Episode 1
The World of Swords
Jul 7, 2012
8.7 Rating
Arc: Aincrad
Episode Overview
10,000 players log into the new fully immersive VR MMO Sword Art Online, only to discover they cannot log out. The game's creator announces the new rule: die in the game, die in reality. The only exit is clearing all 100 floors.
What Fans Think
One of the most effective premise-establishing pilots in recent anime. The immediate horror of being trapped and the scale of '10,000 players' creates a compelling setup that the first arc largely delivers on.
Aggregated fan sentiment from community discussions.
Episode information is collated from multiple community sources and may contain inaccuracies.