Why is there so much ire for SAO?

Spoiler

A) No you are remembering that completely wrong. Asuna "Died" and then Kirito "Died" while giving kaiyaba the finishing blow. Then both Kirito and Asuna are standing on an invisible platform with Kaiyaba who says something and dissapears. Since they believe they are going to die soon they say their farwells and Kirito wakes up in his bed. So yeah he knew Asuna had to be okay since he was also okay. They both died in the same way so there was no reason for her to be legit dead while he wasn't.
B)We're talking about the guy in the creepy smile and a suit right? Well basically when SAO was shut down and the people were set free he used his connetions to "Detour" some of the players into his game instead of being let out into the real world (Asuna being one of them). He did this so that he could use them basically as lab rats for some sort of Memory manipulation technology (I don't remember the details much). Basically he's only interested in Asuna because it would give him her old man's company which would give him more power and money. Also he's just kinda crazy so several things he does are just plain stupid.
C)I did say they kept some of the worst parts but they did keep some good parts and development is there. It just progresses poorly and has holes in it due to what they chose to keep or leave out. For example did you know that while in SAO Kirito and Asuna actually have sex? While having a sex scene would obviously have been no good doing the classic "Show it starting then cut to the morning after" would have worked. and to me leaving that in would have made their relationship a bit more believable like "yeah they aren't just stupid kids playing house they've actually gone all the way already". But anyway on to the main point to call the show filler is a bit much as things with impact do happen at points even if the development is a bit flawed.
E)For me I'd probably put the shot at a 5/10. Maybe a 5.5 but 6 would probably be pushing it. I did actually enjoy the series well enough but if I'm rating it objectively I don't think I can give it better than a 5.5

BTW season 2 of SAO isn't looking too bad so far IMO. It's too early to say if it will have the same problems as season 1 but at least we don't have the "Super dark and psychological start which will only contrast with the much more light hearted tone most of the series will take". Kirito is pretty much the same as always being an instant Pro in Gun Gail Online but at least the pacing feels a little more even this time around and the blue haired girl looks like she might be interesting. I wouldn't give it a super high rating but I'd at least give it a 6/10 so far.

 

Spoiler

A) That sounds familiar. Still though it could be the game offloads you to some dimension while it kills you and it didn't kill Kirito, but that's just conjecture.
B)Yep, if it's the dude who wants the company, it's the dude. He seems more interesting than first half guy. Did we ever get closure on that. Why he made the death game and why he didn't wait until they reached him?
C)10% meat, 90% fat still doesn't make very good burgers. I mean I think there was something there, as I said in the previous E. It was just trying to be everything and became nothing to me.
E) Well we're not too far off then. Granted I tend to be lenient and rate most things a 7. So that 4 might mean more to me than your 5 meant to you.

That sounds good, but I won't take, "it seems to be good right now" on a series that bit me once in the exact same manner. I guess I'll paraphrase Solon and say "Tell me it didn't turn out bad when the series is done, because until then every episode may be the one it goes bad".

 

Spoiler

A) Actually the reason Kirito and Asuna survive is for one of two reasons
1. Kaiyaba decided to be a nice guy and let them out since they did beat him afterall. Plus he was apparently in aww at Kirito's bullshit "I'm going to override the rules of the game through sheer willpower".
2. Since the game was slowly being deleted the kill switch was disabled and they were logged out of the game normally

We are never given enough info to know one way or the other or even know if other people who died hung out in that area during their final moments or not. But in any case the important part is both Kirito and Asuna were let out unharmed....and then Asuna was immediately kidnaped by arc 2's bad guy.
B)NOPE! He hads Kirito a "Seed" at the end of the second arc which apparently works as a base template for virtual reality thus letting anyone make an online game of the same quality as SAO. But how it's development required a death game is never even touched upon. However about the fighting Kirito early thing he only did that because Kirito exposed him. He even comments on how his Original plan was to fight Kirito on the hundreths floor with Kirito playing the role of the hero and him a dark lord of sorts. He changed his plan to "Lets fight right now" because Krito exposed his identity in front of everyone. So there was sorta a reason for that.
C) that is true but I'm say it's more like 30% meat and 70% fat. Give or take maybe another 10%. It's not a whole lot better but it is enough to make the anime a bit more "Filling"...now I'm hungry.
E) For me I try to be careful not to over rate things. So what I normally do is I start at 5 and then think about reasons to raise or lower the score. So if I find a show really good it will end up with a higher number and if it's really bad it will get a really low number. I judge SAO as a decent show that is pretty much average except for a few cool moments which raises it's score a little.