Sword Art Online focused its first arc on a concept that’s likely the dream of many video game players. Unfortunately, the execution of this idea left a lot to be desired, and the reasons behind that include characters having unrealistic personalities and how rushed this arc feels. The series could’ve taken place entirely in the eponymous Sword Art Online game, where the stakes are high as players face real death if they die in the game, and they have to clear all 100 levels to be free. However, the issue of the characters not feeling like people you’d meet inside a hit MMORPG has been fixed by a group of fans, and the result is hilarious.
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An abridged series is a fan-made creation that takes a show like SAO or DBZ and edits it into an often humorous version of the story that cuts out a lot of extra content. At the same time, the abridged series tends to adjust various moments, and in the case of SAO abridged, the changes made give you an end result that should’ve been the official adaptation.
The Abridged Version of SAO Feels More Realistic
If you’ve ever played an MMORPG, then you know that you can come across a whole variety of interesting people. The original version of Sword Art Online doesn’t reflect this, and all the characters are instead quite bland to the point that it doesn’t feel believable that this cast would all be people who get a game on day one, which ends up with them being trapped in the virtual world with the threat of real death looming over their heads.
Opposite of the real version, the abridged series portrays the main cast of characters as the worst people. The abridged series even starts with Kirito logging into the game to find it filled with paid advertisements and a message that he would have to pay to remove ads. Kirito becomes insufferable, and a lot of other characters just interact with him because he’s strong. Plus, he’s easy to take advantage of, especially when it comes to helping others. However, he’ll pretend it’s a chore to help. The point is that he’s flawed, and it’s those flaws that make him more relatable, as well as more entertaining.
Of course, Kirito isn’t the only character made to feel more realistic. Klein decided to name his character “Ballzdeep69,” and he suggests that Kirito gets beat up a lot in real life during their first meeting. Agil is now named Tiffany, and he maintains the aura of a leader, but he’s a bit more assertive about telling others to shut up and listen. Then, you have Asuna, who’s also made into a rather abrasive character who has a tough time figuring out how to use the menu.
The Abridged Series Brings Consequences and Minor Issues
It feels like a lot of issues are solved too easily in SAO, which makes it more entertaining to watch the abridged series, where you get to see consequences to actions added in. You see examples of how the story is different early on, and it includes moments like Sachi being a rural player without a stable internet connection, causing her to glitch at times. This results in her dying after ending up in a trap with Kirito and her other guild members.
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There are also moments that are somewhat meaningless, but have a different feeling in the abridged series. Kirito is incredibly vengeful when it comes to helping Silica, because Rosalia provokes him and causes him to snap. That also leads to him being ruthless when he encounters Titan’s Hand, where he kills Rosalia and then tells Silica that he doesn’t feel anything after killing another human, to which Silica calls him the worst person she ever met.
Hilarious enough, you get to see unintended consequences to what seem like minor moments. The best among them is likely Asuna and Kirito having a meal made with an S-Class ingredient, only to then realize that eating it resulted in every other food tasting awful. There are also consequences to Kirito and Silica taking so long to get an item meant to revive her pet, and while it works in the real show, the abridged series instead has the item say that it’s expired.
If you love MMORPGs and the idea of what Sword Art Online could’ve been, then you need to check out Something Witty Entertainment’s abridged series on YouTube, where it’s available to watch for free. The abridged series continues past the original arc that takes place in Sword Art Online, and it’s still entertaining, the first arc sets the tone so well to prepare you for what is a believable set of characters stuck in a video game. The result is hilarious and worth watching again and again.
