This article contains many spoilers.
Please proceed with caution if you haven’t seen up to episode 5 of the Sword Art Online anime.

Sword Art Online is a hugely popular light novel series that has sold more than 20 million volumes worldwide, and has been adapted into various media including manga, anime, games, a theatrical movie, and an upcoming Hollywood TV drama. Two new anime adaptations were announced recently: the third season of the anime series, Alicization Arc, and the spin-off series Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online. A new game titled Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet will be released in 2018. Sword Art Online shows no sign of slowing down and fans can’t get enough of it.

49 episodes and an extra edition of the TV anime series aired over two seasons. In this article, I’m going to examine Episode 5 of the first season, ‘Murder in the Safe Zone’. This episode, together with Episode 6 ‘Illusionary Avenger’, depicts Kirito and Asuna teaming up to take a crack at solving a murder case in the safe zone.

Even just in Episode 5, there are so many alterations from the original novel. In fact, it’s impossible to write about every difference in one article. Therefore, I’m going to write about the differences over three articles, and this will be the first of the trilogy. If this article interests you, please read the rest as well!

An Inserted Scene Before the Opening Sequence

Episode 5 begins with a scene where Asuna and Kirito are arguing with each other before the opening credits. At the meeting to discuss their strategies to conquer the Field Boss on the 56th floor, Asuna proposes her plan of luring the boss into the town, letting it attack NPCs to distract its attention, then players ambush and finish it. Kirito objects to her plan as NPCs are not objects like rocks or woods, therefore their lives must be respected. This scene was created for the anime and isn’t in the novels.

To be precise, it’s not totally an anime original, since this argument was mentioned in the novels. Furthermore, original creator Reki Kawahara actually depicted their argument of how to fight against the Field Boss, a fight that resulted in a one-on-one duel between the two of them, in detail in his dojinshi manga Sword Art Online Material Edition 01: The Progressers.

In my opinion, this inserted scene signifies that the anime production team read the original novel painstakingly to its fragments, as well as the author’s other publications.

One of the highlights of the story in Episodes 5 and 6 is the conflict between Asuna and Kirito while they are trying to solve the mystery together. I think the change in their relationship from aloof to close is accentuated by showing the scene of their ill-tempered conflict before the opening credits in Episode 5.

Conversations After the Opening Sequence

Just after the anime opening sequence, Asuna approaches Kirito who is lying down under the shade of a tree, and complains at him for having a nap while other players are frantically working to clear the dungeon. After a series of exchanges, he tells her that she’d understand why he does so by doing the same thing herself. After he goes back to his nap, she lies down beside him and falls deeply asleep. When Kirito wakes up from his nap, he is surprised by her sleeping soundly next to him.

The novel, however, begins with a scene depicting Kirito, who has already woken up from his nap, bewildered at finding Asuna sleeping beside him. A scene of their verbal exchanges doesn’t exist in the novel and is only depicted roughly in the narrative of Kirito’s flashback scene.

I think this change is meaningful for two reasons. First, it’s simply nice for fans to watch them having a chat. The second reason is the same as the scene that was added in before the opening sequence. As I said earlier, the main interest in the episodes is Asuna and Kirito getting close while working together. Showing Asuna accusing him on a sour note emphasizes the change in their relationship and the distance between them.

More in Part 2

It’s interesting to watch an anime adaptation while checking the differences from the source material. You’ll find newly created scenes for the anime and as well as scenes from the source material that have been dropped. Watching carefully, you can find minor modifications like slight changes in dialogue. Sometimes, there is a scene which is not only inserted or skipped, but also integrated with different scenes. There may also be scenes which have added essential points from the skipped scenes. You often realize the expertise of the anime production team by checking the differences in detail. Interested? Why not try yourself to compare anime with the source material?