Thread:ClarentBloodArthur/@comment-5688420-20200409083150/@comment-5688420-20200414073850

Finally, SWORD×SHIELD is a case where the drama surroinding the work is far more interesting than the work itself.

SWORD×SHIELD is, at its core, a clone of Sword Art Online, only with slightly better characterization (by comparison). It stars a group of teens who are trapped in an MMORPG, Sword x Shield Online, though most of the SAO comparisons end there (for one; unlike SAO, dying in the game doesn't kill you for real)

At the peak of its popularity, SWORD×SHIELD was once touted as the "SAO killer", for its improved character development and its actively avoiding the pitfalls that plagued SAO. Many have requested an adaption of it ever since it was first published, hopefully to take down the giant that is SAO.

It all came to a head when in 2015, an animated adaption of SWORD×SHIELD was announced, slated for the Spring 2016 season, animated by Studio Pierrot and starring big name voice actors like Satoshi Hino and Suzuko Mimori as lead characters Tsurugi Endo and Mahou.

Then, January of 2016 came, and the novel's writer, Satoru Kashiwagi, was arrested for possession of child pornography. The series was promptly cancelled, and so was the slated adaption, and Kashiwagi was blacklisted from DokiDoki Bunko.

Eventually, in 2020, several episodes of the SWORD×SHIELD anime were leaked onto the internet by a former Studio Pierrot employee who worked on the series prior to its cancellation. Episodes 1 and 2 were complete and even had voice acting, but Episode 3 was in a rudimentary state and lacked audio of any sort, and only a couple of storyboards for Episode 4 seem to exist to this day.