I gotta say, light novel adaptations don’t typically go very far when it comes to anime, but Sword Art Online is really going the distance. Fans might even get the entire story eventually, which is pretty rare.
Where To Start The Sword Art Online Light Novel After The Anime?
Sword Art Online Main Series
If you have finished up both seasons of Alicization: War of Underworld for Sword Art Online (which is the third season), then you can start at at Novel 18.
Sword Art Online Progressive
If you are looking to pick up the Progressive side series light novel after the Sword Art Online: Progressive movies, that is a little more difficult. The first movie, Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night, covered the first volume of the light novel. The second movie, Sword Art Online Progressive: Scherzo of Deep Night, covers the fourth volume of the light novel. The nature of the story allows more freedom to jump around like that. So for Progressive, you would want to start a Novel 2 of the Progressive series even if you watched the second movie.
Sword Art Online Gun Gale Online
If you finished the spin-off Gun Gale Online anime, you can start that separate Gun Gale Online light novel series at Novel 4.
Is The Sword Art Online Light Novel Over?
The Sword Art Online light novel is still ongoing. Since launching in 2009, it has slowed its pace to releasing one or two novels per year.
The Sword Art Online Progressive light novel is still ongoing. Since launching in 2012, it only releases novels intermittently, last releasing in 2021.
The Gun Gale Online light novel is still ongoing. Since launching in 2014, it usually releases one novel per year.
Where To Start The Sword Art Online Manga After The Anime?
Sword Art Online is one of those series that has a separate manga series for each arc in the light novel. Arcs of the anime/light novel adapted to manga include:
- Sword Art Online: Aincrad – Redone in the Re:Aincrad manga as well.
- Sword Art Online: Fairy Dance
- Sword Art Online: Phantom Bullet
- Sword Art Online: Caliber
- Sword Art Online: Mother’s Rosario
- Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale
- Sword Art Online Project Alicization
So you would pick up the Sword Art Online manga after the third season of anime with the Sword Art Online: Kiss and Fly manga, followed by the very, very new manga series started in 2023 called Unital Ring.
Sword Art Online Progressive has a complicated relationship with manga. The Sword Art Online Progressive manga (7 Volumes, complete) adapts the first two light novels of Progressive. Barcarolle of Froth (2 Volumes, complete) covers the third Progressive light novel. Scherzo of Deep Night (3 Volumes, complete) covers the fourth Progressive light novel. However, the Canon of the Golden Rule manga series was cancelled after two volumes and left the adaptation of the fifth Progressive light novel incomplete.
Thus, the Progressive manga adaptation is cancelled until further notice, I guess. Due to the nature of Progressive’s storytelling and its anime-only content, it is recommended that you just read the manga from the beginning.
Gun Gale Online had a manga, but it was canceled before it even finished covering the first Squad Jam. So it doesn’t even adapt all of the events of the anime.
What to Expect From The Sword Art Online Source Material Compared to The Anime?
Like all anime that adapt light novels, the Sword Art Online anime left out quite a bit of details, world building, and character moments. However, the quality of the adaptation does vary on an arc-by-arc basis. It is generally agreed upon that the Fairy Dance arc (the second half of season one) and the Alicization arc (season 3) had the most amount of omissions, some of them plot-relevant.
That said, there is nothing left out of the Sword Art Online anime that would prevent you from jumping into the light novels and understanding things. You would just have a better story experience if you read the series from the beginning.
Progressive is… a bit of a mess as an adaptation due purely to the inclusion of Mito, who is an anime-only character. You can still head into the light novels or manga just fine, however. You just need to embrace the idea that anything involving Mito did not happen or happened differently. As that can be a bit difficult, it would be best to read the Progressive novels from the beginning.
The Gun Gale Online anime is actually a pretty good adaptation of the corresponding light novel series. It does leave out some details, but nothing that merits reading the series from the beginning.
Sword Art Online Spin-Offs
The Sword Art Online series has a dizzying amount of spin-offs. So let’s see if I can walk you through them so you can pick out ones worth pursuing.
- Sword Art Online: Progressive (Light novel, Manga, Movies)(Ongoing) – The a retelling of the first season of Sword Art Online from Asuna’s perspective.
- Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online (Light novel, Manga, Anime) (Ongoing) – Spin-off following a different character unrelated to Sword Art Online set during the second season of Sword Art Online. Has tie-ins to the main series, but is majorly separate from it.
- Sword Art Online Alternative: Clover’s Regret (Light novel) (Complete) – Unrelated spin-off following SAO survivors in a a new VRMMO called Asuka Empire
- Sword Art Online Alternative: Gourmet Seekers (Light novel) (Complete?) – Cooking spin-off! Set in Aincrad.
- Sword Art Online Alternative: Mystery Labyrinth: Murder in the Labyrinth Manor (Light novel) (Complete?) – A character in Alfheim Online finds a diary detailing a series of murders that happened in a labyrinth in Sword Art Online and decides to investigate.
- Sword Art Online Alternate Story: Kibaou-han! (Manga) (Complete) – Three chapter spin-off following Kibaou.
- Sword Art Online 4-koma (Manga) (Complete) – The Aincrad arc, but comical.
- Sword Art Online: Girls Ops (Manga) (Complete) – Spin-off that follows Leafe, Silica, and Lisbeth both in and outside of Alfheim Online
- Sword Art Online: Kirito’s Gun Gale Wars (Manga) (Complete)- Yui is trying to give Kirito a gift by getting the girls to fight in him GGO. Ecchi.
- Sword Art Online: Aincrad Night of Kirito (Manga) (Complete) – Also sometimes called Kirito’s One Thousand and One Nights. Kirito is transported to a room and various girls are transported there all thinking they need to get in bed with him to complete a quest. Kirito, however, must not get in bed with them to win otherwise the girls will be punished. Ecchi.
- Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization (Manga) (Complete) – Manga tie-in to the Hollow Realization game.
- Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris (Manga) (Complete) – Adaptation of the Alicization Lycoris game, which takes place in an alternate timeline of the Alicization arc.
- Sword Art Online: Re:Aincrad (Manga) (Ongoing) – Retelling of the first Aincrad arc in manga form. The first Aincrad manga was not well received due to lackluster art and omitting some story moments, so they are trying again with this bad boy.
- Sword Art Online: Integral Factor – Prologue Comic – One chapter Prologue comic to the Integral Factor game.
- Sword Art Online Material Edition – Short character stories and info about various things, some of it written before the light novel release. Interesting, but not mandatory reading.
- Sword Art Online Side Stories – Side stories released as bonus content for various things. Interesting and occasionally cute, if you can find them.
Will There Be A Sword Art Online Season 4?
There has been no official announcement of a fourth season of Sword Art Online or a third Progressive movie. However, a second season of Gun Gale Online was announced, and will be airing in October 2024.
Given Sword Art Online’s initial and enduring popularity, a fourth season of the main series is definitely in the realm of possibilities. However, the author would need to finish the Unital Ring arc first, the current arc, since the Moon Cradle and Kiss and Fly arcs are so short.
