10 Good Anime Series Like Sword Art Online (SAO)

Sword Art Online is an anime series based on the series of light novels of same name. Reki Kawahara is the author of this light novel series. A light novel series is a series of Japanese novels that has middle school and high school students as the target audience. It also makes use of many Japanese terms that have their origins in English.

The plot of the series is based in the year 2022, when virtual reality is nearly the same as actual reality. There are many virtual worlds, one of which is a world of Sword Art Online. The players can control their virtual characters with their minds by the help of a virtual reality helmet.

The players cannot log out from the game and have to defeat the final boss to leave the game. The catch here is that a player dies in reality with the death of his/her avatar in the virtual world.

• Swords Art Online
  Director Tomohiko Itō
  Music Yuki Kajiura
  Studio A - 1 Pictures
  On Air July 7, 2012 to December 22, 2012

• Swords Art Online II
  Director Tomohiko Itō
  Music Yuki Kajiura
  Studio A - 1 Pictures
  On Air July 5, 2014 to present

• Log Horizon (Season I)
  Director Shinji Ishihara
  Music Yasuharu Takanashi
  Studio Satelight
  On Air October 5, 2013 to March 22, 2014
  
  
• Log Horizon (Season II)
  Director Shinji Ishihara
  Music Yasuharu Takanashi
  Studio Studio Deen
  On Air October 4, 2014 to present

• This is one of the best anime series like Sword Art Online. It is based on the novel series of the same name by Mamare Tōno. The anime series is written by Toshizo Nemoto. 

When the players reach the 12^th level, they are transported to the virtual world from which they are unable to leave. There are no deaths in this game, and the players have to solve the mystery while being trapped inside the game.

• Btooom!
  Director Kotono Watanabe
  Music Keiji Inai
  Studio Madhouse
  On Air October 4, 2012 to December 20, 2012
  
  This anime is based on the manga series of the same name by Junya Inoue. Players get trapped in their favorite combat game Btooom!. The writer of this anime series is Yōsuke Kuroda.

• [C]: Control - The Money of Soul and Possibility
  Director Kenji Nakamura
  Music Taku Iwasaki
  Studio Tatsunoko Production
  On Air April 14, 2011 to June 23, 2011
  
  In this anime, people are transported to a different dimension by 'betting' on their future. This anime has been written by Noboru Takagi forTatsunoko Production.

• Mirai Nikki
  Director Naoto Hosoda
  Music Tatsuya Kato
  Studio Asread
  On Air April 21, 2012 to June 30, 2012
  
  It is based on the manga series of the same name by Sakae Esuno. The added incentive is that the winner of the survival game gets to become God of Space and Time. The anime series has been written by Katsuhiko Takayama.

• Accel World
  Director Masakazu Obara
  Music Multiple Artists
  Studio Sunrise
  On Air April 6, 2012 to September 21, 2012
  
  The writer of this anime series is Hiroyuki Yoshino. A middle school student starts playing a squash game on the local network of the school to escape bullying. He gets exceptionally good at the game. 

He is then lured to the world of massive multiplayer online games by the vice-president of the student council. The virtual world of this game is connected with the real world.

• .hack//Sign
  Director Kōichi Mashimo
  Music Yuki Kajiura
  Studio Bee Train
  On Air April 4, 2002 to September 25, 2002
  
  This anime series is written by Kazunori Itō. The story is centered around the aftermath of the Internet meltdown brought about by a virus. Only one operating system remains unaffected.

This system creates a virtual world that is linked to the real world, and the players have to find the mystery behind this game.

• Deadman Wonderland
  Director Kōichirō Hatsumi
  Music NARASAKI
  Studio Man Globe
  On Air April 17, 2011 to July 3, 2011
  
  The writer of the original manga series is Jinsei Kataoka, while the writer of the anime is Yasuyuki Muto. The plot is set in a prison, where the prisoners are made part of a brutal reality show.

The show is for the entertainment of the general public, who is oblivious to the fact that the things which are shown are taking place for real.

• Attack on Titan
  Director Tetsurō Araki
  Music Hiroyuki Sawano
  Studio Wit Studio and Production I.G.
  On Air April 6, 2013 to September 28, 2013

The original manga series has been authored by Hajime Isayama, while the writer of the anime is Yasuko Kobayashi. The story of this anime is centered around the survival of humans from the giant humanoid creatures known as Titans.

• Ixion Saga DT
  Director Shinji Takamatsu
  Music Junpei Fujita and Hitoshi Fujima
  Studio Brain's Base On Air October 6, 2012 to March 30, 2013

The online game Ixion Saga has inspired the anime series Ixion Saga Dimensional Transfer. It has been written by Akatsuki Yamatoya. It belongs more to the comical genre than to the genre of fantasy romance like Sword Art Online.

• Digimon Adventure 
  Director Hiroyuki Kakudō 
  Music Takanori Arisawa 
  Studio Toei Animation On Air March 7, 1999 to March 26, 2000

This series has been written by Satoru Nishizono. This anime takes place in a digital world. This makes it an anime similar to Sword Art Online. It is centered around children who have to fight monsters after being transported into the digital world.

For those of you who liked Sword Art Online, this list will fill your appetite for some more similar stuff.