Sword Art Online (series)


 * This article is about the series. You may be looking for the VRMMORPG.

Sword Art Online (ソードアート・オンライン) is a Japanese light novel series written by Kawahara Reki and illustrated by abec. The series is published by ASCII Media Works under Dengeki Bunko. It has been adapted into an anime series by A-1 Pictures and aired from July to December of 2012. The series has also been adapted into a manga series, with illustrations by Nakamura Tamako. A game has been released for PlayStation portable, known as Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment.

1. Aincrad (First Arc, SAO)
In the year 2022, Kirito (the main protagonist), a solo player who had the luck-of-the-draw to play the beta version, and the many other players of Sword Art Online (SAO) are trapped inside of a game, unable to logout; the only way to live is to win. Death in-game means death in the real world; tampering with or prolonged power outages to the Nerve Gear, the gear that simulates in-game character control by redirecting brain signals, also means death. To win means to defeat the final boss on the top floor; out of the original 10,000 players at the start, two years later, over 6,000 remain with 26 floors left to clear.

This Arc also contains four side stories that happened within two years of the SAO incident, as well as other side stories touched upon further below.


 * Black Swordsman (Aincrad 35th Floor, February 2024)
 * Pina, a «Feathery Dragon», dies protecting her tamer Silica, one of the rare Beast Tamers in SAO. In order to revive her, Silica must obtain «The Flower of Pneuma» in four days. Will she and Kirito succeed or fail?


 * Warmth of the Heart (Aincrad 48th Floor, June 2024)
 * Lisbeth, a Blacksmith, is visited by Kirito and requested to make a high level sword. But to do so they need a special ore. Will the two succeed in this quest or die trying?


 * Morning Dew Girl (Aincrad 22nd Floor, October 2024)
 * Kirito and Asuna are now married in SAO and living together. One day they stumble upon a girl with no memories, who is younger than any player they have seen so far. Who is this girl and what secrets does she hold?


 * Red-nosed Reindeer (Aincrad 46th Floor, December 19th - 23rd, 2023)
 * Kirito has been leveling up without any regards to his life in preparation for a game event. Just what happened that caused Kirito to go so far?

2. Fairy Dance (Second Arc, ALO)
"The Hero" Kirito (Kazuto) has completed and exited the game along with the majority of the living players. However, 300 players, including Kazuto's sweetheart Yuuki Asuna, are still trapped by the NerveGear and have failed to awaken. Kazuto finds a picture of what looks like Asuna in one of the other VRMMO games known as ALfheim Online (ALO). And so he must now embark on another quest for the sake of his love, who is held captive in ALfheim Online.

3. Phantom Bullet (Third Arc, GGO)
Thanks to the "World Seed", entrusted to Kirito who uploaded it onto the internet, the development of VRMMOs has progressed extensively. However, Gun Gale Online, a VRMMO game that focuses on guns and shooting rather than sword and sorcery, has had some of their players killed by a certain individual while in the game world, but the mystery is that they also died at the same time in the real world. Kirito must once again embark for a new world in search of the man supposedly behind the deaths, "Death Gun".

4. Mother's Rosario (Side Story Arc, ALO)
A new player titled Zekken (Absolute Sword) appears in ALfheim Online and needs help. Will Asuna have what it takes? And what are the secrets that Zekken and her guild, the Sleeping Knights, hold?

===Early and Late (Side Story Arc, ALO & SAO)===

Contains 3 side stories that take place in Sword Art Online and ALfhiem Online.


 * A Murder Case in the Area (Aincrad 57th floor, April 2024) (SAO Side Story)
 * A murder takes place within a town's safe «area». Now Kirito and Asuna must unravel the mystery of this supposedly impossible death. Otherwise nowhere in Aincrad will be safe any more.


 * Caliber (Alfheim, December 2025) (ALO Side Story)
 * In the Fairy Dance Arc, while traveling to the World Tree, Kirito and Leafa had discovered the location of the Legendary Sword, Excaliber. Now a few weeks after the events of Phantom Bullet, Kirito, Asuna, Leafa, Silica, Lisbeth, Klein and Sinon embark on the quest to claim the strongest weapon in ALO. However things are not as they seem, and the quest for the Legendary Sword turns out to be one that may decide the very future of ALfhiem itself.


 * First Day (Aincrad 1st floor, November 2022) (SAO Side Story)
 * The Logout button is gone and Sword Art Online has become a "Death game". This chapter tells the story of what Kirito did in his first day trapped in Aincrad after leaving Starting City.

Other Side Stories
Other Side stories from different Arcs.


 * Aria in the Starless Night (Aincrad 1st Floor, December 2022)
 * A month has passed since 10,000 players were trapped in Sword Art Online, 2000 have already died and yet the first floor boss hasn't been defeated. Tensions between the Beta Testers and Normal Players are building. In the depths of a labyrinth, the fated first meeting between Kirito and Asuna unfolds. The players, tired of the stalemate prepare to challenge the first floor boss, The Kobold Lord. And in the end Kirito will have to make a choice. A choice that will redefine the relationship between players and Beta Testers. A choice that may cost a piece of himself.


 * Rondo of the Transient Sword (Aincrad 2nd Floor, 8 December 2022)


 * The Fourteenth Autumn (Aincrad 35th Floor, 4 October 2024)
 * Like she had done a few times before, Silica invites Kirito for a meal as a celebration for defeating a floor boss - this time, being Floor 73. This celebration, however, has another reason secret only to her. She is therefore surprised when Kirito seemed to have understood the reason beforehand.


 * The Day Before (Aincrad 22nd Floor, 24 October 2024)
 * After proposing to Asuna, Kirito leads her to the house they will be living in, only to find out that it's gone. During the investigation of its disappearance, a short adventure starts that would include the information broker Argo, a long-coated dog, a «Scarecrow», a suit of armor named «Tin», and a «Werelion» without a mane.


 * Sound of Water, Sound of Hammer (Aincrad 48th Floor August 2024)
 * Kirito goes to «Lisbeth's Equipment Shop» to reinforce his weapons.


 * Celeste Fairy (Real World, April 2025)
 * To celebrate Kazuto's one-year-late enrollment to high school, Suguha and their parents decided to buy Kazuto a Bianchi bicycle. However, while cycling 2 days later, Kazuto discovers that the previous owner of the bike had left something valuable stuck inside it...


 * The Day After (New Aincrad, June 2025)
 * 1 month after the release of New Aincrad, Kirito, Asuna and their friends battle against the Floor Boss of the 8th Floor, while Asuna keeps experiencing a strange «separation» phenomenon...


 * Caliber SS (Failure Side)
 * An alternate ending, based on what would have happened if Klein hadn't saved Freyja during the quest for Excaliber.


 * A Spot of Sunshine in the Winter (New Aincrad 22nd Floor, 31 December 2025)
 * After an argument with her parents, Silica escapes from the real world, ending up in front of the wooden house near the lake in the 22nd floor of «New Aincrad». Inside, she finds one of the owners of the house and they talk about their memories about «Old Aincrad».


 * Versus (Accel World crossover)
 * Roppongi, 2026. Kazuto/Kirito has been called in to test the newly developed «4th-Generation FullDive Experimental Unit». But what he finds in the virtual world is a battle with Silver Crow/Haruyuki Arita of the year 2047.


 * Cradle of the Moon (Alicization Side Story)


 * There is but one Ultimate Way
 * Taking place after the Underworld Arc (after/around Volume 15). The third year students' summer holidays are about to end. It seems that the girls have something planned for Kirito. Something that involves being Married-in-game, with a twist. Confirmed to be not canon.

Sword Art Online: Material Editions

 * The Material Edition (ME) series is a series of doujinshis created by Kawahara Reki himself using the pen name "Kunori Fumio" (the same that pen name he used when he wrote the web novel of SAO).


 * ME1 : The Progressers
 * An argument over the method of defeating a floor boss turns into a duel between Kirito and Asuna.


 * ME2 : Early Characters
 * Early character designs and descriptions as well as status parameters.


 * ME3 : Ceramic Heart
 * The story of Yui learning what love is as well as loss.


 * ME4 : Cold Hands, Warm Heart
 * Kirito is afflicted by an unidentified negative status. Unable to handle it he messages Klein for help, but the one who appears to take care of him is...


 * ME5 : Salvia (Real World before the events of Fairy Dance, January 2025)
 * Kazuto and Suguha remember a treasured memory from their childhood.


 * ME6 : Algade Showdown (Aincrad 22nd floor, October 2024)
 * Is that an NPC or a Player? Asuna and Kirito attempt to find out the identity of a certain cook.


 * ME7 : Continuation : Aria in the Starless Night (December 2022)
 * Continuation of Aria in the Starless Night side story immediately after the defeat of the first floor boss.


 * ME8 : Rondo of the Transient Sword - first chapter
 * Sequel to Aria in the Starless Night. The Black Swordsman Kirito is now in hiding because of the choice he made. However, Asuna doesn't plan on abandoning him. Together, they seek to upgrade their weapons, in anticipation for the battle against the Second Floor Boss.


 * ME9 : Monochrome Concerto - first chapter
 * The second floor has been cleared. Kirito and Asuna head towards the third floor. Kirito aims at beginning an NPC Quest he learned about during the Beta Test and Asuna decides to tag along. But will everything work out as it is supposed to?


 * ME10 : 16.6
 * Published in COMITIA106, a sequel of The Day Before that describes the marriage of Kirito and Asuna and what happened afterwards.

Light Novels

 * Sword Art Online Volume 1 - Aincrad
 * Sword Art Online Volume 2 - Aincrad SS
 * Sword Art Online Volume 3 - Fairy Dance
 * Sword Art Online Volume 4 - Fairy Dance
 * Sword Art Online Volume 5 - Phantom Bullet
 * Sword Art Online Volume 6 - Phantom Bullet
 * Sword Art Online Volume 7 - Mother's Rosario
 * Sword Art Online Volume 8 - Early Late
 * Sword Art Online Volume 9 - Alicization Beginning
 * Sword Art Online Volume 10 - Alicization Running
 * Sword Art Online Volume 11 - Alicization Turning
 * Sword Art Online Volume 12 - Alicization Rising
 * Sword Art Online Volume 13 - Alicization Dividing

Progressive series

 * Sword Art Online Progressive Volume 01

Others

 * Accel World Volume 10 Chapter 3 - Versus: Accel World & Sword Art Online cross-over
 * Sword Art Online Side Story - Caliber SS
 * Sword Art Online Side Story - Cradle of the Moon
 * Sword Art Online Side Story - Sound of Water, Sound of Hammer
 * Sword Art Online Side Story - There is But One Ultimate Way
 * Sword Art Online Side Story - The Day Before
 * Sword Art Online Side Story - A Spot of Sunshine in the Winter
 * Sword Art Online Side Story - The Day After
 * Sword Art Online Side Story - The Fourteenth Autumn
 * Sword Art Online Side Story - Celeste Fairy

Material Editions

 * Sword Art Online Material Edition 01 - The Progressers
 * Sword Art Online Material Edition 02 - Early Character
 * Sword Art Online Material Edition 03 - Ceramic Heart
 * Sword Art Online Material Edition 04 - Cold Hand, Warm Heart
 * Sword Art Online Material Edition 05 - Salvia
 * Sword Art Online Material Edition 06 - Algade Showdown
 * Sword Art Online Material Edition 07 - Continuation: Aria in the Starless Night
 * Sword Art Online Material Edition 08 - Rondo of the Transient Sword (first chapter)
 * Sword Art Online Material Edition 09 - Monochrome Concerto (first chapter)
 * Sword Art Online Material Edition 10 - 16.6

Manga

 * Go to Sword Art Online Manga Main Page

The Sword Art Online series currently has 5 manga adaptations. An Aincrad Arc adaptation by Nakamura Tamako, a Fairy Dance Arc adaptation by Hazuki Tsubasa as well as a Progressive Arc adaptation by Kiseki Himura. There is also a 4-koma comedy manga related to some parts of the light novels as well as a spin-off manga by Nekobyō Neko.

Anime

 * Go to Sword Art Online Anime Mainpage

Video Game
A video game adaptation, 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), is developed by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). The game follows an alternate story line, in which a glitch causes Kirito and the other players to remain in Sword Art Online despite defeating Heathcliff on 75th floor, whilst players from other VMMORPGs such as Leafa and Sinon get sucked into the game. The game was released in both regular and limited edition box sets on March 14, 2013.