Sword Art Online (Japanese: ???????????? , Hepburn: S? do? to Onrain ) is a Japanese light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by abec. The series takes place in the near future and focuses on the protagonists Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki as they play through various virtual MMORPG reality worlds. The light novel began to be published in ASCII Media's Dengeki Bunko writing from April 10, 2009, with the launch of a spin-off series in October 2012. The series has spawned eight manga adaptations published by ASCII Media Works and Kadokawa. The novel and four manga adaptations have been licensed for release in North America by Yen Press.
The anime television series produced by A-1 Pictures, known only as Sword Art Online , airs in Japan between July and December 2012, with Sword Art Online: Extra News aired on December 31, 2013, and the second season, titled Sword Art Online II , aired between July and December 2014. An animated film titled Online Movie Art: Ordinal Scale featuring original stories by Kawahara premiered in Japan and Southeast Asia on February 18, 2017, and released in the United States on March 9, 2017. A spin-off anime series titled Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online April 2018, while the third season titled Sword Art Online: Alicization will premiere in October 2018. A series of live action will be produced by Netflix. Six video games based on the series have been released for some consoles.
Sword Art Online has received widespread commercial success, with light novels having more than 20 million copies sold worldwide. The anime series has received mixed reviews, positive reviews for animation, musical score, and exploration of the psychological aspects of virtual reality, but is criticized for pacing and writing.
Video Sword Art Online
Synopsis
Settings
This light novel series reaches several virtual reality realms, starting with the titular world of Sword Art Online. Each world is built on a game machine called Seed World, originally developed specifically for SAO by Akihiko Kayaba, but then duplicated for ALO , and then wants Kirito, who has leaked online with the intention of successfully reviving the virtual reality industry.
Plot
In 2022, the virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing game (VRMMORPG) called Sword Art Online ( SAO ) is released. With NerveGear, a helmet that stimulates all five senses of users through their brains, players can experience and control their in-game characters with their minds. Both the game and NerveGear were created by Akihiko Kayaba.
On November 6th, 10,000 players broke into the mainframe world of SAO ' for the first time, only to find out that they can not get out. Kayaba shows up and tells the players that they must defeat all 100 Aincrad floors, a steel castle which is a setting of SAO , if they want to be free. Those who suffer in death games or forcibly remove NerveGear out of the game will suffer death in real life.
One of the players, named Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya, is one of 1,000 testers in a previously closed beta game. With the advantage of the previous VR gaming experience and the drive to protect other beta testers from discrimination, it isolates itself from larger groups and plays its own game, carrying a "hammer", "beta testers", "beta" and "swindler" mantle, forward through the game, Kirito eventually befriends a young girl named Asuna Yuuki, forming a relationship with and then marrying him in the game.After the duo finds the identity of Kayaba's secret ID, who plays Asuna union leaders join, they confront and destroy him, free themselves and other players of the game.
In the real world, Kazuto found that 300 players SAO , including Asuna, remained trapped in their NerveGear. When he went to the hospital to see Asuna, he met Shouzou Yuuki, Asuna's father, who was asked by his colleague, Nobuyuki Sugou, to make a decision, which Sugou later disclosed as his marriage to Asuna, infuriated Kazuto. A few months later, he was told by Agil, another victim of SAO , that a figure similar to Asuna is seen in "The World Tree" in another virtual VRMMORPG world called Alfheim Online ( ALO ). Aided in the game by his cousin Suguha "Leafa" Kirigaya and Yui, a navigation pixie (originally an AI from SAO ), he quickly noticed that players trapped in ALO were part from the plan Sugou was carrying to conduct illegal experiments on their minds. The goal is to create perfect mind control for financial gain and to subdue Asuna, who wants to marry the real world, to take control of his family company. Kirito finally stops the experiment and rescues the remaining 300 SAO players, thwarting Sugou's plans. Before leaving ALO to see Asuna, Kayaba, who had uploaded his mind to the Internet using an experimental and destructive NerveGear version at the expense of his life, entrusted Kirito with The Seed - a package of programs designed to create a virtual world. Kazuto finally reunited with Asuna in the real world and The Seed was released to the Internet, reviving Aincrad as other VRMMORPGs began to flourish.
Soon after, at the urging of a government official investigating a strange incident in VR, Kazuto took a job to investigate a series of murders involving another VRMMORPG called Gun Gale Online ( GGO ), AmuSphere (NerveGear's successor), and a player called Death Gun. Aided by a female player named Shino "Sinon" Asada, he participated in a shootout tournament called Bullet of Bullets (BoB) and discovered the truth behind the murder, which came from players participating in the murder-guild union in SAO . Through his efforts and Sinon, two suspects were arrested, although the third suspect, Johnny Black, escaped.
Kazuto was later recruited to assist in testing the experimental FullDive engine, the Soul Translator (STL), which has a much more realistic and complex interface than the previous machine he played to help develop Artificial Intelligence for the Department of Defense (MOD) ALICE He tested the STL by entering virtual reality virtual world created with the Seed package, named UnderWorld (UW). At UW, the flow of time takes place a thousand times faster than in the real world, and Kirito's memories of what goes on inside are restricted. However, Black wounded Kazuto with suxamethonium chloride. MOD restores Kazuto and puts him back into STL to maintain his mind while efforts are made to save him.
Maps Sword Art Online
Development
Reki Kawahara wrote his first volume in 2002 as a competition entry for ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Game Novel Prize ( ????????? , Dengeki Game Sh? setsu Taish? , now Dengeki Novel Prize) , but refrain from submitting it because it has exceeded the page limit; he instead publishes it as a web novel under the pseudonym Fumio Kunori. Over time, he added three more episodes and several short stories. In 2008, he participated in the competition again by writing Accel World , this time winning the Grand Prize. Apart from Accel World , he was asked to get a previous job, Sword Art Online , published by ASCII Media Works. Kawahara agrees and draws a version of his web novel.
For the character of Kirito's protagonist, Kawahara is asked whether Kirito's personality and character are based on himself; he replied that he usually did not put his aspect into his character, and jokingly commented: "But if I had to say there was a point of similarity between Kirito and myself, it was the fact that neither of us were good at forming parties. ] tend to play solos in these games. "Kawahara also notes that the female character in the story is not based on anyone he knows in the real world, stating:" I do not usually make characters, arrangements, or anything before I start writing. When I write stories, girls become what they are, so somehow I do not know exactly, but somehow my subconscious or some hidden emotion creates a strong and capable character. "Kawahara added that he wrote the series to show that he sees online gaming not as a social pain or escape from real life, but decides to show per toys in a more positive light in his light novel. He notes that "my Asuna character might have made it a little too perfect for Sword Art Online ".
Media
Light novel
After Kawahara's request for Sword Art Online to be published was approved, he started working with the abec illustrator on the light novel series. The first volume was published in print on April 10, 2009, and 20 volumes have been published on September 8, 2017.
Kawahara also wrote the Sword Art Online: Progressive series, which included Kirito's adventures on the first few floors of Aincrad. The first volume Progressive was released on October 10, 2012, and four volumes were released on December 10, 2015. The first volume of the light novel series based on Sword Art Online is titled Swords Art Online Gun Gale Online Alternative, written by Keiichi Sigsawa with illustrations by Kouhaku Kuroboshi, published by ASCII Media Works on December 10, 2014. An original 100-page preliminary novel for Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale written by Kawahara , titled Hopeful Chant , was released for people watching movies in Japan for March 4-10, 2017.
At their Japan Expo USA panel, Yen Press announced the right to publish light novels; the first volume was released on April 22, 2014. The Yen Press later announced their licensing of the Sword Art Online: Progressive series, which is scheduled for release in 2015. The novels are also published in China, Taiwan. , South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam, with future plans for publications in France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and others.
There are a number of d? Jinshi (a fan) written by Kawahara under the pseudonym Fumio Kunori, titled Sword Art Online Material Edition ( ?????? ??????????????????????? ) . A collection of 80 pages from several editions of Materials Edition was published on February 13, 2011; The latest release is Material Edition volume 19 on May 5, 2016. The author has also made some d? Other jinshi include Lisbeth Edition, Silica Edition and Pina Edition in cooperation with Kurusu Tatsuya from ponz.info. It was reported that d? Jinshi gained the appeal of the original author's involvement in the process of making it, as well as from providing more details about the character of the original work. Manga
There are ten manga adaptations of the series, all written by Reki Kawahara and published by ASCII Media Works. Art of the Sword Online: Aincrad ( ?????????????????????????? ???? span>, illustrated by Tamako Nakamura, serialized at Dengeki Bunko Magazine between September 2010 and May 2012. Two tanks? Bon volume Aincrad was released on September 27, 2012. Comic four comedy panel, titled Sword Art Online. ) and illustrated by J? sei Minami, commenced serialization in the September 2010 issue of Dengeki Bunko Magazine. Sword Art Online on September 27, 2012. The third manga, titled Art of Online Sword: Fairy Dance ( ?????????????? ?????? ) and illustrated by Hazuki Tsubasa, began serialization in the May 2012 edition of Dengeki Bunko Magazine .First volume Fairy Dance released on October 27, 2012; third volume dir ilis on June 27, 2014. The manga Aincrad and Dance Fair have been obtained for release in North America by Yen Press. The first volume Aincrad was published on March 25, 2014.
A spin-off manga starring Lisbeth, Silica, and Leafa, titled Sword Art Online: Girls Ops ( ?????????? ????????? ) and illustrated by Neko Nekoby ?, beginning serialization in the July 2013 issue of Dengeki Bunko Magazine. Girls Ops was licensed by Yen Press in November 2014, the first volume released on May 19, 2015. Sword Art Online: Progressive manga adaptation, illustrated by Kiseki Himura, began serialization in edition of August 2013 Dengeki G's Magazine . The manga ended the serialization in the May 2014 issue of the magazine and moved to Dengeki G's Comics beginning with the June 2014 edition. The Mitch's adaptation has been licensed by Yen Press, with the first two volumes released on January and April 2015, respectively.
A sixth manga, titled Sword Art Online: Phantom Bullet and illustrated by K? Tar? Yamada, has the first chapter to be serialized in the May 2014 edition of Dengeki Bunko Magazine, with subsequent chapters digitally serialized on Kadokawa's Comic Walker site. A seventh manga, titled Sword Art Online: Calibur and illustrated by Shii Kiya, is serialized in
A tenth manga, titled Sword Art Online: Project Alicization and illustrated by K? Tar? Yamada, based on the Alicization arc of the light novel series, began serialization in the September 2016 edition of Dengeki Bunko Magazine.
Anime
An anime adaptation Sword Art Online was announced at Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2011, along with another lightweight Reki Kawahara light novel series, Accel World . The anime is produced by Aniplex and Genco, animated by A-1 Pictures and directed by Tomohiko Ito with music by Yuki Kajiura. The anime is aired on Tokyo MX, TVK, TVS, TVA, RKB, HBC and MBS between July 7 and December 22, 2012, and AT-X, Chiba TV and BS11 in the future. The series is also broadcast on Crunchyroll and Hulu. The anime is adapted from the first four novels and part seven volumes.
The anime has been licensed in North America by Aniplex of America and English rank aired on Adult Swim's Toonami from July 27, 2013 to February 15, 2014. The series was released by Aniplex of America in four DVD and Blu-ray sets, with a special addition to the set BD, between August 13 and November 19, 2013. Manga Entertainment released the first series on BD/DVD in the UK in December 2013, while Madman Entertainment released the series in Australia and the English version began airing on ABC3 on June 7, 2014. Sword Art Online has been available on Netflix in North America since March 15, 2014.
The year-end special, titled Sword Art Online Extra Edition , which airs on December 31, 2013. Particularly repeats the anime series previously aired and includes some new recordings. Extra Edition was streamed around the world a few hours after it aired in Japan. Two-hour specials are available at Daisuki worldwide except for the French-speaking region, as well as China and Korea. Daisuki offers translations in various languages ​​such as English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and German. English-speaking countries, Mexico, Central and South America can also watch the flow at Crunchyroll. Extra Edition is also simulcast in Korea on Aniplus cable channel and in China on the LeTV streaming website. French-speaking countries can watch on the Wakanim streaming website. Blu-ray Disc and DVD Extra Edition was released on April 23, 2014 in Japan. The limited edition includes Yui's character song "Heart Sweet Heart" by Kanae It? and an original side story written by Kawahara entitled "Niji no Hashi Online Sword Art" ????????????? , Sword Art Online Rainbow Bridge ) .
At the end of the special, the anime television series was confirmed for the second season, titled Sword Art Online II, which aired on July 5, 2014. The first 14 episodes of the second season were adaptations. volume five and six light novels covering the Phantom Bullet arc. Episodes 15 through 17 include the Calibur arc from volumes of 8 novels, with episodes 18 to 24 covering volume 7 of the novel, arc Mother's Rosary. The 2nd season premieres were held in the United States, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Japan before the television premiere between June 29 and July 4, 2014. In Katsucon, it was announced that the English language rank of the second season will air in Toonami starting 28 March 2015.
An animated film titled The Art of the Movie Online Movie: Ordinal Scale featuring the original story by Kawahara after the Sword Art Online II event aired in Japan and Southeast Asia on February 18, 2017, and released in the United States on March 9, 2017.
The third season of Sword Art Online , titled Sword Art Online: Alicization and spin-off anime, titled Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online, was announced in 2017. Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online , animated by 3 Hz, will launch in April 2018. Sword Art Online: Alicization is due in October 2018.
Music
Yuki Kajiura composed the soundtrack for the anime Sword Art Online , which was later released in a limited edition of Blu-ray and DVD's fourth and seventh anime volumes. The first volume of the second season soundtrack was bundled with a limited edition of the third and seventh editions of Blu-ray and DVD volume.
The opening theme song for the first 14 episodes of the first season is "Crossing Field" by LiSA, and the closing theme song is "Yume Sekai" ( ????? , lit. "Dream World") by Haruka Tomatsu. From episode 15 onwards, the opening theme is "Innocence" by Eir Aoi and the cover song is "Overfly" by Luna Haruna. The main theme for Sword Art Online: Extra Edition is Niji no Oto (< i> Sound of the Rainbow ) by Aoi.
For the second season, the first opening theme was "Ignite" by Aoi, and the first cover theme was "Startear" by Haruna. The second theme is "Bravery" by Tomatsu, and the second cover theme is "No More Time Machine" by LiSA, with the third cover theme being "Shirushi" ( ??? ) , also by LiSA. The song "Catch the Moment" by LiSA is used as a theme song for Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale .
A number of character tracks are included in the Blu-ray and DVD releases of the anime. These are collected into two compilation albums: Song Swords Art Collection Online , which includes a character song released in a one-season volume, was released on August 27, 2014, while the Song Collection of Sword Art Online II , which includes the character songs released in season two volumes, was released on March 22, 2017.
Video game
A stage show at Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2011 reveals that Reki Kawahara light novel will get video game adaptation. Art Online Sword first adaptation, titled Art of Online Sword: Infinite Moment ( ?????????? ? - ????????????? - , S? do? to Onrain: Infiniti M? mento ) , developed by Namco Bandai Games for PlayStation Portable. The game follows an alternate storyline, where mistakes cause Kirito and other players to stay on Sword Art Online despite defeating Heathcliff, and players from other VMMORPGs like Leafa and Sinon are sucked into the game itself. The game is released in both regular and limited edition box sets on March 14, 2013.
Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment is a PlayStation Vita game released in Japan on April 24, 2014. Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragments takes place in an alternate storyline similar to > Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment , and this includes all the contents of the "Floor Clearing" of the previous game with the addition of an unexplored "Hollow Area" from Aincrad. Protagonist Kirito will fight with a mysterious player who will become one of the key characters in this game. The game sold 145,029 copies of physical retail in the first week of release in Japan, topping the Japanese software sales ladder for that week. The game has also been released in Taiwan by Namco Bandai Games Taiwan with Chinese and English subtitles. The only North American, European and Australian-digital releases released in August 2014.
The third video game developed by Artdink and titled Sword Art Online: Lost Song was released in Japan on March 26, 2015 on PlayStation 3 and Vita platforms, with an English version released in Asia. The game producer revealed in October 2014 that the game is an open-world action RPG featuring original storyline, set in Alfheim Online, where characters can fly. The game sold 139,298 physical retail copies on the PlayStation Vita in addition to the other 55,090 units on the PlayStation 3 within the first week of its launch in Japan, ranked second and sixth respectively in the Japanese software sales chart for the week, slightly behind Bloodborne take the top spot.
The fourth game titled Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization was released in Japan for PS4, Vita, and Windows on October 27, 2016 and worldwide on November 8, 2016 for PS4 and Vita.
A social networking game called Sword Art Online: End World was released for Japanese-featured phones and smartphones on February 28, 2013 with over 1 million registered users. Another freemium game for Android and iOS titled Sword Art Online: Code Listing was launched in 2014, and over 3,000,000 users have downloaded the game. Another game called Sword Art Online: Progress Link designed for the Mobage game browser platform on smartphones was released on February 10, 2015. In 2016, Bandai Namco released Sword Art Online: Memory Defrag for Android and iOS.
Kirito, Asuna, Leafa, Yuuki and SAO Alternatives: Gun Gale Online LLENN's protagonist appeared in
A gigantic online virtual reality multiplayer game is being developed by Kadokawa and IBM Japan, but is just a demo and will not be released as a full game. A role-playing action game titled Accel World VS Sword Art Online: Millennium Twilight was announced in October 2016. This game is a crossover with Accel World , developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Windows via Steam, and released to a western audience on July 7, 2017.
Sword Art Online: Memory Defrag , launched by Bandai Namco Entertainment, was released outside Japan on January 24, 2017. This RPG is available on iOS and Android devices. Displaying content from the anime series, Ordinal Scale , and some original shorts written for the character of the show, the player is allowed to play solo and progress through stories, or join other people online to create special items, and materials. Common events include ranking challenges against other players, floor opening, character recognition and seasonal events. Players have the option of spending real money to accelerate their progress.
A game based at Gun Gale Online , Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet , was released for PS4, Xbox One and Windows on February 23, 2018.
live-action series
Sword Art Online is an adaptation of America's live action television planned Sword Art Online . Skydance Television announced on 2 August 2016 that they have obtained a global right to produce live action television adaptation of Swi Kawahara's Sword Art Online novel series. Laeta Kalogridis has been bound to write the script for the pilot, and will also serve as executive producer for the series with Skydance CEO David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Marcy Ross. Skydance has declared their intention to "speed up" the launch of the series, along with plans to follow the TV series with the release of virtual reality
Reception
According to Oricon, Sword Art Online is the best-selling novel series of 2012, with eight volumes among the best-selling novels. It ranks first in 2012 and 2013 ranking Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! , as well as the top ten placements in 2011, 2014 and 2015. It was also the second best-selling lightweight novel series for the first half of 2016 in Japan, selling 489,374 copies. Sword Art Online: Progressive sold 321,535 copies in the same time period. By 2017, this series has about 20 million print copies worldwide.
Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku praised Sword Art Online as the most intelligent series in recent years, extolling insight into the psychological aspects of virtual reality in the human psyche, his sociological outlook on creating a realistic economy and society in the massive online game arrangements multiplayer, and the ability of writing staff to juggle the various genres in the series. Eisenbeis specifically notes how the romance between Kirito and Asuna is explored which brings "the definition of exactly what love is in the virtual world." However, during this initial review, he only watched the first 12 episodes of the series. He has gone on to review the second half of the series, praising the excellent use of plot plots and praising well-written and trusted criminals. However, he felt that some of the initial positive aspects of the series were lost in the second half, as focused on the psychological reactions and social interactions that can be seen realistically in online games. Criticism is also forced on the aspect of transforming Asuna into a girl in distress, stating that a woman cast as strong as herself "is reduced to nothing but a male-dominated quest item." Eisenbeis concludes his review of this series by stating the two parts, "Both are, however, fun for what they are."
Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network has criticized this series for having paced issues, logical gaps, and "careless writing". Theron Martin of Anime News Network criticized the story as a "struggle to achieve and maintain the level of gravity that must be lived by the dangers of life and death", while calling it unwilling to commit itself to Kirito's "lone wolf" image. DeviceCritique explains that Sword Art Online affects the virtual reality market to grow, and Oculus Rift's reference is a prime example of the starting point of virtual reality. It also praises Sword Art Online for exploring the psychological and social aspects of virtual reality games. Adam Facey of The Muse criticized this series, among others, as sexist and female characters as being overly sexual.
Popular culture
Kirito has a cameo appearance in episode 8 of the anime series Eromanga Sensei , with Yoshitsugu Matsuoka repeating his role.
Movie 2018 Steven Spielberg Ready Player One contains references to Sword Art Online . Ernest Cline, author of the 2011 novel Ready Player One , discusses Sword Art Online in an interview, noting how he met his writer Reki Kawahara at an event in Japan where they discussed how they independently develop similar ideas related to virtual reality.
References
External links
- The Official Website of North America
- Sword Art Online (light novel) in the Anime News Network encyclopedia
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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