Netflix's 'Sword Art Online' Producer Teases Its Storyline

There is a lot to love about Sword Art Online. The anime fandom may find it chic to hate on the [...]

There is a lot to love about Sword Art Online. The anime fandom may find it chic to hate on the franchise at times, but the gaming-centric series is popular for a reason. Its manga and anime are undeniably popular, and Netflix will get to sink its teeth into the franchise soon.

After all, the site did just acquire Skydance Television's live-action take on Sword Art Online. The show's writer and producer opened up about the series' adaptation process with Collider, and Laeta Kalogridis had lots of notes to share.

Recently, Kalogridis did press for her involvement with Netflix's praised original series Altered Carbon. It was there Collider asked the producer about how Sword Art Online's live-action adaptation will tackle its storytelling. Kalogridis said she sees the series being more inspirational than Altered Carbon, and its world-building opportunity gives Sword Art Online the same opportunity as Game of Thrones.

"In terms of what I would like to see for SAO, is that I feel it's a much more aspirational story about hope and much less about darkness than Altered Carbon is," the producer said.

"Asuna is sort of the savior of the world, in my mind and in the mind of the showrunners, [Patrick] Massett and [John] Zinman, who are doing the show. There's a real ability to explore a fantasy-based The Lord of the Rings / Game of Thrones kind of world through the lens of these people who are trapped in it and don't necessarily want to be there, but who have to learn how to survive in it.

Continuing, Kalogridis revealed the storytelling points she is most interested in exploring with Sword Art Online.

"What I'm most interested in is all of the human stories, when everything else falls away and it's life or death, in a place where you were never expecting to be trapped," she said. "That's what I loved about the original anime and that's what I love about the live-action adaptation, as we are currently envisioning it."

Are you excited to see how Netflix takes on Sword Art Online? Hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to let me know and talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!

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