Sword Art Online

Synopsis

Setting

The light novel series spans several virtual reality worlds, beginning with the game, Sword Art Online (SAO), which is set in a world known as Aincrad. Each world is built on a game engine called Cardinal system, which was initially developed specifically for SAO by Akihiko Kayaba, but was later duplicated for Alfheim Online (ALO), and a consolidated package is later given to Kirito in the form of the World Seed, who had it leaked online with the successful intention of reviving the virtual reality industry. A third world known as Gun Gale Online (GGO) appears in the third arc and is stylized as a first-person shooter game instead of a role-playing game, and is the mai…

Production

Reki Kawahara wrote the first volume in 2001 as a competition entry for the 2002 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. Over time, he added three further main arcs and several short stories which, like the first arc "Aincrad", were later adapted into the light novels. 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…

Manga

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 Magazine between the September 2010 and May 2012 issues. Two tankōbon volumes of Aincrad were released on September 27, 2012. 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. 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 illustra…

Anime series

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. The anime is produced by Aniplex and Genco, animated by A-1 Pictures and directed by Tomohiko Ito with music by Yuki Kajiura. The anime aired on Tokyo MX, tvk, TVS, TV Aichi, RKB, HBC, and MBS between July 7 and December 22, 2012, and on AT-X, Chiba TV, and BS11 at later dates. The series was also streamed on Crunchyroll and Hulu. The anime is adapted from the first four novels and parts of volume 8.

The anime has been licensed in North America by Aniplex of America and an English-language dub premiered on Adult Swim…

Theatrical films

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.

After the finale of Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld, an anime adaptation of Sword Art Online: Progressive was announced. It was later revealed to be a new film titled Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night, which premiered on October 30, 2021. Inori Minase is joining the cast as the new character Mito. Ayako Kōno is directing the film, with Kento Toya designing the charact…

Video games

A stage event at the Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2011 revealed that Reki Kawahara's light novels would get video game adaptations.

A social network game called Sword Art Online: End World was released for Japanese feature phones and smartphones on February 28, 2013 with more than 1 million registered users. It was discontinued in September 2017.

The first Sword Art Online console 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 published by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation Portable. The game follows an alternate storyline, in which a glitch causes Kirito and the other players to remain in S…

Reception

Sales

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. It was ranked first in the 2012 and 2013 Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! rankings, as well as top five placement in 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and top 10 in 2019. It was also the second best selling light novel series in the first half of 2016 in Japan, selling 489,374 copies. Sword Art Online: Progressive sold 321,535 copies in the same time period. By 2017, the series has an estimated 20 million copies in print worldwide. By 2021, the series has 26 million copies in print. The number of sales have reached 30 million i…