History YMMV / SwordArtOnlineAbridged

** Ironically, Abridged!Kirito is exactly how an antisocial person who is not good with other people would act like in real life. On the other hand, his canon counterpart behaves in a way that completely contradicts the author's description of him being antisocial and not good with other people. This might be a misunderstanding on the author's part on what antisocial really means or an example of CharacterizationMarchesOn. In the light novels and anime, Canon!Kirito being "antisocial and not good with other people" is expressed as him being a loner who initially stays a solo player to not have his process impeded and avoid emotional entanglements. He comes out of his shell over the course of the game and gains a tight circle of friends that he interacts perfectly fine with in games and in real life. He's sometimes awkward and cocky, but he's definitely ''not'' on Abridged!Kirito's level of anti-social.

** Given that it's an abridged series, a lot of characters are given a different characterization than their canon counterparts, while the plot tends to remain the same. Asuna is still just as good a fighter and tactician as the original, but is HopelessWithTech and has little to no knowledge of how to play and MMORPG. Agil is still a reasonable, level-headed player, but his screen-name is ''"Tiffany"'' for the sake of comedy. The most noticeable example of this however, has to be Kirito, who has gone from an aloof, badass, wish-fulfillment character, to a trolling, snarky, sarcastic, [[HeroicComedicSociopath comically sociopathic]] {{Jerkass}} that seems to embody every "[=l33t=]" gamer out there that thinks they're better than the rest of the crowd, and even has some traits reminiscent of younger gamers who throw tantrums and call "hax!" whenever something doesn't go their way.

** Ironically, Abridged!Kirito is exactly how an anti-social person who is not good with other people would act like in real life. On the other hand, his canon counterpart behaves in a way that completely contradicts the author's description of him being anti-social and not good with other people. This might be a misunderstanding on the author's part on what anti-social really means or an example of CharacterizationMarchesOn. In the light novels and anime, Canon!Kirito being "anti-social and not good with other people" is expressed as him being a loner who initially stays a solo player to not have his process impeded and avoid emotional entanglements. He comes out of his shell over the course of the game and gains a tight circle of friends that he interacts perfectly fine with in games and in real life. He's sometimes awkward and cocky, but he's definitely ''not'' on Abridged!Kirito's level of anti-social.

** Many fans feel like the characterization and CharacterDevelopment are superior to''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', despite the characters being different takes altogether. Abridged Kirito is particular is seen as much more complex and interesting despite being a smug {{Jerkass}}, as his flaws are much more apparent and he's [[ILetGwenStacyDie significantly more haunted by Sachi's death]].

** The series attempts to fix a few plotholes and add a ChekhovsGun or two. For example, one arc is written for the "Death" animation [[spoiler: to resemble the teleport animation, however the two look little alike outside this arc.]] This plot hole is fixed by expaining the disparity as a known glitch.

** Based on how Kirito acts around her, it's very possible that Asuna is actually following through on the "If you walk away with my half the coat, I will make your life a living hell!!!" threat,

* HilariousInHindsight: If Silica hadn't told Kirito EVERY problem in her life, Pina would have been alive at the end of the episode, Chain Fetch Quest and all.

** What some would say about the characterization, that it has greater character development than ''[[LightNovel/SwordArtOnline Sword Art Online's]]'' characters despite being different takes altogether. Others also say that it does better in invoking internet jokes and memes, as well as playing around with them.
** A bit of FridgeBrilliance when you realize that the folks working on the parody likely have had more interaction with online gaming communities through their short lives than the original author has had with whatever research they conducted.

** Klein's reaction is pretty bad too, as he suffers a minor breakdown because Kirito was ''[[CharacterDevelopment so close]]'' to normal human interaction before this, and he knows that whatever happened has legitimately hurt his friend terribly.

** The series attempts to fix a few plotholes and add a ChekhovsGun or two. For example, one arc is written for the "Death" animation [[spoiler: to resemble the teleport animation, however the two looking little alike outside this arc.]] This plot hole is fixed by expaining the disparity as a known glitch.

** The series attempts to fix a few plotholes and add a ChekovsGun or two. For example, one arc is written for the "Death" animation [[spoiler: to resemble the teleport animation, however the two looking little alike outside this arc.]] This plot hole is fixed by expaining the disparity as a known glitch.

** Kirito's reaction to hearing Lisbeth's backstory, while funny at first, quickly turns into a tearjerker.

** Given that it's an abridged series, a lot of characters are given a different characterization than their canon counterparts, while the plot tends to remain the same. Asuna is still just as good a fighter and tactician as the original, but is HopelessWithTech and has little to no knowledge of how to play and MMORPG. Agil is still a reasonable, level-headed player, but his screen-name is ''"Tiffany"'' for the sake of comedy. The most noticeable example of this however, has to be Kirito, who has gone from an aloof, badass, wish-fulfillment character, to a trolling, snarky, sarcastic, [[HeroicComedicSociopath comically sociopathic]] {{Jerkass}} that seems to embody every L33T gamer out there that thinks they're better than the rest of the crowd, and even has some traits reminiscent of younger gamers who throw tantrums and call "haxx" whenever something doesn't go their way or people call them out for being a jerk.

** Ironically, Abridged!Kirito is exactly how an anti-social person who is not good with other people would act like in real life. On the other hand, his canon counterpart behaves in a way that completely contradicts the author's description of him being anti-social and not good with other people.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Given that it's an abridged series, a lot of characters are given a different characterization than their canon counterparts, while the plot tends to remain the same. Asuna is still just as good a fighter and tactician as the original, but is HopelessWithTech and has little to no knowledge of how to play and MMORPG. Agil is still a reasonable, level-headed player, but his screen-name is ''"Tiffany"'' for the sake of comedy. The most noticeable example of this however, has to be Kirito, who has gone from an aloof, badass, wish-fulfillment character, to a trolling, snarky, sarcastic, [[HeroicComedicSociopath comically sociopathic]] {{Jerkass}} that seems to embody every L33T gamer out there that thinks they're better than the rest of the crowd, and even has some traits reminiscent of younger gamers who throw tantrums and call "haxx" whenever something doesn't go their way or people call them out for being a jerk.

* BetterThanCanon: What some would say about the characterization, that it has greater character development than ''[[LightNovel/SwordArtOnline Sword Art Online's]]'' characters despite being different takes altogether. Others also say that it does better in invoking internet jokes and memes, as well as playing around with them.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The opening is 30 Seconds to Mars' ''"This is War"'', which just ''works'' with the video.

* {{Tearjerker}}: Despite any attempts to the contrary, [[spoiler:Sachi's death and the Christmas event that follows it up]] are just as sad as in canon, if not worse.

* MistakenForMasturbating: Meta example; the scene in episode 4 where Kirito is crying over [[spoiler:Sachi's death]] [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything reminds people of something]] so much that it caused a bit of {{Natter}}.

-->'''Kirito:''' But I do suppose I should thank you. You made me realize that by being nice and letting people in... they'll just die. But even still, thank you for showing me that there's still a part of me that can feel like this. Because now that I know where to find it, I've killed it forever.

** Lizbeth and her smithing skills, which is played to Guilty Gear Xrd '''Big Blast Sonic''', which makes the whole thing even more amazing.

* MistakenForMasturbating: Meta example; the scene in episode 4 where Kirito is crying over [[spoiler:Sachi's death]] [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything reminds people of something]] so much that it caused a bit of {{Natter}}.

** Ironically, Abridged!Kirito is acting exactly how an anti-social person who is not good with other people would be like in real life. On the other hand, his canon counterpart behaves in a way that completely contradicts the author's description of him being anti-social and not good with other people.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The opening is 30 Seconds to Mars' ''"This is War"'', which just ''works'' with the video.