingdom Hearts. So... I really wasn't sure what she meant by people not being able to leave or log out of a video game.

Sword Art Online is an anime (and manga I haven't read) about a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) which was sold to only 10,000 people in the year 2022. Using something called "Nerve Gear" it puts the players directly in the game. You are you're charcter running around the fantasy world. On November 6, 2022, the 10,000 players log into the game for the first time, includign our hero Kirito... and find out that they cannot log out until someone beats all 100 floors. Also, until that time, anyone who dies in the game, dies in real life. If their family removes the Nerve Gear, they will also die.

Kirito, being one the 1,000 beta testers who tested the game prior to its release, feels he can easily beat the game on his own and free everyone, but he quickly realizes it won't be so easy.  Over the two years the players are trapped in the game, he makes friends, namely with a girl named Asuna.

The second half of the series takes place after they've escaped the game and Kirito discovers that 300 players did not log out with everyone else... including Asuna. So, Kirito goes on a sort of quest to rescue her when he finds out she's trapped in another VRMMORPG.

It's a pretty simple plot, but it's interesting and I rather liked it a lot. Actually, it made me cry and reminded me that I am in fact an emotional female at times which I really try to suppress.

I'm still mad at my cousin for that, but the series as a whole is pretty satisfying even if it appeals to the tho more feminine side of the viewer.