I don't write reviews but AoaSN is not better than the original. Welcome to my 4am ramblings.
AoaSN fills in some of Asuna's backstory which is appreciated but where it changes the original it fails
At the beginning I realized Asuna is what people complained Kirito was, an overpowered main character for the sake of being the overpowered main character. Kirito had practical training early on in life which helped explain why he excelled in sao (though it would have been better if he had Suguha's motivation as a driving force) where as they explain Asuna's prowess by saying she's good at everything in school so of course she's also good at sao. I don't mind this explanation but I can see the mary sue arguments that Kirito had to deal with.
Misumi/Mito She does a good job of fleshing out Asuna. She's part of the explanation for Asuna joining sao and how she ended up on the frontline. Not just Asuna but also the first scene with Mito's avatar shows the difference in how Kirito approached the beta compared to the launch of sao. Besides how she fleshed out other characters she was likable in her own right. The early part of AoaSN, essentially while Mito and Asuna were together, was good.
>The above vaguely covers the new content and below are some of my nitpicks/gripes that concern changes to the original.
Meeting Kirito for the first time Spoiler, click to view Kirito shows up and beats a big baddie and it felt like fanservice. Seeing him overcome a seemingly difficult enemy single-handedly in an instant is exactly the kind of thing sao detractors would complain about with the original. There could be a case for this criticism later on in sao but the first arc handled it well. Having this scene before the first floor's boss also lessens its impact and lowers the stakes. Maybe that's why they had to make him ripped.
Illfang the Kolbuff Lord Spoiler, click to viewThe original Illfang felt like he belonged in game. He was a fantastic first floor boss, a bigger threat than anything we'd seen before while still having the charm of the starting zone. Instead, they opted to give him a six-pack and essentially turn him into a red version of The Gleam Eyes.
Asuna's cloak Spoiler, click to viewThis is super minor but I think it speaks to how having all the answers isn't always a good thing. When I watched the original sao I assumed her cloak was a consumable item that protected her from the attack. It allowed me to build out the world, players had been out there crafting/gathering/looting and she must have picked it up on her adventures. In AoaSN the cloak serves a purpose (outside of selling alternate figures), it's to hide her identity from Mito and when she reveals herself it is no longer needed. In the original, it could be seen as her being closed off and when she loses her cloak she no longer feels she needs it because she's ended up joining the frontlines, she comes out of her shell.
Expanding on Kirito and Asuna's relationship Spoiler, click to viewEvery new interaction between Asuna and Kirito lessened the impact or outright ruined those in the original. I thought their relationship was handled well in the original and that's not to say it can't be done well here but it will be very different. They could have given Asuna a better understanding of Kirito through Mito without him becoming her best friend through the additional scenes. Building out their relationship this early on significantly changes their future interactions and Kirito's mindset going forward. As a fan of the original, I can only assume it will be for the worse.
Not noticing party member names Spoiler, click to viewAsuna had been in a party with Mito for three weeks or until the point that 1,800 players died and she'd never noticed Mito's name within the party list. This made more sense in the original when Kirito and her had only been in a party for a short time. It was a cute way for them to introduce themselves to each other and it worked, with the newly added context the scene no longer makes sense.
Final thoughts I've been hearing about how much better progressive is for as long as I can remember so I had high expectations for AoaSN but I guess you can't improve on perfection. I'm curious if they'll be able to recover or make progressive it's own thing that stands alongside the original aincrad arc, I'm looking forward to it but I'm now doubtful it'll surpass the original.
Side note. For as negative as this "review" may seem I love sao and this is still mostly an adaptation of its best part.
