Sword Art Online Part 1   Starring (voice): Haruka Tomatsu, Kanae Itō, Kouichi Yamadera and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka Distributor: Manga Entertainment RRP: £19.99 MANG5327 Certificate: 15 Release Date: 16 December 2013

Imagine that a genius has created the ultimate virtual reality MMORPG, so real that your whole being is immersed in the game. Imagine then, that having found yourself in the game you couldn’t get out and the only way to escape is to win the game. Failure to win means deletion from the game and death in the real world...

Sword Art Online: Part 1 (2011) is an anime show, directed by Tomohiko Ito. The show was an adaptation of a light novel written by Reki Kawahara. The story is presented on a single disc containing seven of the twenty-five episodes and that does not account for the specials, making it quite an expensive show to collect.

Our protagonist is one Kirito, a young man who was one of the original beta testers, a standing which often causes him problems once the story commences. He befriends a mysterious young girl, Asuna, who works as both love interest and battle companion. Together they have to survive the two years that it will take the game to run. Although, along the way they will find both friendship and conflict with their fellow players, the real antagonist of the game is its creator, Kayaba Akihiko, who for reasons of his own has trapped the teenagers in the game.

It’s a great concept which doesn’t really make the most of the flawed premise. It is difficult to see how one man could both write the game, design helmets which would microwave your brain; if you attempt to leave or die in the game, let alone actually market such a device. Nor is there any real explanation as to how the immobile players are not going to starve to death before they complete a two year game.

When presented with a tower game and all the potential to live out your fantasies, it’s surprising how mundane the participant’s aspirations really are. There is only one hint of this in the first episode when the gamers avatars, all perfect specimens, are stripped away to show them as they truly are, geeky kids for the most part. The whole reality/fantasy debate is quickly shoved to one side in favour of a pretty straight forward premise of fight, fight some more and then fight the level's boss.

The extras are a little disappointing, being confined to the textless opening and closing sequences. Audio is restricted to 2.0 for both the Japanese, with English subtitles, and English vocal performances, both are ok, but a 5.1 track would have made more of this fight intensive show.

It’s not a bad show, it’s well animated and there is a lot to enjoy. However, it’s certainly not the show it could have been and quickly settles into a rhythm that will be familiar to fans of similar fight shows.

6

Charles Packer