There are a lot of anime that have split reception, with many people thinking it's great, and many others calling it mediocre, and sometimes downright awful. Clannad, Hitsugi no Chaika, K-On, you name it. One of the most common trends I see are critics who dislike something, but many dedicated fans who love it. But there is nothing I have ever seen such a massive split on as the simultaneously famous and infamous Sword Art Online. It's either ranging from a 9-10, being one of the best shows the viewer has ever seen, or 3-1, the worst trash to ever leave the bowels of A-1 Pictures. While I'm definitely leaning towards the latter (I gave it a 3 on MyAnimeList), I can completely understand both sides, and it really comes down to what the viewer wants from it.
Sword Art Online aired in 2012, and quickly became a massive phenomenon. It was the huge anime everybody was talking about, much like what Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin in Nipponese) was a while back. Anime conventions had crowds filled with Kirito and Asuna cosplayers, and 10/10 scores were thrown left and right all over MAL as if the show was a masterpiece crafted by the gods themselves. On the other side of the spectrum, critics were panning the show as nothing but awful, the worst thing they had ever seen... Basically, there was a huge line. Either it was amazing or terrible. Said line has since loosened up, but the divide is still there. To understand such a thing, we'll have to look at the show. Keep in mind that this is only my interpretation, based in my opinion.
I'll be leaving out the Fairy Dance arc to simplify things, since it's unanimously disliked.
Sword Art Online's greatest strength, by far, is the way the base entertainment level flows and stays consistent for most of the show. To the average audience, there doesn't seem to be much wrong. What's important to the audience is that they can understand the main character's struggle, and that they can watch them overcome it. They want the essence of a story. Beyond that, the presentation is great, with excellent artwork and a good soundtrack. It's all in a nicely wrapped package, and an easy to access one, too.
More trained eyes, such as writers, more experienced viewers, and most notably critics, were very harsh on this. After all, the main character was a Mary Sue, the only interesting character loses all personality after dating him, and the energy of the story halts as the show becomes a harem, and then suddenly remembers what it was doing just to cut itself short. Why would all these people enjoy something like that?
This kind of mentality leads to flame wars. Lots of flame wars. It's pointless. Everybody is entitled to their own opinions, but when you're at each others' throats, it doesn't really matter what the opinions are anymore, does it? I remember one time telling a friend not to watch the show, since I thought it was bad. By the end, he loved it. We got into an argument, and the only reason was a difference in judgement on a random anime about video games.
More trained eyes, such as writers, more experienced viewers, and most notably critics, were very harsh on this. After all, the main character was a Mary Sue, the only interesting character loses all personality after dating him, and the energy of the story halts as the show becomes a harem, and then suddenly remembers what it was doing just to cut itself short. Why would all these people enjoy something like that?
This kind of mentality leads to flame wars. Lots of flame wars. It's pointless. Everybody is entitled to their own opinions, but when you're at each others' throats, it doesn't really matter what the opinions are anymore, does it? I remember one time telling a friend not to watch the show, since I thought it was bad. By the end, he loved it. We got into an argument, and the only reason was a difference in judgement on a random anime about video games.
Some call this man a saint, others a false prophet.
Really, what everybody should take away from this is that some people have different values than others, and that's okay. If one person likes something most people hate, that just means they have something else to enjoy. Of course, discussing differing opinions is fine. Flinging insults is my favorite passtime, after all. But maybe we shouldn't draw such a huge line in the sand. This is a Japanese cartoon we're talking about, after all.
:^)
Well, now that I've pissed everybody off, this is your captain, signing off.
:^)
Well, now that I've pissed everybody off, this is your captain, signing off.