I know that a lot of people do not like the ALO arc for a myriad of reasons, but (aside from some reasons of my own) I truly don't hate it. For me, I really wished the Phantom Bullet Arc was a bit different. We had finally got Asuna back just to have her be replaced as the female lead yet again. Don't get me wrong, I love Sinon, she's one of my top 3 favorite SAO characters, but I really would have loved to see both Kirito and Asuna face Death Gun. I know Kirito is the MC but being able to see just how much the game has changed and effected other characters would have been nice. Especially Asuna who was trapped even longer and, for the most part, was helpless. Her seeing herself in Sinon just as Kirito did would have been very powerful. At least in my opinion.