Episode 14 of the anime ended on floor 75 with the defeat of the floor boss, Skull Reaper, and the game's operator Akihiko Kayaba. Early Sword Art Online takes place in Aincrad, a 100-floor mega dungeon with players living and fighting on various floors. Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment is partial sequel to Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment for PSP, upgrading the original game with an entirely new zone, improved visuals, and a new plot. The anime devolved into this, but it works in the game. I eventually stopped watching the anime and moved onto Log Horizon which has some of the same issues, but goes further into the original premise. The initial idea was enjoyable, but Sword Art Online gradually moved away from handling the sociological and psychological aspects to focus on Kirito's growing harem and fanservice (of the sexual and non-sexual variety). The story's focus is Kazuto Kirigaya, known simply as Kirito in the game, one of the early beta testers who uses his knowledge to help others as the Black Swordsman.

In that first arc, the show explored the idea of guilds, player killing, and dungeon diving in a world where doing those things would actually get you killed.

Based on a light novel series, the show's original premise explored online gaming culture in a near future, where thousands of players of a virtual reality MMO find themselves trapped within the game. Sword Art Online is one of the most popular anime shows currently running.

Sword art online hollow fragment