Sword Art Online

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Sword Art Online

Cover of the first light novel featuring Kirito (left) and Asuna (right).

ソードアート・オンライン
(Sōdo Āto Onrain)

Genre Adventure,[1] science fiction[2]

Light novel

Written by Reki Kawahara

Illustrated by abec

Published by ASCII Media Works

English NA

publisher
Yen Press

Demographic Male

Imprint Dengeki Bunko

Original run April 10, 2009 – present

Volumes 20 (List of volumes)

Manga

 Sword Art Online

 Sword Art Online: Aincrad

 Sword Art Online: Fairy Dance

 Sword Art Online: Girls Ops

 Sword Art Online: Progressive

 Sword Art Online: Phantom Bullet

 Sword Art Online: Calibur

 Sword Art Online: Mother's Rosario

 Sword Art Online: Project Alicization

Anime television series

Directed by Tomohiko Itō

Produced by Kazuma Miki

 Shinichirō Kashiwada

Music by Yuki Kajiura

Studio A-1 Pictures

Licensed by AUS

Madman Entertainment
 NA

Aniplex of America

UK

Manga Entertainment

Original Tokyo MX, GTV,

network GYT, tvk, TVS, TVA, RKB, HBC, MBS, AT-X, CTC, BS11

English AU

network
ABC Me

NA

Aniplex Channel

PH

TV5

US

Adult Swim (Toonami)

Original run July 7, 2012 –December 22, 2012

Episodes 25 (List of episodes)

Light novel

Sword Art Online: Progressive

Written by Reki Kawahara

Illustrated by abec

Published by ASCII Media Works

English NA

publisher
Yen Press

Demographic Male

Imprint Dengeki Bunko

Original run October 10, 2012 – present

Volumes 6 (List of volumes)

Anime television film

Sword Art Online: Extra Edition

Directed by Tomohiko Itō

Produced by Kazuma Miki

 Shinichirō Kashiwada

Written by Reki Kawahara

Munemasa Nakamoto

Music by Yuki Kajiura

Studio A-1 Pictures

Licensed by AUS

Madman Entertainment

NA

Aniplex of America

Original Tokyo MX, BS11

network

Released December 31, 2013

Runtime 101 minutes

Anime television series

Sword Art Online II

Directed by Tomohiko Itō

Produced by Kazuma Miki

 Shinichirō Kashiwada

 Yōsuke Futami

Music by Yuki Kajiura

Studio A-1 Pictures

Licensed by AUS

Madman Entertainment

NA

Aniplex of America

UK

Anime Limited

Original Tokyo MX, GTV, GYT, tvk, TVS, CTC, TVA,

network MBS, TVQ, TVh, AT-X, BS11

English PH

network
TV5

US

Adult Swim (Toonami)

Original run July 5, 2014 –December 20, 2014

Episodes 24 (List of episodes)

 Light novel

Sword Art Online Alternative: Clover's Regret

Written by Watase Souichirou

Illustrated by Ginta

Published by ASCII Media Works

Demographic Male

Imprint Dengeki Bunko

Original run November 10, 2016 – present

Volumes 2 (List of volumes)

Anime television series

Sword Art Online: Alicization

Directed by Manabu Ono

Music by Yuki Kajiura

Studio A-1 Pictures

Licensed by NA

Aniplex of America

Original run October 2018 – scheduled

Other

 Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online (spin-off)

 Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale(film)

Video games
  Sword Art Online: End World

 Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment

 Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment

 Sword Art Online: Code Register

 Sword Art Online: Progress Link

 Sword Art Online: Lost Song

 Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization

 Sword Art Online: Memory Defrag

 Accel World VS Sword Art Online: Millennium Twilight

 Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet

Anime and Manga portal

Sword Art Online (Japanese: ソードアート・オンライン Hepburn: Sōdo Āto Onrain) is a

Japanese light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by abec. The series takes place
in the near future and focuses on protagonist Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki as they play
through various virtual reality MMORPG worlds. The light novels began publication on ASCII Media
Works' Dengeki Bunko imprint from April 10, 2009, with a spin-off series launching in October 2012.
The series has spawned eight manga adaptations published by ASCII Media Works and Kadokawa.
The novels and four of the manga adaptations have been licensed for release in North America
by Yen Press.
An anime television series produced by A-1 Pictures, known simply as Sword Art Online, aired in
Japan between July and December 2012, with television film Sword Art Online: Extra Edition airing
on December 31, 2013, and a second season, titled Sword Art Online II, airing between July and
December 2014. An animated film titled Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale featuring an
original story by Kawahara premiered in Japan and Southeast Asia on February 18, 2017, and was
released in the United States on March 9, 2017. A spin-off anime series titled Sword Art Online
Alternative Gun Gale Online premiered in April 2018, while a third season titled Sword Art Online:
Alicization will premiere in October 2018. A live-action series will be produced by Netflix. Six video
games based on the series have been released for multiple consoles.
Sword Art Online has received widespread commercial success, with the light novels having over 20
million copies sold worldwide. The anime series has received mixed to positive reviews, praised for
its animation, musical score, and exploration of the psychological aspects of virtual reality, but
criticized for its pacing and writing.

Contents
[hide]

 1Synopsis
o 1.1Setting
o 1.2Plot
 2Development
 3Media
o 3.1Light novels
o 3.2Manga
 o 3.3Anime
o 3.4Music
o 3.5Video games
o 3.6Live-action series
 4Reception
 5Popular culture
 6References
 7External links

Synopsis[edit]
See also: List of Sword Art Online characters

Setting[edit]
The light novel series spans several virtual reality worlds, beginning with the titular world of Sword
Art Online. Each world is built on a game engine called the World Seed, which was initially
developed specifically for SAO by Akihiko Kayaba, but was later duplicated for ALO, and later willed
to Kirito, who had it leaked online with the successful intention of reviving the virtual reality industry.
Plot[edit]
In 2022, a virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing game (VRMMORPG) called Sword
Art Online (SAO) is released. With the NerveGear, a helmet that stimulates the user's five senses via
their brain, players can experience and control their in-game characters with their minds. Both the
game and the NerveGear was created by Akihiko Kayaba.
On November 6, 10,000 players log into the SAO's mainframe cyberspace for the first time, only to
discover that they are unable to log out. Kayaba appears and tells the players that they must beat all
100 floors of Aincrad, a steel castle which is the setting of SAO, if they wish to be free. Those who
suffer in-game deaths or forcibly remove the NerveGear out-of-game will suffer real-life deaths.
One of the players, named Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya, is one of 1,000 testers in the game's
previous closed beta. With the advantage of previous VR gaming experience and a drive to protect
other beta testers from discrimination, he isolates himself from the greater groups and plays the
game alone, bearing the mantle of "beater", a portmanteau of "beta tester" and "cheater". As the
players progress through the game Kirito eventually befriends a young girl named Asuna Yuuki,
forming a relationship with and later marrying her in-game. After the duo discover the identity of
Kayaba's secret ID, who was playing as the leader of the guild Asuna joined in, they confront and
destroy him, freeing themselves and the other players from the game.
In the real world, Kazuto discovers that 300 SAO players, including Asuna, remain trapped in their
NerveGear. As he goes to the hospital to see Asuna, he meets Shouzou Yuuki, Asuna's father, who
is asked by an associate of his, Nobuyuki Sugou, to make a decision, which Sugou later reveals to
be his marriage with Asuna, angering Kazuto. Several months later, he is informed by Agil,
another SAO survivor, that a figure similar to Asuna was spotted on "The World Tree" in another
VRMMORPG cyberspace called Alfheim Online (ALO). Assisted in-game by his cousin Suguha
"Leafa" Kirigaya and Yui, a navigation pixie (originally an AI from SAO), he quickly learns that the
trapped players in ALO are part of a plan conceived by Sugou to perform illegal experiments on their
minds. The goal is to create the perfect mind-control for financial gain and to subjugate Asuna,
whom he intends to marry in the real world, to assume control of her family's corporation. Kirito
eventually stops the experiment and rescues the remaining 300 SAO players, foiling Sugou's plans.
Before leaving ALO to see Asuna, Kayaba, who has uploaded his mind to the Internet using an
experimental and destructively high-power version of NerveGear at the cost of his life, entrusts Kirito
with The Seed – a package program designed to create virtual worlds. Kazuto eventually reunites
with Asuna in the real world and The Seed is released onto the Internet, reviving Aincrad as other
VRMMORPGs begin to thrive.
Soon after, at the prompting of a government official investigating strange occurrences in VR,
Kazuto takes on a job to investigate a series of murders involving another VRMMORPG called Gun
Gale Online (GGO), the AmuSphere (the successor of the NerveGear), and a player called Death
Gun. Aided by a female player named Shino "Sinon" Asada, he participates in a gunfight tournament
called the Bullet of Bullets (BoB) and discovers the truth behind the murders, which originated with a
player who participated in a player-killing guild in SAO. Through his and Sinon's efforts, two suspects
are captured, though the third suspect, Johnny Black, escapes.
Kazuto is later recruited to assist in testing an experimental FullDive machine, Soul Translator (STL),
which has an interface that is far more realistic and complex than the previous machine he had
played to help develop an artificial intelligence for the Ministry of Defense(MOD) named A.L.I.C.E.
He tests the STL by entering a virtual reality cyberspace created with The Seed package, named
UnderWorld (UW). In the UW, the flow of time proceeds a thousand times faster than in the real
world, and Kirito's memories of what happens inside are restricted. However, Black injures Kazuto
with suxamethonium chloride. The MOD recovers Kazuto and places him back into the STL to
preserve his mind while attempts are made to save him.

Development[edit]
Reki Kawahara wrote the first volume in 2002 as a competition entry for ASCII Media Works'
Dengeki Game Novel Prize (電撃ゲーム小説大賞 Dengeki Game Shōsetsu Taishō, now Dengeki
Novel Prize), but refrained from submitting it as he had exceeded the page limit; he instead
published it as a web novel under the pseudonym Fumio Kunori.[3] Over time, he added three further
episodes and several short stories.[4][5] In 2008, he participated in the competition again by
writing Accel World, this time winning the Grand Prize. Aside from Accel World, he was requested to
get his earlier work, Sword Art Online, published by ASCII Media Works.[3] Kawahara agreed and
withdrew his web novel versions.[5]
For the character protagonist Kirito, Kawahara was asked if Kirito's personality and character were
based on his own; he answered that he usually does not put aspects of himself into his
characters,[6] and jokingly remarked: "but if I had to say there was a point of similarity between Kirito
and myself, it is the fact that neither of us are good at forming parties. We [both] tend to play solo in
these games a lot."[7] Kawahara also noted that the female characters in the story were not based on
anyone he knew in the real world, stating: "I don't usually make a character, setting, or anything
before I start writing. As I write the story, the girls become what they are now. So, somehow, I don’t
know exactly, but somehow, my subliminal idea or some hidden emotion creates the characters to
be strong and capable."[6] Kawahara added that he wrote the series to demonstrate that he views
online gaming not as a social ill or escape from real life, but rather decided to show games in a more
positive light in his light novels.[6] He noted that "the character of Asuna I might have created a little
too perfectly for Sword Art Online".[7]

Media[edit]
Light novels[edit]
See also: List of Sword Art Online light novels
After Kawahara's request for Sword Art Online to be published was approved,[3] he started working
with illustrator abec on the light novel series. The first volume was published in print on April 10,
2009,[8] and 20 volumes have been published as of September 8, 2017.[9]
Kawahara also writes the Sword Art Online: Progressive series, which covers Kirito's adventures on
the first few floors of Aincrad. The first volume of Progressive was released on October 10,
2012,[10] and four volumes have been released as of December 10, 2015.[11]The first volume of a light
novel series based on Sword Art Online titled Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online, written
by Keiichi Sigsawa with illustrations by Kouhaku Kuroboshi, was published by ASCII Media Works
on December 10, 2014.[12] An original 100-page prequel novel to Sword Art Online The Movie:
Ordinal Scale written by Kawahara, titled Hopeful Chant, was released to people who watched the
film in Japan during March 4–10, 2017.[13]
At their Japan Expo USA panel, Yen Press announced the rights to publish the light novels; the first
volume was released on April 22, 2014.[14][15] Yen Press later announced their license of the Sword
Art Online: Progressive series, which is scheduled for release in 2015.[16] The novels are also
published in China, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam,[17] with future plans for publications
in France,[18] Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and others.[17]
There are a number of dōjinshi (fan works) written by Kawahara under the pseudonym Fumio
Kunori, titled Sword Art Online Material Edition (ソードアート・オンライン・マテリアル・エディシ
ョン).[19] An 80-page assemblage of some of the Material Edition volumes was published on
February 13, 2011;[20] the latest release is Material Edition volume 19 on May 5, 2016. The author
has also created some other dōjinshi including Lisbeth Edition, Silica Edition and Pina Edition under
cooperation with Kurusu Tatsuya from ponz.info.[21][22] It is reported that these dōjinshi gain traction
from the involvement of the original author in its creation process, as well as from supplying more
details on characters from the original work.[21]
Manga[edit]
See also: List of Sword Art Online manga volumes
There are ten manga adaptations of the series, all written by Reki Kawahara and published by ASCII
Media Works. Sword Art Online: Aincrad (ソードアート・オンライン アインクラッド), illustrated by
Tamako Nakamura, was serialized in Dengeki Bunko Magazinebetween the September 2010 and
May 2012 issues. Two tankōbon volumes of Aincrad were released on September 27, 2012.[23][24] A
comedy four-panel manga, titled Sword Art Online. (そーどあーと☆おんらいん。) and illustrated by
Jūsei Minami, began serialization in the September 2010 issue of Dengeki Bunko Magazine. The
first volume of Sword Art Online. was released on September 27, 2012.[25] A third manga,
titled Sword Art Online: Fairy Dance (ソードアート・オンライン フェアリィ・ダンス) and
illustrated by Hazuki Tsubasa, began serialization in the May 2012 issue of Dengeki Bunko
Magazine. The first volume of Fairy Dance was released on October 27, 2012;[26] the third volume
was released on June 27, 2014.[27] The Aincrad and Fairy Dance manga have been acquired for
release in North America by Yen Press.[14] The first volume of Aincrad was published on March 25,
2014.[15]
A spin-off manga starring Lisbeth, Silica, and Leafa, titled Sword Art Online: Girls Ops (ソードアー
ト・オンライン ガールズ・オプス) and illustrated by Neko Nekobyō, began serialization in the July
2013 issue of Dengeki Bunko Magazine.[28] Girls Ops was licensed by Yen Press in November 2014,
the first volume of which was released on May 19, 2015.[29][30] A manga adaption of Sword Art Online:
Progressive, illustrated by Kiseki Himura, began serialization in the August 2013 issue of Dengeki
G's Magazine. The manga ended serialization in the magazine's May 2014 issue and was
transferred to Dengeki G's Comic starting with the June 2014 issue.[31] The Progressive manga
adaption has been licensed by Yen Press, with the first two volumes released in January and April
2015, respectively.[16][32]
A sixth manga, titled Sword Art Online: Phantom Bullet and illustrated by Kōtarō Yamada, had its
first chapter serialized in the May 2014 issue of Dengeki Bunko Magazine, with following chapters
being digitally serialized on Kadokawa's Comic Walker website. A seventh manga, titled Sword Art
Online: Calibur and illustrated by Shii Kiya, was serialized in Dengeki G's Comic between the
September 2014 and July 2015 issues.[33] A single compilation volume was released on August 10,
2015.[34] An eighth manga, titled Sword Art Online: Mother's Rosario and also by Tsubasa, is based
on the seventh volume of the novel series and began serialization in the July 2014 issue of Dengeki
Bunko Magazine.[35] A ninth manga, an adaptation of Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online,
began serialization in the November 2015 issue of Dengeki Maoh.[36]
A tenth manga, titled Sword Art Online: Project Alicization and illustrated by Kōtarō Yamada, based
on the Alicization arc of the light novel series, began serialization in the September 2016 issue
of Dengeki Bunko Magazine.[37]
Anime[edit]
See also: List of Sword Art Online episodes and List of Sword Art Online II episodes

An anime adaptation of Sword Art Online was announced at Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2011,
along with Reki Kawahara's other light novel series, Accel World.[38] The anime is produced
by Aniplex and Genco, animated by A-1 Pictures and directed by Tomohiko Ito with music by Yuki
Kajiura.[39] The anime aired on Tokyo MX, tvk, TVS, TVA, RKB, HBC and MBS between July 7 and
December 22, 2012, and on AT-X, Chiba TV and BS11 at later dates.[40] The series was also
streamed on Crunchyroll and Hulu.[41] The anime is adapted from the first four novels and parts of
volume seven.
The anime has been licensed in North America by Aniplex of America[42] and an English-language
dub premiered on Adult Swim's Toonami from July 27, 2013[43] to February 15, 2014. The series was
released by Aniplex of America in four DVD and Blu-ray sets, with special extras on the BD sets,
between August 13 and November 19, 2013.[44] Manga Entertainment released the first series on
BD/DVD in the United Kingdom in December 2013,[45] whilst Madman Entertainment released the
series in Australia[46] and the English-language version began airing on ABC3 on June 7,
2014.[47] Sword Art Online has been available on Netflix in North America since March 15, 2014.[48]
A year-end special, titled Sword Art Online Extra Edition, aired on December 31, 2013. The special
recapped the previously aired anime series and included some new footage.[49]Extra Edition was
streamed worldwide a few hours after its airing in Japan.[50] The two-hour-long special was available
on Daisuki worldwide except for French-speaking areas, as well as China and Korea.[50] Daisuki
offered subtitles in various languages such as English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and
German.[50] English-speaking countries, Mexico, Central and South America could also watch the
stream on Crunchyroll.[51] Extra Edition was also simulcast in Korea on Aniplus cable channel and in
China on the LeTV streaming website.[51] French-speaking countries could watch on the Wakanim
streaming website.[51] The Blu-ray Disc and DVD of Extra Edition was released on April 23, 2014 in
Japan.[52]The limited edition included a Yui character song titled "Heart Sweet Heart" by Kanae
Itō and an original side story written by Kawahara titled "Sword Art Online Niji no Hashi" (ソードアー
ト・オンライン 虹の橋 Sword Art Online Rainbow Bridge).[52]
At the end of the special, the anime television series was confirmed for a second season,
titled Sword Art Online II, which premiered on July 5, 2014.[53][54] The first 14 episodes of the second
season is an adaptation of volumes five and six the light novels that cover the Phantom Bullet
arc.[55] Episodes 15 to 17 cover the Calibur arc from volume 8 of the novels, with episodes 18 to 24
covering volume 7 of the novels, the Mother's Rosario arc. Premiere screening events of the second
season were held in the United States, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Japan
before the television premiere between June 29 and July 4, 2014.[56][57][58] At Katsucon, it was
announced that the English dub of the second season would air on Toonami beginning March 28,
2015.[59]
An animated film titled Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale featuring an original story by
Kawahara set after the events of Sword Art Online II premiered in Japan and Southeast Asia on
February 18, 2017, and was released in the United States on March 9, 2017.[60][61][62][63]
The third season of Sword Art Online, titled Sword Art Online: Alicization and a spin-off anime,
titled Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online, were announced in 2017.[64]Sword Art Online
Alternative Gun Gale Online, animated by 3Hz, premiered in April 2018.[65][66] Sword Art Online:
Alicization is due to air in October 2018.[67]
Music[edit]
Yuki Kajiura composed the soundtrack for the Sword Art Online anime, which was later released in
the limited edition of the anime's fourth and seventh Blu-ray and DVD volumes.[68][69] The first volume
of the second season's soundtrack was bundled with the limited edition of the season's third and
seventh Blu-ray and DVD volumes.[70][71]
The opening theme song for the first 14 episodes of season one is "Crossing Field" by LiSA,[72] and
the ending theme song is "Yume Sekai" (ユメセカイ, lit. "Dream World") by Haruka
Tomatsu.[73] From episode 15 onward, the opening theme is "Innocence" by Eir Aoi and the ending
theme is "Overfly" by Luna Haruna.[74][75] The main theme for Sword Art Online: Extra Edition is "Niji
no Oto" (虹の音 Sound of the Rainbow) by Aoi.[74]
For the second season, the first opening theme is "Ignite" by Aoi, and the first ending theme is
"Startear" by Haruna.[76] The second opening theme is "Courage" by Tomatsu,[77] and the second
ending theme is "No More Time Machine" by LiSA, with the third ending theme being "Shirushi" (シ
ルシ), also by LiSA.[78] The song "Catch the Moment" by LiSA is used as the theme song to Sword
Art Online: Ordinal Scale.[79]
A number of character songs were included in the Blu-ray and DVD volume releases of the anime.
These were collected into two compilation albums: Sword Art Online Song Collection, which included
character songs released in the season one volumes, was released on August 27,
2014,[80] while Sword Art Online Song Collection II, which included character songs released in the
season two volumes, was released on March 22, 2017.[81]
Video games[edit]
A stage event at the Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2011 revealed that Reki Kawahara's light
novels would get video game adaptations.[82] The first Sword Art Online adaptation, titled Sword Art
Online: Infinity Moment (ソードアート・オンライン -インフィニティ・モーメント- Sōdo Āto
Onrain: Infiniti Mōmento), was developed by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation
Portable.[83] The game follows an alternate storyline, in which a glitch causes Kirito and the other
players to remain in Sword Art Online despite defeating Heathcliff, and players from other
VMMORPGs such as Leafa and Sinon get sucked into the game themselves.[84] The game was
released in both regular and limited edition box sets on March 14, 2013.[85]
Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment is a PlayStation Vita game released in Japan on April 24,
2014.[86][87] Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment takes place in the same alternative storyline as Sword
Art Online: Infinity Moment,[88] and it includes all content of "Floor Clearing" from that previous
game[89] with the addition of new unexplored "Hollow Area" of Aincrad.[90] The protagonist Kirito will
cross swords with a mysterious player who would become one of the key characters in the
game.[90] The game sold 145,029 physical retail copies within the first week of release in Japan,
topping the Japanese software sales charts for that particular week.[91] The game had also been
released in Taiwan by Namco Bandai Games Taiwan with Chinese and English subtitles.[92] A digital-
only North American, European and Australian release was released in August 2014.
A third video game developed by Artdink[93] and titled Sword Art Online: Lost Song was released in
Japan on March 26, 2015[94] on the PlayStation 3 and Vita platforms,[95][96] with an English version
being released in Asia.[97] The game's producer revealed in October 2014 that the game is an open-
world action RPG featuring an original storyline, set within Alfheim Online, where characters are able
to fly.[98] The game sold 139,298 physical retail copies on the PlayStation Vita in addition to another
55,090 units on the PlayStation 3 within its first week of release in Japan, ranking second and sixth
place respectively within the Japanese software sales charts for that particular week, narrowly
behind Bloodbornetaking the top spot.[99]
A fourth game titled Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization was released in Japan for the PS4, Vita,
and Windows on October 27, 2016[100] and worldwide on November 8, 2016 for the PS4 and Vita.[101]
A social network game called Sword Art Online: End World was released for Japanese feature
phones and smartphones on February 28, 2013[102][103] with more than 1 million registered
users.[104] Another freemium game for Android and iOS titled Sword Art Online: Code
Register launched in 2014, and over 3,000,000 users have downloaded the game.[105] Another game
called Sword Art Online: Progress Link designed for the Mobage browser game platform on
smartphones was released on February 10, 2015.[106] In 2016, Bandai Namco released Sword Art
Online: Memory Defrag for Android and iOS.[107]
Kirito, Asuna, Leafa, Yuuki and SAO Alternative: Gun Gale Online protagonist LLENN appear
in Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax, a fighting game by Sega featuring various characters from works
published under the Dengeki Bunko imprint.[108][109][110] A browser game titled Sword Art Quest and its
sequel smartphone game, Sword Art Quest II[111]provide challenges to users to upgrade their
characters to receive rewards.[112] There is also a paid Android game titled SAO -Log Out- that users
can download and play with characters from the series and obtain wallpapers from it.[113]
A virtual reality massive multiplayer online game was in development by Kadokawa and IBM
Japan,[114] but was only a demo and will not be released as a full game. An action role-playing game
titled Accel World VS Sword Art Online: Millennium Twilight was announced in October 2016. The
game is a crossover with Accel World, developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment for PlayStation
4, PlayStation Vita,[115] and Windows via Steam,[116] and was released to western audiences on July 7,
2017.[117]
Sword Art Online: Memory Defrag, launched by Bandai Namco Entertainment, was released outside
of Japan on January 24, 2017.[118] This RPG is available on iOS and Android devices. Featuring
content from the anime series, Ordinal Scale, and some original shorts written for event characters,
players are allowed to play solo and progress through the story, or join up with others online to farm
special items, equipment, and materials.[119] Common events include ranked challenges against other
players, floor clearing, character introductions and seasonal events. Players have the choice of
spending real money to speed-up their progress.[120]
A game based in Gun Gale Online, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet, was released for the PS4, Xbox
One and Windows on February 23, 2018.[121]
Live-action series[edit]

Sword Art Online

Based on Sword Art Online

by Reki Kawahara

Written by Laeta Kalogridis

Country of origin United States

Original language(s) English

 Production

 Laeta Kalogridis
Executive producer(s)
 David Ellison

 Dana Goldberg

 Marcy Ross

Production company(s) Skydance Television

Distributor Netflix

Sword Art Online is a planned American live-action television adaptation of Sword Art
Online. Skydance Television announced on August 2, 2016, that they had acquired the global rights
to produce a live-action television adaptation of Reki Kawahara's Sword Art Online light novel
series.[122] Laeta Kalogridis has been attached to write a script for the pilot, and will also serve
as executive producerfor the series alongside Skydance CEO David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and
Marcy Ross.[122] Skydance has stated their intent to "fast-track" the launch of the series,[122] along with
plans to follow the TV series with the release of a Sword Art Online virtual realityexperience.[123][124] In
February 2018 it was reported that the live-action series had been sold to Netflix.[125]

Reception[edit]
According to Oricon, Sword Art Online was the top selling light novel series of 2012, with eight
volumes figuring among the top selling light novels.[126][127] It was ranked first in the 2012 and
2013 Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! rankings, as well as top ten placement in 2011, 2014 and
2015.[128][129][130][131][132] It was also the second best selling light novel series for the first half of 2016 in
Japan, selling 489,374 copies.[133] Sword Art Online: Progressive sold 321,535 copies in the same
time period.[133] As of 2017, the series has an estimated 20 million copies in print worldwide.[134]
Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku hails Sword Art Online as the smartest series in recent years, praising
its deep insight on the psychological aspects of virtual reality on the human psyche, its sociological
views on creating a realistic economy and society in a massively multiplayer online game setting,
and the writing staff's ability to juggle a wide variety of genres within the series.[135] Eisenbeis
particularly noted how the romance between Kirito and Asuna is explored bringing "definition to
exactly what love is like in a virtual world."[135] However, at the time of this preliminary review, he had
only watched the first 12 episodes of the series.[135] He has since gone on to review the second half
of the series, lauding its excellent use of plot twists and praising its well written and believable villain.
However, he felt that some of the initial positive aspects of the series were lost in the second half,
such as the focus on psychological repercussions and social interactions that could be realistically
seen in an online game. Criticism was also levied on the aspect of turning Asuna into a damsel in
distress, stating that a female lead as strong as her was "reduced to nothing but the quest item the
male lead is hunting for." Eisenbeis closes his review of the series by stating in regards to the two
halves, "Both, however, are enjoyable for what they are."[136]
Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network has criticized the series as having pacing problems,
logical gaps, and "sloppy writing".[137] Theron Martin of Anime News Networkcriticized the story as
struggling "to achieve and maintain the level of gravitas that life-or-death danger should have", while
calling it unwilling to commit to Kirito's "lone wolf" image.[138] DeviceCritique explains that Sword Art
Online influences the virtual reality market to grow, and references the Oculus Rift as a prime
example of the starting point of virtual reality. It also praises Sword Art Online for exploring the
psychological and social aspects of virtual reality gaming.[139] Adam Facey of The Muse criticized the
series, among others, as being sexist and the female characters as being overly sexualized.[140]

Popular culture[edit]
Kirito has a cameo appearance in episode 8 of the anime series Eromanga
Sensei,[141] with Yoshitsugu Matsuoka reprising his role.
Steven Spielberg's 2018 film Ready Player One contains a reference to Sword Art Online.[142] Ernest
Cline, the writer of 2011 novel Ready Player One, discussed Sword Art Onlinein an interview, noting
how he met its writer Reki Kawahara at an event in Japan where they discussed how they
independently developed similar ideas related to virtual reality.[143]

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