Publisher: Yen Press
Release Date: January 20, 2015
Price: $13.00
Creator(s): Reki Kawahara (writer), Kiseki Himura (art)
Format: 192 pgs., Black & White, Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-3162-5937-8
Age Rating: 13+
ICv2 Rating: 3 Stars out of 5
By now I think most anime and manga fans are at least vaguely familiar with the story of the immensely popular series Sword Art Online. If you're one of the few and not of the many however let me sum it up for you; in the future a full immersion virtual reality game is created called Sword Art Online which is a massive fantasy dungeon crawl. Upon entering the game though, all of the players are informed that they are all trapped in the game and if they die in the game they will also die in real life.
In most versions of the story, the main character is a former beta tester of the game named Kirito. In this version of the story however things are a little different and the focus of the story is actually Kirito's eventual love interest Asuna. The question is, does this twist in the story make it worth picking up?
Asuna is arguably one of the more popular female characters of the last few years. She's a strong female who lives life passionately. However she wasn't always like that as this volume will show. Established fans of the Sword Art Online franchise know already what Asuna is capable of but they will not find any of that within these pages.
In this volume, Asuna is a weak newbie gamer who just happens to get caught in the game after she borrows the Nervgear system. She spends all of her time trying to find ways to get out and she is constantly living in a state of fear that her life is going to end which I can imagine will be quite the turn off for anyone reading this book, veteran or newcomer alike.
The biggest problem with Sword Art Online: Progressive however is in the pace that it moves. One thing that people noticed about the original series is that the story would often jump forward or time skip. This led to a lot of issues with characters growing at exponential rates without the audience seeing any of their development. In this case, all of those gaps are filled in and we get to see the real development of these characters and their relationships.
Many fans will be very pleased to see this development but others are going to find the story is actually dragged out. The first volume takes the story almost up through the first boss fight and when you think about how much more story there is to tell after that point the idea of getting through it all suddenly becomes a much more daunting task.
To pick up this volume is to realize that while it might be starting slow it will likely be worth it to stick it out and watch Asuna grow into the badass that so many of us already know she is. I won't spoil what happens to her but trust me when I say that the frail little girl that you meet in this volume is not even a tenth of what Asuna is actually capable of.
This is a series for fans who want a new twist on the already familiar story or fantasy fans who are looking for a strong female to root for. It's not a great opening but if the series lives up to its potential, you're going to find it worth it in the long run.
--L.B. Bryant
