1Aincrad
Players trapped in a virtual world must survive its battles while searching for a way home.
ソードアート・オンラインSword Art Online
7 story arcs, lined up across the anime, light novel and manga, with English and Japanese release status.
7 arcs, 5 editions tracked
Season 1 ends after Fairy Dance.
Pick up the light novel at
Volume 5
- Out in English since 18 Aug 2015.
- Out in Japanese since 10 Aug 2010.
- MangaHasn’t caught up yet.
Read first: Light novel: Volume 2 (side story).
Sword Art Online II ends after Mother’s Rosario.
Pick up the light novel at
Volume 9, from the start
- Out in English since 20 Dec 2016.Buy in English
- Out in Japanese since 10 Feb 2012.
- MangaHasn’t caught up yet.
Read first: Light novel: Volume 2 (side story).
Ordinal Scale ends after Mother’s Rosario (episodes mapped so far).
Pick up the light novel at
Volume 9, from the start
- Out in English since 20 Dec 2016.Buy in English
- Out in Japanese since 10 Feb 2012.
- MangaHasn’t caught up yet.
Read first: Light novel: Volume 2 (side story).
Alicization ends after Alicization.
Pick up the light novel at
Volume 15, from the start
- Out in English since 18 Dec 2018.
- Out in Japanese since 9 Aug 2014.
- MangaHasn’t caught up yet.
Read first: Light novel: Volume 2 (side story).
War of Underworld ends after Alicization.
Pick up the light novel at
Volume 21, from the start
- Out in English since 19 Jan 2021.
- Out in Japanese since 7 Dec 2018.
- MangaHasn’t caught up yet.
Read first: Light novel: Volume 2 (side story); Light novel: Volumes 19–20 (the adaptation cut it).
Draft start points. Chapter-level mappings still need review. Report a wrong mapping.
Stopped partway through a season? Continue from any episode.
The story, arc by arc
- English
- Japanese
- Anime
- Free online
- Scheduled
- No English yet
Tap a bar for volumes and chapters. Hover over or press and hold a hidden arc to read it. Rows are story order, not length. Blank space means nothing is mapped there yet.
Anime, TV
Season 1
Aired. 2012
Story arcs
Anime, TV
Sword Art Online II
Aired. 2014
Story arcs
Anime, TV
Alicization
Aired. 2018
Story arcs
Anime, TV
War of Underworld
Aired. 2019
Story arcs
Anime, TV
Cut
Skipped by the adaptation
Story arcs
Light novel, English
Vol 1
Released. Prologue–chapter 25
Story arcs
Light novel, English
Vol 3–4
Released. Volume 3, prologue – volume 4, chapter 9
Volumes
- Volume 3: Prologue–chapter 3
- Volume 4: Chapters 5–9
Story arcs
Light novel, English
Vol 5–6
Released
Volumes
- Volume 5
- Volume 6: Chapters 7–16
Story arcs
Light novel, English
Vol 7
Released. Prologue–chapter 12
Story arcs
Light novel, English
Vol 9–14
Released. Volume 9, prologue 1 – volume 14, chapter 13
Volumes
- Volume 9: Prologue 1–chapter 1
- Volume 10: Chapter 2–interlude 2
- Volume 11: Chapters 5–6
- Volume 12: Chapters 7–8
- Volume 13: Interlude 4–chapter 11
- Volume 14: Chapters 12–13
Story arcs
Light novel, English
Vol 15–20
Released. Volume 15, chapter 14 – volume 20, chapter 10
Volumes
- Volume 15: Chapters 14–17
- Volume 16: Chapters 18–19
- Volume 17: Chapters 20–21
- Volume 18: Chapter 21–prologue 3
- Volume 19: Chapters 1–10
- Volume 20: Chapters 1–10
Story arcs
Light novel, English
Vol 21–28
Released. Volume 21, prologue – volume 28, chapter 12
Volumes
- Volume 21: Prologue–chapter 9
- Volume 23: Chapters 1–10
- Volume 24: Chapters 1–10
- Volume 25: Chapters 1–11
- Volume 26: Chapters 1–23
- Volume 27: Chapters 1–15
- Volume 28: Chapters 1–12
Story arcs
Light novel, Japanese
Vol 1
Released. Prologue–chapter 25
Story arcs
Light novel, Japanese
Vol 3–4
Released. Volume 3, prologue – volume 4, chapter 9
Volumes
- Volume 3: Prologue–chapter 3
- Volume 4: Chapters 5–9
Story arcs
Light novel, Japanese
Vol 5–6
Released
Volumes
- Volume 5
- Volume 6: Chapters 7–16
Story arcs
Light novel, Japanese
Vol 7
Released. Prologue–chapter 12
Story arcs
Light novel, Japanese
Vol 9–14
Released. Volume 9, prologue 1 – volume 14, chapter 13
Volumes
- Volume 9: Prologue 1–chapter 1
- Volume 10: Chapter 2–interlude 2
- Volume 11: Chapters 5–6
- Volume 12: Chapters 7–8
- Volume 13: Interlude 4–chapter 11
- Volume 14: Chapters 12–13
Story arcs
Light novel, Japanese
Vol 15–20
Released. Volume 15, chapter 14 – volume 20, chapter 10
Volumes
- Volume 15: Chapters 14–17
- Volume 16: Chapters 18–19
- Volume 17: Chapters 20–21
- Volume 18: Chapter 21–prologue 3
- Volume 19: Chapters 1–10
- Volume 20: Chapters 1–10
Story arcs
Light novel, Japanese
Vol 21–29
Released
Volumes
- Volume 21: Prologue–chapter 9
- Volume 23: Chapters 1–10
- Volume 24: Chapters 1–10
- Volume 25: Chapters 1–11
- Volume 26: Chapters 1–23
- Volume 27: Chapters 1–15
- Volume 28: Chapters 1–12
- Volume 29
Story arcs
Manga, English
Vol 1
Released. Chapters 1–12
Story arcs
Manga, Japanese
Vol 1–2
Released. Chapters 1–12
Volumes
- Volume 1: Chapters 1–6
- Volume 2: Chapters 7–12
Story arcs
The chart as a table
| Arc | Light novel | Manga | Anime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aincrad | Volume 1, prologue – volume 22, sisters prayer | Chapters 1–12 | Season 1, episodes 1–14 |
| Fairy Dance | Volume 3, prologue – volume 4, chapter 9 | — | Season 1, episodes 15–25 |
| Phantom Bullet | Volume 5 – volume 6, chapter 16 | — | Season 2, episodes 1–14 |
| Calibur | Calibur | — | Season 2, episodes 15–17 |
| Mother’s Rosario | Prologue–chapter 12 | — | Season 2, episodes 18–24 |
| Alicization | Volume 9, prologue 1 – volume 18, prologue 3 | — | Season 3, episode 1–episode 23 (partial) |
| Unital Ring | Volume 21, prologue – volume 29 | — | — |
Units follow their earliest mapped story position. Tied units keep published reading order; broad mappings do not establish a scene-by-scene chronology.
Unplaced units
No story-spine mapping recorded, including originals and recaps.
| Work | Source unit |
|---|---|
| Light novel | v22-day-after |
| Light novel | v22-rainbow-bridge |
| Anime | extra-edition |
| Anime | s2e14.5 |
| Anime | ordinal-scale |
Every arc, in brief
2Fairy Dance
Kirito enters a new fairy world to find players who have not returned from the previous game.
Season 1 ends here
3Phantom Bullet
An investigation takes Kirito into a gun-based virtual world and a tournament with consequences beyond the game.
4Calibur
The group joins a quest in ALfheim Online that brings them into conflict over a legendary sword.
5Mother’s Rosario
Asuna meets a new group of players whose shared challenge changes her understanding of their virtual lives.
Sword Art Online II ends here
Ordinal Scale ends here
6Alicization
Kirito explores Underworld, where its inhabitants and the people controlling the simulation face linked conflicts.
Alicization ends here
War of Underworld ends here
7Unital Ring
A sudden change joins familiar virtual worlds in a new survival game while developments continue in Underworld.
Works and editions
Release facts are entered by hand and can lag behind the publishers.
Light novel
Sword Art Online: Aincrad
| Edition | Latest | Next | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| JapaneseASCII Media Works | Vol 227 Sep 2012 | None announced | 3 Oct 2026 |
| EnglishYen Press | Vol 125 Mar 2014 | None announced | 3 Oct 2026 |
Anime
| Part | Aired |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | 8 Jul 2012 to 23 Dec 2012 |
| Extra Edition | 31 Dec 2013Airing |
| Sword Art Online II | 5 Jul 2014 to 20 Dec 2014 |
| Ordinal Scale | 18 Feb 2017Airing |
| Alicization | 7 Oct 2018 to 31 Mar 2019 |
| War of Underworld | 13 Oct 2019 to 20 Sep 2020 |
Continue from any episode
After each season
| Watched through | Light novel (Japanese) | Light novel (English) | Manga (Japanese) | Manga (English) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | Light novel vol 5 (out) | Light novel vol 5 (out) | Manga hasn’t reached this point yet | Manga hasn’t reached this point yet |
| Sword Art Online II | Light novel vol 9, prologue 1 (out) | Light novel vol 9, prologue 1 (out) | Manga hasn’t reached this point yet | Manga hasn’t reached this point yet |
| Ordinal Scale | Light novel vol 9, prologue 1 (out) | Light novel vol 9, prologue 1 (out) | Manga hasn’t reached this point yet | Manga hasn’t reached this point yet |
| Alicization | Light novel vol 15, chapter 14 (out) | Light novel vol 15, chapter 14 (out) | Manga hasn’t reached this point yet | Manga hasn’t reached this point yet |
| War of Underworld | Light novel vol 21, prologue (out) | Light novel vol 21, prologue (out) | Manga hasn’t reached this point yet | Manga hasn’t reached this point yet |
“Out” means released in that language by 3 Oct 2026.
Use this data
- Put these tables on a wiki: see how they look there, then paste four MediaWiki pages, version 2026-10-17.
- Download the JSON with every answer precomputed.
Comments
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