@kita mikichi:

As compelling as the mystery in Unital Ring is (especially since it seems to involve my favorite villain in SAO), I still strongly feel that Kawahara should've brought the main series to an end with Alicization and focused on SAO Progressive, because that massive retcon has all but ground to a halt.

I mean, Progressive has elves! I'm talking Lord of the Rings style elves! Also, this is kind of a big spoiler, but the end of Volume 8 of Progressive, Kirito got turned into a vampire. Now we have to wait years at a time to see how that was resolved, because Kirito obviously wasn't still a vampire during the final days of Aincrad.

I absolutely agree. SAO is already a pretty loaded series.

@kita mikichi:

Interesting. Well, maybe I'll download the first volume of the Accel World light novels onto my Kindle and see how I like it.

Still, I don't think it'll change my stance on Unital Ring being the bridge that connects SAO and Accel World together.

Since we're on the subject of fan recognition, I'd have to think that SAO is more popular than Accel World, at least on a worldwide scale. If that's the case, then trying to connect SAO and Accel World together seems kind of pointless.

@Darkarax:

I'd say Accel World is a cult favorite? There's a small niche of people that are fans.

Again, I can't speak for the light novel because I've never read it; but I did enjoy the anime up to the point where they adapted it/it was released in the states. It's kind of the opposite of SAO in that Kirito is overpowered due to being a beta tester, while the main character of Accel, Haruyuki, is an underdog character who discovers his potential. (Some people might find him whiny, but I overall like his characterization.)

@kita mikichi:

The Aincrad Arc, the Phantom Bullet Arc (GGO) and the Alicization arc are definitely my favorite arcs of SAO (Mother's Rosario is okay too).

Anyway, I must admit I've always been a little curious about Accel World. I've thought about trying the light novel version of the series, but I've been hesitant to because I've heard mixed reviews about it. But just speaking for myself, I don't really see the point of Reiki Kawahara trying to use SAO to flesh out the history of Accel World.

I mean, how popular is Accel World today? Maybe it's still big in Japan, but it doesn't seem like anyone else outside the country talks about it.

I read this out of pure curiosity because I stopped reading and watching SAO at Alicization and wanted to see what in the world this new arc was that I had never heard of.

I've never read but have watched Accel World, and while it was interesting that the two series were implied to be connected, I don't really see a point in him crossing the two together? They're both very distinct worlds that don't need a mash-up. XD

I enjoyed Accel up to the point where the anime adaptation stopped, but I've found SAO to be a very mixed bag, with each arc either being love it or hate it. I really enjoyed the original (Aincrad) and GGO.