Why these SAO characters ruined the story with their appearance


Date: 31/03/2018

Today we will be talking about a very popular topic which is Sword Art Online. SAO characters are often criticized as bad and unsuitable for the plot.  I have seen many characters get badmouthed and get negative feedback. And with some, I agree, while with some I don’t. But that does not really matter. What matters is the question at hand. Did these characters really ruin the series? And, if yes, how did they ruin it? In the list below we will explore top 5 characters that ruined sword art online.

And I gotta say, I am not a big fan of SAO. However, I am really excited about the Sword Art Online Gun Gale Alternative.  Different writer but the same world setting, now this is something I’m looking forward to. Many people whom I have talked to have told me that this new series reminds them of call of duty. There might be a slight resemblance in that truth. But, for now, let’s get back to our list of SAO characters that ruined the show.


5 SAO characters that ruined the show

So we will be talking about 5 SAO characters that ruined the anime. However, before we start that I would like to add a DISCLAIMER: This list will give you a new perspective about SAO. I’d like to invite those whose opinion differs from mine, to join us in the comment section. We will be further discussing the anime and the relevance of this post down below. If anyone puts some good reasons about why they think some other character should take a spot on the list. Then we will change the list. So please no hard feelings if you see a character you love.


SAO Characters - Kayaba Akihiko

Kayaba Akihiko

5. Kayaba Akihiko

Kayaba definitely deserves a place on this list as he is one of the worst villains ever. Personally, as a character I actually like Kayaba. He even helped Kirito at a later point, and let’s be honest without his help Kirito wouldn’t have been able to do anything. However, if we look at the story we can obviously see that in the first episode, a cool villain enters. He wears a hoodie so his face could not be seen, truly one of better scenes in SAO.  What I would have liked to see was Kirito struggling to survive. Fighting face to face with death, and slowly becoming stronger over a period of time.  But then they suddenly decided to time-skip a lot of stuff, we just randomly see new things happening with a lot of plot holes.

Kayaba is definitely one of the reasons why SAO became bad, he’s the turning point that actually made the anime bad for me. The first set was great, it had a good pace for the first 2 episodes, good story, and potential. The villain looked ominous. But then he was proven to lack empathy and any desire to live. Kayba only wanted to enjoy the game he made and play as much as he can.  While I do emphasize with Kayaba, and I actually think he was a cool guy. He isn’t really suited for the villain role, and as such he made one of the worst plot twists in the whole series. If you think otherwise tell me in the comments.


SAO characters - Lisbeth


4. Lisbeth

The biggest difference between Kayaba and other SAO characters on this list is that he actually was a cool character.  And he actually did help Kirito at one point. On the other hand, Lisbeth as a character is really just like all the other girls in the series. A way to fill the harem spot, I have not even paid attention to this character much. Actually, I don’t even remember her having that much screen time or relevance at all. Sword art online is originally a light novel. And as it would appear, light novels that have harems sell well. I guess it’s that kind of an audience that enjoys it and what makes SAO so popular.

Lisbeth’s personality was hardly developed, the only time we see her is as Kiritos blacksmith. She obviously has a crush on Kirito as all the other girls do.  Despite her being Kiritos blacksmith they have not had many interactions together. As a character, Lisbeth is just simply there, one of those random people you’d draw in another anime and forget about on the next episode. However, they still bring her back for the fanservice and the harem concept. How did this character ruin the story? Despite the plot going as it was, there was just a random episode filled with the introduction of this character. That was it for her and it made no sense to the story.


SAO Characters - Silica



Silica is almost the same as Lisbeth, just another harem girl to fill the hole. Let’s start off with her introduction episode. Probably one of the weirdest episodes for me. The whole episode was useless for the story, it made no relevance what so ever. Basically, the whole idea of it was for her introduction. Throughout the episode, she was attacked and sexualized as much as she can be. Kirito saved her because she reminded him of his sister. Which was kind of disturbing for me, because Silica is 12 years old? And those scenes with tentacles attacking here were just wrong.

To be honest, I do not know who would enjoy this kind of fan-service. I am sure some people might, but for me, it was really one of those points that made the story worse. Lisbeth was useless for the story that is true. However, Silica ranks above her just because of her appearance and sexualization. Many people regret watching that episode, it was both useless and weird. The episode ends with Kirito saving her from some irrelevant guys who made no sense to the story again as said. At this point of the anime, I thought that 5 different writers were making this each with their own story because it made no sense at all.


SAO Characters - Suguha



Suguha is one of those twists in the harem story that really makes it worse than anything. I know some people like incest romance. However, I still think the potential of the story this anime had got shut down even deeper with this. Of course, if someone were to recreate SAO without all this fanservice. Perhaps it would actually end up good. Hence why we should also be excited about SAO gun gale alternative. It could save the series or ruin it. Suguha is Kirito (Kazutos) cousin, however once Kazuto found out they were not siblings he became distant.

In the arc when we are introduced to fairies, we also get a lot of more screen time for Suguha, and how does this arc contribute to the story? It brings in more girls for the harem. Suguha plays a role of an innocent fragile girl, however angry when agitated by something. She can resort to violence if necessary and should actually be strong. Although, Suguha is being forced off as a damsel in distress in certain situations. Not to mention her hidden feelings for Kirito, which she later realizes is her cousin Kazuto. Great story indeed

SAO Characters - Yui



Now this one is a bit tricky, as there are some divided opinions about this character. A lot of people hate Yui, while a lot of people like her. And consider her actually important for the upcoming story. But, that only gives us more reason to put her up first. With her complex indulgence into the story, we can really say she has influenced the story a lot. And the way we view the whole series, be it in a good or a bad way. Give an applaud for Yuki with her original name.

Kiritos relationship with Asuna gave birth to Yui. She was first introduced into the series as some weird sort of a daughter for Kirito and Asuna. She was only featured in a few episodes, however, when she returned things got even weirder.  One of the thing many people found disturbing was her calling Kirtio “papa” in a strange way.  Along with some other characters which along with Yui result in having no good influence in the story. I won’t say that they have no influence on it because making it worse is a type of an influence as well.  With that Yui takes first place on our list of worst SAO characters.


With this, we have concluded our list of top 5 SAO characters that influenced SAO. I have tried to be as objective as I can, and I focused the point of this debate on the premise of SAO becoming a marketing ploy to sell out merchandise and become popular through fanservice baiting plot. If you have an opinion on this matter please share it. And if you could leave your rating for the series with us, that would also be appreciated.

See also:
Blossom Detective Holmes – A promising Kickstarter anime project 

Top 20 Anime characters that look good in a kimono 

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