In this engaging anime series, thousands of players get trapped in an online role-playing game, where death in the game means death in the real world. It's officially launch day as Sword Art Online -- one of the most eagerly awaited video games of all time -- is released. Though the players have been locked in the game for a month, the first floor hasn't been cleared yet -- and 2, people have died. When Kirito joins a guild composed of close friends in reality, everything goes well -- until a tragic accident changes him completely. After quarreling with her party's leader, young beast-tamer Silica storms off but loses her way in the forest -- where she runs into monsters. When a player is killed inside a safe zone, Asuna and Kirito take it upon themselves to find out how and why it happened.