About Sword Art Online
Sword Art Online is a light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by abec. Kawahara first published it as a web novel on his own website, under the pen name Fumio Kunori, from 2002 to 2008; ASCII Media Works began printing it under its Dengeki Bunko imprint in April 2009, Yen Press publishes it in English, 29 volumes had appeared by April 2026, and the series has 30 million copies in circulation. A-1 Pictures adapted it as a TV anime in four parts, directed by Tomohiko Itō and then, from Alicization on, by Manabu Ono, with music by Yuki Kajiura: Sword Art Online (2012), Sword Art Online II (2014), Sword Art Online: Alicization (2018–2019) and Alicization – War of Underworld (2019–2020), 96 episodes in all. The anime films include Ordinal Scale (2017) and the two Progressive films (2021 and 2022), and a spin-off series, Gun Gale Online, has had two seasons.
The story opens in 2022, when a helmet called the NerveGear has made full-immersion virtual reality possible and 10,000 players log in to its first great game, Sword Art Online, on launch day, only to find that the log-out button has gone. The game's creator, Akihiko Kayaba, appears over the Town of Beginnings and tells them the truth: anyone whose health runs out, or whose helmet is pulled off, will die in the real world, and the only way out is to clear all 100 floors of the floating castle Aincrad. Kazuto Kirigaya, a former beta tester who plays as Kirito, sets out alone. Over two years in the game he becomes the solo player known as the Black Swordsman, takes on the hated label 'beater', and fights alongside, and falls in love with, Asuna, the lightning-fast vice-commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath.
Later arcs move from world to world: ALfheim Online, a game of flying fairies, where Kirito searches for Asuna after she fails to wake up (Fairy Dance); Gun Gale Online, a game of guns, where the sniper Sinon helps him hunt a player called Death Gun (Phantom Bullet); a quest for the holy sword Excalibur (Calibur); Asuna's friendship with the duellist Yuuki (Mother's Rosario); and the Underworld, a simulated world whose people are artificial intelligences, where Kirito and his friend Eugeo set out to bring back their childhood friend Alice (Alicization). Critics praised the premise, the world-building and the bond between Kirito and Asuna, while the pacing and parts of the writing drew criticism. In the 2020 edition of the guidebook Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!, readers and a jury voted it the best light novel series of the 2010s, and the series is credited with coining the terms 'VRMMORPG' and 'full dive'.
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What the Sword Art Online Quiz Tests
Our Sword Art Online quiz covers the 96 episodes of the TV anime, from the Aincrad arc of 2012 to the end of War of Underworld in 2020. It leaves out the films, the Extra Edition and recap specials, the Gun Gale Online spin-off and anything that is only in the light novels. Easy levels cover the basics: who made the series, the NerveGear and Aincrad's 100 floors, Kirito's nickname and real name, Asuna's guild, Klein, Silica, Lisbeth and what players do in ALfheim Online, Gun Gale Online and the Underworld. The middle levels follow the story in order: the Christmas boss's revival item, the honeymoon cabin, Yui's secret, Kirito's fairy race, the duel with General Eugene, the World Seed, the Bullet of Bullets, Excalibur, the Sleeping Knights, Alice's arrest and the Underworld's super-accounts. The hard levels hold the big spoilers: who Heathcliff really is, how many players survive, Kayaba's lifelong wish, Death Gun's player name, how the tournament ends, Yuuki's sword skill, Eugeo's last wish, the knight behind the Blue Rose Sword's legend, how long Kirito and Asuna spend in the Underworld and the title it gives Kirito at the very end.
Key Characters
Kirito is a gamer first: a former beta tester who prefers to play solo, keeps calm when everyone else panics and is better with a sword than with words, but who takes the blame for the other beta testers, hides his Dual Blades skill until lives depend on it and will fight his way through anything for the people he cares about. Asuna begins as the driven, rapier-wielding vice-commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath, determined to clear the game at any cost, and becomes Kirito's partner, his wife in the game and, in Mother's Rosario, the lead of her own story, standing up to her strict mother. Klein, the katana-wielding guild leader Kirito meets on the first day, is the friend who never holds a grudge; Agil runs the café where everyone meets; Silica and Lisbeth, a beast tamer and a blacksmith, both owe Kirito a rescue. Yui, an AI who calls Kirito and Asuna her parents, follows them from game to game. Kirito's cousin Suguha, raised as his sister, plays the cheerful Sylph Leafa in ALfheim Online, and the cool-headed sniper Sinon fights beside him in Gun Gale Online as she faces her fear of guns. Yuuki, the duellist called the Absolute Sword, leads the Sleeping Knights, and in the Underworld Kirito finds Eugeo, a gentle young woodcutter who comes to wield the Blue Rose Sword, and Alice, who has become an Integrity Knight. The villains change with each world: Akihiko Kayaba, who built SAO and hides in plain sight as the leader of Asuna's guild; Sugou, who traps 300 players in ALfheim Online; Death Gun, a killer from SAO's past; the Administrator, who rules the Underworld from the top of the Central Cathedral; and Gabriel Miller, who leads the attack on the Ocean Turtle.
Available Quizzes
Sword Art Online Trivia
50 hand-crafted questions across 5 categories. 10 levels of increasing difficulty.
Which Sword Art Online Character Are You?
Answer 10 questions to discover which Sword Art Online character matches your personality!
Random Mix
Questions from all 70 anime including Sword Art Online. The ultimate challenge.
Characters
Kirito
Asuna
Sinon
Leafa
Klein
Sword Art Online Fun Facts
- Kawahara wrote the first volume in 2001 for ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Game Novel Prize but never entered it, because it ran over the page limit; he put it on his own website instead, under the pen name Fumio Kunori. In 2008 he won the prize with a different story, Accel World, and the publisher then asked to publish Sword Art Online too.
- In the story, SAO launches on 6 November 2022. The real event held to mark the anime's tenth anniversary, Sword Art Online -FullDive-, took place on that same date at the Tokyo Garden Theater, with a new theme song, 'Sōkyū no Fanfare', composed by Yuki Kajiura and sung by Reona, Asca and Eir Aoi.
- Haruka Tomatsu, who voices Asuna in Japanese, also sings three of the TV series' theme songs: the first season's ending 'Yume Sekai', the opening 'Courage' used from the Calibur arc, and 'Resolution', War of Underworld's first opening.
- Asked whether Kirito was based on himself, Kawahara said he does not usually put himself into his characters, but that he and Kirito have one thing in common: neither is good at forming parties, so both tend to play games solo.
- Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey is a fan of Sword Art Online, has cited it as an important inspiration for his work and has said he would like to build a device like the NerveGear.
- The final part of War of Underworld was due to start on 26 April 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic pushed it back to 12 July 2020; it ended on 20 September.
Sword Art Online Quiz — Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes of Sword Art Online are there?
The TV series has 96 episodes in four parts: Sword Art Online (25 episodes, July to December 2012, covering the Aincrad and Fairy Dance arcs), Sword Art Online II (24 episodes, July to December 2014), Alicization (24 episodes, October 2018 to March 2019) and Alicization – War of Underworld (23 episodes, October to December 2019 and July to September 2020). The count leaves out the Extra Edition special of December 2013 and the four recap episodes numbered with a .5, as well as the films and the Gun Gale Online spin-off.
Is Sword Art Online finished?
The TV anime is complete: War of Underworld, which ended in September 2020, finishes the Alicization arc. The light novels are still going with the Unital Ring arc, which began in volume 21 in December 2018, and had reached 29 volumes by April 2026. An original film, Sword Art Online the Movie: Integral Domain, which follows on from War of Underworld, is scheduled for 2028.
What order should I watch Sword Art Online in?
Watch the TV series in release order: Sword Art Online (season 1), Sword Art Online II, then Alicization and Alicization – War of Underworld. The Extra Edition special is mostly a recap and can be skipped. The film Ordinal Scale (2017) is set between Sword Art Online II and Alicization, and Alicization picks up a few things from it, so that is the place to watch it. The two Progressive films retell the first floors of Aincrad from Asuna's point of view and work best after season 1. Gun Gale Online is a separate spin-off with its own heroine.
Where can I watch Sword Art Online?
Aniplex of America licensed the anime in North America, Crunchyroll and Hulu streamed the first season, and Adult Swim's Toonami block aired the English dub from 2013; Madman Entertainment released it in Australia and Manga Entertainment in the UK. Alicization was also offered with subtitles on iQIYI in Southeast Asia. Availability differs by country and changes over time, so check your local services.
What is Sword Art Online about?
In 2022, 10,000 players log in to Sword Art Online, the first full-immersion virtual-reality game, and find they cannot log out: dying in the game means dying for real, and the only way out is to clear all 100 floors of the castle Aincrad. The series follows Kirito, a solo player known as the Black Swordsman, and Asuna, the swordswoman he falls in love with, through that death game and then through other virtual worlds, from a game of flying fairies and a game of guns to a simulated world whose people are artificial intelligences.
What are the story arcs of Sword Art Online?
Season 1 has Aincrad (episodes 1–14, the death game) and Fairy Dance (15–25, the search for Asuna in ALfheim Online). Sword Art Online II has Phantom Bullet (episodes 1–14, Kirito and Sinon against Death Gun in Gun Gale Online), Calibur (15–17, the quest for Excalibur) and Mother's Rosario (18–24, Asuna and Yuuki). Alicization (24 episodes) follows Kirito, Eugeo and Alice in the Underworld, and War of Underworld (23 episodes) brings the arc to its close with a war for the Underworld's future.
