Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-10184949-20130529153511/@comment-1173941-20130613085237

Honestly, I would have rather devoted all 25 episodes to Aincrad arc, with more side-stories, and being more accurate with their current side-stories... (Aria in the Starless Night, and Murder Case in the Area, for instance were modified a lot,)

This way, the Anime wouldn't feel rushed...

The only flaw, is that the preceeding arcs, like Fairy Dance, would be considerably shorter...