Swords Art Online, also known as SAO, is an anime released in 2012 and a light novel series created by Reki Kawahara. The series is a near-future world in which the players get fully immersed in realistic virtual worlds with the help of VR technology.
SAO is an MMORPG-Massively multiplayer online role-playing game where the players get trapped inside the game until they clear 100 floors of a tower.
Sword Art Online follows the adventures of Kirito, who is a skilled swordsman and an experienced gamer who navigates himself through the world of virtual reality and battles powerful enemies in the game. Along the way, he forms deep connections with the other gamers alongside him, including Asuna, Sinon, and Leafa.
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The Characters: –
Kirigiya Kazuto| Kirito
Kirigiya Kazuto is a 14-year-old kid who logged into SAO as a beta tester. He used his game username as Kirito. In Sword Art Online, Kirito is the protagonist who has exceptional combat skills and earned the name of “Black Swordman”. He is often referred to as a “Beater” (a combination of “Beta Tester” and “Cheater”)
Kayaba Akihiko| Heathcliff
Kayaba Akihiko is the developer of the Swordman online, The Nerve Gear, and the Seed. He is behind the slaughter done in the tower Aincrad. Kayaba Akihiko known as Heathcliff in the SAO is one of the most powerful villains in the SAO. He is the leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath guild and played a significant role in the first arc of the anime Swords Art Online.
Asuna Yuuki| Asuna
Asuna Yuuki, daughter of the Former CEO of RECT Inc., is one of the main Female characters in Sword Art Online. She is a skilled player of Sword Arts Online (SAO). Due to her incredible speed and agility in the battles, she is also known as the “Flash”. Asuna also is the vice leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath. She indulged romantically with Kirito and helped Kirito in completing the game.
Sugou Nobuyuki | King Oberon
Sugou Nobuyuki, a Fairy King Oberon, is one of the main antagonists in SAO. He is a chief researcher at RECT Inc. and the partner of Asuna’s Father who created Swords Art Online: ALfheim, and he also trapped Asuna while being the fairy king Oberon.
Shinozaki Rika| Lisbeth
Shinozaki Raki is known as Lisbeth in his avatar in Sword’s Art online, works as a blacksmith, and a supporting character against Kirito and Asuna in the SAO.
Ryoutarou Tsuboi| Klein
Klein is one of Kirito’s early allies in Swords Art Online and is a friendly and outgoing player who specializes in Swordsmanship.
Suguha Kirigiya| Leafa
Suguha Kirigiya is a high school student and is related to the main protagonist of Swords Art Online, Kirito. In the second arc of the anime, Suguha was introduced as Leafa, a player in the ALfheim Online game. Leafa can fly and has the ability to do magic.
Sachi
Sachi was a supporting character in Swords Art online and also a part of Moonlight Cats Guild and became close to Kirito. She was killed on the 27th Floor of Aincrad.
Andrew Gilbert Mills| Egil
Egil is a recurring player in the Swords Art Online anime series. He is a skilled blacksmith and runs a virtual item shop in the SAO, and is a skilled fighter. He became a key ally to Kirito in the battles.
Keiko Ayano| Silica
Keiko Ayano is a young player known as Silica in Swords Art Online. Silica plays as a Beast Tamer, specializing in taming and training monster pets, and befriends Kirito.
Yui
Yui is a character introduced in the Aincrad arc, as an AI program that was designed to be a game guide but forms a close relationship with Kirito and Asuna.
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Facts You Need To Know!
1. The Light Novel Series as Anime
Sword Art Online is originally a series of Light novels written by Reki Kawahara. The first publication was in 2009 after which in 2019 the animated adaptation of the light novels was released with subsequent seasons released in 2014,2018 and 2020.
2. Reki Kawahara motive as Kirito
Reki Kawahara, the writer of Sword Art Online, made Kirito a character who will do everything as he liked, without thinking about the consequences as he was just a teenager and Kawahara wanted to show the traits a teenager has through the character.
Kawahara also said that the only thing he and Kirito have in common is that they both don’t know how to host parties.
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3. Opening Theme Song
The opening theme songs for Swords Art Online were performed by various artis including LiSA,Eir Aoi and Haruka Tomatsu.
The Anime’s opening theme song, “Crossing Field” by LiSA became a popular J-pop song.
4. The Spin-Offs
Sword Art Online has several massive spins off light novel series including: –
- Sword Art Online: Progressive
- Sword Art Online: Alternative Gun Gale Online
- Sword Art Online: Project Alicization.
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5. The Virtual Reality of the Future
Swords Art Online makes the players get immersed in the virtual reality of the game using VR technology. The unique concept makes the players who with the help of Nerve gear gets trapped inside the game world until they complete the 100 levels of the tower named Aincrad.
Nerve Gear, The Virtual Reality technology, of the Sword Arts online inspired the research and development of VR technology in real life.
6. The Nerve Gear
The Nerve Gear is the key element of Virtual Reality Technology in Swords Art Online. Players used the device, Nerve Gear, to get fully immersed in the virtual world. The nerve gear is basically a helmet that works by stimulating the user’s senses, including sight, touch, and smell.
The use of the nerve gear comes with the risk of exposing the player to danger in the real world.
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7. The Permadeath in Swords Art Online
In Swords Art Online, Permadeath refers to that if the players die in the game, they will also die in real life. The Permadeath is included for adding a risk factor and danger to players in Sword’s art online.
8. The Criticism of Swords Art Online.
Though Swords Art Online has a devoted fanbase, it also faced criticism from the netizens. Sword’s art online has been criticized for its story pacing and character development with some stating that there are repeated elements in the story and also there is a lack of meaningful character development. The series has also been criticized over its portrayal of female characters as having love interests.
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9. Video Games inspired by the Swords Art Online
Swords Art Online has inspired many video games that adopted the series’ story and have been made available on the PS4. The Games include Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet, Tales of Hearts R, Final Fantasy XIV, and Dragon’s Dogma.
Along with it, Kirito, the character in SAO, has been featured in several video games outside Swords Art Online series, which includes Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
10. The Live-Action Television series is developed.
Swords Art Online was first as manga and then as anime and then a game and has also been adapted as a live-action television series by SkyDance Televisions. The TV series premiered in China in 2019.
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11. The Awards won by Swords Art Online
Swords Art Online for its unique story setting and animation won numerous awards. Some of the Major awards are:-
- 15th Dengeki Novel Prize
- 18th Animation Kobe Awards: Best Tv Anime
- Tokyo Anime Award Festival: For Best Tv Anime (Nomination)
- Newtype Anime Awards
- Crunchyroll Anime Awards
- Animage Anime Grand Prix Awards
12. Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, The voice actor for Kirito
Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, the voice actor for Kirito, used different tones and inflections of his voice when Kirito was inside the game versus when he was outside it. This subtle difference was made to differentiate the two worlds. Yoshitsugu told in an interview that for the voice change, he didn’t use any props instead he used to think of Kirito’s situation and changed his voice accordingly.
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13. Abec, the character designer.
Abec is the illustrator of the Sword Art Online character design and was actually a high school student when the novel was started to be published. Also, Abec is not a single person but a group of persons. Abec is mostly shown as a man in a frog costume.
Abec is well known for their detailed work in character design and has won numerous words.
14. Kirito Birth name is not Kazuto kirigiya
Kazuto Kirigiya in Swords Art Online known as Kirito is an orphan by birth and has been raised by his aunt. Kazuto never knew about his birthname though his first name was Kirigiya and his last name was not Kazuto it was Narusaku.
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15. Kirito Builds His own Computer
Kirito has his own self-made computer for playing video games. The specifications of the computer are not like the ordinary gaming PC. Kirito’s Computer is having 24GHz processor which is more powerful than today’s Intel core i7.
16. Klein Was shown before the SAO on Kirito’s Computer
At the start of Swords Art Online, Kirito is shown sitting at his table with his computer on and reading about Kayaba Akihiko. On the computer screen, the image which popped up has the picture of Klein with his full Fuurinkazan guild. Klein is later introduced to Kirito as the first player in SAO.
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17. Asuna Survived SOA
During the fight between Kirito and Heathcliff, Asuna took the attack of Heathcliff made for Kirito and died. Kirito in a rage to kill Heathcliff fights and dies together but later Heathcliff said Kirito and Asuna that since Kirito killed the final boss i.e him, the game is completed and Kirito logged out of SAO. When Kirito went to the Hospital to see Asuna she was still alive wearing the nerve gear and was not dead.
18. Reason Kirito was the only Solo player
Kirito, when logged into the SAO, was introvert and wanted to have friends but since Klein left him for his other friends he moved forward to another village. After that, if he went or get attached to any guilt, The members of the guilt died, this made Kirito to be alone and complete the game as a solo player as he was not able to withstand the deaths of the players who came close to him.
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19. Reki Kawahara Wrote Short Stories On Female Characters
Ever since the SAO was released it gained popularity for the female characters Asuna Yuuki as Asuna, Suguna Kirigaya as Leafa, Ayano Keiko as Silica, and Rika Shinozaki as Lisbeth. Kawahara self-published short stories on the female character Silica, Suguna, Lisbeth, and Asuna and a spin-off as Girls Ops which revolved around their experience in Swords Art Online.
20. Yui is the adopted child of Kirito and Asuna
Kirito and Asuna found Yui in the forest and took her home thinking she was a lost player in the SAO. Later Yui called Asuna “Mommy” and Kirito “Daddy” as she was a kid and was curious. Later Kirito and Asuna adopted her.
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21. Asuna matched her “Knights of the Blood Oath” Uniform in real life after SAO
Asuna was the vice head of the “Knight of the Blood Oath” guild in SAO and in her uniform was a white coat matched with a red color scheme. After SAO, to remember her character and keep the memories of SAO she wore and matched her outfits with the same white-red color scheme in the real world too.
22. Asuna-The Lighting Flash of SOA
Asuna though was the first-timer she still had an excellent skill set. She was really fast, and he matched her wielding power with her speed, making her the fastest swordsman in SAO. Due to this, she was known as the Lighting Flash in SAO.
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23. Asuna and Alice used their real names in the SOA
Asuna and Alice were first-time players and logged into the game out of curiosity. As they didn’t know anything about the game world, They used their real names for their avatars which later they regretted after coming back to the real world.
24. SOA was not meant to be for Asuna
Asuna logged into SAO out of curiosity. Her brother was the one who bought the SAO, but he went on a business trip and lent the game to Asuna. Asuna out of curiosity logged into the game and got stuck inside it.
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25. Kirito was supposed to date Sachi
In an interview, Reki Kawahara stated that they were supposed to make Kirito date sachi but since they wanted the lead Heroine next to Kirito to be more bold Kirito was made to date Asuna in SAO.
26. Silica was the Youngest Player of SOA
Swords Art Online was meant for players aged 16 but still, there were some bugs as Silica when Logged into the SAO was only 12 years old making her the youngest player to play the game.
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27. The Cursors Color-Green, Red, Orange
In SAO each payer is given a cursor that is shown over their head. Each payer starts with a green cursor, though the cursor changes to red if the player commits a crime or kills any other player. The red cursor can be changed to green after completing a special quest but if they proceed to do the killing and commit crimes the cursor becomes orange which is the permanent cursor color given to the killer players.
28. Lisbeth Uniform was chosen by Asuna
Lisbeth is a blacksmith in SAO she had a tight combat attire which Asuna rejected and then she picked the attire of Lisbeth which was more of a cute flare skirt as she thought that the attire will be more appropriate for Lisbeth as a Blacksmith and will go with her character.
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29. In Swords Art Online: Gun Gale players get Money in cash won in the game.
In Sword Art Online: Gun Gale, the players were able to withdraw the cash they won in the virtual world of a gun gale in the real world, and due to this, they were able to make money easily in the real world every month.
30. The Number of Players was reduced in the anime from the original.
In the original Light Novel, the number of players log into the SAO was 50,000 while when making the anime the number of players was reduced to 10,000 only.
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31. King Oberon’s Name was taken from the Play by Shakespeare.
Oberon in Swords Art Online: Alfheim was the fairy king and the antagonist Sugou. The name Oberon for the fairy king was taken from the comedy play written by Shakespeare ” A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream” where the name of the fairies’ king is Oberon.
32. Kirito converted Yui and connected with his nerve gear.
Kirito was so much into the computer world and technical stuff that when Yui was about to get deleted from the system because of the break in the code of conduct of the game, Kirito having 10 seconds, converted Yui into a small chip which he later connected to his nerve gear. Because of this, he was able to meet Yui even after SAO was completed and over.
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33. The Age of Players Changes after completing the game
The Players who entered the SAO were mostly of age near about 16 but the time after they came back from SAO 2 years passed therefore Kirito when logged into SAO was 16 years old but after he completed the SAO and came back to the real world when he was 18.
34. Kayaba Akihiko Forgot the reason why he made SAO
When Kirito defeated the Boss of Aincrad that is Kayaba Akihiko, Kirito asked Akihiko, why he has developed a death world of Swords Art Online and this question Akihiko stated that 2 years has passed since he himself has forgotten the real reason why he created it.
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35. Lisbeth’s Hair color Changed in the SAO
Lisbeth’s Hair color changed in SAO from what is in reality. In SAO the only thing which can be preset is the hair color and therefore Lisbeth hair color is shown as pink while, in reality, it was brown. The pink hair color was also chosen because of the character.
36. There is a total of 10 Unique Blades.
In Swords Art Online there is a total of 10 unique Blades. The 10 Blades are:
- Infinite Spear
- Dark Repulser
- Elucidator
- Holy Sword
- Darkness Blade
- Kirito’s Dual Blades.
- Lambent Light
- Anneal Blade
- Wind Fleurent
- Liberator
- Tyrant Dragon
- Guilty Thorn
- Demonic Sword Gram
37. Kirito is the only character with Dual skill
In Swords Art Online, Only Kirito was the only character with Dual skill and could wield two swords in battle proficiently this was because in SAO the dual skill was only given to the players with fast reaction time and thus Kirito had the quality and because of his reaction time and skill set he was able to use the Dual Swords with ease.
38. Keiko’s name Silica is from Silicon Dioxide
Silica’s name in Swords Art Online came from the chemical compound silicon dioxide, which is the 14th element in the periodic table. The reason behind this is that Silica’s real name is Ayano Keiko whereas in Japanese “Keiko” is written used with the same Kanji characters as “Quartz” or “Silica”, Hence Keiko’s name for SAO Avatar was Silica. Also, to represent the oxide atoms bonded in Silicon Dioxide, Silica tied her hair in the same way.
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39. Eir Aoi recorded the theme song the SAO Special
The opening theme song for the second season of Sword Art Online, “Ignite” by Aoi Eir, was actually written specifically for the anime and was not part of Aoi Eir’s existing music catalog.
40. Inspiration from American Sci-Fi Novel
The inspiration for the initial concept of Swords Art Online came from the American sci-fi novel Real-Time Interrupt by James P. Horgan, which is also based on a character trapped in the virtual reality world.
Swords Art Online is a thrilling, adventurous, and impressive journey from the real world to the virtual world. With the captivating storyline and dynamic characters, it surely makes a full action-packed anime with elements of fantasy. Sword’s art online is a must-watch anime that will keep you immersed in its story and virtual world adventures.
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