Sword Art Online is a science fantasy anime series adapted from the light novel series of the same title written by Reki Kawaharaand illustrated by Abec. It was produced by A-1 Pictures and the SAO Project, and directed by Tomohiko Itō.[1] The story of the first season follows the adventures of Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya, a beta tester for the titular Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (VRMMORPG) where it takes place on the game's first day out of the beta testing period. The players discover that they cannot log out when the creator of the game, Akihiko Kayaba, issues them an ultimatum: if they die in the game, so will their bodies in the real world, and if they wish to be freed from the game, they must reach the 100th floor and defeat the final boss. As the players try to face their new deadly predicament, two skilled swordsmen, Kirito and Asuna Yuuki, are determined to win. Three months after the death game, Kazuto discovers that Asuna is being held captive in "Alfheim Online (ALO)", a spiritual successor to SAO, where the players assume the roles of fairies. Kazuto enters the game and makes new allies to rescue Asuna.