[natsu_san]

Thank you for your long reply, Aphrah.

Originally Posted by Aphrah

The series originally started off as a short story for some sort of Dengeki writing competition. Kawahara Reki didn't win, so he continued this story as a web novel. It proved to be very popular, garnering many views, and after he submitted Accel World to the same competition, which he won, they (the publishing company) also noticed that Sword Art Online was extremely popular, and decided to publish it as well. So basically, volume 1 was written as a stand-alone story, and volume 2 (SAO side stories), other side stories such as "Aria in the Starless Night", and a side story in volume 8 were all written to fill in the gaps. As a result of this, the Aincrad arc is a chronological mess. The author is currently writing "Sword Art Online: Progressive", which is a re-write of the Aincrad arc, and it's main purposes are to make the story more fluidic and coherent, as well as stamp out any plot holes or inconsistencies.

Originally Posted by Aphrah

Spoiler for Response:

He did not. I believe he traded some other skill he didn't use very often for it. He has both Dual Swords and Fishing by the end of the game. How else could've he wielded two swords whilst fighting Heathcliff?

Spoiler for Answer to dual wield:

That's what I was feeling too. Indeed it was a two-handed sword skill and NOT a two-swords skill he traded for fishing. I looked into it a second time.

See Volume 1 Chapter 11:

Over ten days had passed since we moved to the 22nd floor. In order to gather food each day, I had erased my two-handed sword skill, which I trained briefly in a long time ago, and exchanged it for the fishing skill.

Sorry for the self-replied silly question. Definitively over the internet there is a bit of confusion about this (at least, it seemed that way to me).

Originally Posted by Aphrah

Yes, this being an adaptation (as opposed to a translation), the studio had to skip certain parts, or else this episode would've stretched on for too long, and that would've meant that the main story would have had to suffer.

Hope they won't put 50% fillers like they do on major manga series (Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail, ...) if they go through the trouble of shortening chapters. That would be a real shame and the story itself will get boring IMHO.

Originally Posted by Aphrah

Spoiler for Will it ever end? Kirito x Asuna?:

After watching the anime (expecially the 9th episode) I was really interested in the series and I began reading the LN as well. However it really left me with a lot of sadness the more I read about it. Maybe I'm the only one that feels that way, but none of the mangas I read before made me feel that way. After finishing volume 1 and beginning volume 3 I was expecting Asuna and Kirito to be together IRL as well. Big disappointment as that Sugou bastard imprisoned her.

Then at the end of volume 4 I finally though as if it was over and Kirito&Asuna could be together IRL, and only to be disappointed to see Kirito being the object of attraction of all girls except her (Lizbeth, Silica, his sister, ...). It seemed at that point that the series was turning quite harem-like (except for the naked characters, which are missing), with one male surrounded by many girls. This became apparent in the later chapters.

Though they get to a bar together, it doesn't seem like Asuna has become his girlfriend (despite what Wikia's Kirito's - as well as other sources on the internet - say).

I mean ... maybe I wasn't expecting Asuna to get married to Kirito IRL (which would've been nice though IMHO ), however they don't even kiss, she seems a bit cold to him (cannot remember exactly, but she seemed a bit cold to him when they were together at the bar). Other than turning down her mother's attempt to arrange (yet another, besides Sugou's failed attempt) marriage, it doesn't seem to me like she and Kirito (Kirigaya Kazuto) are actually a couple.

Did I miss something or is it a later event? I only read Wikia's summary of later chapters up to volume 10 (some of which were rather poor or even incomplete). Do you have any references on the subject?

Spoiler for Response/volume 4 onwards spoilers:

It has ended. The web novel version, anyway (but they haven't been translated to English). The L/Ns are still being written and published, though.

Yes, they all love him, but the only he loves is Asuna. And they actually do get together in real life.

I wouldn't trust "other sources" on the Internet; it is the Internet, after all. But yes, they seem to be correct in this instance.

If you only read summaries of the later volumes, then it's no surprise that you've missed things that imply they're a couple and shows their love for each other. I'd recommend reading all of the volumes, especially volume 7 (Mother's Rosario).

Spoiler for Thank you for the clarification:

I "only" read Volume 1,2,3,4 as well as some side stories (not the MEs). That already got me quite excited to stay up till late night. I found volumes 3 and 4 to be a bit boring because the most integresting part of the story described in volume 1 - which is Kirito x Asuna love - tragically ended BTW, is only narrated at the end of volume 4. I had the impression of reading tons of lines for nothing (except last volume's 4 chapter).

That's why I asked if it was true they were a couple: I wouldn't go on reading another adventure in MMO if it only narrates side stories which have nothing to do with Kirito's relationship with Asuna. Surely Sinon (V5-6) and the other girl(s) in the later volumes may be interesting, but I'm personally interested in KxA love story

I still don't understand why Kirito continued to game in GGO and the other games as well. He has Asuna with him, what could he want more ?

Spoiler for Web novel:

@Aphrah what exactly do you mean by "Web novel"?

I read volumes 1,2,3,4 and side story "Aria in the Starless Night" here: http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/in...ord_Art_Online

I though that was a digital copy of the LN. Or is that the web novel (which is different)?