This article contains only very minor spoilers,
but please proceed with caution if you haven’t seen up to Episode 11 of the Sword Art Online anime

Sword Art Online is a mixed-media franchise consisting primarily of a light novel series with more than 20 million copies in print worldwide and various other adaptations that are indicative of its popularity. A new game adaptation titled Sword Art Online Fatal Bullet will be released in 2018, and the third season of the anime series titled Sword Art Online: Alicization as well as a spin-off anime series Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online were announced on 1 October. Its popularity shows no signs of dying down.

While it’s really great to see all the new adaptations, I’d like to put the spotlight on one of the old stories from the 11th episode of the anime adaptation, ‘The Girl of Morning Dew’. By the way, I have written another article concerning the same episode. Check it out!

Sword Art Online Novel vs Anime: Episode 11 ’The Girl of Morning Dew’

The setup to maintain the atmosphere

In the middle of the episode, Yui falls unconscious in the forest and Kirito and Asuna take her to their cabin. The novel describes Kirito and Asuna guessing Yui’s age, and Kirito tells Asuna that he met a teen-aged female beast tamer, Silica, making Asuna jealous. However, the anime adaptation skips their conjecture here, and therefore there is no description of Asuna getting jealous.

I believe the anime is trying to maintain the serious air by skipping scenes that do not have great relevance to the main storyline. It isn’t bad in that respect. But personally speaking, it was a bit disappointing that they skipped Asuna’s adorable jealousy.

本日23：00よりニコ生にて『ソードアート・オンライン』#11「朝露の少女」を放送！タイムシフトを予約してキリトの活躍をチェックしよう！https://t.co/ddeA4N072s　#sao_anime pic.twitter.com/5yEiWHBKO1

— アニメ ソードアート・オンライン 公式 (@sao_anime) September 17, 2016

The point of focus

The novel often describes Yui as a unique and mysterious character; she is different from other normal players and somehow special. For example, she hums exactly to the alarm melody that supposedly only Asuna can hear. Her status window opens with her left-hand fingers although it should open with the right hand. Moreover, her status window doesn’t have an HP (health) bar, EXP (experience) bar, or level display that everyone else’s is supposed to have. These descriptions made her more interesting, and more eerie, to readers.

However, the anime adaptation skipped all the above descriptions of her. It does describe her as someone slightly different from other players, but it doesn’t dig up as much as the novel does. I think the reason is that the anime series try to focus more on their relationships and emotional interactions. The novel mentions such subtleties of feeling and the changes Yui made and it describes the three as a family. But describing her as a mysterious being and revealing her identity gradually gives a mystery aspect to the novel. I believe the anime series got rid of such aspects and focused more on their interactions and relationships to deliver the subtleties of emotion in a careful manner.

I’m sure people have different opinions on this decision. Considering that anime has a time limit of less than 30 minutes per episode, it isn’t a bad idea to focus on certain things and leave less relevant parts out.

#11「朝露の少女」ご視聴頂きありがとうございました！次回予告で発表したキーワードをこちらから入力し、劇場告知ポスターを手に入れよう！https://t.co/U0p7I76MxY　#sao_anime pic.twitter.com/5IoZ4JrCWQ

— アニメ ソードアート・オンライン 公式 (@sao_anime) September 14, 2016

Adapting important conversations

After having a meal, Kirito suggests that they visit the Town of the Beginnings to look for Yui’s relatives. Kirito notices that Asuna doesn’t want to separate from Yui. He kindly talks it out with her and tells her how he feels the same, convincing her it does not mean that they are never to meet again. However, in the novel, this conversation does not happen at this scene. Instead, it occurs after the three get to the town on the way to the church where young players live together, as they obtain the information from the players in the town.

The anime skips this town journey, and instead has the conversation during the after-meal scene at the cabin. This conversation is rather short, but it is an impressive scene that features Asuna’s motherly instinct toward Yui and Kirito’s calm and dependable fatherly character as they both share the family-like feeling. I find this change quite good; although it took a lot out, it kept the most important parts intact. Adapting the conversation didn’t make the scene awkward, and the emotional background music also helped in making this scene superb.

もう間もなく『ソードアート・オンライン』#11「朝露の少女」を放送致します！ご視聴の準備は宜しいでしょうか！https://t.co/ddeA4N072s　#sao_anime pic.twitter.com/IzRF1Fexpa

— アニメ ソードアート・オンライン 公式 (@sao_anime) September 17, 2016

You can often notice that your favorite series has a lot more to offer than it appears when you compare the anime series with its source material.

With the third season of the anime on its way, how about watching the first two series and reading the novels one more time? You may find exciting little things you didn’t realize before.