50 Fun Facts About Sword Art Online

Who wrote the Sword Art Online light novels?

He first wrote the story in 2001 for a Dengeki contest, but it ran over the page limit, so he posted it online under the pen name Fumio Kunori.

How was Sword Art Online first released, from 2002 to 2008?

It only reached print after the author won a Dengeki prize with Accel World and the publisher asked to see his earlier work.

Under which imprint are the Sword Art Online light novels published in Japan?

ASCII Media Works' imprint also publishes the author's Accel World; the anime was announced at a Dengeki Bunko festival in 2011.

In what year is the game Sword Art Online released within the story?

On November 6 of that year, 10,000 players log in for the first time and find there is no logout button.

What is the name of the helmet that lets players dive into SAO by stimulating their senses?

Removing it by force, or dying in the game, fries the wearer's brain; the safer AmuSphere later replaced it.

Who created the game Sword Art Online in the story?

His only goal in life was to make the floating castle real; he later uploads his mind to the internet at the cost of his life.

How many players log into SAO on launch day and become trapped?

Of those, 1,000 had taken part in the earlier closed beta, which is where Kirito got his head start.

What is the name of the floating steel castle that serves as SAO's setting?

It is later revived through the World Seed and revisited in the Ordinal Scale film, when its bosses invade the real Tokyo.

How many floors must the players clear to escape the castle?

The game actually ends on the 75th floor, when Kirito exposes and defeats the creator's secret player avatar.

What is Kirito's real name?

His player name is built from syllables of his real one; Klein is Ryōtarō Tsuboi and Agil is Andrew Gilbert Mills.

The insult "beater", hurled at Kirito, is a portmanteau of which two words?

He takes on the label to draw resentment away from other beta testers, then plays solo.

What in-game alias did the game's creator use as leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath?

Asuna was the guild's sub-leader; Kirito works out the secret and defeats him in a duel, ending the game early.

How many SAO players, including Asuna, remain trapped after the game is cleared?

They have been secretly moved into another game for mind-control experiments by a rival of Asuna's father.

In which fairy-themed game does Kirito search for Asuna in the second arc?

She is held captive atop the World Tree, forced into the role of Titania, Queen of the Fairies.

What is the avatar name of Suguha Kirigaya, Kirito's cousin and adoptive sister?

She guides him toward the World Tree without realizing who he is, a plotline that drew both praise and criticism.

What is Yui, the child Kirito and Asuna adopt in SAO?

Her full designation is Mental Health Counselling Program version 1; she later reappears as a navigation pixie.

Which villain holds Asuna captive as "Titania" while playing the fairy king Oberon?

He plans to marry the comatose Asuna to seize her family's company; Kirito defeats him with admin rights granted by SAO's creator.

What is The Seed that the dying game creator entrusts to Kirito?

Kirito has it leaked online, reviving the VR industry and spawning every later game world in the series.

Which first-person-shooter game is the setting of the Phantom Bullet arc?

It was built from the World Seed by an American company and is also the setting of the Alternative spin-off.

What is the name of the GGO tournament Kirito enters to hunt a killer?

Players shot by "Death Gun" in the tournament are dying in the real world; the killer turns out to be a former member of the SAO guild Laughing Coffin.

What is the real name of the sniper Sinon?

She took up GGO to confront a fear of guns rooted in a childhood post-office robbery; her weapon is a PGM Hecate II.

What experimental FullDive machine does Kirito test for the organization RATH?

It reads the "fluctlights" of the brain; while inside, Kirito cannot carry memories in or out.

How much faster does time flow in the Underworld than in the real world?

That acceleration is how Kirito ends up spending 200 years there after the war, with Asuna choosing to stay beside him.

What is the name of the AI RATH is trying to develop in the Underworld?

The acronym is embodied in the village girl Alice Zuberg, who becomes an Integrity Knight and remembers her true nature with Kirito's help.

Who is Kirito's closest friend in the Underworld, a wood-carver from the village of Rulid?

He dies in the battle against the Administrator; his memory fragments later restore Kirito's broken fluctlight.

Which organization, led by "The Administrator", rules the Human Empire in the Underworld?

Its Integrity Knights take Alice away for touching the Dark Territory and breaking the Taboo Index.

What giant tree are Kirito and his Underworld friend tasked with cutting down?

Felling it frees them to leave for the Swordsman Academy in North Centoria.

How many years does Kirito end up spending in the Underworld after the war?

Asuna chose to stay with him; afterward he plans to enroll at a university of electrical engineering.

Which studio animated the Sword Art Online TV series?

Aniplex and Genco produced it, and the spin-off Alternative Gun Gale Online went to a different studio, 3Hz.

Who directed the Sword Art Online anime?

The main staff returned for the Ordinal Scale film, announced in 2015.

Who composed the music for the Sword Art Online anime?

She also wrote the tenth-anniversary song "Sōkyū no Fanfare" for the 2022 Full Dive event.

In what year did the first season of the anime air in Japan?

It ran from July 7 to December 22; a year-end Extra Edition special in 2013 announced the second season.

What is the first opening theme of the anime, performed by LiSA?

Eir Aoi's "Innocence" took over from episode 15; LiSA returned with "Adamas" for season three.

On which programming block did the English dub premiere in the United States in 2013?

The Adult Swim block carried the dub from July 2013 to February 2014 and later aired seasons two and three.

Who voices Kirito in the original Japanese?

Bryce Papenbrook voices him in English; Shimazaki plays Eugeo.

Who voices Asuna in the English dub?

Haruka Tomatsu is her Japanese voice and also sings the first ending theme, "Yume Sekai"; Ruff voices Sinon.

What is the title of the 2017 Sword Art Online feature film?

Its original story, set after the second season, has Aincrad bosses appearing in augmented reality around Tokyo.

In the 2017 film, what augmented-reality device replaces full-dive gear?

It projects a game layer over reality while the player stays conscious, but is secretly scanning SAO survivors' memories.

Who is the AI idol singer who buffs players during boss fights in the 2017 film?

She is modeled on the late daughter of the device's inventor, Professor Shigemura.

What is the title of the 2021 Progressive film that retells the castle's first floor?

It introduced the new character Mito; the sequel, Scherzo of Deep Night, covers the fifth floor.

What is the other light novel series by the SAO author, which won a Dengeki Grand Prize in 2008?

Winning with it is what led the publisher to ask for his older web novel, Sword Art Online, in print.

What unique skill does Kirito unlock in SAO and try to keep hidden?

He is forced to reveal it during the 74th-floor boss fight; Lisbeth forged the second sword.

What was the name of the first guild Kirito joined in SAO, which was wiped out?

He hid his true level from them; a time-delayed Christmas Eve message from Sachi pulled him out of his despair.

What is the name of Asuna's signature rapier?

Kirito uses it to stab the guild leader in the final duel on the 75th floor, clearing the game.

Who is the castle's first-floor boss, whose attack patterns differed from the beta?

The raid leader Diavel dies trying to claim the last-attack bonus, and Kirito is branded a beater in the aftermath.

What title does the undefeated duelist Yuuki earn in ALO?

She offers an 11-hit Original Sword Skill to anyone who beats her; Asuna loses and then joins her Sleeping Knights.

Which arcs make up the second season, Sword Art Online II?

The first 14 episodes adapt volumes 5 and 6, then volume 8's Calibur and volume 7's Mother's Rosario.

Roughly how many copies did the Sword Art Online light novels have in circulation by 2024?

Oricon ranked it the top-selling light novel series of 2012, the year the anime debuted.

Which company acquired the rights to a live-action Sword Art Online TV adaptation in 2016?

Laeta Kalogridis was attached to write the pilot, with Skydance CEO David Ellison among the executive producers.

What is the title of the anime's third season, which began airing in October 2018?

Its second half, War of Underworld, was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and finished in September 2020.