Sword Art Online

Ever since the release of the innovative NerveGear, gamers from all around the globe have been given the opportunity to experience a completely immersive virtual reality. Sword Art Online (SAO), one of the most recent games on the console, offers a gateway into the wondrous world of Aincrad, a vivid, medieval landscape where users can do anything within the limits of imagination. With the release of this worldwide sensation, gaming has never felt more lifelike.

However, the idyllic fantasy rapidly becomes a brutal nightmare when SAO's creator traps thousands of players inside the game. The "log-out" function has been removed, with the only method of escape involving beating all of Aincrad's one hundred increasingly difficult levels. Adding to the struggle, any in-game death becomes permanent, ending the player's life in the real world.

While Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya was fortunate enough to be a beta-tester for the game, he quickly finds that despite his advantages, he cannot overcome SAO's challenges alone. Teaming up with Asuna Yuuki and other talented players, Kirito makes an effort to face the seemingly insurmountable trials head-on. But with difficult bosses and threatening dark cults impeding his progress, Kirito finds that such tasks are much easier said than done.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kirigaya, Kazuto Main

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Yuuki, Asuna Main

Tomatsu, Haruka Japanese

Kirigaya, Suguha Main

Taketatsu, Ayana Japanese

Yui Supporting

Itou, Kanae Japanese

Tsuboi, Ryoutarou Supporting

Hirata, Hiroaki Japanese

Ayano, Keiko Supporting

Hidaka, Rina Japanese

Shinozaki, Rika Supporting

Takagaki, Ayahi Japanese

Sachi Supporting

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Kayaba, Akihiko Supporting

Yamadera, Kouichi Japanese

Mills, Andrew Gilbert Supporting

Yasumoto, Hiroki Japanese

Mori, Yasunori Producer

Miki, Kazuma Producer

Kashiwada, Shinichirou Producer

Niwa, Masami Assistant Producer

Reviews

Mar 25, 2026

groggyyyy

Recommended

SAO was very unique for its time it had an amazing story, plot and world feature of the VR plot, I heavily enjoyed it as it is an Isekai but also not at the same time which is why I think it started Isekai genre to become much more popular.I liked the art style and the animations I just think Kirito is to basic but other than that its very enjoyable.

Overall Sword Art Online season one is actually a really nice, and is a well thought out anime if ur also including the prog movie u get a whole lot of in depth looks into ... Aincrad. Asuna and Kirito evolving over the seasons is one of my favourite parts of SAO and I highly recommend it.Although the SA parts are not needed, but still an amazing and well thought out anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by groggyyyy (1)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Feb 19, 2026

KXluck

Mixed Feelings

I miss you when will you come back I always wait, I'm sure you will come back sword art online. Anime sword art online got a nice storyline and it matters to my life.

The character kirito haven't got the story of his completed its still missing. So, Please continue this story until it's the end of its novel and until we're all happy.

And also pls pls plss continue the story cus I really love it my cousin's also loved it because it's an amazing story the characters are very cool.

The reason why I want you guys to continue it because we love it ... the genre fits me so much.

The characters are just so perfect that it fits me so much like there are no imperfect ones all of them are perfect.

So yeah just continue this story because I bet others are also waiting for you guys to continue and just so you know they do love this anime so much and it's so great.

If you read this pls just continue and others pls help me to get this story continued we really love the story and ofc the anime and the characters.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by KXluck (1)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Aug 26, 2025

Rigga

Not Recommended

I really cannot emphasize enough that I tried to enjoy this show. I watched it, I tried not to judge it.

I dropped this show four times over the past decade trying to get into it. I failed four times. I finally managed to get through it this time after having exposed myself to a deluge of shitty Isekai and generic fantasy shows.

The premise is simple: What if you were trapped in a VRMMO death game? It could be an interesting premise, essentially you have all the story aspects of a (potentially cooperative) death game mixed with video game mechanics. But anyone who watches it for ... more than a few episodes will come to the following realization:

This show is nothing more than a vapid appeal to aesthetics. There is no substance, and no reason to get invested in the story, beyond the fact that the story allows us to see "cool" action scenes and "heartwarming" romance. The story serves ONLY as a vessel to let the audience know that Kirito is a badass, every girl he meets falls in love with him, and that he is the unique individual in this story capable of feats no other person is capable of.

The story bends over backwards to give Kirito this position. Every woman wants him and every good guy respects him. Why? Because he is arbitrarily powerful for the sake of the story. He is dressed in an edgy black cloak with fingerless gloves because that's the fit that edgelords think is cool. His relationships with Asuna and Yui are unearned, his god-like powers are always clearly plot contrivances, and his struggles are always either reversible or someone else's problem.

The worst part of this show? His sister. I dropped it twice because I go to the episode where it starts to go down that route. I never got far enough to know how bad it is. They go through an Alabaman love TWICE. It's never played for laughs, and it's never treated as a bad thing. It's clear the author fantasizes about it, or thinks the audience would. And that should be telling.

The worst part for a guy like me is the consistent inconsistencies.

The majority of the story takes place in video games, which would have strict rules for how the player can interact with the world. This isn't me talking about the Ark system or whatever they call it, but rather strictly a property of how computers (and the worlds derived therein) are required to be created from discrete packets of information and are limited in their complexity, so impose human-designed rules on interaction. For a simple example, in Elfheim, we are told that you can only fly for 10 minutes at a time, and only up to a certain height. They even take the time to show that on their journey, they have to stop and wait for their flight to return, taking turns logging off and resting while the meter returns. But right after this we see them "rush over to an event" 20 minutes away and they fly non-stop.

Another example that sticks out (primarily because I was so confused about it) was the "learning to fly without the joystick" thing. They make a whole plot point out of Kirito learning to imagine muscles in his back and flex the wings himself to fly without using the standard controls. We see his wings flap when he flies this one time, yet every other time we see any characters fly their wings are still. This may be chalked up to an animation budget issue, but the wings didn't flap when he was using the stick either, and we are led to focus on the fact that he IS USING HIS MUSCLES TO MOVE THEM IN ORDER TO FLY. So the fact that they took the time to draw our attention to the idea that they are moving, and they are never shown moving after that... It makes the show feel even more stupid and frustrating.

The show has many such cases!!! of this kind of backtrack writing. It also has writing issues where it is very apparent early on what the purpose of a character is. Most of the character's purposes are to do a generic RPG task like forge a sword or be in a party. Every woman also has the bonus feature of falling in love with Kirito. Aside from this, every character feels pretty much the same. They rarely differ by anything more than appearance and basic quirks. Everyone is either good or bad, no moral gray ground, no intrigue. If you want a great example of this, consider how they handle the dude whose wife died.

Overall, this show is extremely frustrating to watch. I really struggled to get through the last 8 episodes this time through, and this was the furthest I had ever gotten without wanting to drop the show. Considering I have watched some garbage shows, I think it should speak volumes that this is one of the worst shows I have seen. The only way to enjoy this is if you want to see something "cool". If you want an actual show, this is not it. This show tries to pander to the male gaze aesthetic of what a badass is, but ends up landing closer to the nice guy trope. The only difference is that Kirito has the plot on his side so the women actually do like the nice guy. I mean FFS he wears fingerless gloves. If this kid was born in america he would be a school shooter.

I really can't rate this show any lower than a 3 because I am sure there are objectively worse shows that deserve to be marked lower. But this is probably one of THE WORST shows I have ever seen. I almost never start a show without finishing it, and that goes for second seasons. But I will not be watching the next season, since it will probably just be more of the same. I would get nothing out of it and would lose precious time I could be using, IDK, rewatching MT or something.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Rigga (83)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Anime that have predicted the future

by GreatTeacherKen

24 Entries · 8 Restacks

Anime trasmessi su Rai 4 🇮🇹

by MyriadTruths444

26 Entries · 1 Restacks

Quick Sword Art Online guide for newcomers

by marcosocram2004

12 Entries · 13 Restacks

Interview: Luna Haruna to Showcase Best Album at New York Anisong World Matsuri

Since making her international debut at Sakura-Con in Seattle five years ago, model-turned-singer Luna Haruna has performed at more than 30 anime conventions and co...read more

Oct 31, 2018 8:00 PM by arsonal | Discuss (5 comments)

North American Anime & Manga Releases for June

Here are the North American anime & manga releases for June Week 1: June 6 - 12 Anime Releases Ajin (incl. Part 1: Shoudou) Blu-ray & DVD Combo Limited Editi...read more

Jun 5, 2017 11:01 AM by Sakana-san | Discuss (12 comments)

	Poll: Sword Art Online Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Sep 8, 2012	1,278 replies	by Chiibihime »» Yesterday, 8:18 AM
	Poll: Sword Art Online Episode 25 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) bippo - Dec 22, 2012	1,464 replies	by CorruptedSlime »» May 9, 5:41 PM
	Poll: Sword Art Online Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Jul 14, 2012	789 replies	by fknaruto228 »» May 7, 12:35 PM
	Poll: Sword Art Online Episode 24 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) bippo - Dec 15, 2012	908 replies	by Loockl »» May 4, 10:53 AM
	Poll: Sword Art Online Episode 5 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Aug 4, 2012	710 replies	by gatolopang »» Apr 28, 7:31 AM

Special Report from Aniplex Online Fest 2021

Breaking down the hottest panels at Aniplex Online Fest 2021, featuring Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Fate/Grand Order, Sword Art Online, and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

by MAL_editing_team

49,331 views

Everything You Need to Know About Sword Art Online: Progressive

The next level of SAO will take us back to where it all began.

by Shymander

61,410 views