Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-2.137.81.153-20170219184604/@comment-73.81.126.59-20170220023511

Saying SAO is pointless after the first arc is short-sighted and narrow-minded. SAO's theme has always been about exploring the potential possibilities of Virtual Reality, and its role in society. In the first season, we have a man who trapped people in his world and effectively played God with their lives because he rejected the constraints of normal society and wanted to start anew. We got to see how people had to adapt to their new environment, where they fought to escape, gave in to despair or accepted the SAO as their new reality. We even get to see how a progam could develop into a sapient AI. In the second arc, we see another villain who sought to use VR to control and rewrite people's very souls for his purposes. In the third arc, aside from a villain who wianted to re-enact the Death Game,  we are introduced to the idea of how VR could be used for military purposes, a concept that becomes more fully explained in the following arc. We even see how it can benefit those who are isolated due to their illnesses(God bless Yuuki).

Project Alicization is considered the best arc because it pulls together every idea from the previous ones, executes them brilliantly, and manages to expand beyond them. If you're tired of SAO, fine. But the reason why it remains so popular is because it continues to build on its primary theme, plus Kawahara's writing continues to improve as he goes along.