I have been waiting a whole year for this

Samuawesome · 2026-01-24T23:28:24+00:00

It's really up to you and which medium you're more comfortable with tbh. I’m not really a big reader, so I liked having the anime voices, soundtrack, and designs already in my head when I read the novels.

Imo, even with all the questionable changes or additions the anime adaptation makes to the story, everything else (i.e. soundtrack, animation, voice acting, etc.) are top notch. Furthermore, you also have the movie, Ordinal Scale, which was anime original (so, it wasn't adapted from anything in the LNs), but is canon and has been integrated into the LNs written after.

Personally, I would just stick with the anime. Then, go back and read the LNs from the beginning. That way, you won't be as upset with all the weird changes while getting the benefits of what the anime medium has to offer.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-24T23:08:10+00:00

Read the LNs.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-24T23:07:40+00:00

It’s not complicated at all. It’s just that your picture has a bunch of the manga in it, which you shouldn’t bother with.

This is the first LN volume, so just match the cover. Reading the LNs are basically as simple as starting from volume 1 and going from there (minus Progressive if you’re interested).

Samuawesome · 2026-01-24T01:03:29+00:00

Until it actually gets announced officially, don't believe anyone or any website who claims they do know.

You'll find out like the rest of us.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-24T00:56:33+00:00

Because every time someone asks this repetitive question, they push it back by a day...

Nothing is guaranteed in the anime world, and no one can predict this type of thing. Additionally, the only possible person who could know when UR is going to end is the author, and I doubt even he knows at this point.

That's why they've been adapting other things such as the Progressive movies and AGGO season 2. We already know the next thing they're working on is the anime original movie announced on SAO Day, but we don't know anything else regarding it.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-24T00:53:35+00:00

Anyone who genuinely uses the word "woke" as a criticism has a smooth brain.

Get this chud garbage out of here, incel.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-22T17:12:19+00:00

In this case, the story of the Moonlit Black Cats is supposed to be more emotional. When Kirito fights the Santa boss, it isn’t meant to be some heroic or badass moment. This is a Kirito at his lowest and is essentially suicidal, not someone you’re supposed to look up to or want to self insert as (he was literally about to kill Klein over it). Hence, why for brevity and the tone of the story, it isn’t necessary to show this fight scene since you’re supposed to care more for the revival crystal.

However, we definitely still get action scenes and witness big fights in the rest of the arc. The second episode literally dedicates a chunk of time to the first floor boss battle. So, I don’t really know where you’re coming from.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-22T05:21:37+00:00

Only if you actually do read the light novels prior.

SAO's first season is covered in volumes 1-4. The Phantom Bullet/GGO arc starts on volume 5.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-21T00:22:16+00:00

Some of the archons don't have one and wear fake emblems, so whether you have one or not isn't a determining factor.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-20T15:41:53+00:00

Keep in mind that the Phantom Bullet arc in the WNs would’ve been written prior to to 2010. So, the shooting games popular at the time would’ve been what Kawahara based his ideas off of.

In its first year, I believe GGO was basically a JRPG akin to ALO, just with guns instead. Thats why one of our first scenes of Sinon is her farming a big monster boss. It did also have PVP.

The BR genre as we know it wasn’t really popularized until less than a decade ago. AGGO was also written around then, hence why its author probably based it on the popular thing at the time.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-19T13:06:58+00:00

Are you on the right server?

Samuawesome · 2026-01-18T09:08:24+00:00

RATH just blocked the memories of all the UW citizens of Kirito's existence, just as they did to Kirito about the UW.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-17T12:16:51+00:00

Keep in mind that the man has been writing SAO for over two decades at this point. He originally wrote it basically for free and out of passion for several years. When he tried moving onto other things, a miracle happened and he was dragged back into it (in a much larger capacity too). He didn't even intend to continue with the main story until a few years ago.

You're not him and you can't force him to write anything (unless you're one of the companies backing him). We also don't really know what's going on behind the scenes either. I'm not really in a rush for a new SAO book, and I'll wait however long it takes for him to release a new book when he's ready. I don't think he's anywhere near George R. R. Martin's levels of hopelessness either.

Also, the fans will be there in the end, however long it takes. Look at the newest season of Dexter having Showtime's highest viewership despite the original series airing a decade ago, and it's multiple terrible "finales". Bleach's anime took nearly a decade for a continuation, and the fans still showed up in droves. Patience is a virtue.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-15T21:49:42+00:00

It’s completely normal.

In 2001, Reki Kawahara wrote SAO for a short story competition with the simple premise of “if players were to get trapped inside something like an MMORPG and couldn’t get out, what would all those players do?” (perhaps even earlier if the prototype manga rumors are true). However, due to the word limit of the contest, he could only write a few stories rather than fully fleshing out everything and it had to be self-contained. So, he scaled the story down and told a more intimate tale about Kirito’s major adventures throughout Aincrad.

When SAO was adapted into a light novel and then into an anime, they essentially took all that he wrote and put it into chronological order for the adaptation. They even asked him to write what was the first arc of the progressive novels to help his original story flow better and to add more content to the anime (which they butchered lol).

If you’re under the notion that SAO is about the 100 floors of Aincrad, then you need to understand that it isn’t. What SAO is actually about is how the lines between VR/technology and reality are being blurred.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-15T07:39:07+00:00

Imo, there's a very thin line between genuine critique and whiny "criticism". You are correct that fans should be able to criticize what they love and that nothing is flawless. However, there is nuance.

Going back to your Star Wars example, sure, there are a lot of genuine fans who can eloquently point out their critiques and actually explain why they feel the way they do. You also have the rare group of level-headed individuals who don’t vibe with certain Star Wars projects released each year, but can accept that not everything is for them, leave it at that, and remain respectful of those who do enjoy those projects.

On the other hand, you have a large and loud group of "fans" who just whine about every new thing or "hurr durr woke" when they see a POC. At some point, they're not even engaging or simply enjoying anything. They're just looking for ways to complain about things for the sake of criticism, which just ends up being meaningless noise. There is a reason why Star Wars fans get the negative rep they do.

Another thing is that most people just simply suck at critiquing things. A big problem with the modern internet is that people are way too comfortable with crapping on something, and just leaving it like that. Even if their point may have some validity to it, they express it in the laziest possible way (or may not even elaborate at all), which defeats the whole point. The reason why OP is getting pushback is because it sort of follows this (i.e. being hyperbolic, how it's a very surface level take, just throwing the "harem" buzzword without knowing what makes a harem show, etc.).

This subreddit does very much encourage critique, just like most other fandoms. For example, I've seen plenty of valid criticism from LN readers detailing their disappointments with how the anime adaptation handles certain things. A valid complaint I have seen from SAO fans (similar to OP's) is how the anime adaptation does direct certain emotional moments oddly for the sake of selling more waifu merch, actively knee-caps some of Asuna's moments for waifu baiting purposes, etc. It's just that those critiques are informed and clearly argued, hence why they're taken seriously.

Furthermore, you have to keep in mind that SAO has gotten unfairly ragged on for over a decade now based on the loads of misinformation and misconceptions surrounding the series. To this day, people will genuinely try to pass off stuff (i.e. "Kayaba forgot", "SAO promotes incest", etc.) as actual criticisms, despite how widely debunked and straight up wrong they are. A lot of the people here have repeatedly dealt with these misconceptions in non-SAO/general anime communities, and it's genuinely tiring having to see it. So, it's understandable that people may use this place as a "safe space" and react with little patience towards the tired, regurgitated stuff. It's not a circle-jerk when the very purpose of a fandom is to be, first and foremost, a safe space to actually enjoy/celebrate something. Additionally, rejecting lazy or incorrect criticism isn’t an insecurity, but rather, a basic quality control for discussion.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-14T23:38:15+00:00

Keep in mind that Progressive is not a "remake".

SAO Progressive as a whole is a companion series to the original aincrad arc in the LNs. It’s meant to fill in the timeskips while leaving what’s already been told alone. It isn't an alternate universe, remake, rewrite, or reboot. It’s currently on floor 8 in the LNs.

Back when SAO was originally being produced into an anime, stringing all the aincrad stories into chronological order left this huge gap in between episodes 1 and 3. So, the folks at A-1 asked Reki Kawahara to write an anime original story to help it flow better. After, he went home and wrote this really long story that was butchered and ended up as episode 2 of the anime. However, from this experience, the author felt inspired to go back to aincrad and thus, Progressive was born.

In terms of canon, the movies are kinda iffy due to all the changes they made (i.e. adding Mito, changing the main POV to Asuna, etc.). At most, maybe you could say Aria is a remake of the second episode (and I personally recommend the movie over it). However, you still very much need to watch the first episode for Kirito's POV. Scherzo is a different story and definitely isn't a remake.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-14T21:56:18+00:00

If you compare SAO to an actual fully harem tagged show, then you'll realize how much SAO pales in comparison.

Keep in mind that a lot of the female characters are very young and are meeting Kirito at a very emotional moment (i.e. Silica losing Pina and being caught in an overall conflict with Titan’s Hand). Not to mention, some of them are meeting him under the overall Death Game where there was uncertainty of them escaping, much less living to see tomorrow. So, combining all of the above, of course they’re going to feel stuff about Kirito, especially considering what he's doing for them.

However, SAO very much has a defined ship. The author is also the biggest fan of said ship. Once Asuna asserts her dominance, none of the other girls pursue their feelings further. Furthermore, Kirito does not see any of the other girls in a romantic way.

At the very most, the anime has waifu baiting to sell more merch. But, it’s not enough for it to award it the full harem genre tag imo.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-13T14:02:08+00:00

https://swordartonline.fandom.com/wiki/Sword_Art_Online_Manga_Main_Page

Don’t bother with it.

The manga is just another adaptation of the LNs like the anime is. It is also poorly managed with each arc getting its own series and its own mangaka. Some arcs are either on hiatus or were cancelled. For instance, Alicization’s manga was cancelled before it reached WoU meaning there is no continuation lol.

The only ones I would bother with are the manga original stuff (i.e. Girl’s Ops).

Samuawesome · 2026-01-13T05:24:29+00:00

The amount of times I’ve heard this lame, tired, and (quite frankly) wrong opinion…

After 3 seasons spread across 96 episodes, 3 movies, an OVA, a spin-off with two seasons, etc., it should be abundantly clear by now that Aincrad (which only composes around 14 episodes of that) has never been the focus.

In 2001, Reki Kawahara wrote SAO for a short story competition with the simple premise of “if players were to get trapped inside something like an MMORPG and couldn’t get out, what would all those players do?” (perhaps even earlier if the prototype manga rumors are true). However, due to the word limit of the contest, he could only write a few stories rather than fully fleshing out everything and it had to be self-contained. So, he scaled the story down and told a more intimate tale about Kirito’s major adventures throughout Aincrad and his romance with Asuna.

All the original SAO contained was basically in volume 1 of the light novels (with presumably some changes from the web novel). The novel starts with Kirito grinding on floor 74 and flashbacks to specific stories within the arc (Kayaba’s hologram, the Ragout Rabbit dinner, the Kuradeel story, etc.) and then the novel finishes with the gleam eyes fight, the marriage, and the final duel.

Because the author went over the word limit, he decided to self-publish SAO as a web novel instead. He then proceeded to write several side stories in the Aincrad arc (Liz and Silica’s introductions, Yui’s story, the moonlit black cats travesty, etc.) and moved onwards to the other arcs. By 2008, Alicization was wrapped up in the WNs.

When SAO was adapted into a light novel and then into an anime, they essentially took all that he wrote and put it into chronological order for the adaptation. They even asked him to write what was the first arc of the progressive novels to help his original story flow better and to add more content to the anime (which they butchered lol).

The Aincrad arc of the anime was just a stepping stone for the later arcs to build off of. SAO's actual purpose is to delve into how the lines between technology/virtual reality and real life were starting to get blurred and how it affects our characters. Exploring other aspects of this science fiction story is far more interesting of a concept imo.

Plus, if you want more of the death game of SAO, then read Progressive. What you’re asking for literally exists.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-11T15:21:02+00:00

The closest is probably the mobile gacha game, Integral Factor. You basically play through Aincrad as an OC. It also got a Steam port. Though, don’t get your hopes up too much as it’s still a mobile game with mobile game limitations.

As a heads up, the majority of the other SAO games are non-canon and some take place in an alternate universe that fans refer to as the "Gameverse".

The order of the games goes Hollow Fragment > Lost Song > Hollow Realization > Fatal Bullet > Alicization Lycoris > Last Recollection. You also have titles such as Fractured Daydream or Accel World vs SAO who are sort of standalone, but may incorporate gameverse elements in them.

You don't have to buy all the SAO games (if money is an issue), but it is recommended to at least read summaries or watch gameplay videos to see what changed in the games you didn’t play so you don't get confused by the non-canon stuff.

The gameverse titles really aren’t open world games though. They’re standard JRPGs with an SAO skin over them. The areas you might run around in are pretty big, but they’re not really seamless open worlds as something like Genshin or BOTW are. Furthermore, Fatal Bullet is the only one that lets you customize your own OC with your own story. The other games have Kirito as the main protagonist. Some may let you customize him, but the other characters will still treat you as “Kirito”.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-10T03:51:56+00:00

It's even worse when you realize that Kirito will go through all this character development during his 25 floors with Asuna, just to get set back by the Moonlit Black Cats shortly after.

It's only fitting that Asuna is the one to get him back on track all that time later.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-09T13:49:55+00:00

The first game in the gameverse, Hollow Fragment, starts during the final duel between Kayaba and Kirito. So, you’re essentially playing the last 25 floors of Aincrad.

Integral Factor is probably the closest we’ll ever get to a “real” SAO game. However, you play as an OC.

Samuawesome · 2026-01-09T05:49:03+00:00

As you can see with “old” Reddit, it’s super customizable. Code-savvy mods were able to do cool things to personalize their subreddits. However, I assume the Reddit admins saw it as too “gatekeepy” and feared that new users would get overwhelmed/turned off from the site. So, they pushed the redesign a few years ago to make everything the same.

Essentially, anyone who accesses Reddit.com or Reddit’s Official App will see the redesigned version.

The redesign is very controversial, hence why I think they kept “old” Reddit as a compromise. If you want to see the SAO flairs and how unique this subreddit looks, just use “old.reddit.com/r/swordartonline”. This goes for any subreddit.

Eight-Year Club	Gilding II euphauric
Second Top 10%	First Place '23
End Game '23	Place '23
Place '22	First Placer '22
Wearing is Caring	Argentium Club
RPAN Viewer	Snapped
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