I once again dived into the Anime of the year 2012 voting thread, where SAO somehow finished in the top 15. Of course, no one who actually liked the show posted more than a few words about why they liked it (unique premise, good visuals, ect), and all the people who thought it was terrible really went and explained why.
3. Sword Art Online
A revolution in story telling. The concept it simple, what if you were trapped in a game where you could die. Stripped of all the harmless fun and now forced to battle for survival, the characters throughout the show struggle with harsh moral judgements and often have to question the ethics behind their decisions. Does one leave weaker players behind in order to escape faster or do you stay behind and accept this new life so you life in not danger from battle. Meanwhile you see snapshots of the real world and how people are coping with their loved ones lost in a coma and the police force franticly hunting for the master mind behind this devilish scheme.
This was the best I could find that defended the series, and I don't really remember any "harsh moral judgements" being made, just stupidity.
And then, of course, firehawk12 tells us how he really feels (and really, how I feel as well)
Fuck Japan award: Sword Art Online. This is the worst show ever to have been produced by a culture. Take the solipsism of The Newsroom, the depravity of K-Town or any other reality show of that ilk, and the sad humanity exhibited exhibited in shows like Honey Boo Boo and you'd STILL get a show that is morally, ethically, and spiritually more justifiable than Sword Art Online. The bar has been set so low that I can even see merit in a show like OniAi. Fuck you SAO... just fuck you.
I'm still fascinated by the positive response that the series got. In a lot of cases, when people defend stuff that is utter garbage (Twilight, Final Fantasy 7, Justin Bieber/One Direction, ect), I am able to understand because the majority of these positive opinions come from people who were introduced to these things at a young age, and feel a deep attachment to them because it's the first time in their life that they found something that they like, and that others like as well.
SAO doesn't strike me as something that falls into that same catagory though. It's support doesn't come from the young crowd, as best I can tell.
