Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online
File:Sword Art Online Promotional.jpeg Promotional image from Sword Art Online featuring main characters Asuna (left) and Kirito (right)
ソードアート・オンライン (Sōdo Āto Onrain)
Genre	Action, Romance, Fantasy, Harem, Sci-Fi
Light novel
Written by	Reki Kawahara
Illustrated by	Abec
Published by	ASCII Media Works
Demographic	Male
Original run	January 10, 2009 – present
Volumes	10
Manga
Sword Art Online: Aincrad
Written by	Reki Kawahara
Illustrated by	Tamako Nakamura
Published by	ASCII Media Works
Magazine	Dengeki Bunko Magazine
Original run	September 2010 – May 2012
Manga
Sword Art Online 4koma
Written by	Reki Kawahara
Illustrated by	Juusei Minami
Published by	ASCII Media Works
Magazine	Dengeki Bunko Magazine
Original run	September 2010 – present
Manga
Sword Art Online: Fairy Dance
Written by	Reki Kawahara
Illustrated by	Hazuki Tsubasa
Published by	ASCII Media Works
Magazine	Dengeki Bunko Magazine
Original run	May 2012 – present
Anime television series
Directed by	Tomohiko Ito
Music by	Yuki Kajiura
Studio	A-1 Pictures
Original network	Tokyo MX, tvk, TVS, TVA, RKB, HBC, MBS, AT-X, Chiba TV, BS11
Original run	July 7, 2012 – present
Episodes	25
Video game

Sword Art Online (ソードアート・オンライン, Sōdo Āto Onrain) is a Japanese light novel series by Reki Kawahara, with illustrations by Abec. It has been adapted into three manga, an anime and a video game.

Plot

In the year 2022, the Virtual reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) Sword Art Online (SAO) is released. With the Nerve Gear, a VR Helmet that stimulates the user's five senses via their brain, players can experience and control their in-game characters with their minds. But an unexpected event occurs on November 6, 2022 when Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of SAO, prevents the players from logging out. Akihiko issues them a challenge; if they wish to be free and log out of the game, they must reach the 100th floor of the game's tower and defeat the final boss. However, if their avatars die in the game, so will their bodies in the real world. As the game's 10,000 players try to accept their new deadly predicament, Kirito, a skilled player who tested the beta version of the game, is determined to reach the 100th floor and attain freedom. As he befriends other players along the way, including Asuna, who becomes his partner and love interest, Kirito faces many obstacles and eventually discover the true purpose of SAO.

After escaping SAO, Kirito, for a series of circumstances, takes part in other VRMMO games.

Characters

Main characters

Kirito (キリト)

Real name: Kazuto Kirigaya (桐ヶ谷 和人, Kirigaya Kazuto)

Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka

Kirito is the main protagonist of the series. He is a "solo" player as well as a beater (stands for beta tester and cheater), a player who hasn't joined a guild and usually works alone. Kirito is also one of the clearers in SAO. When it is announced that the players of Sword Art Online can no longer logout, he is surprised like everyone else, but unlike everyone else he quickly gets over it and accepts it, to an extent. He mainly uses a one-handed sword "Elucidator" and usually wears all black in-game, as it adds to stealth, and gives him his nickname "The Black Swordsman" (黒の剣士, Kuro no Kenshi). In SAO, he the possessor of «Dual Blades», a unique skill which he only uses in emergencies to avoid attention for being one out of the two people to have unique skills.

His game alias is Kirito, which is created by taking the syllables of the first and last Kanji of his real last and first names respectively: (Kirigaya Kazuto). In the real world, he lives with his mother and younger cousin/sister in a family of 3. He was adopted by Kirigaya Minetaka and Midori (Suguha's parents). His mother (who is actually Midori's sister) and father passed away after an accident when he was about 1 year old. When he was 10 years old, he found out the truth. He treats playing in a VRMMO the same as living in the real world (a result of living in SAO for two years).

He is very much in love with Asuna, as shown when he asked Kayaba Akihiko to prevent her from comitting suicide if he were to die during their duel and, in Volume 4, when he tries to fly up the World Tree uncaring whether he falls and his avatar dies or not. He is later on asked to register in Guns Gale Online in order to investigate murders of the game's players in real life apparently linked with assassinations in-game. It is soon revealed that the murders are committed by survivors from Sword Art Online who were part of a player killing group known as Laughing Coffin. His actions result in the capture of two out of three culprits, one of whom is a member and the other is a sibling. The last member escapes and is not heard of until the events of volume 9, and is responsible for an attempted murder of Kazuto. Furthermore he has a very strong will, so much so that he can resist a VR environment's effects to a certain extent, like delaying his death for a few seconds or moving an immovable object. Also, he can apply the fighting skills he learned in VRMMOs in real life. He is very keen and used to games. In Alfleim he still can still manually use two swords and has developed two new Outside System Skills.

In the Alicization Arc, he has been assisting in the development of the fourth generation full dive interface, Soul Translator, by testing its thought acceleration functions. However he has no memory of what he has been doing as a result of his memories being suppressed, voluntarily, by the system. Is attacked and poisoned by Jony Black in the real world. Wakes up in UnderWorld with no memory of the game or how he got there. Meets up with Eugeo and helps him out of some tough situations, during which he partially remembers his time with Eugeo and Alice during his "childhood" in UnderWorld. Decides to aid Eugeo in finding Alice while he searches for a way out, back to reality.

Asuna (アスナ)

Real name: Asuna Yuuki (結城 明日奈, Yūki Asuna)

Voiced by: Haruka Tomatsu

Asuna is the main female protagonist of the series. She is a friend of Kirito and is a sub-leader of the guild Knights of the Blood Oath, a medium-sized guild of about thirty players, also called the strongest guild in Aincrad. Being one of the few girls that play SAO, and even more so that she's extremely pretty, she receives many invitations and proposals. She is a skilled player earning the Title "Flash" (閃光, Senkō) for her extraordinary sword skill. The KoB has assigned her two bodyguards, one of whom despises Kirito.

Her game alias is the same as her Real World name. Later, she falls in love with Kirito and they marry in-game. In real life, she lived a very stressful life, forced to live up to the high expectations of her parents. She felt that she would live her life following her parents rule, and never once went against that idea. But after living in SAO and meeting Kirito, she gain more emotions and realized what it was like to actually live, and looks back on her past with disgust. She has a very strong will, able to sacrifice days of sleep to level up. She deeply loves Kirito and once explained he was her reason of going on in the game, she could not survive without him. He saved her by showing her people could live well in SAO, he saved her from her nightmare. She also told Kirito she would commit suicide if he were to die during the 75th boss raid, after he asked her to stay away from the fight. She intended to do so and she became desperate when Kirito asked Heatcliff to prevent her from comitting suicide if he died during their duel. She sacrificed herself to save him; however, she was reunited with him shortly after he "died" defeating Heatcliff in a place Kabaya created for all three to talk.

After Kirito defeated Heathcliff, she was supposed to have been freed but instead she was imprisoned in ALfheim Online and forced to play the role of Titania the Queen of Fairies, by Nobuyuki Sugou who similarly played the role of Oberon the Fairy King. This was done so that Nobuyuki Suguo could marry Asuna in the real world, while she was unconscious, and thus take over RECTOR Progress Inc. She constantly tries to get out of the World Tree where she is imprisoned and escape going so far as to steal a GM card which she throws out of the window when she hears Yui's voice. Upon being freed she created two avatars for Alfleim, Asuna (being the healer of the team) and Erika (a battle type avatar) and went on living with Kirito.

In the real world she became his girlfriend, she shows that her dream is to marry Kirito and have a family with him when they were walking in the park and saw a nearby family.

Lyfa (リーファ, Rīfa)

Real name: Suguha Kirigaya (桐ヶ谷 直葉, Kirigaya Suguha)

Voiced by: Ayana Taketatsu

Kirito's younger cousin in the real world. She's a diligent worker and has been practicing Kendo for 8 years. Kirito/Kazuto calls her "Sugu". After Kazuto got trapped in Sword Art Online, she began playing ALfheim Online in order to understand him better. She has feelings for Kazuto but understands that Kazuto's feelings for Asuna are too strong. Coincidentally, she meets Kirito in ALfheim and aids him in searching for Asuna unaware that Kirito is Kazuto. After understanding the depth of Kazuto's love for Asuna she resolves to give up on him and instead becomes attached to Kirito in ALO. Unfortunately, she is heartbroken when she finds Kirito's real world identity in ALO. Nevertheless, she pulls herself together and aids Kirito in rescuing Asuna.

Sinon (シノン, Shinon)

Real name: Shino Asada (朝田 詩乃, Asada Shino)

Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro (drama CD)

A female sniper that Kirito first meets in Gun Gale Online. She has a childhood trauma concerning guns and thus started playing Gun Gale Online in an attempt to overcome it. She is the owner of the rare gun "PGM Ultima Ratio Hecate II". She originally considered Kirito as an opponent, but she later developed feelings for him. She later joins ALO on their recommendation as a Caith Sith archer, wielding a long bow. In Gun Gale Online she's known as 'Hecate' while in the real life she's usually called 'Sinonon'.

Alice Schuberg (アリス・ツーベルク, Arisu Tsūberuku)

A mysterious girl who was Kirito's "childhood friend", along with Eugeo, in UnderWorld. Is captured and supposedly taken away to be executed by the Integrity Knights for breaking the rule by "entering" the Dark Territory. She contacted Kirito, in spirit form, and aided in Eugeo's healing, showing that she is still alive and remembered both of them. She also implored them to come find her.

Eugeo (ユージオ, Yūjio)

A young lad who was also Kirito's "childhood friend", along with Alice, in UnderWorld. Has his memories of Kirito purged, along with the rest of the villagers, but recovers them later on, to a certain degree. Has a strong desire to find Alice and, in order to do so, begins learning "Aincrad style" sword skills from Kirito.

Secondary Characters

Klein (クライン, Kurain)

Real name: Ryōtarō Tsuboi (壷井 遼太郎, Tsuboi Ryōtarō)

Voiced by: Hiroaki Hirata

A friendly player that meets Kirito at the start of the game and quickly befriends and learns from him. He and Kirito later separate because he has friends who were also new to the game, and since he was taught by Kirito who was an experienced player, he couldn't leave them. He uses a katana to fight and leads a party. Klein has reunited with Kirito after two years when they run from a monster and start having lunch. He regularly meets with Kirito and his friends and occasionally go with them in quests in ALO, especially after the release of the World Seed.

Agil (エギル)

Real name:

Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto

An axe wielder who owns a shop in SAO. He is 180 cm tall with muscular body and set his hairstyle to be bald. Despite his scary figure, he is kind hearted and allocated most of his earnings to help players in middle floors. Kirito is a regular in his shop and they seem to have a good relationship. He runs a shop named «Dicey Cafe» in the other side, which had been kept from closing for two years of his absence by his wife. That shop then becomes Kazuto and company's meeting place in the real world.

Heathcliff (ヒースクリフ, Hīsukurifu)

Real name: Akihiko Kayaba (茅場 晶彦, Kayaba Akihiko)

Voiced by: Kōichi Yamadera

Akihiko Kayaba is the Director and Creator of the Nerve Gear and Sword Art Online, and is the main antagonist of the series. He traps all the players within Sword Art Online by using the Nerve Gear to cease sending signals to the users' body. Any attempt at removal, loss of power for a certain period, or if the user dies in the game will also kill the user. His motivation is to observe what happens after he traps them. Later, it is discovered that he had been masquerading as Heathcliff, the leader of the Knights of Blood. Although he can give his character immortality, he can easily defeat other players without it because he already knows how to counter the skills that he designed. Defeated by Kirito at the end of Volume 1, he died, leaving behind a program that granted Kirito the World Seed, at the end of Volume 4. His death was his own doing since he had also rigged his own Nerve Gear device to fry his brain when he was defeated.

Silica (シリカ, Shirika)

Real name: Keiko Ayano (綾野 珪子, Ayano Keiko)

Voiced by: Rina Hidaka

A side story character in SAO. One of the rare beast tamers in the game. She, very early in the game was able to tame a dragon which gave her immense fame, but she was just a mid-level player. Due to her fame and being a girl, many tried to get on her good side, causing her to get a bit of an inflated head. She usually stay away from the males, who tried to marry her despite the fact that she was only 13. After getting lost in a forest, she lost her beast and only friend in the game. Kirito rescued her, and helped her as she resembled his sister. She gained feelings for him, but once she realized his skills, she realized that they could never be together in the game. Later on it is revealed that Pina (her beast) was revived. She joins Kirito and his friends in ALO right after they meet in the real world; they often go together in quests.

Lisbeth (リズベット, Rizubetto)

Real name: Rika Shinozaki (篠崎 里香, Shinozaki Rika)

Voiced by: Ayahi Takagaki

A side story character in SAO. Her profession is a blacksmith. She is a close friend of Asuna who recommended her to Kirito. Kirito commissioned her to forge a second sword for him, as good as his first sword «Elucidator». Then he accompanied her in the quest for the special ore required for the job. During the quest, she also develops feelings for Kirito. She is devastated when she finds out that Kirito is Asuna's crush. But finds solace when Kirito tells her about the "Black Cats" and that for the first time after losing his guild he had felt natural while partying with her. In the end when the game clear message appears she instinctively knows that it was Kirito who did it and declares her love for him. Proposes a one-month truce with Scilica after Asuna wakes up but is shown regretting it. She becomes a regular player in ALO and frequently takes on quests with Kirito and his friends and takes up tasks of upgrading their equipment.

Yui (ユイ)

Voiced by: Kanae Itō

Initially a side story character in SAO, later becomes an accompanying/support character in ALO. At first thought to be a lost child in SAO, she is actually an artificial intelligence program. Her full designation is «Mental Health - Counselling Program», MHCP version 1, codename, «Yui». She was designed to monitor the emotions of players and appear at their sides to hear and help them out. However, since the moment everyone was imprisoned in Sword Art Online, she was forbidden to come in contact with the players and complete her prime directive. Unable to do anything but suffer as she monitored the emotions of the trapped players, she came upon Kirito and Asuna whose emotions were those of joy and peace in the sea of fear, despair and rage. She sought them out. Appearing to them as an amnesiac child. They adopted her. In the end she was nearly deleted by Cardinal, the management system of SAO. But Kirito saved her by converting and storing her data into his own Nerve Gear. Later shows up in ALO as a Private Navigation Pixie and helps Kirito along with Lyfa to find Asuna. Refers to Kirito as "Papa" and Asuna as "Mama". And gets very annoyed if any girl other than Lyfa or Asuna gets close to Kirito. Kirito uses his skills and resources in the real world to make a device for Yui to view the real world even whilst she is in virtual reality and gives her the ability to communicate with them.

Sachi (サチ)

Voiced by: Saori Hayami

A side story character in SAO. She was a member of "Black Cats of the Full Moon" which was the first guild Kirito joined. Kirito was especially attached to her. However she died along with the majority of her guild members which led to Kirito wallowing in despair and self-loathing until he read the time delayed message she left for Kirito. Even after the message gave him the strength to live, he never joined another guild until the events of Volume 1.

Oberon the Fairy King (妖精王オベイロン, Yōsei-ō Obeiron)

Real name: Nobuyuki Sugō (須郷 伸之, Sugō Nobuyuki)

Nobuyuki Sugō is the villain who is responsible for keeping 300 Nerve Gear victims, including Asuna, prisoner even after SAO had ended. He did this by transferring them all into ALO for experiments regarding human subjugation via fulldive technology. That and taking over RECTO Progress Inc. by marrying Asuna while she is unconscious are his goals. In ALO he took on the identity of Oberon the Fairy King and made Asuna his queen, Titania. When he and Kirito finally meet, he flaunts his GM status as well as the results of his research by causing Kirito immense amounts of pain after increasing Kirito's pain limit and impaling him. He was defeated when the "Ghost Program" of Akihiko Kayaba reminded Kirito of how "he" was defeated by Kirito's determination. And then aiding him to overcome Oberon's GM status. After being defeated, all the 300 victims were released but Noboyuki still attempted to attack Kirito while he was en-route to Asuna in the real world. Was once again defeated by Kirito using what he had learned about combat in SAO to his advantage.

Yuuki (ユウキ)

Real name: Yuuki Konno (紺野 木綿季, Konno Yuuki)

The main character in Volume 7. She was an Imp in ALO, she started dueling anyone promising an 11-hit OSS if she's defeated; due to her undefeated status she's given the title 'Absolute Sword'. Eventually Asuna fights her but loses. After the fight Yuuki asks her to help defeating the 27th floor boss with her guild the Sleeping Knights. After certain events, which include the defeat of the 27th floor boss it is revealed that Yuuki has AIDS and the Sleeping Knights members were patients in terminal state; with the time passing Yuuki's condition gets worse and after she entrusts her OSS Mother's Rosario to Asuna she dies peacefully in ALO, surrounded by over 1000 players from every tribe in the game, including her guild members, Asuna and her friends.

Selka (セルカ, Seruka)

Younger sister of Alice and an apprentice of Sister Azariya. She is capable of wielding the Sacred Arts but dislikes being compared to her sister. Does not remember Kirito but is put in charge of him upon his "return".

Minor Characters

Midori Kirigaya (桐ヶ谷 翠, Kirigaya Midori)

Suguha's mother and Kirito's aunt and adoptive mother in the real world.

Shōzō Yūki (結城 彰三, Yūki Shōzō)

Asuna's father and CEO of a major electronics manufacturing company, RECTO Progress Inc.

Silver Crow (シルバー・クロウ, Sirubā Kurou)

Real name: Haruyuki Arita (有田 春雪, Arita Haruyuki)

The main character of Accel World, another of Reki Kawahara's light novels who appears to confront Kirito in a crossover side story.

Sister Azariya (シスター・アザリヤ, Shisutā Azariya)

A teacher at the church in Rulid Village. Taught Alice the Sacred Arts and now teaches Selka the same. She houses orphans at the church. Does not remember Kirito.

Terminology

Fulldive Technology

Virtual Reality technology used to interface with virtual worlds.

Nerve Gear

The first form of fulldive technology used to interface with VRMMOs (Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online) games. Contained traps specifically designed to keep people in the game and kill them if the gamers get a "Game Over" or if interference from outside is detected.

AmuSphere

Second form of fulldive technology containing improvements designed to keep users safe.

MediCuboid

Introduced in the Side Story Arc: Mother's Rosario. It is another form of fulldive technology that belongs to the same generation as AmuSphere. However, MediCuboid not only connects to the brain but the spinal cord as well. It completely shuts out all physical sensation so that no physical pain can reach the brain. Designed for Medical use, in place of anaesthesia or painkillers.

Soul Translator

Introduced in the Alicization Arc. It is an experimental fourth generation fulldive interface that works on in completely different manner from its predecessors. Based on Quantum Brain Dynamics, it is designed to access the deepest parts of the human consciousness. It has the ability to increase the speed of a human's thought processes multiple times its normal rate.

The World Seed

A VR environment creation program. Created by Akihiko Kayaba and entrusted to Kirito who uploaded it onto the net for free and for all to use.

SAO

Abbreviation of Sword Art Online, the first VRMMO game. The objective of the game is to clear all 100 floors of the floating castle, Aincrad. Is turned into a death game by its creator Kayaba Akihiko in hopes of creating a true virtual reality. It implements a level based system. Thus, in cases where players with an overwhelming difference in levels face off, one side could very well be invincible compared to the other side.

ALO

Abbreviation of ALfheim Online. The setting for the second arc. Implements the first unique flight system that allows players to fly via wings. Players must choose out of nine different races, known races are: Spriggan, Sylph, Undine, Gnome, Salamander, Cait Sith, Leprechaun, Imp and Puca, each possessing their own strengths and weaknesses. ALO implements a skill based system as opposed to a level based system, in other words all experience is used to increase the skill level with only small health increases. Thus, even lower level players have a chance to win against higher level players.

GGO

Abbreviation of Gun Gale Online. The setting for the third arc. A VRMMO with its main focus on guns, although melee weapons like lightsabers and knives also exist.

UW

Abbreviation of UnderWorld. The setting for the fourth arc. According to Kirito it is, graphically, the most realistic of all VRMMOs to date. The flow of time in UW is faster than the real world. Even so, it seems that even Kirito was mislead as to the actual rate of the flow of time so an accurate ratio of the flow of time is, as of yet unknown, or whether the rate changes during the Alicization Arc. However, in There is but one ultimate way side story, the rate is said to be 10000 times that of the real world.

Solo

A type of player who fights on their own in order to increase level output and/or to decrease reliance on team members for whatever reasons. There is a risk vs. reward system with solo players, since they are in greater danger due to being on their own, but experience points and items are more plentiful. Although looked down upon by a large number of players for being selfish and refusing to team with other players, a large majority of them are all much higher levels than most of the game population. The main protagonist, Kirito, is a solo player.

Clearer

Elite players within the game who are higher level than all other players who focus on experience and skill development in order to clear levels to complete the game. They are looked upon with high regard due to their ability to fight on the frontlines, which are the most dangerous parts of the game. Their numbers range around a few hundred out of the six thousand players left after two years and are considered very rare to see on the earlier floors.

Beater

A term unique to SAO. A cross between a beta tester (a player who was given early access to the Sword Art Online game before release) and a cheater. It is used as a derogative word meant for people who use unfair means to play the game, such as prior knowledge of game mechanics, or even higher levels than normal for their playing area.

PKer

An abbreviation of Player Killer, the act of causing the death of another gamer's avatar in a virtual world.

Crystals

Items in SAO that have different effects. There are three types of known Crystals.

• Teleportation Crystals: These crystals can be used to teleport to any town on any open level.
• Warp (aka Corridor) Crystals: These crystals can be used to teleport to any area (even specific areas in any town or any mapped dungeon area) in an open level, only after recording such location first with the crystal.
• Healing Crystals: A high-level healing item with instantaneous effects as opposed to healing potions that have an effect over time.

Anti-Crystal (aka Crystal Nullification) Area

An area where any kind of crystal is rendered ineffective (Teleportation, Warp or Healing).

Sword Skills

An original concept in SAO, that rejected the magic system and replaced it with Sword Skills. These techniques require a set motion of the virtual body to activate. After activation the system takes over and guides the Virtual Avatar till the completion of the move. Each type of weapon has its own set of sword skills with glamorous effects. Furthermore, in SAO, there existed 10 unique skills one of which known as «Dual Blades», granted to the player with the fastest reaction speed, expected by Heathcliff to act out the role of the Hero against the final boss. The Sword Skill system was later implemented in ALO with added elemental effects in order to make it equivalent to ALO's magic system. However, «Dual Blades» and its 9 other counterparts, were not imported due to their ability to disrupt the balance of the system. (Note: Kirito's ability to dual wield in ALO is not because of system assist thus it is a product of his practice rather than the system.)

OSS

Abbreviation of Original Sword Skill. A new addition to the Sword Skills system introduced in ALO which allows the player to create a sword skill of their own, the downside being that such skill is only accepted by the system depending of the speed, combo and final hit of the skill. The strongest OSS created are Salamander General Eugene's 8-hit Volcanic Blazer and Absolute Sword Yuuki's 11-hit Mother's Rosario.

Outside-System Skills

These are skills players develop by themselves due to their study of the rules and abilities of their Fulldive interface, the VRMMO being played and the unique effects when this knowledge is combined and used in inventive ways. Kirito has developed many such skills:

• The ability to sense the data used to reference to him, prerecognition.
• The ability to filter out background or unneeded sound and focus on a single sound/conversation, distinguish.
• The ability to predict attack patterns, insight.
• The ability to confuse monsters' AI, mislead.
• The ability to switch positions with other players while fighting, switch.
• The ability to feel the presence of an enemy before hearing or seeing, Hypersense. It's also a skill to sense killing intent.
• «Skill Connect», using his ability to manually wield two swords Kirito chains multiple sword skills (using one hand to activate the skill just as the skill unleashed by his other hand finishes) thus bypassing the delay that occurs after a skill is executed. This skill is extremely difficult to execute because of the high level of timing required, a single mistake would cause the skill to fail. Developed in ALO.
• «Arms Blast», requiring a high level of precision, the ability to target and attack the weak points of the weapons of enemies. Developed in SAO.
• «Spell Blast», an upgrade/variation of «Arms Blast» that requires an even higher level of precision and control. It is the ability to utilize elemental sword skills to target the cores of spells and slice them up, thus destroying the released spells. Developed in ALO thanks to the experience gathered in GGO while slicing bullets. None other than Kirito have been able to learn this skill even with him teaching them.

Media

Light novels

Reki Kawahara wrote the first volume in 2002 as contribution for the 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 sending it in due to exceeding the page limit. Thus he published it as a web novel using the pseudonym Fumio Kunori. Over time he added three further volumes and several short stories. In 2008 he tried again for the prize by writing Accel World and this time won the Grand Prize. Aside from Accel World he was also asked to get his prior work Sword Art Online published by ASCII Media Works. Kawahara agreed and withdrew his web novel versions. The republication as a paper novel began on April 10, 2009.

No.	Title	Japanese release date	Japanese ISBN
1	Sword Art Online 1: Aincrad	April 10, 2009	978-4-04-867760-8
2	Sword Art Online 2: Aincrad	August 10, 2009	978-4-04-867935-0
3	Sword Art Online 3: Fairy Dance	December 10, 2009	978-4-04-868193-3
4	Sword Art Online 4: Fairy Dance	April 10, 2010	978-4-04-868452-1
5	Sword Art Online 5: Phantom Bullet	August 10, 2010	978-4-04-868763-8
6	Sword Art Online 6: Phantom Bullet	December 10, 2010	978-4-04-870132-7
7	Sword Art Online 7: Mother's Rosario	April 10, 2011	978-4-04-870431-1
8	Sword Art Online 8: Early and Late	August 10, 2011	978-4-04-870733-6
9	Sword Art Online 9: Alicization Beginning	February 10, 2012	978-4-04-886271-4
10	Sword Art Online 10: Alicization Running	July 10, 2012	978-4-04-886697-2

Anime

See also: List of Sword Art Online 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 which was also getting an anime adaption. The anime is published by Aniplex, produced by A-1 Pictures and directed by Tomohiko Ito with music by Yuki Kajiura. The anime began airing on Tokyo MX, tvk, TVS, TVA, RKB, HBC and MBS on July 7, 2012 and on AT-X, Chiba TV and BS11 at later dates.

The Opening theme song is "crossing field" by LiSA and the Ending theme song is "Yume Sekai" (ユメセカイ, lit. "Dream World") by Haruka Tomatsu.

See also

• Accel World

External links

• Sword Art Online Official Anime website Template:Ja icon
• Sword Art Online (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia