Sword Art Online is known for its action, characters, and people's love of hating on it, but there's one thing fans and haters can agree on -- the outfits the characters wear are quite fashionable. There hasn't been an anime convention without at least five or ten Asuna and Kirito cosplayers and it appears it won't stop anytime soon, especially since Sword Art Online: Alicization streamed this year and Sword Art Online: War of Underworld is to begin streaming in April 2020.
Despite the hate, you can't deny that the series has created some interesting (as well as unappealing) outfits for the characters over the years. In this list, we're going to go over 5 Asuna outfits we loved (& 5 she should never wear again).
10 DON'T WEAR: YELLOW SWEATER (SWORD ART ONLINE)
Asuna first wears this outfit after she gets married to Kirito (in-game, of course) in the first season of Sword Art Online. Although there isn't anything particularly wrong with it, nothing stands out about it either. She simply threw on a large sweater, a brown skirt, and some boots. Compared to Asuna's other outfits, it's most likely the least to stand out throughout the series.
There isn't a need for Asuna to wear it again which also prompts the question as to would sue truly wear it in real life or was it created solely for the purpose of making her look more motherly for Yui?
9 WEAR: PROMO CASUAL WEAR (SWORD ART ONLINE: ORDINAL SCALE)
It's a shame this outfit has never seen the light of day in the anime and has been reduced to promotional material for Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale. Compared to her yellow sweater, this outfit fits Asuna's personal preferences. It's not hard to imagine a girly-girl like Asuna wearing a white blouse and orange skirt while she's on a date with Kirito or hanging out with Sword Art Online pals Lisbeth or Suguha.
To top it off, in one picture her hair is styled into a twisted ponytail and a pink flower clip. It's not hard to imagine Asuna wearing this outfit which makes it all the more frustrating she never wore it in the anime or movie.
8 DON'T WEAR: ALFHEIM ONLINE OUTFIT (SWORD ART ONLINE)
There are many different color swap options of the same outfit in fighting games. That's what Asuna's Alfheim Online outfit is like. After the Fairy Dancer Arc comes to a conclusion, Asuna changes her avatar to this one -- which is basically her Sword Art Online outfit, but with a teal accent, pointy ears, and blue hair. That's it.
Because there's nothing special about it, it's not memorable and lazy character design. By simply changing the accent color to red, it would become her Knights of the Blood Oath uniform. After everything that happened before the arc's conclusion, it's understandable why Asuna would want to immediately change her avatar, but it would have been better to put more thought into her selection.
7 WEAR: GUN GALE ONLINE Outfit (ALICIZATION VER.)
The reasons why fans were never shown this version of her Gun Gale Online outfit is still a mystery to this day, but it's a good thing it was revealed. This outfit was first shown in the premiere episode of Sword Art Online: Alicization in 2019, years after Sword Art Online: Gun Gale Online aired. Asuna wasn't really present in the first half of the second season until the Mother's Rosario arc, and even then, she played Alfheim Online where she meets Yuuki.
Kirito and Simon were the only avatars we saw, so seeing Asuna play Gun Gale Online with a cool avatar shocked fans. After the premiere episode, it's never seen again. Fans hope it will make a reappearance, but with all the games they jump into (and with Asuna's affinity for Alfheim Online), it's unlikely.
6 DON'T WEAR: GREEN AND WHITE BLOUSE (SWORD ART ONLINE)
Although not as plain as the yellow sweater, it isn't as memorable either. This time Asuna is wearing a green and white blouse, a skort, and some brown boots. The design had some more thought out into it as it looks as if Asuna would wear an outfit like this.
Returning to the point at hand, there isn't a use for it outside of the series. Asuna wears this outfit frequently in the first season of Sword Art Online before she and Kirito become an in-game couple. Besides that, it's never seen again.
5 WEAR: GODDESS STACIA OUTFIT (SWORD ART ONLINE: WAR OF UNDERWORLD)
Asuna gains this avatar after taking hold of the Administrator's account in Sword Art Online: War of Underworld, and its a good thing she did. Asuna gains the appearance of the late Goddess Stacia, promoting the residents of the game world to think of her as a high being.
Indeed, as she has the exact same appearance as her, down to the accessories in her hair and power to split the world in half with the lift of a hand. It fits Asuna well enough to where fans wouldn't mind if she donned it even after she leaves Alicization.
4 DON'T WEAR: STARTER OUTFIT (SWORD ART ONLINE)
Like the Alfheim Online outfit, this one was an afterthought. The first time you see Asuna in Sword Art Online is when Kirito strikes up a conversation about her with how awful the in-game bread tasted. But since she was wearing a red hood, you couldn't tell it was her yet.
After she takes it off during their first boss fight (as well as shocking everyone because she was a girl playing a video game) this is the outfit you see. It's not hard to see it's the base of her key outfit, the Knight of the Blood Oath's, uniform. Whether it was intentional or not, Asuna doesn't need to don this look ever again.
3 WEAR: ORDINAL SCALE OUTFIT (SWORD ART ONLINE: ORDINAL SCALE)
In Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale, Asuna decides to return to her favorite colors: red and white. Instead of wearing a shirt and skirt, she decides to switch it up with a long white, black, and red jacket, pants, and white boots.
Although it's a simple look, it fits her style perfectly. It's not hard to imagine Asuna wearing this in real life, making it her best avatar personality-wise.
2 DON'T WEAR: FAIRY DANCER ARC OUTFIT (SWORD ART ONLINE)
It's a no brainer as to why this is the outfit Asuna should never wear again. This outfit, or what should be described as a piece of cloth around her chest and a bathrobe wrapped around her waist, is one filled with bad memories. At a glance, any Sword Art Online fan knows why it's so hated.
The only time Asuna is seen wearing it is when she's in a cage or being shown as a damsel in distress when the villain (who should not be named) trapped her inside. Asuna is also wearing sandals (which are barely sandals) and stays in this outfit for the entire Alfheim Online arc.
1 WEAR: KNIGHTS OF THE BLOOD OATH UNIFORM (SWORD ART ONLINE)
When you think about Asuna, you think about this outfit. It's a classic. There's no other way to cut it. In Sword Art Online, Asuna was a commander in a guild called, "The Knights of the Blood Oath". During this time, this was the outfit she would wear throughout the day and during battle unless she was relaxing at home or cooking.
This outfit has been the inspiration for many cosplays because of the clean design and fine details, such as the crosses on her tights and her knightly heeled boots. The Knights of the Blood Oath uniform takes the top spot not just because of the design, but the impact it held (and still does) over the anime community.