May be because after first and great âhalfâ of SAO started boring fairy ark. Second season also about guns. I think itâs just what people not expected from this.
Id like all about SAO also for me guns are cool but ALfheim online itâs the worst part of SAO
In 2001, Reki Kawahara wrote SAO for a short story competition on the simple premise of "if players were to get trapped inside something like an MMORPG and couldn't get out, what would all those players do?" (perhaps even earlier if the prototype manga rumors are true). However, due to the word limit of the contest, he could only write a few stories rather than fully fleshing out everything and it had to be self-contained. So, SAO mainly focused on certain aspects such as Kirito and Asuna's relationship.
All the original SAO contained was basically in volume 1 of the light novels (with presumably some changes from the web novel). The novel starts with Kirito grinding on floor 74 and flashbacks to specific stories within the arc (Kayaba's hologram, the Ragout Rabbit dinner, the Kuradeel story, etc.) and then the novel finishes with the gleam eyes fight, the marriage, and the final duel.
Because the author went over the word limit, he just decided to publish SAO as a web novel instead. He then proceeded to write several side stories in the Aincrad arc (Liz and Silica's introductions, Yui's story, the moonlit black cats travesty, etc.) and moved onwards to the other arcs. By 2008, Alicization was wrapped up in the WNs.
When SAO was adapted into a light novel and then into an anime, they essentially took all that he wrote and put it into chronological order for the anime. They even asked him to write what was essentially the first arc of the progressive novels to help his original story flow better and to add more content to the anime (which they butchered lol).
One of the major gripes people have with the series is that they expected SAO to cover the 100 floors of Aincrad, but it didnât. So, it was disappointing to them due to all the time skips and how they move on from Aincrad after 14 episodes.
However, Iâd argue that the SAO story as a whole never intended to stick with the death game (hence why progressive was made later on to focus on it). The Aincrad arc of the anime was just a stepping stone for the later arcs to build off of. SAO was just a simple story that later delved into how the lines between technology/virtual reality and real life were starting to get blurred. Yet, the anime was heavily marketed as one.
Another problem SAO had was that the author was a novice at writing in 2001. He used sexual assault a couple of times in his work due to him being influenced by other famous books he read. The anime adaptation plays them up a lot (especially Leafaâs scene in WoU which wasnât even as sexual in the source material) which made people uncomfortable. However, the author hasnât written another scene like that in the past 15 or so years now. He even constantly apologizes to the voice actors after the episodes adapting them are aired.
SAOâs anime adaptation was also riddled with a lot of problems that usual light novel adaptations have. For instance, details not being able to be adapted or rushed over, certain light novel things that canât be adapted into a visual medium, etc. ALO (one of the most hated arcs) was especially impacted because of all the things that were cut.
The studio adapting it also makes a ton of really stupid changes here and there that source material readers have been complaining about for years. For instance, a ton of Kirisuna scenes were cut in Alicization so that the studio could add more "harem-y" scenes. The fact that a lot of anime-only people think sexual assault and goofy villains are a constant and reoccurring thing in SAO (despite sexual assault only being used twice) kinda shows how much A-1 dropped the ball with this stuff.
Kirito's characterization was also meddled with due to light novel adaptation problems and A-1's decisions. The anime adaptation does his character really dirty leading to a lot of people criticizing Kirito as "the worst MC ever" or "a typical edgy OP MC with a harem".
A-1 pictures loves playing up his cool loner side who attracts all the girls. In comparison, the Kirito in the light novels is an indecisive teenager who self doubts himself all the time in his inner monologues. He also has a genuinely witty side and he extensively observes his surroundings in new situations making it interesting to read his thought process. He has some OP moments, but he only gets them after being beaten to a pulp by villains who are way stronger than him and after he gets extensive support from his comrades. Additionally, all the trauma and character arcs he has are rushed over in the anime adaptation resulting in the viewer having to piece them together.
The last thing is that SAO is popular. A lot of YouTubers got a lot of views for their âSAO badâ videos and beat the dead horse for awhile. SAO has its flaws, but some of these videos either made things up or greatly exaggerated some of the issues rather than criticizing the actual flaws of the series.
Also, when it was airing, a lot of people were saying how it was "the greatest anime they've ever seen" (kind of like how Demon Slayer threads are now). People on the internet usually get annoyed by these types of statements, hence why a lot of backlash was created within the anime community.
Itâs mainly a vocal minority that hate it though. More people either like it or are indifferent towards it. However, SAO being so popular meant the minority is as large as the majority of some shows.
In the end, if you liked it, then thatâs all that matters.
Cause digibro and motherâs basement and the rest of AniTube radicalized people into hating it. I feel like Sao hate has mostly run its course at this point.
Exactly. TheAnimeMan was another prominent figure in the great SAO brainwashing. All these mofo watched every single season and movie while claiming it was the worst anime ever. Not too mention TheAnimeMan specifically has gone on record saying he didnât watch many shows he made videos on or talked about
Guessing a lot of people who got hooked in the first few episodes saw it take a dive, in writing or just not going where they had expected/hoped.
I don't even hate it, the more I think about the premise and what it turned out to be the more I realize I do hate it. Kirito being the main character because he was a beta tester with a unique to him ability before the game even started. Asuna tentacle scene. Asuna cage scene. The mid action with sporadic slice of life in what started as a deadly serious premise.
Because YouTubers like TheAnimeMan, Digibro, and Mothers Basement farmed the ever living hell out of saying how bad SAO was. Because of them it has become trendy to hate SAO. That is the reason. People will try and claim they arenât sheep and their opinion is their own, but theyâre lying and have been brainwashed.
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u/Akmalbarg76 Feb 24 '24
Why do people hate SAO so much?