The Sword Art Online: Kiss and Fly manga volumes focus heavily on relationships in SAO series. For example, much of the first volume focuses on Kirito and Asuna. While we see the two and their closest allies feature heavily in an ongoing story in the first part of the second volume, I feel like another really steals the show. Sword Art Online: Kiss and Fly volume 2 marks the debut of the manga adaptation of the story Sisters’ Prayer, doing a wonderful job of telling Yuuki, Aiko and Merida’s story and showing another side of FullDive VR games and experiences.

Editor’s Note: There will be some spoilers for the first part of the movie Sword Art Online: Kiss and Fly manga volume 2 “Sisters’ Prayer” and the characters Yuuki, Aiko and Merida below.

Mainly Sword Art Online series, we hear about a life-threatening series SAO incident that resulted in real-world fatalities, but the story of “Sisters’ Prayer” looks at another way FullDive VR games can affect people’s lives. The second half of volume 2 of Sword Art Online: Kiss and Fly the manga introduces the new retelling of this story. Yuuki and Aiko are terminally ill sisters who essentially live in the hospital, with Aiko sacrificing the chance to experience the more advanced and experimental Medicuboid FullDive technology so that her sister can be in a safer environment. The two live in a VR world of a Serene Garden hospice. It is peaceful, without struggle or risk.

So when we’re first introduced to the situation, we see these two young women dealing with the knowledge that the person behind the systems they’re using and the experience they’re enjoying has also been linked to the mortal. SAO incident. So there’s this moment where the sisters, and we as readers, have to reconcile the idea that Akihiko Kayaba might be responsible for the villainous, murderous behavior, might also be responsible for the technology that gives suffering individuals the chance to be free, to live. , and to make more memories.

In doing so, we begin to bring up the relationships between Yuuki and Aiko, and later Merida, in Sword Art Online: Kiss and Fly. The three girls living with a terminal illness meet in Serene Garden, bonding over bug catching, crepes and VR games. It is encouraging to see this immediate connection. It’s like the reasons they’re able to be in this VR world take a back seat. Instead, they can form a real and meaningful bond together. They make plans to spend time together, something they probably wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.

It means we can see too Sword Art Online: Kiss and Fly the “Sisters’ Prayer” story in the manga touches on a different issue. Are these VR games worth it? Is this something that should be used for these hospital patients? Are they missing out on ultimate, real-world experiences and “wasting time” here? I appreciate the way it is approached, even briefly.

Given the nature Sword Art Online: Kiss and Fly manga, what we see here of Yuuki, Aiko and Merida is more of a teaser. It is a first part of a larger piece that will be explored later. But what is here is very valuable. In a short period of time, it establishes important relationships and makes the reader think about interesting questions about the creator of certain VR technologies and their use.

Volume 2 of Sword Art Online: Kiss and Fly the manga is available now from Yen Pressand volume 3 will start on January 21, 2025. He also handled light novels outside of Japan as well. The anime is streaming Crunchyroll.