Sword Art Online is a great series of light novels, but this manga adaptation is incredibly lacklustre. The main sticking part is the lack of quality in the art (I'm not expecting the same quality as abec's art in the LNs, but at least average manga quality), but there are issues with how the story has been distilled for the manga. Some moments are left without context, which would be confusing for someone who hasn't read the first two volumes of the LN series or watched the Aincrad arc of the anime.
As someone who has enjoyed the light novels and anime thus far, I can't
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 Alternative TitlesJapanese: ソードアート・オンライン アインクラッド More titlesInformationType: Manga
Volumes: 2
Chapters: 12
Status: Finished
Published: Aug 10, 2010 to Apr 10, 2012
Theme:
Video Game
Serialization:
Dengeki Bunko Magazine Statistics Ranked: #116302 2 based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #1058
Members: 17,740
Favorites: 261 Resources | Reviews
Filtered Results: 7 / 7
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Jun 2, 2015
First of all, in advance, I do love Sword Art Online. I read this as a fan, not as someone new to it, or as someone looking to bash it. I was super excited to read this, as I loved SAO so much. I was glad to see it was an omnibus, since it means I'd be spending less, but that's where the warning should have come.
This adaptation of SAO was horrible. So horrible to the point where I fear anime to manga adaptations now. The art was lousy. The faces were drawn strangely, Klein was aged like 5-10 years, and the art lacked detail. ... 
Oct 23, 2012
*WARNING: THIS IS A REVIEW AND MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. IT'S RECOMMENDED TO READ IF YOU KNOW ABOUT SWORD ART ONLINE ALREADY.*
Sword Art Online is a great Light Novel and the anime is also a great watch too. There is also the manga of Sword Art Online: Aincrad, which on the other hand is not too great. I'll tell you exactly why. This manga would deserve a 7 compared to the Light Novel or anime. Many people take a 7 as a relatively low score, but it indeed is pretty high. I've read parts of the LN and I'm watching the anime. I will review ... 
Apr 28, 2016
The beginning was pretty good! I was enjoying it until... Asuna happened... Asuna is the most generic, poorly written love interest that I have ever witnessed! Kirito and Asuna's relationship was just flat out boring and it dragged out for WAY too long! It was like I was reading a love story instead of a shounen manga!
**Ending of volume 1 Spoiler** The ending of volume 1 was the best example of how NOT to do an ending! It was a word for word Deus Ex Machina! Heathcliff (who was one of their allies) turned out to be the creator of SAO. Kirito wishes for Asuna to ... 
Jan 6, 2016
I've never watched the popular "Sword Art Online" anime, but I know that while some people consider it a masterpiece other say it's overrated. Without having an opinion about the show, I decided to read the manga. Boy, I want my money back.
First, the art is bad to the point of being ugly. It looked like a storyboard, with the difference that storyboards are generally more well-drawn. Second, the story wasn't entertaining: boy goes to a MMORPG setting, fight monsters and meets the best ( and supposely most beautiful) female player. There wasn't anything original in the plot, nor there was something ... 
Feb 10, 2023
I've heard a lot of people say to ignore the manga and just read the light novels, Sword Art Online, Vol. 01: Aincrad but the thing is not everyone wants to read a light novel, we're manga readers because of the media and yes sometimes there is a crossover but more often than not we only consume manga.
For what this is, it's actually compiled quite well not everything is as fleshed out as it is in the anime, like Kirito's reason for being a solo player and the tension he has with the guilds, Instead this choose to solely focus on Kirito's and Asuna's story ... 
May 20, 2019
I decided to give the Aincard manga a read after finishing the two light novel volumes that made up this arc. While for the light novels I'd give this arc a 6/10 (Have yet to read Progressive), the manga adaptation on the other hand is brought down by the horrendous art.
The story itself there's not much for me to say, it's an adaptation of Vol. 1 of the light novels with a side story from Vol. 2 (Yui's chapter) as well. This is why characters like Lisbeth and Silca don't appear, Sachi's backstory isn't expanded upon, nor do we see any of the other floors ... |
