Released in 2012, Sword Art Online has cemented its place over the years as one of the most influential and successful anime of the decade, especially in the isekai genre. The popularity of isekai anime in the present-day industry is for the majority thanks to the popularity of SAO which popularized the creative potential of the concept of a normal human being transported to another world.

Set in the near future, the plot revolves around Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya and his fiancé Asuna Yuuki as they traverse the world of various VR MMORPG games with their friends. The third season of the show,Art Online: Alicizationstarted airing in 2018, and the final part of the season,War of Underworldpremiered in 2020. As usual, a new season brought in a new wave of memes, and this list features a handful of them.

10 Things That Make Life Better

Everybody has a bad day sometimes, or a bad week (or if it's 2020 then a bad year) and during such times nothing feels more like a breath of fresh air than a new episode of a favorite show. A-1 Pictures is a subsidiary of Aniplex, the producer of some of the highest-rated anime series ever including but not limited to SAO.

War of Underworldwas initially scheduled to premiere in April, but to the dismay of fans was delayed for a few months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It might seem like a small thing, but even something as simple as the new episode of their favorite anime can mean a lot to people in tough times.

9 What The Audience Wants

A crossover meme for both fans ofStar Warsand SAO, and to be more specific the meme is a reference toRevenge of the Sithwhen Anakin executes Count Dooku at Chancellor Palpatine's behest.

The second character in the picture, at whose through Kirito is holding a lightsaber is Raios Antinous, a minor antagonist from the time when Kirito and Eugeo were training at the Sword Mastery Academy who was a sadist psychopath. He was a cruel and sinister man, and although Kirito didn't get rid of him directly his demise was still a moment applauded by fans.

8 Tsundere 100

The term "tsundere" is a rather common one for veteran anime-watchers and refers to a character, girl in most cases, who acts cold and rude towards others to hide their true feelings of gentle friendliness or in some cases romantic interest. Tsundere characters have become a staple of anime culture, appearing in one way or another in a large number of anime.

One of their commonly seen attributes is they tend to overuse the word "stupid" and "idiot" while communicating with others, especially more so if the person is a love interest.

7 Good Old Overpowered Days

Kirito was never a physically strong person in real life, but inside the virtual world of MMORPG games, he is an immensely skilled and robust swordfighter who can go head to head against most kinds of enemies unless they're a boss or something.

In the final arc of SAO Alicization, an intense battle takes place between Kirito, Alice, Eugeo, and the Administrator, at the end of which Kirito's team emerges victorious but Kirito's "fluctlight" is damaged, which paralyzes him. After the battle, Kirito stays paralyzed for a big portion of theWar of Underworld arc, and is unable to do assist is his friends in the fight.

6 A Miscalculated Risk

Reddit has grown into one of the most popular social media sites in recent years, and it's somewhat of a heaven for meme lovers due to its massive community which produces new original memes on a daily basis.

The site works on a point system called karma which indicates the quality of their activities on the site. A higher count is obviously an indicator of a popular and good user. But bad or controversial posts can be equally bad and even result in a negative karma count.

5 The War Continues

Fans tend to be passionate about their favorite characters, which is only natural, and especially more so when it comes to anime. A prime topic of argument between anime fans is the debate about who is the best "waifu", which is a slang term mostly used to refer to female characters who possess attractive feminine (wife-like) charms. It's a debate that has been around for almost as long as anime itself, and it gets reignited in a new form every season when a new wave of anime is released.

Some people think Asuna is better suited to be at Kirito's side, others prefer Alice, and even ignoring those two there's an abundance of female characters in SAO.

4 Right In The Feels

WhenAlicizationfirst started airing, many fans were distressed by the drastic change in the story and the sudden appearance of new characters. The focus of the plot shifted from a pre-established sequence to literally a new world revolving around Kirito and his new friends Alice and Eugeo.

Although getting used to the new surroundings might have been slightly awkward for fans, in the beginning, the relationship between the three was undeniably heartfelt thanks to the strong writing. All of that just makes Eugeo's death more tragic in the end.

3 Who's The Better Detective?

The second story arc of the first season of SAO focused on Kirito and his virtual surrogate daughter Yui looking for Asuna who is stuck in a new game world by the name of Alfheim Online with the help of their other friends. It takes Kirito a full 10 episodes to locate Asuna ultimately.

Funnily enough, (albeit the circumstances were quite different for the two of them) when Kirito goes missing towards the beginning of season 3, Asuna successfully hunts down where Kirito is in the span of a single episode. That is to say, they were actually able to reconcile much later than that.

2 Another Crossover

2018's Goblin Slayertook place in a fantasy world much like SAO and told the story of an unnamed armor-clad adventurer who went by the name of Goblin Slayer, whose only objective is to slay as many goblins as he can possibly get his hands on in the most brutal of ways one can.

The meme is a reference to one of the early episodes ofAlicization when Kirito and Eugeo travel to the End Mountains to rescue Alice's little sister and are attacked by fearsome goblins. The Goblin Slayer would indeed have been a helpful person to have around at that time.

1 Classic Netflix Shenanigans

Netflix has a commendable track record of making live-action adaptations of popular media such as 2019'sThe Witcherstarring Man of Steel actor Henry Cavil, which received quite a lot of praise from fans for being a notably well-done adaptation.

At the same time, memes mocking Netflix's ability to make good anime or manga adaptations and criticizing their poor production quality have also become popular among the internet community. A live-action SAO series by Netflix has already been announced, and it remains to be seen whether they'll do the anime justice.

NEXT: 10 Powerful Anime Villains With No Redeeming Qualities