episode 19:

SAO ... episode starts with a deus ex machina right off the bat, yay ..

What the author of SAO fails to understand: People like to root for the underdog. When Shikamaru was fighting Hidan/Kakazu, it was exciting because the Akatsuki were thought of as much, much stronger than Shikamaru. In SAO, however, the HEROES are much, much stronger than the villains and NEVER lose. That's why I keep rooting for the villains in SAO ... to no prevail, ofc.

Really, I have less respect for people who call themselves SAO-fans. It's a bad story, objectively.