Sword Art Online: Aincrad, Vol. 1 (manga) (Sword Art Online Manga Series)

There was so much SAO, I didn't know where to start. This is the start of SAO Manga, wopping hundreds of pages.I love Sword Art Online. However, what I don't love about it is it's one of those series that messes with the characters too much, getting worse and worse as it goes. The character you love or will fall in love with, you won't see much. The story isn't good, its great. Art is amazing. Love the full color pages! Hard to follow at times but that's because I'm used to chit-chat manga. Needs more fan service. However, you do get it in Sword Art Online Progressive Vol. 1 (Asuna on front).I got this for $12 instead of $20, condition was great. It's really sad I cannot easily obtain the anime or Japanese manga. The anime is free on Netflix, but on DVD or Blu-Ray, it will set you back A LOT of money. By a lot, I mean you could buy 2 Xbox One's. They just don't know how to sell or what to do with this. I'd pay $25 Blu-Ray or $15 DVD for Season 1 Part 1 - Sword Art Online, before Alfiem.

I got this in the mail today, and read it all during school today. There's a couple differences to the light novels and the anime. One major one is obviously the character designs. I don't know what "abec" was thinking, but I wasn't a fan at all. Characters like Klein, Agil, and Sachi look scary different. But there was some positives! Asuna got a lot more adorable, and I only liked Heathcliff's design because it wasn't that much different from the original. Now for the story. Yen Press threw the 2 volumes released into a big volume for the English release, and the price tells you that basically. This manga covers the first arc, Aincrad, or volumes 1 and 2 of the light novel series. This adaptation has almost everything the light novels have, but a lot of the side story stuff was cut. When Kirito first joins a guild (Sachi and all of those other unimportant people) that little bit is cut down A LOT, there is no Silica and Lisbeth, and the whole little thing with murder in the safe zone and whatnot isn't there either. And where Kirito first gets the title of "Beater", that part is, for some reason, skipped. There's probably a lot more missing, but anyone that has watched the anime or read the novels will know what is missing. Besides that, there is little tweaks in the main story but it's still the same tearful ending that I enjoy immensely. This manga was well worth the price just because the Aincrad arc was amazing and I love SAO in general. If you want the original light novel, April 22nd is when the 1st volume releases. Hope this helped!

Love the manga, but why can't we have the same light novel sold on Amazon available for kindle? It makes no logical sense. They have the LN paperback and the kindle manga lumped together even tho they aren't remotely the same. I'd buy both, I'd just like the option. I'd really prefer to read the LN first, rather than the manga.

Great reading the manga after falling in love with the series. As always there's a few small changes between the two but it doesn't take away from it at all.

This one and it's sequel are the only one's in the whole SOA catalog that I just couldn't enjoy. The art looked like they had made a baby SOA. The dialog was all over the place and the story was completely disjointed. I say enjoy the rest of the collection and skip these two mangas.

Brought for my granddaughter she love it!

Imagine If They Had Managed To Fit This, Both Light Novels, And The Progressive Books Into The Anime. Probably Woulda Shut The Nay Sayers Right Up .. Or Rather They Never Woulda Been Able To Complain About The Time Skips. Who Knows? Still An Awesome Read.

I got into sword art online from the animated series, so this shojo manga touch kind of set me aback. It was an enjoyable read though, no doubt about it.

This manga is great for people who love the Sword Art Online Anime. It doesn't go into as much depth as the anime does however it is still fantastic.Its quite a large manga (about the size of two normal manga) so you get quite a bit for your money.Any fan of sword art online should definitely purchase this manga, anyone new to the series I would recommend watching the anime first cause it is a lot more detailed.

Awesome manga

My grandson aged 13 loved it and wants another one

Awesome

Good

Even though the manga is not as in-depth as the novel and the anime, it still is a good read.

Good ting.

I like it very much

Before I start, I want to point out I previously played SAO (SwordArtOnline, a virtual MMO) on PS Vita (which is an extensively fun and filled game btw). In fact, before the game I never knew about the serie at all. And it was off to a good start.This manga book, is two books in one. Aincrad 1 + 2 compiled together. Right off the bat: 17$ for an amazing 2-book thick MMO experience in your hands (which is good). The art style is appealing and polished, you can relate to some characters and each chapters brings more into it as it progress. Also, as opposed to may manga out there: the story starts fast and remains good for the whole tome.Here's some key-points:* Excellent price-per-content ratio* Engaging storyline and characters* Faithful to it's core MMORPG-themeIf you like manga and MMORPGs you'll have a hard time finding a better one out there. I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in theses kind of reading experience. Even if you never played any SAO game, you don't know what kind of gem you're missing by not reading this book.

Mag die Story welche hier praktisch als Oneshoot verkauft wird. Nein, Fairy Dance ist nicht mehr dabei, aber mal ehrlich ab da wurde es kitschig. Hoffe auf eine ähnliche Umsetzung von Phantom Bullet

I have read the Light Novels before reading the manga, and I can say that it respect well enough the first light novel (missing some things). I'm really not disappointed with this purchase and I highly recommend it.

It's a thick boy

i am a giant fan of sword art online, ive watched the anime more times than id like to admit, so when i saw that they were releasing the manga and the light novels in english the first thing i had to do was preorder. my first thought though, is that the character designs are a bit weird, much more cartoon like than the anime style, and more softer around the edges. also, several characters have been re designed which i hated, at times i wasnt able to identify people because they looked way to different.for the main story it keep to like it was in the anime, except it misses out a hell of a lot of side story that is used for character development. there is no silica, lisbeth, sachi only appears in a guilty flash back, and thats not till the end of the book where shes barely in it. it misses out the entire beginning that i loved, where they go against the first boss and where kirito meets asuna for the first time. instead it says that they met about 2 years in, in a similar fashion to when they bonded in the anime.while this manga does have its faults i have to say that they kept the plot mostly the same throughout the entirety, and it keeps the same amazing ending that came with the anime, i just think that if they included the side stories then it could have stretched 2 books, i know i wouldnt have minded, in fact i would have preferred it.

If you enjoyed the excellent Anime/Story Arc that is Sword Art Online at its peak in Aincrad (IMO) then you will enjoy this book.The book is quite lengthy at 384 pages however Manga's are easy to read and are easy to blast through opposed to a text heavy light novel.This manga covers the entire Aincrad story along with Yui's side story but does leave out a lot of detail that the light novels pick up the likes of the first boss battle or the tragedy story of the Moonlight Blackcats which is indeed a shame but the novel would indeed become more intense and would have to split in to volumes in that respect opposed to having an omnibus (2 books in one).While it is a great read and I thoroughly enjoyed it, I feel the sudden and large time lapses really lose the sense of progress but for whats covered in this omnibus, I'm happy with. I would say you ought to pick up the Light Novels if you can stomach a text heavy read but it definitely worth it if you want a more thorough and detailed experience with additional side stories and content.Being the fan I am, I can easily recommend it, its a great read but I can say that I enjoyed the Light Novels better (Vol.1/2)

If you've seen the anime first don't expect much to be different here. There are a few new things here and there but for the most part it's like having the awesome of the anime in your bag (or wherever you keep your Manga while you're out). I assume this would've be better if I read it first instead of seeing the anime. So if you're thinking of watching the SAO anime please read this, or the Light Novel, first and you'll enjoy it a lot more than I did.