SAO Túlélő Iskola

The SAO Survivor School (《SAO》帰還者学校, "SAO" Kikan-sha Gakkō?, lit. SAO Returnee School) is a special school established in Nishitokyo, Tokyo for the survivors of Sword Art Online who were still minors in terms of age. It is classified as a National Vocational School under the School Education Law.[1]

Background

The school building was originally a metropolitan high school that had been abandoned due to unification and reorganization a year before the events of the Fairy Dance arc and was awaiting demolition.[1] After the collapse of Sword Art Online, the school building was urgently transformed into a temporary school within two months of the project's announcement.[5] The school specialised in teaching the middle and high school students that had returned from SAO and had fallen behind in their studies due to being in a comatose state for two years.[5] Unlike most schools in Japan, the SAO survivors school does not have entrance exams nor school fees and all students who attend the school are eligible to take the entrance examinations for university after graduating.[6][5][1] Such extremely good treatment had received criticism for a while.[5]

The school was likely created to manage most SAO survivors in one place, as they were worried how the two years trapped in a brutal death game had affected their mental health. Those who attend the school were obligated to participate in a weekly counseling session which involved answering questions that were blatant tests for anti-social behaviour and, based on the answers, the students might be sent to hospital for diagnosis or even put on medication.[5] However, students are not forced to study at this school, though they would have to spend a year cramming to prepare for a regular high school's entrance exams.[6]

Uniform

All students at this school have to wear a blue, blazer-type uniform.[3] The male version of the uniform consists of a dark blue jacket with the school's insignia on the left side, a white, long-sleeve shirt with a collar that has two light blue lines forming an X on each side and the same insignia of the school on its left side as the jacket, a red tie and dark blue trousers.[7] The female version of the uniform differs from the male version in that females wear a dark blue skirt with knee-length or longer socks instead of trousers, a red ribbon instead of a tie and wear a cropped version of the jacket.[7] During summer, the students usually go to school without their jackets and wear short-sleeve version shirts.

Chronology

Fairy Dance Arc

The school began official operation in April, 2025 with the start of the new school year in Japan began. A month later, Kazuto and Asuna met up in the school's park for lunch where they talked about what had happened since January that year. In the meantime, Rika and Keiko, who had been peeping on them from the cafeteria's window, talked about how they should not have agreed to the one month truce of letting Asuna and Kazuto enjoy themselves without either Keiko or Rika interfering. They then start talking about the offline meeting that they were planning at the Dicey Cafe that day.

Girls Ops

On the day the Ring of Angel's Whisper quest was added to ALfheim Online, Rika and Keiko met up at the school's cafe and made plans to complete the quest.

Mother's Rosario

On January 12, 2026, the day after Asuna found out about Yuuki's condition and her desire to attend school, she had Kazuto to set up his Bidirectional Communication Probe on Asuna's shoulder for Yuuki to use so that she could attend school with her.