Sword Art Online

What is Sword Art Online about?

Sword Art Online is a TV anime series of 25 episodes animated by A-1 Pictures, adapted from a light novel. It aired from July 8, 2012 to December 23, 2012. AniList classifies it as action, adventure, fantasy and romance.

Synopsis from AniList, which credits Crunchyroll. The summary above it is written by FreeAnime.xyz from AniList's data.

Themes AniList users associate with it: Virtual World, Video Games, Male Protagonist, Swordplay, Heterosexual, Primarily Teen Cast, Isekai, Urban Fantasy, Primarily Female Cast, Fairy.

Main characters

Characters AniList lists in a main role, with spoiler-free notes.

• 

  Kazuto Kirigaya 桐ヶ谷和人

  Main character

  Kirito is a "solo" player, a player who hasn't joined a guild and usually works alone. He is also one of the very few people to have had the privilege to play in the beta testing period of Sword Art Online.

  Japanese voice: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka

• 

  Asuna Yuuki 結城明日奈

  Main character

  Asuna is a friend of Kirito and is a sub-leader of the guild Knights of the Blood (KoB), a medium-sized guild of about thirty players, also called the strongest guild in Aincrad. Being one of the few girls that are in SAO, and even more so that she's extremely pretty, she receives many invitations and proposals.

  Japanese voice: Haruka Tomatsu

• 

  Suguha Kirigaya 桐ヶ谷直葉

  Main character

  Kazuto's sister in the real world. She is 15 years old and in her third year of junior high, as well as a member of the Kendou club. She's a diligent worker and has been practicing Kendou for 8 years.

  Japanese voice: Ayana Taketatsu

Supporting characters

• 

  Akihiko Kayaba 茅場晶彦

  Supporting character

  Director and creator of the Nerve Gear and Sword Art Online. He traps all the players within Sword Art Online by using the Nerve Gear to cease sending signals to the users' body. Any attempt of removal, loss of power for a certain period, or if the user dies in the game will also kill the user.

  Japanese voice: Kouichi Yamadera

• 

  Ryoutarou Tsuboi 壷井遼太郎

  Supporting character

  A friendly player that meets Kirito at the start of the game and quickly befriends and learns from him. He and Kirito later separate because he has friends who were also new to the game so he couldn't leave them.

  Japanese voice: Hiroaki Hirata

• 

  Shouzou Yuuki 結城彰三

  Supporting character

  Asuna's father. He is a CEO of a major electronics manufacturing company.

  Japanese voice: Kazuhiro Yamaji

• 

  Midori Kirigaya 桐ヶ谷翠

  Supporting character

  Kirito and Suguha's mother in the real world. After Kazuto got trapped she went to the hospital two months prior to lean by Kazuto's side, eyes brimming with tears and smile bright with gladness that he was still alive.

  Japanese voice: Aya Endou

• 

  Keiko Ayano 綾野珪子

  Supporting character

  She is a middle level dagger user. She is a very cheerful and sweet girl. She has a very rare familiar, a feathery dragon that she named Pina after her cat in the real world. She treasured Pina a lot and was the reason she survived in the game.

  Japanese voice: Rina Hidaka

• 

  Yui ユイ

  Supporting character

  A young and cheerful girl with long black hair who looks no older than 10 years old. Kirito and Asuna found her in a forest on the 22nd floor of Aincrad.

  Japanese voice: Kanae Itou

• 

  Rika Shinozaki 篠崎里香

  Supporting character

  A mace wielder that runs a blacksmith shop in Aincrad on the 48th floor. She made Asuna’s rapier ‘Lament Light’ and one day got a request from Kirito to make him a sword with similar or better quality than his one handed long sword ‘Elucidator’ that he got from a monster drop.

  Japanese voice: Ayahi Takagaki

• 

  Andrew Gilbert Mills アンドリュー・ギルバート・ミルズ

  Supporting character

  A merchant stationed at city Algate, located at the 50th floor of Aincrad. His shop motto is "Buy cheap and sell cheap". He is a very strong axe-wielding warrior in the frontlines.

  Japanese voice: Hiroki Yasumoto

• 

  Sachi サチ

  Supporting character

  A member of the guild «Black Cats of the Full Moon». All the members are actually computer research club members from the same high school in the real world except Kirito. She uses a two-handed long spear and her level is rather low compared to the rest of the guild members.

  Japanese voice: Saori Hayami

• 

  Keita ケイタ

  Supporting character

  Keita is the leader of the guild Moonlit Black Cats. Excluding Kirito, the guild was composed of members from a school's computer club.

  Japanese voice: Toshiyuki Toyonaga

• 

  Diavel ディアベル

  Supporting character

  A player with a kite shield and proclaims himself to be a knight. He was the one who organized the first meeting of players to form a raid party to take on the first floor boss.

  Japanese voice: Nobuyuki Hiyama

• 

  Kibaou キバオウ

  Supporting character

  One of the 10,000 players trapped in Sword Art Online. Kibaou is the leader of the Aincrad Liberation Squad, one of SAO's first major clearing guilds alongside Lind's Dragon Knights Brigade.

  Japanese voice: Tomokazu Seki