Hello, this is Reki Kawahara. Thank you for reading Sword Art Online 13: Alicization Dividing.
This is now the fifth volume of the Alicization arc, and with the introduction of the big bad, I can finally heave a sigh of relief…which I probably shouldn’t be wasting my time with. Like the previous volume, there’s a lot of going up and down here. I chose different kanji for climbing a wall and climbing stairs, which made my own proofing efforts very difficult to keep track of—not to mention the poor proofreaders!
Sorry, got off track there. We’ve been having difficulty just getting to the big boss fight, and this volume is finally where we get a good up-close look at Alice Synthesis Thirty, the third protagonist and the inspiration for the series subtitle. How she faces the systems that bind her and how she attempts to create her own fate are major themes of this story, so I hope that you can get behind her the same way that you do for Kirito and Eugeo.
Speaking of Eugeo, he got a sudden class upgrade at the very last moment, didn’t he? Can Kirito defeat him as a mere swordsman, or will he need to look into a class change of his own? My usual apologies for ending us right at that cliffhanger! We will finally be fighting Administrator in Volume 14—the wait is nearly over!
…And this is where I must sadly admit that the next SAO book will be Progressive, Volume 2. If you’ve grown tired of Kirito and Asuna being split up between the Underworld and real life, you’ll be able to read about them tackling the third floor of Aincrad in that one. Please check it out.
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And now, a brief advertisement. As of this writing (2013), there will be an end-of-year TV special for the SAO anime. It’s going to be a recap of the Aincrad and Fairy Dance arcs from the 2012 TV series, but there will be some new animation included. It’s the first time in a year that Kirito has graced the screen in motion, so be sure to tune in.
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Lastly, to my illustrator abec, who had to deal with my usual lateness, my editors Mr. Miki and Mr. Tsuchiya, and everyone who’s read this far, thank you so much. See you in the next book!
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Reki Kawahara—June 2013