Line #92 YMMV/SwordArtOnlineAbridged


1	* {{Adorkable}}: '''Recon'''; There's a reason SWE constantly refer to him as "best boi" during their streams. He's so endearingly dorky even ''Kirito'' can't bring himself to mock him.
2	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: See [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation/SwordArtOnlineAbridged here]].
3	* AngstDissonance: Much like the source material, Kirito and Asuna's emotional breakdown when Yui almost gets deleted is a bit hard to swallow for some viewers considering the two have only known her for about a day. However, it's even worse in this version since abridged Kirito and Asuna are shown to be much more emotionally guarded, and only took Yui in as part of their game of relationship chicken, although this can add [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone a new layer of angst]] to their situation, since they had just started to genuinely like her but never got to show it by the time she got deleted.
4	* AuthorsSavingThrow: The Fairy Dance arc began facing some criticism as it went along; most of the characters and setpieces are altered to be part of an in-universe roleplay, which is amusing, but deviates harshly from the anime and becomes incredibly meanspirited, even by usual standards. Fortunately, episode 17 turns it around, focusing almost entirely on Kirito and Suguha's toxic relationship and insecurities, thereby building on the source material instead of mocking or outright discarding it.
5	* AwesomeEgo: Here, Kirito has an ego the size of the moon and the skills to match, on top of being hilarious to watch.
6	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
7	** The opening is 30 Seconds to Mars' "This is War", which just ''works'' with the video. [[spoiler: It comes back to the (unedited) final fight with Heathcliff/Kayaba, and is just as awesome, if not more so.]]
8	** Lisbeth and her smithing skills, which is played to ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear Xrd'''s "Big Blast Sonic," which makes the whole thing even more amazing.
9	** The music that plays as Yui [[CurbStompBattle curbstomps the Grim Reaper]]? [[AwesomeMusic/BloodBorne The Cleric Beast's theme.]]
10	** "Thoughts to a Friend" from ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' plays when Kirito finally admits to Asuna that he loves her before he wakes up. It can, and probably should, kick your feels right in the dick.
11	** Another song from ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear Xrd'''s soundtrack, "Coming Home" plays over the credits, a fitting and thematic send-off for the season finale.
12	** And, perhaps appropriately, "Swordland" from ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'' proper is retained for some key fights, usually when Kirito is bringing down a boss monster.
13	** With season 2, the opening theme song has changed to Music/GreekFire's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgRoxf0b8UQ "A Real Life"]], which is just as if not significantly more awesome and meaningful than season 1's OP.
14	--->Can we live a real life?\
15	A real life.\
16	And do we even know what that means?\
17	Can we live a real life\
18	and know people outside machines?\
19	Can we live a real life between the devil and the digital sea?
20	** The part of Kirito's battle with Eugene [[spoiler:where he dual-wields and finishes his opponent]] is done to "[[AwesomeMusic/BravelyDefault He of the Name...]]"
21	* CantUnHearIt: [=YamatoSFX=] as Kirito. Besides the usual SubbingVersusDubbing arguments and arguments over whether it's better than the original, his Kirito voice is very distinctive, and as a result many other videos in which he's voiced a character have a flood of comments talking about Abridged Kirito.
22	* CrossesTheLineTwice:
23	** Asuna's a walking generator of these.
24	*** Her horribly racist attempts to talk to Tiffany are cringeworthy as all get out... but then, they're so silly it's impossible to take them seriously.
25	*** In Episode 11, she merrily skips over the line of good taste like a game of hopscotch as her character fades away, but turns something that should be utterly tragic into hilarity with five simple words:
26	---->[[spoiler:'''Asuna]]:''' Go on. Cry. Cry your... little... bitch tears...
27	** Suguha takes the crown as the queen of these the moment she's introduced, in which she assumes that Kirito is lying about having a girlfriend and is just taking advantage of a coma patient... and then proceeds to [[VirginShaming Virgin-shame]] him for it.
28	--->'''Suguha:''' Oh, remember to take some tissues though. [[{{Squick}} You know, clean it off her face when you're finished]]. Be a gentleman about it.
29	** Sugou being creepy with Asuna in her coma stops being disturbing once he starts talking in falsetto and playing with Asuna's lips to say that she'll love him over Kirito and suck him off when they get married. His characterization as a horribly obnoxious {{Bridezilla}} is just the icing on the cake, since she was going to be brainwashed into marrying him regardless.
30	** The war that Alfheim players are having to see who can reach the top of the World Tree first? It's called [=#RaceWar=]. The excitement in which Leafa describes it, and Kirito's reaction only cements this.
31	** The scientists under Sugou's employ are slugs instead of humanoid because one of them has angered the wheelchair-bound model designer by stealing her medicated yoghurt. The culprit is so oblivious to the victim's that he's ComicallyMissingThePoint, much to the chagrin of his coworker (and some of the dialog implies he's deliberately doing it).
32	* DracoInLeatherPants: Happens a lot, since most of the characters in this series are meant to be LoveToHate:
33	** Most fans of the show ship Kirito and Asuna but are willing to admit they are an unhealthy train wreck which only works because [[BirdsOfAFeather they're both equally broken and insane]] and would never want anyone sane in real life to be in a relationship like that. However, during the show's 10 anniversary stream, SWE voiced their concerns over the amount of fans who genuinely consider them to be a perfectly healthy couple. If said stream is anything to go by, Asuna gets this the most out of the two, with several people saying that she was "a very patient woman" for dating Kirito, ignoring the fact that she's arguably more deranged than him, but [[BitchInSheepsClothing is better at hiding it]], and she isn't called out for her flaws as often as Kirito is, making her come across as the saner of the two during conversations, when they're both meant to be equally troubled.
34	** Similarly, there are multiple fans who praise Yui for being a [[ExtremelyProtectiveChild loving and protective companion]] to her surrogate parents Kirito and Asuna in [=ALfheim=], ignoring the fact that, as an AI developed by an insane man, her sense of love is incredibly skewed, since she's willing to put the two of them through some extreme emotional distress by FakingTheDead as a "joke", and she encourages Kirito to continue hurting himself in the World Tree's invisible wall, showing no concern for his health.
35	** Due to his AdaptationalSympathy in this version, Kayaba has a lot of fans that see him as an overworked victim whose evil actions were due to [[ExhaustionInducedIdiocy sleep deprivation]] despite the fact that he had two years to catch up on his sleep and put an end to his mistake to prevent any more deaths, but chose not to out of stubbornness, cowardice and his newly found hatred of [[SurroundedByIdiots the SAO player base.]] By the end, Kirito notes that he was nothing but a DirtyCoward who only cared about saving his own ass.
36	** Since he had one scene where he played the StraightMan to his boss Jeffrey, there are several comments claiming that Johnny Black was the OnlySaneMan of Laughing Coffin, ignoring that was still a bloodthirsty sadist and cyberbully who wanted to torture a game reviewer [[DisproportionateRetribution for giving a game he liked a low rating]], and his banter with Jeffrey boiled down to DoWrongRight.
37	** During Episode 17's "Post-Mortem" stream, SWE talked about how surprised they were at how many viewers felt sympathy for [[EvilIsPetty Shoji]] after Asuna was done with him, as the fact that [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes he cared for his dog]] (whom Asuna threatened to eat as blackmail) apparently redeemed him in a lot of people's eyes, despite being a pathetic, cowardly bully who [[BullyingTheDisabled picked on a disabled co-worker]] for most of his screentime. It's probably ''because'' he's so pathetic that people find him sympathetic. Besides, petty jerk or not, he was stupid enough to say he [[EmbarrassingCoverUp was molesting her]] as a cover-up. As one highlighted commenter from the stream put it, the co-worker he was bullying [[AssholeVictim was complicit in the same evil scheme]], while the dog was innocent.
38	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
39	** Gary, a quest NPC that Keita "recruited" by starting the quest and never finishing it. The only thing he says is:
40	---> "[[WelcomeToCorneria We must save my family]]!"
41	** Rosalia for laying down her [[BreakThemByTalking first year psychology analysis]] on Kirito.
42	** Lisbeth. She was already a fan favorite in the original series, while here she also has the added appeal of being TheWoobie, along with the fact she often finds herself playing the OnlySaneWoman to Kirito and Asuna. It certainly helps that she's voiced by [=Megami33=].
43	** Yui, who had a case of RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap compared to her canon counterpart. While canon Yui received flack for being nothing but a {{moe}}blob, abridged Yui is cunning, [[ManipulativeBitch manipulative]], [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]], and her adoption by Kirito and Asuna made far more sense. Her background as a psychological support AI gets more mileage and she gets the ball rolling in mending Kirito's and Suguha's strained relationship.
44	** Cazmer became this in Episode 16 after being adapted from a one-dimensional villain to a sympathetic WellIntentionedExtremist who only wanted to end ALO's race war.
45	** [[ThoseTwoGuys Shoji and Kyle]], while [[TheScrappy hated to death]] in the original show due to only existing for the sake of a NaughtyTentacles scene, quickly became popular in this show for their hilarious banter and PunchClockVillain characterization.
46	* EpilepticTrees: During the stream premiering episode 14 the idea was floated that [[spoiler: [[CosmicPlaything Recon's]] Nerve Gear, which he got second-hand from the parents of a dead SAO player, belonged to Sachi for maximum BlackComedy points, but the Somethingwitty gang shot it down since the people he bought it from were explicitly mentioned to have had a son, while also saying that if they had thought of that they would have changed the line to daughter and left the implication out there.]]
47	* FanNickname: Kirito and Asuna are occasionally referred to as Kurt and Ass due to a duology of Explanation Point [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46jzSn9SLlg analysis]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flcX6OXh37s videos]] referring to them as such to differentiate them from the canon Kirito and Asuna.
48	* FandomRivalry: With fans of the original Sword Art Online, funnily enough. The series is immensely popular and heavily hyped by many who dislike or are indifferent to the original series. Fans of the Abridged series love it for turning SAO into something comedic in typical AbridgedSeries fashion, giving a different interpretation to some of the series' widely contested plot points, giving the more obscured or polarizing characters more distinguished personalities and development, as well as expanding on the widely controversial [=ALfheim=] arc. SAO fans tend to be more bitter towards it due to the way many Abridged fans believe it 'fixes' the original series, feeling it to be overrated and ruining the original series through its interpretations of the characters (which in itself may or may not be a bad thing depending on [[BaseBreakingCharacter whether or not you like the original SAO cast]]), its many TakeThat jokes against the source material, and for all the claims of it fixing SAO, with fans of the original arguing that the character arcs in the original aren't much different than what's presented in the Abridged version.
49	* FountainOfMemes: Kirito is the most quotable character period, with his many wisecracks and snarks being memefied.
50	* GeniusBonus:
51	** Asuna has no interest in a "human piñata", but Kirito promises, "I'll save you a [=KitKat=]!" [=KitKat=] candies ''are'' [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kit_Kats_in_Japan very popular in Japan.]]
52	** The soundtrack for the duel between Kirito and Kuradeel is circus music. As easy as it is to handwave with the explanation that Kayaba knows an upcoming [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomp]] when he sees one, the track is called "Entry of the Gladiators". What sounds like a badass BGM for duels... evolved into circus music.
53	** The name 'Tiffany' is actually a legitimate name for a fantasy character, being derived from a DistaffCounterpart to the Greek name 'Theophanes'. However, it's rarely used by fantasy authors due to the name sounding very modern to general audiences.[[note]]It's sometimes referred to as the 'Tiffany Problem'.[[/note]]
54	* GrowingTheBeard: While the early episodes are certainly funny, they stick rather close to the typical abridged series model with lots of comedic AlternativeCharacterInterpretation and referential humor. It's the later episodes, where the CharacterDevelopment starts getting more pronounced without sacrificing the comedy, that gets the series the most comments regarding improving over the original.
55	* HarsherInHindsight:
56	** [[spoiler:Asuna's teary rant after Kirito has another near-death experience in Episode 9: "You ever stop to think about how ''I'' feel?! Maybe ''I'' wanna almost die once in a while, huh?! Make ''you'' cry!" Come Episode 11...]]
57	** Keita decided to recruit the tutorial NPC into his guild, only for the entire guild to get wiped out in Episode 3. [[spoiler:Kayaba points out how that was an oversight in programming eight episodes later, meaning Keita doomed several newbies through his own exploitation of the system.]]
58	** [[spoiler:The moment where Kirito saves Yui by making her an item in Episode 10. It's revealed in Episode 13 that Yui faked her death as a joke and by making her into an item Kirito [[AndIMustScream trapped her with no way to communicate.]]]]
59	** Klein implied that Kirito is an InternetJerk and gets beaten a lot in real life. [[spoiler: Absolutely '''not''' PlayedForLaughs as we see Kirito getting subjected to a CurbStompBattle by his own cousin ''in his first day out of hospital'', where Suguha [[EstablishingCharacterMoment leaves no stones unturned]] in establishing she is a [[BigBrotherBully Little Sister Bully]] who doesn't give a damn that Kirito saved ''6000'' people on his own. Only that he's a nerd.]]
60	** Overlapping with HilariousInHindsight, the entire plot of the first season is that the titular MMO, produced by Creator/{{Bethesda}} in-universe, was ChristmasRushed and ended up a disastrous, broken ObviousBeta as a result. Cue ''the exact same situation happening for real'' with Bethesda's actual MMO, ''VideoGame/Fallout76''.
61	** In general, Kayaba's infamous MotiveDecay from the original gets rewritten to be the result of making a snap knee-jerk decision while having a nervous breakdown after being overworked by his superiors. "Crunch" in the video game industry, in which developers are under extended overtime to develop video games to the detriment of their health and wellbeing, started to become a serious discussion point a year or so after the episode aired, especially after it led to the disastrous releases of several games widely considered {{Obvious Beta}}s.
62	** Ubisoft being the ones that worked with RECT Progress to create and publish ''[=ALfheim=] Online'', and its administrator, Sugou, being a [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty sexual predator]] abusing his position to get away with it, becomes this with several reports in 2020 regarding widespread sexual harassment and abuse within Ubisoft.
63	* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: [=LennonDrake=] as Suguha was almost instantly showered in praise by viewers after Episode 17 premiered thanks to [[spoiler:how fantastically they delivered Suguha's tearful breakdown towards Kirito over their falling out]].
64	* HilariousInHindsight:
65	** Before Pina gets killed, she calls Silica [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim "Dovahkiin" in the Dragon Tongue.]] In episode 11, the final episode of the first story arc, we learn that ''SAO'''s in-universe publisher [[spoiler:was {{Creator/Bethesda}}, the company behind ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''. Fittingly for an open-world Bethesda game, ''SAO'' is also glitchy as hell, up to and including ''player death''.]]
66	*** This becomes all the funnier with the release of Bethesda's wide open massive multiplayer survival game: ''VideoGame/Fallout76'', a ''horrible buggy mess''.
67	** Similarly Kayaba's superiors excusing the bugs and telling him to release the game as soon as possible because it has already been delayed twice and "it's a big open-world, no one is going to notice a few glitches" became this after [[VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077 a certain game released in 2020]], also a buggy game (although some of it has been patched as of this writing).
68	** If Silica hadn't told Kirito EVERY problem in her life, [[spoiler:Pina would have been alive at the end of the episode]], Chain Fetch Quest and all.
69	** In Episode 2 of the ''Sword Art Offline'' DVDCommentary, Kirito remarks that he should have drawn on Asuna's face while she was asleep. In the same scene of the Abridged Series, Kirito actually does.
70	** Based on [[BelligerentSexualTension how Kirito acts around her]], it's quite 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 she made in episode 2.
71	** Kirito saved a ''lot'' more people than just the three "sinners" with his advice to Laughing Coffin; Kuradeel reveals that Kirito's "advice" left them with "an army at their door and a blade to their hearts".
72	--->'''Kuradeel:''' "Ad campaign! PR Blast! Get your faces out there!" [[TooDumbToLive Send an e-mail with your exact location to EVERY PLAYER IN THE GAME!!]]
73	** Many SAO detractors have mockingly referred to Kirito as "God" or "Jesus", while in the Abridged Series Kirito outright [[AGodAmI declares himself to be God]]. Becomes even more hilarious in the original story, given that [[spoiler:by the end of the Alicization arc and going into the Moon Cradle arc, Kirito and Asuna ''literally become digital gods'']].
74	** Schmitt's mention of ''Pokemon V&R'' in Episode 6 (released in 2015) becomes funnier in hindsight when taking into account SAO's in-universe release date of 2022. Once the real year came around, that predicted abbreviation was only off by [[VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet one letter]]. And just like ''SAO'', that game ''also'' released with a plethora of glitches due to being rushed and received great backlash because of it.
75	* JerkassWoobie:
76	** It's not for nothing that Kirito refers to his own life as a multi-headed dick hydra. [[spoiler:Sachi's death really messed him up, and he's in an absolutely miserable situation in the real world. ALO was also a massive HumiliationConga for him, with his only goal at that point being to save the only person he thinks he has left in the world.]]
77	** Kayaba can be considered this [[spoiler:due to being overworked to the point where the official release of SAO had the real-life death glitch. The {{Jerkass}} part comes into play when he keeps players from leaving the game so he can look more competent and dastardly than he really is, but even that was due to extreme sleep deprivation affecting his sanity and he eventually regrets his pointless actions. While he brought most of it upon himself, it's still pitiful to see how his attempts to save face turned into a massive SnowballLie.]]
78	** As of Episode 12, we can add Asuna to this list given her [[AbusiveParents miserable excuse for a father]], who only leaves Asuna plugged in at his lawyers' insistence and wants to marry her off to Sugou so he doesn't have to pay her medical bills any more, with her unable to consent due to still being trapped in a game.
79	** Episode 17 adds Suguha to the list: for the whole season, she's been an unrepentant {{Jerkass}} and BigSisterBully to Kirito, but Episode 17 reveals her rather sympathetic FreudianExcuse: [[spoiler: she used to [[BigBrotherWorship really look up to Kirito]], and started learning kendo with their grandfather to emulate him, but he quit to work on computers instead. This left Suguha to endure TrainingFromHell from their grandfather, who had only been interested in training Kirito and wanted her to quit, causing her to resent Kirito for abandoning her. However, She's still more of a jerkass and less of a woobie because her treatment of Kirito and Recon is still too extreme to fully make her sympathetic enough.]]
80	** On top of being one Asuna's jailers, [[spoiler: Shoji is a pathetic and selfish {{Jerkass}} who makes a habit out of antagonizing his disabled co-worker for no apparent reason other than prejudice. Despite this, seeing him cry and confess to a FalseRapeAccusation after Asuna threatened to eat [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his dog]] can make some viewers feel sympathy for him. The fact that Asuna targeted him directly during her rampages (in which she's implied to have been [[IAmAHumanitarian eating]] her jailers) adds some sympathy points.]]
81	* MemeticBadass:
82	** Fluffles. The Abridged fandom claim he's the greatest SAO villain of all time and everything that has ever gone wrong is his doing.
83	** Abridged Kirito is cited as the best version of Kirito period; he is glorified and praised to ridiculously copious levels.
84	* MemeticMutation:
85	** "The Abridged series is better than the original" eventually got spread so much, especially by detractors of the original ''SAO'', that you are very likely to find some variation of that line in pretty much any comment section of ''anything SAO'' related.
86	*** "The only good thing to come out of SAO is the Abridged series"
87	*** "I'm only here for the Abridged series"
88	** "[[BrokenRecord We must save my family!]]"[[labelnote:Explanation]]The line Gary constantly repeats.[[/labelnote]]
89	** "[[AGodAmI There's no need to wonder where your god is! Cause he's right here.. and he's fresh out of mercy.]]"[[labelnote:Explanation]]Kirito's AGodAmI proclamation, one of the most iconic InternetJerk "[=l33t=]" gamer moments in fiction. Makes all the Jesus-kun jokes even funnier now that Kirito himself is deciding he's a God.[[/labelnote]]
90	** "Who's Klein? I only know [=BallsDeep69=]."[[note]]Fans giving Klein's abridged name precedence over his canon name[[/note]]
91	** "Mr. Kettle? Mr. Pot called! '''[[ThatCameOutWrong He says you're blaaa]]'''[[ThatCameOutWrong aaaaaa... ck.]]"[[labelnote:Explanation]]Asuna's reaction to Kirito describing her as "not what you'd call a ''people person''"...in front of Tiffany.[[/labelnote]]
92	** "My sandwich, it was innocent... I must grieve."[[labelnote:Explanation]]The Kirito sandwich meme from the canon series got taken to new heights after the abridged series poked fun at it.[[/labelnote]]
93	** "Have you considered...''[[MurderIsTheBestSolution murder?]]''"[[labelnote:Explanation]]Laughing Coffin's advertising slogan after they take Kirito's advice to heart.[[/labelnote]]
94	** "Goddammit, Kayaba! I am sick and tired of you kicking my heart in the dick!" [[labelnote:Explanation]]Kirito sums up the Yui situation in his own unique style. This one has spread into other fandoms as [[ViewersInMourning a response]] to [[GutPunch other heartwrenching events]].[[/labelnote]]
95	** The Kirito is Always Right Foundation[[labelnote:Explanation]]Originating from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkpqIp13HnA this video]] it soon got posted on anything related to Kirito, abridged or not[[/labelnote]]
96	* MemeticPsychopath:
97	** Kirito. The abridged series adds in a dangerous AxCrazy side to him and he likely has a higher body count than Laughing Coffin.
98	** After her darker side is revealed in Episode 5, Asuna quickly one-ups her SpearCounterpart in this regard, being a full-fledged psychopath who terrifies ALL of the show's villains, including Kuradeel, Kayaba, and Sugou.
99	** In Episode 10, we can add [[EnfantTerrible Yui]] to the mix, and we've got our DysfunctionalFamily of psychos complete.
100	** After her introduction, Suguha was RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap from the original show, owing to her LaughablyEvil characterization.
101	* MoralEventHorizon: In a series where a large majority of the main characters are complete assholes, there are a few who stand out.
102	** While in a sleep-deprived state, SAO head programmer Kayaba Akihiko accidentally creates a glitch in his game that kills players when their avatars die, and by the time he realizes this there are already 10000 people playing it. Instead of doing the rational thing and shutting off the servers before anyone else gets hurt, Kayaba prioritizes that people play the game he spent many sleepless weeks coding and traps everyone in the game, promising to free them if they complete it. He kept the trainwreck going even after catching up on his sleep, deciding that he would rather be a CardCarryingVillain than a screw-up, and donned his [[FakeUltimateHero Heathcliff]] persona to keep the other players as hostages. By the time the Aincrad arc ends, he's already caused the deaths of thousands of people, left thousands more completely traumatized, and deep-sixed an entire industry; all in a futle attempt to try and save his own ass.
103	** [[LethalJokeCharacter Fluffles]] is a cat that somehow learned to play the game after likely getting stuffed in a [=NerveGear=]. In a classic display of OffstageVillainy, he rose up the ranks and became a mob boss, founding the first of many PlayerKilling groups in the form of TheMafia. He stays past the line in Episode 9 when he joins "The King of Ashes" in his journey of RapePillageAndBurn, even suggesting that they boil two intruders in oil, and purring when his companion eagerly accepts.
104	** While trapped inside the game, Grimlock murders his own wife Griselda (who was trapped alongside him), and then rallies two of her friends against a troubled lancer named Schmitt to frame the latter for his crimes. When it seemed like this was going to fail, he paid [[PsychoForHire Laughing Coffin]] to dispose of the trio. The kicker? He only killed his wife because she prioritized strategizing for a raid over [[StayInTheKitchen making him dinner]] ''once'' in her married life. As if this wasn't bad enough, he then goes on to justify himself when he's caught, saying that any man in love would've done the same as him. Needless to say, [[EveryoneHasStandards Kirito is disgusted.]]
105	** Asuna's bodyguard and stalker Kuradeel crosses the line from {{Manchild}} to PsychopathicManchild when he sadistically murders his friend [[PluckyComicRelief Godfree]] after [[DirtyCoward poisoning his drink]] because he found his roleplaying to be annoying. He stays past the line when [[WouldHurtAChild he tries to do the same to Kirito]] for getting his favorite cult of murderers Laughing Coffin disbanded and humiliating him during a duel, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and because he insulted his face.]]
106	** SAO player "The King Of Ashes" is a deranged psychopath who takes advantage of the lack of authority in the game to go on a rampage of RapePillageAndBurn against other players, taking over Floor 75 and hindering the process of all those who seek to escape the DeadlyGame. It gets so bad that Kayaba has to use his Heathcliff persona to try and quell his rebellion.
107	** Asuna's greedy asshole of a father [[AbusiveParents Shouzou Yuuki]] crosses it when he essentially sells his comatose daughter to one of his employees in exchange of a large sum of money. If that wasn't horrible enough, his original desire was to euthanise her to get out of paying her medical bills. It's no wonder Asuna turned out the way she did.
108	** Nobuyuki Sugou is a particularly repulsive employee of RECT Progress (founded by Asuna's father) who lusts after his boss' daughter. However, he absolutely ''demolishes'' the line when he traps her and 300 other recently freed victims of SAO to use as test subjects to give himself mind control powers, all with the end goal of turning her into his personal SexSlave.
109	* {{Narm}}:
110	** Episode 3, which was a Christmas special, took the liberty of adding Santa hats to all the characters in the opening. However they don't quite follow the characters perfectly, making it very amusing to watch. Whether or not this is intentional is unclear.
111	** In Episode 11, when Asuna learns Kirito's true name is Kazuto, she acts as if it was a terrible name that's awkward to say, and the scene totally rolls with it as a joke on Kirito. But the joke falls completely flat considering "Kazuto" is not an unusual male name in Japan at all, so it makes no sense for her to react to it that way. It'd be as if an English speaking girl reacted the same way when she learned her online boyfriend is actually named "Kevin" and she went "How am I supposed to call you? "Kev"?".
112	%%** For some viewers, the emotional climax to episode 10 is a little hard to take seriously when Kirito and Asuna have been portrayed as snarky sociopaths throughout the series thus far.
113	* NightmareRetardant: Sugou moving the unconscious Asuna's lips and imitating her voice, which makes for a funny moment in what would otherwise be a creepy scene.
114	* PlayAlongMeme:
115	** The [[Literature/SwordArtOnline original work]] was designed by a writer who wasn't familiar with video games, so the question of exactly how Sword Art Online was played was typically given a HandWave. The Abridged series explores the gameplay in more detail and the suffering of the players being trapped in a barely functional game is PlayedForLaughs.
116	** In Agil/Tiffany's real world shop, there's an advertisement for "9-UP". Rather than treating it as a BlandNameProduct, it is instead treated as a ShoddyKnockoffProduct of 7-UP. It has to be boiled in order to be safe to drink and Kirito gets violently sick after trying it.
117	** Alfheim Online in both the original series and Abridged version are frequented by a large number of roleplayers. In the canon work, everyone either stayed in character, despite Kirito not roleplaying, or casually swapped to speak to him normally. In the Abridged version, Kirito has to argue with Leafa at length to get her to quit roleplaying so he can ask her questions about the game itself that don't make sense in roleplaying terms. For example, she attempts to explain that there's a magic spell that prevents people from swearing before finally dropping the act and just telling Kirito there's an in-game profanity filter.
118	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: The abridged series has done this for Kirito, who was one of the most polarizing anime characters in TheNewTens. Many consider his depiction here to be much more complex, while seeing him being a [[{{Jerkass}} jerk]] as far more entertaining to watch than his canon counterpart's more stock personality. His overpoweredness has also either been toned down in some instances, justified, or poked fun at by making him a ComicallyInvincibleHero.
119	* RealitySubtext: Kayaba's unwillingness to just own up to his (admittedly colossal) mistake with the glitch, shut down the servers, and let all of the survivng players out of the game makes a bit more sense when one remembers that he works for a Japanese company; workplace culture in Japan is a lot more stringent than in most western companies and operates off of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_Z_of_Ouchi Theory Z]] management that prioritizes loyalty to the company and one's co-workers above all other concerns. Admitting the he had programmed a glitch that was ''literally fatal'' to the customers wouldn't have just put his ass on the line, it would've likely resulted in the entire company being shamed and run into the dirt, a FateWorseThanDeath in Japan's corporate world. [[AllForNothing It didn't stop it from happening anyways]], since the only thing preventing the company from being shut down was the hostage situation.
120	* RonTheDeathEater:
121	** While still a lazy, manipulative asshole, Keita usually gets accused of being directly responsible for the deaths of every SAO player in the first month because he stole the game's tutorial NPC. Barring the ridiculousness of there being one single tutorial NPC to be used by ''ten thousand different players'' (something Keita probably didn't know), it's also made clear said tutorial's advice was [[ShapedLikeItself useless at best]] and [[AntiAdvice harmful at worst]], so the blame can be mostly placed on Kayaba for his impractical game developing and the comical stupidity that characterizes the SAO player base.
122	** Due to MemeticMutation, Gary has reached MemeticPsychopath levels of evil in the fandom, which ignores his status as a NonPlayerCharacter who, unlike Yui, hasn't been portrayed as having any level of awareness for his actions. However, because [[AxCrazy Kirito]] believes him to be directly responsible for Sachi's death, many fans now see him as a DirtyCoward who intentionally abandoned his guild to die.
123	* SignatureScene:
124	** Kirito going LaughingMad from Episode 04 and his AGodAmI rant.
125	** Lisbeth's Blacksmithing scene is considered one of the most memorable scenes in the series.
126	** Kirito's final fight with Kayaba to Music/ThirtySecondsToMars "This is War", often singled out as the scene that "out-anime'd the original anime".
127	* SpiritualAdaptation: Ironically, for its expansion of situations in the Aincrad arc, it makes for either an alternate take on ''Sword Art Online Progressive'''s own take on the inbetweens or the inevitable CulturalTranslation version that would be seen in Skydance Television's version of the arc.
128	* {{Squick}}:
129	** The result of the teleport crystals glitching is severe BodyHorror. SAO Abridged adds animated original footage in Episode 11 showing one unfortunate victim with his limbs distorted, with his hand coming out from where his mouth should be, while his eyes and mouth have been disembodied and floating beside him.
130	---> '''Player:''' How ya doin' buddy? You feeling ok? You hungry? \
131	'''Glitched Player:''' (distorted voice) Killlllll meee.
132	** [[spoiler: When Kirito finally gets out of ''SAO'', he tries to walk around only to find out he's got a catheter in his urethra too late. If you don't know what it feels like to have a catheter indelicately removed from your urethra, ''you're better off not knowing.'']] We later find out in Episode 12 that this [[spoiler:RIPPED KIRITO'S DICK IN HALF]]!
133	** Kirito wastes absolutely no time verbally objecting to Shouzou [[DudeShesLikeInAComa marrying his unconscious daughter off to Sugou]], and the show treats the situation with complete disgust.
134	* SubbingVersusDubbing: The one area of the series which opinions are divided over, even amongst the abridged fans. The voices done for most of the characters are either extremely unorthodox or just ordinary sounding[[note]][=YamatoSFX=] simply uses his real voice for Kirito[[/note]], with most [=VAs=] sounding quite amateurish in comparison. A lot of the time they really don't line up with their original character voices from either the Japanese or English versions, which is in stark contrast to other AbridgedSeries like ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'', which largely involve [[CelebrityImpersonator voice actor impersonation]].
135	* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Suguha has a number of problems, stemming from a FreudianExcuse, as shown in Episode 17's ending. She originally took up kendo because Kirito was practicing it as well. But when he quit to take up programming, their grandfather, who never wanted to teach her in the first place, did everything he could to make Suguha quit, but [[{{Determinator}} she kept going]] due to wanting them to be closer again. Since Kirito never showed how much he truly cared for Suguha in the past, as compared to the extreme lengths he's going to to save Asuna in the present, Suguha grew up resenting Kirito's passions and her own femininity, angrily declaring that he "never gave a shit" about her. The problem is that most of Suguha's screen time thus far has repeatedly shown Suguha to be cruel to the people around her, especially Kirito. So Suguha resenting Kirito for not being a BigBrotherMentor when she's never given him any reason to act that way rings hollow. And the idea that Kirito doesn't care about Suguha is intentionally ignoring context, since Kirito is literally fighting for Asuna's life while Suguha merely wants his attention, making the comparison feel exceedingly selfish. Some of Suguha's actions -- mocking her brother's penis being ripped in half from a catheter, beating him to a pulp in Kendo shortly after he had gotten out of the hospital, and punting her crush Nagata for asking her out on a date -- make her MotiveRant feel more like MisplacedRetribution, especially since Kirito was never given such a degree of sympathy during his own redemption arc, despite having a similar FreudianExcuse[[note]]that is mostly PlayedForLaughs.[[/note]] and never reaching the levels of physical abuse Suguha was notorious for. As well, it is revealed that Kirito has asthma, and implied that it was part of why he quit kendo and went into programming, meaning she was either somehow unaware or willfully ignored his health issues and came to the conclusion that him refusing to take it back up [[ItsAllAboutMe meant he didn't care about her]] rather than wanting to look out for his health.
136	* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The first season draws quite a bit of humor from the [[ObviousBeta buggy-state]] of what should be a AAA-game. Eventually, it gets revealed that Sword Art Online was ChristmasRushed and the developers were overworked to make it happen, with [[BigBad Kayaba]] eventually suffering a nervous breakdown which led to him trapping the players in the game. This all came right before the dam started to burst in the real-life game industry due to the revelations of many big-name studios inflicting "Crunch" on their developers. So what started as just a parody of the SAO anime ended up turning into a satire of the Gaming Industry during TheNewTens. This isn't helped by the next season's BigBad being a CEO of a gaming company who's also lecherous pervert, something that had also been exposed in the gaming industry.
137	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Lisbeth's blacksmithing minigame is just stunning, with a backdrop of several exciting games like ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'', ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'', and ''Franchise/MortalKombat''. And also Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann, because why not?
138	* TheWoobie:
139	** While everyone who is trapped in [[DeadlyGame SAO]] could count due to how glitchy and unfair the game system is, Sachi takes the cake as the one that goes through the most grief. Her poor internet connection causes frequent glitches and unpredictable lags that make her experience notably harsher. These issues often arise at the worst possible moments, leaving her stuck in place, interrupting her speech, and in the worst possible scenarios, spreading to other players and catching fires. When Kirito learns of the seriousness of the situation, even ''he'' can't bring himself to mock her situation. To make matters worse, she gets killed just as it seemed her companion was going to cut her some slack.
140	** Silica, due to AdaptationalAngstUpgrade. Not only is her misadventure with Kirito much more unpleasant due to the latter being [[SociopathicHero at his worst]], but also ends up being a ShaggyDogStory when Pina's feather expires just as she's on the brink of reviving her. She becomes a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds in the stinger.
141	** In just one episode, Lizbeth loses her best sword, gets dragged along a freezing mountain, gets PTSD, gets repeatedly insulted by Kirito, and when she manages to craft the best sword in the game for him, he turns her legacy into a poop joke. Also she gets her [[spoiler:store and home burned to the ground by her only friend at the time, who is now also threatening to kill her. As if that wasn't enough, the stuff she manages to salvage from her shop gets shattered two episodes later.]] The only good thing that happens to her is that [[spoiler:Kirito didn't actually make the poop joke and was just teasing her.]]

Context YMMV / SwordArtOnlineAbridged