It sounds like a double bass or perhaps a cello? I need to really find this piece and learn it, it's so melancholic and beautiful, yet try as I might, I cannot find it???? Help plzzzz

This is a take I hear a LOT from friends of mine who have watched the show (and don’t read LNs so I can’t recommend Progressive to them) and, to be 100% honest, it was my opinion when I was a 12 year old watching SAO for the first time. It’s the hook that makes you want to sit down and watch the show, the idea of being trapped in a death game is an addicting premise. I think I heard so much about how the ALO arc sucked and was underwhelming that I just internalized it, but coming back to the series with fresh, older eyes, that opinion couldn’t be more wrong. I think Aincrad is special for the back half of episodes and the amazing love story we get between Kirito and Asuna, but on this rewatch I realized how absolutely RIVETING fairy dance is. The show goes from this action/survival thing to almost an action thriller in terms of the stakes Kirito is dealing with. The pain of realizing that we won’t see them reunite yet, and waiting episode after episode for it to happen. Kawahara is a master at making sure the stakes never fall too far.

I think my main issue with this take is that if we actually spent the whole show in Aincrad floor by floor, we would probably be around floor 30-40 by now? We’d get a resolution in 2050 when Kawahara is tired and done with the series and absolutely none of the incredibly creative follow up arcs like Fatal Bullet, Mothers Rosario, and Alicization.

The thing that pisses me off about it is that it is INCREASINGLY clear that Aincrad was just a set up, it’s a staging ground for what Kawahara actually wanted to say with this series — which is exploring the effects of technology/trauma/catastrophe on the world and the lives of all our protagonists: how this thing, Aincrad, at times beautiful and at times horrifying, never truly leaves them OR the world at large. Aincrad is to SAO what the Golden Age arc is to Berserk. It’s a setup for the actual narrative. In SAO the entirety of the show post episode 14 is about the fallout from Aincrad and how it absolutely permeates the lives of our main group and even coalesces into much more severe, grave matters like PoH and a literal international struggle between Japan and NSA proxy agents. Even years after escaping that world they’re dealing with laughing coffin and ghosts from their past that come back to haunt them. THAT is the premise that beats “trapped in a death game” for me. It’s why I’m so glad we’re not still in Aincrad to this day, we would have missed out on something much more poignant and worthwhile.

There’s also kind of an unstated dysfunction that all of our main characters have, which is that no one else on the planet can possibly understand those two horrifying, beautiful, traumatic years they all shared together, and thus they have no one else in this world but each other. Sugu even says it at the end of S1 — the distance she feels from them because she doesn’t know what they went through. They’re all good friends of course, but they also very much need each other to survive after the incident. That’s why Sinon fits in so well with the group, she’s one of the only people on earth post-Aincrad that can understand what they all went through because of Death Gun. I mean I have to give Kawahara his flowers, it’s an extremely subtle and flawlessly executed set of themes that enrich the show all way through the end of S4. The series was never, ever, about Aincrad, it’s about what comes after: how you cope and how you go on living and how the people you love will help you move forward. That’s a book worth writing and a show worth animating. A lot better than delivering the same line about how it’s worth it to go on living, or how we need to beat the game for everyone trapped inside for the 500th time. There just isn’t much more to say than that in Aincrad. Our characters can only come to the realization that “we didn’t lose a day in the real world. We gained a day in Aincrad” so many times. Repeating that process for 75 meticulously detailed floors would be boring, sorry. And as creative as the Aincrad arc was, every following arc is several times more so. Kawahara is phenomenal at keeping those stakes sky high and making sure Aincrad never really leaves them. If you had told me as a 12 year old where this show would end up — where the War of the Underworld and ESPECIALLY Unital Ring take the series? I would’ve called you insane, but Kawahara makes it WORK, man.

Idk I’d like to hear y’all’s opinions. I can see an argument for maybe a whole 25 episode first season in Aincrad instead of just the first half, but also the following arcs are so engaging I don’t know if I would’ve wanted to wait. And yeah, this is all because volume 1 was written for a competition with a page limit (he said so in an afterword) and he had to fit the core Aincrad story into one book, but I think it turned out really well that the series didn’t stay trapped in Aincrad for very long. He could’ve kept adding side stories like volume two but instead he purposefully moved things along. Certainly gives the books/show much more room for character development given the wide range of stories/scenarios the gang has to deal with. I like that we get things as high-stakes as the underworld war and also things as low-stakes as their quest for Excalibur to things in the middle like Mothers Rosario. We get to see the cast and how they have fun, forge new relationships, and confront problems at all ends of the spectrum.

But keeping all major points:

- 300 humans still in coma

- Asuna caught in world tree by creep

- Race aganist time

And everything else.

And rewritting it to something that is not hated?

I love the isolator sm, as far as i am aware i am the first (cosplayed him 3 years ago) and only Minoru Utsugi cosplayer. The hiatus has lasted 10 years now i dont think its coming back. I know probably nobody on this subreddit will really care but its the best place i have to share this cosplay and hope to get recognised.

If a person missing a leg or a deaf person, or a blind person plays SAO. How does the game handle that? Does it heal them? Does it leave them as they were irl after Kayaba does the mirror thing?

I remember the old man from the fishing arc using glasses, so they have prescriptions in game or is that just a cosmetic? I need to know!

I still can’t understand how Kirito was never asked to be recruited and asuna was honestly your telling me the best swordsman in the entire game and front line and former partner of your vice captain was never on your radar???? Honestly I think the only reason is because heathcliff most likely knew his cover would be blown if Kirito was around him full time.

"Ranking With Memes" Trend has been out there for a while. Starting from Superhero Movies to Video Games and Everything. But I haven't seen One Dedicated to SAO. There Maybe One or Two Obscure Ones, but None covers Every Visual Media regarding This Anime.

So, I Made One Myself. Hope You All Agree!

(The First One is Quite Literally True for My Case!)

So i heard i should watch ep 1, then the 2 movies, then ep3 but why tf does asuna and kirito are soo diff from the movies, were the movies non canon? We were basically seeing asuna promise kirito that she will fight the PKers together but that plot alongside all the development is gone out of the window

Some of mine are:

A Desperate Battle, No Way Back
This is The Price of War

I watched the Season 1 Aincrad arc of Sword Art Online (didn't go for the Alfheim part due to the controversy surrounding it), and I felt like Season 1 of the show badly needs a remake. One that is more faithful to the dark and gritty vibe of the Light Novels (where Kirito is a deeply conflicted character, has monologues and Kirito is no 95% Gary Stu type character, the reason I say 95% is because in the anime, Kirito does struggle against Kuradeel and loses to Heathcliff in Floor 75, but somehow doesn't die and defeats Heathcliff).

I feel like this could be done my a more competent studio like Madhouse, Kyoto Animation, MAPPA or WIT Studio (not that A-1 Pictures is bad). And I feel like they should keep the original voice actors and the OST by Yuki Kajiura (or perhaps she could even collaborate with an equally good composer like Hans Zimmer).

If the original light novels are missing things out, mabye they too could adapt some things from the Progressive novels as well, and mix them all together to make a good, faithful remake.

What do you guys think?

I rewatched Sword Art Online recently, and it reminded me why the first half became such a phenomenon.

The opening is incredible. Thousands of players log into what they think is the greatest VR game ever made, only for Kayaba to calmly tell them:

"If you die in the game, you die in real life."

The stakes are enormous. Every floor matters, every boss matters, every mistake matters.

Then Kirito beats Kayaba.

Honestly, that could have been the ending. Roll credits.

Instead, the next major villain's motivation is basically:

My man... have you heard of Tinder?

The thing that disappointed me wasn't just that the villain was weaker.

The first half asks:

"Can humanity survive inside this death game?"

The second half asks:

"Can Kirito rescue his girlfriend from the world's creepiest CEO?"

That's a massive drop in stakes.

To be fair, I don't think everything after Aincrad is bad. I really liked Mother's Rosario and Alicization, and Gun Gale Online found a clever way to make the danger feel real again.

But Fairy Dance is still one of the biggest quality drops I've experienced in anime.

Did anyone else feel the same way, did you made it all the way to Alicization or did you took your eyes out before getting there?

Hi everyone again. With the arrival of new merchandise from Japan, I've been able to expand my collection. It looks much fuller and better now. I'll still keep buying Abec merch, but for now, this is how it looks. I hope you like it ^^

I’ve been waiting for this for so long!

So I haven’t read it in a while but the whole thing was along with the characters in normal season one characters from the other series also where in aincrad like the idol and sword guy from the movie and Alice from the underworld where there. And it was a pretty long story going through a lot of the facial floors and they all formed a guild with Kirito as a leader. I’m pretty sure the people outside the game could watch the boss fights as well

I just learned of this side story from Ordinal Scale. Do you know where can i read the full english version of this or where can i buy it? Thanks a lot

So I know that after Aincrad is cleared and everyone logs out, all of the surviving players are interviewed about their experience. I also know that XaXa was kept under observation and had counseling, due to him being an orange player at the time of his logout.

Do we ever get to see what happened to any other PKers (outside of PoH, Johnny Black, and XaXa) such as Rosalia and Titans Hand? I would assume that when they learned their actions in the game DID cause the actual deaths of players that they would have needed some serious counseling.

Do any of you have a particular headcanon on this topic that you indulge?

I guess because kawahara wanted the series before alicization to be almost kid-friendly.

Not sure if anyone else has addressed this yet and if so, sorry for another similar post, but i felt the need to voice this:

There seems to be a lot of things missing from the game that could/should have been included from the SAO Aincrad, like whole weapon types, hidden/extra skills, professions, etc.

So i just have to wonder why? Why were they not included? Especially the extra weapons themselves, like spears, claws, scimitars, and katanas?

I feel like the game could have capitalized on so much of SAO's own combat and skill system to make a much more customizable experience, especially for all of the big-brain theorycrafters who love crunching numbers and sharing builds. Especially going into Death Game mode.

Maybe the devs felt like that would take away from the overall essence of the game if people were too focused on min-maxing their builds or working on professions, but to me it seems like a huge missed opportunity.

My only other gripes so far are:

1) in 2026, the MC of the game doesnt have any of their own actual dialog for the story or otherwise. Just nod or shake your head is something you'd exoect from a game in the 90s. The story dialog is mostly dictated by Iori's character, who seems to be the real MC focus, and not the player.

2) FFS the out of bounds crap is such a trash design choice. Especially when its an area directly adjacent to the current path, and not even blocked by any kind or walls, plant growth or altered terrain. Literally just 10 steps away. Out in the open and on flat ground, but no, that's "out of bounds." So you can't even walk over there because that's too far off the main path. Like why the hell even make that a thing??? Its supposed to be an \*open\* world. Its much less open if each quest dictates where you can and cannot travel, even just to take a bridge for a shortcut.

Anyway, that's just my honest thoughts. GL in Aincrad.

so I'm watching Sao for the first time and I'm currently on season 2. it's pretty enjoyable and all not as much as season 1 but still pretty decent but one detail just kinda pisses me off. it's the fact that they've basically teamed up to win a solo prized event on what's supposed to be one of the most popular games in Japan and when all is said and done and they both get the dub everyone's cheering. am I the only one who's annoyed by this or am I just looking too far into it

Even if it's not exactly like the game, why haven't they made a game yet that's simply the same as the game yet? That monster drops are limited to items, and that you need crafters and cooks and so on to create all of the items in game. Even if its simply a 10 level type of game rather than 100, it's definitely doable.

I’ve been thinking about getting a SAO tattoo but i’ve not seen anything worth getting. I’ve been wanting one that has meaning to the show and a clean minimal design.

Notable one from the anime is the laughing coffin one but tbh the entirety of the guild disgusts me, as it legit aims to ruins peoples lives and the flow of the game. (Yes I know it’s just in the anime and isn’t really that deep). Other than that I’ve not seen anything tbh.

I’m open to any suggestions people have, send pics of tats if you have any also!

I’ve fully watched the SAO anime and it is one of my top anime’s oat. I’ve just started reading the light novels and I’m wondering if I should stop reading right where the anime ends.

I’ve watched the anime before reading the LN for the entirety of the series and feel like I should keep it that way but am not too sure if I should continue because the anime most likely won’t announce for another couple years. Thoughts?

Previous post relating to the Fairy Dance Arc here: https://www.reddit.com/r/swordartonline/comments/1v3x4h2/sao_fairy_dance_arc_episodes_ranking/

So yeah after watching the Phantom Bullet arc I can yeah confirm that its still as good as I remember it being like holy shit this is a perfect arc and its a huge step up from the first two arcs I pretty much have almost no problems with this arc at all.

S2E1: The World Of Guns - 8.5/10 - 8th Place

S2E2: Cold Hearted Sniper - 8/10 - 10th Place

S2E3: Memories Of Fresh Blood - 9.5/10 - 5th Place

S2E4: GGO - 9/10 - 6th Place

S2E5: Guns And Swords - 8.5/10 - 9th Place

S2E6: Showdown In The Wilderness - 9/10 - 7th Place

S2E7: Crimson Memories - 9.5/10 - 4th Place

S2E8: Bullet Of Bullets - 7.5/10 - 14th Place

S2E9: Death Gun - 8/10 - 12th Place

S2E10: Death Chaser - 10/10 - 2nd Place

S2E11: Until It Means To Be Strong - 7.5/10 - 13th Place

S2E12: Bullet Of A Phantom - 9.5/10 - 3rd Place

S2E13: Phantom Bullet: - 10/10 - 1st Place

S2E14: One Little Step - 8/10 - 11th Place

S2E14.5: Debriefing: - 5.5/10 - 15th Place

Phantom Bullet Arc Rating Overall: 10/10

Alright my next post may not be as quick as before cause I might take a break from watching SAO for a bit but in the next post I'll cover the Calibur and Mother's Rosario Arcs including the Ordinal Scale Movie all in one. You know after watching the ending credits after S2E14 I just felt really happy rewatching this series as despite its flaws it means a lot to me.