Sword Art Online
Sword Art Online is an anime series, based on a VRMMORPG game of the same name, and inspired by Wizardy, an RPG that influenced games such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.
The main story of the series followed the adventures of Kazuto “Kirito” Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki, two players who were trapped in the virtual world of “Sword Art Online” (SAO).
The series was an action-based anime with Kirito as our protagonist. Kirito along with other 10,000 players got stuck into a VR-based game Sword Art Online.
The problem with the game was that they couldn’t log out and quit unless they finished the game. That means, they must complete the game to get back to the real world.
They were tasked to clear all 100 Floors and defeat the final boss in order to be freed from the game. So to escape the game, Kirito had to cooperate with his fellow players and avoid dying, since dying inside the game also meant dying in the real world.
The storyline is not that hard to understand and follow along but the question of when and where it takes place can be a bit confusing.
VRMMO or VRMMORPG stands for Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online (Role-Playing Game). These games combine the multiplayer aspects of MMORPGs with the immersive powers of Virtual Reality. A crucial aspect of VRMMO is the ability to support a large number of players in a persistent world.
When does Sword Art Online take place?
The anime series was released in 2012, but the storyline of the series began in the year 2022. The story opened in the year 2022 with the launch of a new video game called Sword Art Online( SAO for short).
The latest technology, the NerveGear allowed the players to be in the game. Beta tester and solo player, Kirito, entered the game only to find the horrifying truth about the game.
The timeline of the series is somewhat confusing as it has many side stories and plot holes. However, we are going to discuss its timeline which began way before 2022.
1977- 2021
Although the story started in 2022, the timeline goes way back to 1977 when Shigemura Tetsuhiro, an external board member at Argus, the company that created Sword Art Online (SAO), was born.
From 2006 to 2010 some important characters such as Nochizawa Eiji, Kohiruimaki Karen, Shigemura Yuuna, Shinkawa Shouichi, Shinozaki Rika, Yuuki Asuna, Kirigaya Kazuto (Kirito), Kirigaya Suguha (Leafa), Asada Shino (Sinon), Konno Yuuki and Konno Aiko.
Some of the events of this time were; Kirito being adopted by the Kirigaya family after his birth and his parents’ apparent death, Shino’s family encountering a traffic accident, due to which her father passed away, and also Asada Shino was involved in a fatal robbery in a post office.
The most important thing in this timeline was the announcement of NerveGear in 2021 which was used by the Japanese Self-Defense Force (JSDF) and the U.S. Army to start developing training software.
The year where it all began: 2022
The story begins in the year 2022 with the release of NerveGear in the market following the release of the beta version of the online game Sword Art Online.
Soon after Kirito encountered Argo, a beta tester who sold information between players, the beta version of the SAO was closed. Even though the beta version was closed, the game started to begin its sale and people started to queue up at the stores for the release of SAO.
After the game started its official service, Kayaba Akihiko, the development director, Game Master of the titular in-universe game Sword Art Online, and also the designer of the NerveGear, successfully trapped nearly 10,000 players in the game despite their families and friends attempting to remove the NerveGear from their head.
This was the start of the Aincrad arc and the first in-game death occurred in SAO. In the game, the player, Arvin attempted to test the theory that he would regain consciousness after being disconnected from the server by jumping off from the Aincrad, but he ended up dying.
Meanwhile, Kirito was getting around the game and even finished his quests in Horunka village and obtained the Anneal Blade. The Case Victims Rescue Force was also established, which was led by Kikuoka Seijirou.
Not even a year after the release of the game, about 2000 deaths were recorded and of this number, roughly 300 deaths were beta testers. Just then, one of the players, Liten encountered the iron ore glitch.
The Beginning of Progressive Volume 1, Aria of a Starless Night started this year with Kirito meeting Asuna for the first time. Soon during the second First Floor Boss Strategy Meeting, Asuna joined Kirirto’s party.
Asuna obtained Wind Fleuret from a monster drop whereas Kirito obtained the Coat Of Midnight as a bonus after he defeated Illfang, the Kobold Lord.
The Reason of the Whiskers started with Kirito opening the teleport gate to the second floor and the First Town Opening was held, after which Kirito started the acquisition quest for the Martial Arts Extra Skill, and he even completed it.
After the beginning of Rondo of a Fragile Balde, Asuna and Kirito team up on many occasions such as hunting the Needle of Wind Wasp, and even eating a Tremble Shortcake together.
The only Field Boss on the second floor, The Bullbous Bow, Mid Bosses, Baran the General Taurus, and Nato the Colonel Taurus, were defeated. Even the Main Boss of the 2nd floor, Asterius the Taurus King, was defeated.
After conquering the 2nd floor began the next volume, Concerto of Black and White, where with the help of Kirito and Asuna, Dark Elf Kizmel defeated the Forest Elf.
This new volume mainly focused on the 3rd floor, where the Floor Boss, Nerius the Evil Treant was defeated after the clearing meeting for the 3rd floor took place.
The defeat of the 3rd-floor boss marked the ending of Volume 2 and the beginning of the progressive volume 3, Barcarolle of Froth.
Kirito and Asuna reached the 4th Floor and defeated the Field Boss of the fourth floor, Biceps Archelon. With the death of The 4th Floor Boss, Wythege The Hippocampus, the third volume came to an end.
The final volume of the year, 2022, Volume 4, Scherzo of Deep Night, started with Joe learning about the existence of the Flag of Valor. ALS and decided to clear the boss themselves before the DKB.
The secret meeting between Morte and Joe was overheard by Asuna and with the help of Kirito, she entered the 5th Floor Labyrinth Tower, where they reached the final boss and successfully defeated the boss.
2023
The year 2023 started with Argus disbanding, RECT Progress Inc. taking over SAO server management, and the 22nd Floor Boss being defeated within three days of the 21st Floor being cleared.
New characters were introduced in the series, such as the man in a black poncho, who used the catchphrase, ” It’s showtime” when encountered by Kirito.
The Canon of the Golden Rule began with Asuna and Kirito arriving at Stachion on the 6th floor and meeting with the leaders of the Dragons Knight Brigade to discuss the handling of the Flag of Valor.
Together with Asuna, Kirito began the Curse of Stachion quest and completed the information gathering in the Stachion portion of the Curse of Stachion questline. Not long after acquiring the golden key at Pithagrus’s second home in Scribus and were captured by Cylon.
However, Cylon was killed by Morte when he was ambushed while transporting Asuna and Kirito back to Stachion. The first Field Boss of the 6th Floor was also defeated and Asuna and Kirito arrived at Castle Galey and reunited with Kizmel.
Sword Art Online Material Edition took place at the beginning of Volume 6, Canon of the Golden Rule. The Floor Boss of the 6th floor, The Irrational Cube, was defeated.
25th Floor’s Boss was defeated and over half of the Aincard Liberation Squad members were also annihilated. The Knight of the Blood is formed and Asuna also joined them.
Kirito even joined the Moonlit Black Cats but later all the members of the black cats died except Kirito. During the later time of the year, the 38th Floor Boss was defeated, and even the Ruthless Warder Chief was defeated.
Nautilus was demoted to the Second Army of the Knights of the Blood and was informed that he would not be participating in the boss battle. Later the 40th Floor Boss strategy meeting was held and The Clearers used a Corridor Crystal to reach the 40th Floor boss room.
Yuna died in the dungeon on the 40th floor, Nautilus left the Knights of the Blood and the 40th Floor’s boss was defeated.
Towards the end of the year, ALfheim Online (ALO) was created and Kirito learned about the rumors of a rare item drop, which was capable of reviving dead players.
The year ended with Kirito defeating the event boss, Nicholas The Renegade, and received the rumored revival item, the Divine Stone of Returning Soul, and a Timer Activated Message Record Crystal from Sachi.
2024
2024 started with the defeat of the 50th Floor’s boss. Kirito acquired the Elucidator from a rare drop and also the Dual Blades. The Laughing Coffin was also created this year.
The Silver Flags guild was attacked by the members of the Titan’s Hand. Four members of the guild were killed by the orange guild and only the leader managed to survive.
At the beginning of the Black Swordsman, Kirito saved Silicia, whose partner, Pina, died in the battle and together they acquired the Pneuma Flower on the 47th Floor.
The 56th Field Boss Strategy Meeting was held. Soon after the meeting, Asuna and Kirito went up against each other and the Geocrawler was defeated.
Kirito arrived at Lisbeth’s shop and requested a custom-made sword. Together they got their hands on the Crystallite Ingot that they were looking for and escaped the dragon’s lair.
After Kirito acquired the Dark Repulser, the Laughing Coffin was annihilated, and the boss of the 73rd Floor was defeated a couple of days prior to the events of The Fourteenth Autumn.
It was this year when Kirito first used the Dual Blades in public and even Gleam eyes were defeated. Kuradeel killed Godfree during training, and revealed that he was actually a member of “Laughing Coffin”.
Asuna arrived just in time to save Kirito, but as she was about to deal the finishing blow, she had a moment of hesitation, which Kuradeel used to disarm her. Kirito then rushed in and killed Kuradeel.
After the battle, Kirito proposed to Asuna. On October 24th of the same year, they got married and moved to their new home on the 22nd floor. Not long after their wedding, Kirito and Asuna travel to the Town of Beginnings with Yui, where they encounter Sasha and the orphanage.
When Yui was erased by Cardinal, Kirito managed to extract her core file and save it to his NerveGear’s local memory then they returned back to the 22nd Floor.
The year 2024 introduced some new characters such as Nishida, with whom Kirito managed to fish the King Of Lakes. Also, a new boss, the Skull Reaper was defeated, and later on, Kirito even managed to defeat Heathcliff, leader of the guild, Knight of Blood.
The year 2024 ended with many deaths and defeats. Asuna died while protecting Kirtito but was shortly brought back after Heathcliff’s defeat. Kirito ended up in the hospital and Kyaba Akihiko committed suicide by scanning his brain with a modified FullDive machine.
The year finally came to an end with the Sword Art Online getting deleted and the Aincrad Arc coming to an end.
2025
The game Sword Art Online might have come to an end but the series kept on going and entered the year 2025. Nearly a year after SAO was closed, ALfheim Online (アルヴヘイム・オンライン aruvuheimu onrain) a Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game (VRMMORPG) was released.
Right after discovering Sugou Nobuyuki’s plan to get married to Asuna, Kirito found out about the ALfheim Online and how it allowed the transfer of player characters from SAO.
Sugou Nobuyuki (須郷伸之, Sugou Nobuyuki?), known as Fairy King Oberon (オベイロン, Oberon) in «ALfheim Online» (ALO), was the main antagonist of the Fairy Dance Arc.
At the beginning of chapter 2, volume 3, Kirito entered the ALO, where he met Leafa, who helped him to defeat several Salamanders. Together they departed from Swilvane and made their way to the World Tree.
On their journey, they accidentally entered Jötunheimr and encountered a beast-type Evil God, Tonky, and finally arrived at Alne. Later Kirito received an admin card from Asuna and then challenged the Grand Quest on his own for the first time.
Kirito reached the top of the World Tree with the help of Leafa, Recon, Cait Sith, and Sylph. At the top of the tree, he met Asuna and fought against Oberon.
This was an interesting year as many new things were occurring. SAO Survivor School’s first school year began and the ALO was re-established under new moderators; the data of all the old ALO and SAO players were transferred to New ALO.
It was the year 2025 when the new virtual reality game known as “Gun Gale Online” (GGO) was promoted via streamed broadcast, featuring a top-ranked player named XeXeeD. Later in May, a reunion of the SAO survivors was held in Agil’s cafe.
Right after the reunion, New Aincrad was established inside the New ALO and the first ten floors were opened up for conquering. Not long after the new aincrad, the boss battle of the 8th floor took place in which the boss reading party was completely wiped out.
The New Arincrad opened its 11th to 20th floor for conquering, the new game Gun Gale Online garnered some new players such as Kohiruimaki Karen, and the top-ranked player named XeXeeD was murdered by Death Gun.
Death Gun not only killed XeXeeD but he was also responsible for the death of some other characters, such as Usujio Tarako and Pale Rider. Meanwhile, the 21st floor of the New Aincrad was unlocked and the boss was defeated by the 7-member party of Asuna, Kirito, Klein, Agil, Lisbeth, Silica and Leafa, and other parties.
The year 2025 came to an end with Kirito and Asuna leaving their previously rented home in Yggdrasil City and reacquiring the old wooden house that they had bought on the original Aincrad on the 22nd Floor.
Also, Kirito acquired the Holy Sword Excalibur and Klein acquired the “Lightning Hammer Mjölnir” and gave it to Lisbeth.
2026
Prior to the events of the Mother’s Rosario, the year started with the 23rd, 24th, 25t, 26th, and 27th floors of New Aincrad being unlocked. This arc mainly focused on Asuna and Yuuki, as they battled each other, and Yuuki was defeated.
After their duel, Asuna met up with the Sleeping Knights, and the boss of the 27th Floor was defeated. Not long after the battle, Asuna encountered Yuuki again at the Yokohama North General Hospital.
Asuna even hosted a barbeque party at her home and the thirty players that gathered at the party rushed up to the 28th Floor and defeated the boss.
Right at the beginning of February, the first Squad Jam took place and Asuna and the Sleeping Knights were able to defeat the 29th Floor Boss of New Aincrad. Meanwhile, in the United dueling tournament in ALfheim Online, Yuuki won first place, while Kirito came second.
Later Asuna, Rika, Keiko, and Suguha went on a three-day and two-night trip to the Yuuki family home in Kyoto, with Yuuki and her guild members, using the Bidirectional Communication Probe to enjoy the sights.
The year 2026 had many tournaments and battles, where competitors participated with their life on the line so it was something worthy for the audiences. Furthermore, information and events of the year are yet to be disclosed after 2026 halted with Yuuki’s death.
Underworld Timeline
Where does Sword Art Online Take Place?
The anime series Sword Art Online was set in several virtual reality worlds. The main game, Sword Art Online( SAO ) was set in a world known as Aincrad. Each world was built on a game engine called the World Seed, which was developed specifically for SAO by Akihiko Kayaba.
The world was later duplicated for Alfheim Online (ALO) and later willed to Kirito, who had it leaked online with the successful intention of reviving the virtual reality industry.
The third world was the world of Gun Gale Online( GGO), which appeared in the third arc and was stylized as an FPS game instead of an RPG, and was the main setting for the Alternative Gun Gale Online.
In the Fourth arc, a fourth world appeared which was known as the Underworld(UW). The world was created using the World Seed as a base, but it was as realistic as the real world due to using many powerful government resources to keep it running.
Aincard
The main game is Sword Art Online, a VRMMORPG, which was set in the virtual world of Aincrad and was created using the World Seed. Aincard was an iron-and-stone-made floating castle that had about ten kilometers of floor base diameter.
With a hundred floors stacking straight upwards, each floor’s diameter was a bit smaller than the previous one giving the castle a conical frame.
The castle’s name came from the concept of a «Realized World», called An Incarnating Radius (アン・インカーネイティング・ラディウス, An Inkāneitingu Radiusu), which had been abbreviated as Aincrad.
Each floor of the Aincrad had a couple of large cities along with countless small towns and villages, forests, and even lakes. Only one stairway linked each floor to another, and the stairways existed beyond the boss room of each Labyrinth.
According to the dark elven legends, when the lands were at peace, a hundred varied regions from around the were cut into circles from the earth and summoned up to the sky.
The circles were under three kilometers across at the smallest and over ten kilometers at the largest and were stacked in a conical formation to form a gigantic floating fortress of hundred floors.
The design of Aincrad was reasoned with being a symbol for time and space, where the vertical axis represented time and the circular floors represented space.
Even after a great length of time passed, legends and tales of the Great Separation (大地切断, Dai Chi Setsudan) still existed among the two elf races, the only people to keep their kingdoms intact from that fateful time.
ALfheim Online
The second world in the series was the virtual world of ALfheim Online. At the end of the Fairy Dance Arc, with the help of the World Seed, some of the old ALO players started a new company, Ymir, and bought all of the ALfheim Online data from RECT Progress Inc. for a small fee.
It was then that they discovered that a complete copy of the Aincrad castle existed on the server. The virtual world of ALO was handled and operated by a system, Cardinal, which automatically fixed bugs and created new quests.
The world of Aincrad was enforced in ALO with the help of an update where there was magic but the absence of a system of levels for the growth of the character made the player’s ability spike.
The castle in ALO was very identical to that of the original Aincrad except for a few key features. One of the most prominent changes in the new version was that the bosses and the dungeon masters were made significantly more difficult, as there was no threat of real death in ALO’s Aincrad.
ALfheim was a heterogeneous kingdom, which was populated by multiple races; each race was associated with different elements, colors, and types of combat, although they all had the common ability to fly.
The Dungeon maps and similar features of Aincrad were; likely re-done, as the Clearers in ALO continued to utilize the mapping and scouting strategies on bosses, while all the bosses were changed to brand new ones.
After the Monument of Life was changed to the Monument of Swordsmen, it started to list players who participate in clearing the boss of each floor. Since the monument only listed seven player names for each floor, only the name of the leader of each party was listed on the monument.
However, if one party of up to seven players was able to beat the boss on their own, the name of each member of the party appeared on the monument.
Gun Gale Online
Introduced in the third arc, the third world was the world of Gun Gale Online, (ガンゲイル・オンライン, Gangeiru Onrain, abbreviated as GGO), a VRMMORPG, developed and operated by an American company called Zaskar, which emphasized on gun usage.
The world was created using the world seed by the American company and was the setting for the Phantom Bullet Arc, in which one of the main events in GGO, Bullets of Bullets (BoB) took place.
The virtual world where the game was set in was a post-apocalyptic Earth, which had become a wasteland after a huge war long ago, that people had returned to on a spaceship.
The spaceship that was used to return back to earth was established as the capital city of the game called the SBC Glocken, with SBC meaning Space Battle Cruiser, which consisted of a single floor that was crossed by large metal beams and sprayed with neon lights.
The GGO’s world had a huge city of ruins from the war beneath the capital city, which had an unlimited number of automated fighting machines and mutant creatures beneath that awaited adventure.
Underworld
Introduced in the fourth arc, The Underworld (アンダーワールド, Andāwārudo) was the mysterious virtual world in which the Alicization Arc took place.
The Underworld was set in a past era when science and philosophy were just being discovered, but instead of recreating a past era, limited terrain and certain customs were introduced so that the inhabitants of the world would form their own society.
According to the story told by the Axiom Church, the underworld was created by the three goddesses Stacia, Solus, and Terraria, but was then split by Stacia and Vecta into the Human Empire, overseen by Stacia, and the Dark Territory, ruled by Vecta.
The Dark Territory never got the light of Solus, after Solus drove Vecta away to the land of darkness with her holy spiritual light during the world’s creation.
According to a legend, it was said that once every thousand years, when the light of Solus weakened, the forces of darkness led by the dark knights crossed the mountain range and would invade the Human Empire from the North Cave, West Gorge, South Corridor, and East Gate.
Further, the legend also stated that during the war, the guards in the villages, the sentinels from all towns, and the imperial army would form the Human Empire Army that would be led by the Integrity Knights to fight against the hordes of monsters.
Meanwhile, nobles would support the Integrity Knights as the commanders of that army. Until then, the nobles were to polish their swordsmanship in preparation for the battle.
However, in reality, the existence of the five gods was forged by the Axiom Church to secure its authority over the Human Empire and even though none of the gods truly existed in the world, they were registered as super accounts in the system, though they had never been used since the creation of Underworld.
There are virtually no known laws in the Dark Territory, though generally one rule was followed above all else that was, the weak shall follow the strong. As such, if one’s leader was to perish, the one to succeed him would be the next strongest, under him.
This was clearly shown when the Leader of a group of Goblins was killed by Kirito, and immediately after, one of his subordinates stepped up to take his place.
All residents of the Underworld were generally respectful to any law or rule that they regarded as having authority, due to the effects of the Seal of the Right Eye.
However, certain individuals, especially nobles, were able to avoid the restrictions of the laws to satisfy their personal desires.
Did the series take place in real places?
While most of the series was based on different games, the games certainly took place in virtual worlds but inside the anime, there was a real place where the players lived their day-to-day life and some of these places do exist in the real world outside the anime series. Amazing, right?
The SAO series took place in various areas within Tokyo. Some of you’ve likely seen it in other anime and movies, such as Ginza and Tokyo Tower. Here are some of Sword Art Online’s real-life locations in Tokyo:
1. Akihabara
Akihabara(秋葉原) generally referred to the area around the Akihabara station. It is the world-famous capital for all things otaku. Heaven for all the otakus, the area is a densely packed cluster of hundreds of stores providing for those who are fond of anime, manga, video games, trading cards, and other related hobbies.
It was Akihabara where Kirito and Asuna met up with others and went up against the 10th-floor boss of SAO and at the same time, Yuna arrived for an impromptu concert, which enhanced players’ abilities.
Even the bridge in Akihabara is shown in the series. The bridge has been given the name ‘Akihabara Bridge’ or ‘Akiba Bridge’ and is located right next to the Akihabara station and connects the station to Akihabara UDX.
The bridge was the location where the first battle took place.
2. Shinjuku Station
Shinjuku station is one of the popular places in Japan and in the anime series as well. The station is mainly famous for being the performing place of the in-game famous AI performer, Yuna.
During one of the episodes, she gives a mini-live performance in front of Shinjuku Station. The anime perfectly depicts the real location as they almost look identical, even the Welcome to Lumine sign is in the exact same position and design.
3.Yoyogi park and Yoyogi national gymnasium
The Yoyogi Park(=代々木公園) is one of the main parks in Tokyo. It is a massively popular place as not only it is used as a park but also for various events held at this place. Also, the major festivals celebrated by a large number of international people living in Tokyo are also held at this place.
This place is also a great one for Sword Art Online’s fans as this is the place for the second battle of the SAO movie. The area is where Asuna battles the Stom Griffin (11th-floor boss), as Zenghi the Flame Caller (11th-floor field boss) spawns near the Fuurinkaza members, and is subsequently aided by Eiji (2nd ranked player).
4. Tokyo Dome City
The Tokyo Dome City(=東京ドームシティ) is the entertainment complex surrounding the Tokyo Dome, the Yomiuri Giants’ home ground. It is widely popular among the locals and tourists as well due to the great number of attractions such as eateries, shops, exhibitions, and even festivals.
In the SAO movie, Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale, Tokyo Dome City is where Kirito defeats SAO’s 18th-floor boss, The Dire Tusk. Immediately afterward, he notices the mysterious hooded girl, which he rushes to reach, in vain.
5. Meiji-Jingu
Meiji Shrine ( (明治神宮, Meiji Jingū), is a Shinto shrine in Shibuya, Tokyo, that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken. The shrine does not contain the emperor’s grave, which is located at Fushimi-momoyama, south of Kyoto.
The Meiji Shrine is the same spot that Kirito stopped at on his way to visit Asuna’s house. He stood there next to his bike at the front of the main gate leading to the temple. In the anime, the scene took place at night time but the gate to the temple entrance could be seen.
Also, the anime did a great job of capturing the ambiance of Meiji-Jingu as the real and the anime version looked almost identical.
6. Parlour Shiseido
Another prominent place is the Parlour Shiseido. This is a restaurant and a penthouse bar with a skylight of Ginza is perfect for spending time alone or with friends, in any way you like.
The restaurant itself is very nice but a bit more on the pricey side so be prepared for that. The decor in the anime is almost identical to the real-life location.
This is where Kirito met Seijiro Kikouka. Also because of its really good food, it is a super fun location to visit for all Sword Art Online fans!
Conclusion
Probably one of the most popular anime series of all time, Sword Art Online was already ahead of its time as although the series came out in 2012, the story was set in the future 2022 and the story even continued in the year 2026.
The characters, plotlines, animations, and other aspects are very important for any series and along with them what really is important are the time and the locations it is set in.
So setting the series in the future and in virtual worlds, the series was able to use advanced technologies and bring in the futuristic ambiance, giving something new to the audiences.
With such a brilliant setting, the series is still ongoing with over nineteen million copies being sold globally. It is even rumored that the next season is soon going to drop in by the end of 2022.
