[quote=@PrincessOfNothing]
[@ReaptheMusic] I'm gonna be totally honest too and say I have never seen anything before Sword Art Online II. SAO doesn't exactly have a good reputation for writing good female characters
[/quote]

I actually really liked Asuna in the first half, she was a strong female character. Lizbeth was charming, too. 
But really, I suggest you watch the first half of Season 1, it is really amazing if you ignore or flat out accept the moments where characters were badly written.