A1 Pictures

4 - Sword Art Online (2012)
4.5 - Shinsekai Yori (2012)
4 - Sword Art Online II (2014)
5.5 - Your Lie in April (2015)
3.5 - The Asterisk War (2015)
5 - Shelter (2016)

Sword Art Online (2012) became one of the most popular (and high selling) anime. Its original light novel sold 19 million copies (as of 2016), while simultaneously being Reki Kawahara’s first work (which he _originally_ uploaded onto his website). Two separate arcs, transitioned in the middle, create the illusion of two separate stories or seasons. The first, a collection of slow-paced setup (and pathos) alongside unexplainable fight scenes, at least has serviceable animation. Whereas the second half, which introduces an incestious relationship as its core premise, handles pathos (such as the romance) in highly tasteless ways which leaves a sour taste by the end.

Shinsekai Yori (2013) attempts incoherent and fragmented scenes to unsuccessfully reproduce an incoherent and fragmented result.

Sword Art Online II (2014) understands its mediocrity and utilizes fast-paced action to showcase expressive animation cuts, while simultaneously maintaining the tasteless combination of fan-service and unnecessarily over-explained plot-points with little logical reasoning.

our Lie in April (2015) attempts to develop the expanding romance slice-of-life aesthetic (Kimi ni Todoke, Lovely Complex, Nodame Cantabile) and in some ways succeeds. Explains the order of romantic dramas to come. A traumatic depressing backstory.


Shelter (2016) is a music video developed alongside Porter Robinson’s music. Instead of Good Morning, the visuals match the music ; instead it suffers from the opposite: difficult to follow thematic tie-in. Any pathos created in the story is little to none, much of which is the result of its short and undeveloped delivery. Shelter may have worked better as a short OVA (with a generic but effective plot).