''Sword Art Online'' is a science fantasy

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

series adapted from the

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a '' wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

series of the same title written by

Reki Kawahara is a Japanese light novel author. He is best known as the creator of ''Sword Art Online'' and '' Accel World'', both of which have been adapted into anime. He has also written '' The Isolator''. Career Kawahara wrote the first volume of ''Swo ...

and illustrated by abec. It was produced by

A-1 Pictures is a Japanese animation studio founded by ex- Sunrise producer Mikihiro Iwata and it is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan's anime production firm Aniplex. History The studio was established by SMEJ's animation production division ...

and directed by Tomohiko Itō. It is divided into the "Aincrad" and "Fairy Dance" arcs, respectively adapted from volumes 1, 2 and one story of 8, and 3&4 from the original material. The story of the first season follows the adventures of Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki, two players who are trapped in the virtual world of "Sword Art Online" (SAO). They are tasked to clear all 100 Floors and defeat the final

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

in order to be freed from the game. Three months after the death game, Kazuto discovers that Asuna is being held captive in "ALfheim Online" (ALO), a spiritual successor to SAO, where the players assume the roles of fairies. Kazuto enters the game and allies himself with his sister Suguha "Leafa" Kirigaya to rescue Asuna from captivity. The series aired from July 8 to December 23, 2012, on

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...

, spanning 25 episodes. It was later broadcast by 12 other stations.

Aniplex of America Aniplex of America Inc. or Aniplex USA is the U.S. distribution enterprise of Aniplex, an anime and music production company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It was established in March 2005 in Santa Monica, California, with the goal o ...

announced that the English dubbed version would air on

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...

programming block starting on July 28, 2013. The first

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and Blu-ray Disc volumes were released in Japan on October 24, 2012, and it concluded on June 26, 2013, with all nine volumes containing a bonus episode. In North America, Aniplex of America released the series in four Blu-ray/DVD volumes on August 13, 2013. In Australasia,

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...

distributed the four volumes in DVD and Blu-ray format. In Europe,

Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1987, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyr ...

first released all four volumes on December 16, 2013. A special episode of the anime titled was globally released on December 31, 2013. A second season, ''Sword Art Online II'' began in July 2014. Five pieces of

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

were used for the series: two opening themes and three ending themes. For the first 14 episodes, the opening theme song is "Crossing Field" performed by

LiSA Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...

, and the ending theme is performed by

Haruka Tomatsu is a Japanese voice actress and singer, employed by Music Ray'n. She received the Rookie of the Year award at the 3rd Seiyu Awards and the Synergy Award at the 9th Seiyu Awards. Tomatsu voiced Asuna Yuuki in ''Sword Art Online'', Zero Two in ' ...

. The second opening theme, used from episode 15 onwards, is "Innocence" performed by

Eir Aoi is a Japanese singer from Sapporo, Hokkaido, signed to Sacra Music. After being discovered through the Japanese video sharing website Niconico, Aoi made her major debut in 2011 with the release of her first single "Memoria", whose title track ...

. While its second ending theme, used from episodes 15 to 24, is "Overfly" sung by

Luna Haruna , better known by her stage name is a Japanese singer and fashion model from Tokyo. Biography Luna Haruna was interested in anime and music from a young age. In her first year of junior high school, she became obsessed with Gothic Lolita manga ...

. The third ending theme, "Crossing Field" was used for the final episode. The extra edition's main theme is by Eir Aoi. The original score for the series is composed by

Yuki Kajiura Yuki, Yūki or Yuuki may refer to: Places * Yuki, Hiroshima (Jinseki), a town in Jinseki District, Hiroshima, Japan * Yuki, Hiroshima (Saeki), a town in Saeki District, Hiroshima, Japan * Yūki, Ibaraki, a city on Honshu island in Japan * Y ...

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Episode list

''Sword Art Online''

''Sword Art Online: Extra Edition''

''Sword Art Online: Extra Edition'' is a special anime episode which was simulcast worldwide on December 31, 2013. In Japan, it was premiered on two broadcast channels:

and BS11. While in other countries, the special was streamed via the Internet on Daisuki and Crunchyroll. The extra edition was directed by Tomohiko Itō and screenplayed by the creator, Reki Kawahara, and Munemasa Nakamoto. It recounts the events of the original ''Sword Art Online'' anime, told in retrospect by the series characters and features new footage. The main theme song is by

. "Crossing Field" by

, "Overfly" by

, and "Innocence" by Eir Aoi are all insert songs.

Media release

Japanese release

Aniplex is a Japanese anime, music production and anime licensee company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Established in September 1995, Aniplex has been involved in the production and distribution of several anime series, such as both '' Fullm ...

, in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment Japan, distributed the episodes in nine volumes in DVD and Blu-ray format across Japan. ''Sword Art Online: Extra Edition'' was released on April 23, 2014, in DVD and Blu-ray limited editions, including a bonus ''Sword Art Offline: Extra Edition'' episode.

English release

In North America,

released the series in four DVD and Blu-ray volumes beginning on August 13, 2013. In

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

released volume one in DVD and Blu-ray on December 18, 2013, and concluded with volume four on March 19, 2014. In Europe,

began to release the anime on December 16, 2013. ''Sword Art Online: Extra Edition'' was licensed by Aniplex of America and released by Blu-ray and DVD in North America on December 23, 2014.

''Sword Art Offline''

''Sword Art Offline'' is a series of bonus episodes released in their own DVD and Blu-ray volumes in Japan. The show has 10 episodes, including the extra edition.

announced that they will include those episodes in the English version of the volumes with English subtitles.

Notes

References

External links

''Sword Art Online''
Official anime website
''Sword Art Online''
Official anime website {{DEFAULTSORT:Sword Art Online Sword Art Online episode lists 2012 Japanese television seasons Sword Art Online