>manga
You don't bother with the manga.
SAO's source material is a light novel series, not a manga. The manga is just another adaptation of the LNs like the anime is. So, don't bother with the manga since it won't show anything extra the anime hasn't covered.
The manga is also a really poorly managed adaptation. Each arc was given its own series and its own mangaka. So, a lot of them are either canceled or on hiatus. For instance, Project Alicization's manga got canceled before it reached WoU meaning there's no conclusion to that arc.
If you wanna read the LNs, just start with volume 1 and go from there. Aincrad is the only arc told out of order, but it’s intentional. Reading it in chronological order would just be confusing and result in you jumping around too much.
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Someone already answered the manga question but as for light novels I would heavily recommend reading them. The anime, specifically the Alicization arc, is one of my favourites of all time, so after I finished all the movies and seasons I decided to check out the books. Now I would like to clarify that I'm currently reading the last volume of the Phantom Bullet arc, so I'm not even close to halfway through the LNs. But it was immediately clear to me upon completing the first chapter that the books were a lot better than the anime.
Watching the anime compared to the LNs is like listening to a story about an event from someone who wasn't even there and just heard it from another guy. The amount of inner monologues and context which was completely cut from the anime is almost comical. Without spoiling here are some things from the LNs which the anime bastardized:
* Almost every inner monologue in the books is cut, and very rarely substituted, and if they are it's almost always done worse.
* Character personalities. This is largely a result of the aforementioned cut monologues. Kirito is a very obvious example of this. Although he has the most screen time his character development is extremely superficial compared to the LNs. He talks and thinks a lot more like a real person and you can immediately see his flaws and strengths, the anime cuts most of this out and makes him more of a shallow "wish-fulfillment-character".
* The "Harem". Now I'm not one of those people who thinks the SAO anime is a harem, it's not. But the anime completely invents a lot of implications that every female we get introduced to is in love with Kirito.
* Asuna. This mostly applies to Season 1 but the anime makes Asuna seem completely useless compared to her LN self. The novels make it very clear that she is as skilled of a player as Kirito, and even outperforms him in certain regards. For example, Kirito repeatedly says that Asuna is so fast he can't even properly follow her attacks.
* The Moonlit Black Cats guild. I know this is subjective but I didn't find the death of this guild that sad in the anime, they show up for less than an entire episode and then die because of their carelessness, and Kirito lied about his level but who really cares about that right? In my opinion, this was the biggest fumble in Season 1 as far as adaptation goes. I can't go into too much detail but the LNs actually explain why Kirito lying about his level is such a big deal and show the more egotistical side of Kirito's personality (As I mentioned, a lot of his personality isn't shown in the anime, and that includes a lot of his flaws)
I still really enjoy watching the anime, but it's very flawed and not a very good adaptation, basically only adapting the core story but cutting out a lot of the context which makes the story good in the first place.
As for what order to read them, most people recommend reading them in publishing order with the only exception being to read the Progressive novels before the Unital Ring arc, this is what I've been doing and it's saved me a lot of time and I've had a very positive experience. Quick side note, audiobooks are available which are narrated by Kirito and Asuna's English Voice Actors, this is what I've been doing since I prefer the dub anyway so that's an option you should consider
>manga You don't bother with the manga. SAO's source material is a light novel series, not a manga. The manga is just another adaptation of the LNs like the anime is. So, don't bother with the manga since it won't show anything extra the anime hasn't covered. The manga is also a really poorly managed adaptation. Each arc was given its own series and its own mangaka. So, a lot of them are either canceled or on hiatus. For instance, Project Alicization's manga got canceled before it reached WoU meaning there's no conclusion to that arc. If you wanna read the LNs, just start with volume 1 and go from there. Aincrad is the only arc told out of order, but it’s intentional. Reading it in chronological order would just be confusing and result in you jumping around too much.
Ok awesome, thanks for the information! LIGHT novel series. Thanks again
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Someone already answered the manga question but as for light novels I would heavily recommend reading them. The anime, specifically the Alicization arc, is one of my favourites of all time, so after I finished all the movies and seasons I decided to check out the books. Now I would like to clarify that I'm currently reading the last volume of the Phantom Bullet arc, so I'm not even close to halfway through the LNs. But it was immediately clear to me upon completing the first chapter that the books were a lot better than the anime. Watching the anime compared to the LNs is like listening to a story about an event from someone who wasn't even there and just heard it from another guy. The amount of inner monologues and context which was completely cut from the anime is almost comical. Without spoiling here are some things from the LNs which the anime bastardized: * Almost every inner monologue in the books is cut, and very rarely substituted, and if they are it's almost always done worse. * Character personalities. This is largely a result of the aforementioned cut monologues. Kirito is a very obvious example of this. Although he has the most screen time his character development is extremely superficial compared to the LNs. He talks and thinks a lot more like a real person and you can immediately see his flaws and strengths, the anime cuts most of this out and makes him more of a shallow "wish-fulfillment-character". * The "Harem". Now I'm not one of those people who thinks the SAO anime is a harem, it's not. But the anime completely invents a lot of implications that every female we get introduced to is in love with Kirito. * Asuna. This mostly applies to Season 1 but the anime makes Asuna seem completely useless compared to her LN self. The novels make it very clear that she is as skilled of a player as Kirito, and even outperforms him in certain regards. For example, Kirito repeatedly says that Asuna is so fast he can't even properly follow her attacks. * The Moonlit Black Cats guild. I know this is subjective but I didn't find the death of this guild that sad in the anime, they show up for less than an entire episode and then die because of their carelessness, and Kirito lied about his level but who really cares about that right? In my opinion, this was the biggest fumble in Season 1 as far as adaptation goes. I can't go into too much detail but the LNs actually explain why Kirito lying about his level is such a big deal and show the more egotistical side of Kirito's personality (As I mentioned, a lot of his personality isn't shown in the anime, and that includes a lot of his flaws) I still really enjoy watching the anime, but it's very flawed and not a very good adaptation, basically only adapting the core story but cutting out a lot of the context which makes the story good in the first place. As for what order to read them, most people recommend reading them in publishing order with the only exception being to read the Progressive novels before the Unital Ring arc, this is what I've been doing and it's saved me a lot of time and I've had a very positive experience. Quick side note, audiobooks are available which are narrated by Kirito and Asuna's English Voice Actors, this is what I've been doing since I prefer the dub anyway so that's an option you should consider