Why did Sword Art Online do THAT?

Sword Art Online (SAO) was one of the first animes I have watched. I can say that I really enjoyed the first season of the anime. In the first season, the anime takes place in a new VR-MMORPG game called "Sword Art Online". To play this game, you use a headset called NerveGear so the player can be immersed in the world of SAO. The main character's name is Kazuto, but his gamer tag is Kirito. Later, (and this is not a spoiler), the players are stuck and cannot leave SAO. They soon realize they are stuck in a virtual world where death is REAL. For example, if you jumped off a building in SAO your NerveGear would be triggered and emit a signal that was powerful enough to fry your brain.  Now, what is so wrong with this anime? Let me explain.

First, SAO resembles an action-packed, fighting, futuristic, and adventure anime. If you start to watch the anime in all of the seasons, you realize that the plot is very consistent and fluid. It isn't boring, but then all these girls are gushing over Kirito. In almost every season, a girl is impressed by Kirito's skills as a player and soon has a crush on him. In my opinion, when I was watching SAO, I was expecting all fighting and solving the conflict at hand. Instead, in almost every season there is a scene or episode filler of Kirito expanding his harem. They did not engage in any inappropriate manners, but it was weird knowing Kirito has all these girls who were "simping" for him, while they were stuck in a game where they could possibly die.

(The next part has a slight spoiler)

Second, season two of SAO was interesting but boring. What I mean by that is, it felt like a repeat of season one but with different elements. Season 2 was when Kirito and all his friends had escaped SAO, except the girlfriend, Asuna, whom he met in SAO. She was stuck in another game called, Alheim Online. Alheim Online was very similar where it revolved around fairies and its' different races in the world with a fighting aspect. Later we learn that Kirito is getting help from his cousin, Suguha, to find Asuna. During this time, Suguha remembers her feelings toward Kirito, and that she loves him romantically. This is why I slowly stopped watching SAO, they may be cousins, and may not be considered "incest", but it was definitely uncomfortable watching it from that point on.

SAO is a really good anime that definitely had a good element of fighting, but it also had an element of harems and incest which I was very uncomfortable watching from that point on. If those elements were not included/emphasized in the anime then it would have been very engaging for me, in my opinion.

My Critique of Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan takes place in a world that is surrounded by walls. These walls have layers with the outer wall being Wall Maria, the middle wall being Wall Rose, and then the inner wall is named Wall Sina. These walls have protected the civilization from enormous giants known as Titans who feast on people. Suddenly, Wall Maria is infiltrated by a titan, letting in many other Titans into the civilization within Wall Maria where they eat many people. The main character is Eren Yeager who joins the army out of anger towards these Titans who had eaten his mom during the infiltration of Titans in Wall Maria.

After watching Attack on Titan up to season 4, I can say that it is a wonderful, action-packed anime. This anime does have the elements of "The Hero's Journey" where we follow Eren Yeager from his weak heroic state to a strong fighting character that will do anything to eliminate any Titan. One reason I like this anime so much because it does not have any fillers. The story is straight to the point and does not leave its viewer in a state of boredom. The episodes are not long and are easy to digest for the viewer to follow along and still remember events that were from the last episode.

I think that Attack on Titan should have made a love interest within the anime more clear. There are many times throughout the story that it was confusing who was the love interest, and to this point, I still do not know who it is, but I do have my suspicions of who it could be.

This anime and its strong character development with not only Eren Yeager, but also the supporting characters. These characters made the story interesting and helped make Eren Yeager into a strong person. I certainly agree that small events in the story should have been made more clear, but maybe that is the point, for the reader to wonder. Nonetheless, Attack on Titan is a great anime that will have you at the edge of your seat.