Is Sword Art Online an Isekai Story?
In my previous post, I discussed the basics of the isekai genre. Now, I will discuss Sword Art Online, one of the best-known animes, which is credited for the popularity of the isekai genre. The question, however, is this: is Sword Art Online really an isekai series?
To answer that question, I will look at the two story arcs that qualify. The first is the Aincrad arc, which takes place inside the eponymous game of death, and covers the first half of the anime's first season, as well as Volumes 1, 2 and (part of) 8 of the light novel series. The second is the Alicization arc, which has its own anime series, as well as a whopping ten volumes of the light novel.
What follows is the analysis of how well the Aincrad and Alicization arcs fit into the isekai genre. While the Aincrad arc, as the start of the series, is safe to discuss, beware of spoilers in the Alicization portion.
Aincrad
The premise for the Aincrad arc is as follows. Ten thousand Japanese gamers are trapped in the eponymous virtual reality massively multiplayer online RPG (VRMMO), in which dying in the game results in them dying in real life. There is only one way to escape from the world of Sword Art Online- complete the game. Since the world of Aincrad, the game's setting consists of a hundred floors, and the stairways between floors are in the middle of dungeons, guarded by boss monsters, this is much more difficult than it sounds.
Naturally, the SAO players adapt in different ways. Some remain oblivious to the danger and get themselves killed through carelessness or foolish attempts to leave the world by dying. Others hide away inside the safety of the cities, too afraid to take risks by fighting. Still others set out to brave the dungeons, defeat the bosses and ascend all the way to the top of Aincrad. Unfortunately, a small but very noticeable group decides that a situation like this would be the perfect chance to commit murder and other crimes that they couldn't in the real world.
Most of the people who survive longer than the first two months have two things in common. The first is the desire to stay alive long enough to return home. The second, which is seemingly contradictory to the first, is to accept that they are stuck in Aincrad, and avoid discussing or thinking of their "real" life too much, lest it become a distraction.
As such, this is one way the Aincrad arc does not qualify as an isekai; if everyone in the game world is from the real world, then there is nothing unique or special about being from another world. Apart from the roughly 10,000 players (a number that drops to a little more than 6,000 by the end), there are virtually no entities with human-level intelligence- just monsters, quest NPCs, and the odd mental health program like Yui. The world of Aincrad was created for the sake of its creator's dream, and exists for the players to conquer, rather than being a world with its own inhabitants that existed before the outsiders' arrival.
Another factor is the nature of the world itself, as a man-made video game. Unlike most isekai worlds, which tend to have fantastical elements such as magic or mythical creatures, this is a video game with mechanics like hit points, skill building and equipment, all of which are familiar to RPG players. In fact, a significant portion of the player base(including the protagonist) played the beta test, and know much about how the game works. Some players, like Klein and Asuna, have no experience with VRMMOs, but others, like Kirito, are experienced players, and thus take to the game relatively quickly.
Lastly, the SAO players never actually left the real world. Their bodies remain in the reality, languishing in comas, and shortly before the end, Kirito and Asuna realize that if they stay in the game too long, they will waste away, so they must eventually complete the game. While the players seeking to clear SAO cannot afford any distractions, they also cannot forget that they belong in the real world.
In the end, Akihiko Kayaba, SAO's creator, sought to create a world, but he ultimately envisioned that the story he wrote, with himself as the villain, would inevitably end. Sword Art Online's Aincrad arc is a tale of a video game that became a world unto itself, but is not a true isekai series.
Alicization
Alicization, however, has more of a "Trapped in Another World" concept, even if Kirito is fully aware that it is a computer simulation. Kirito once spent time in the Underworld as a child, developing a close friendship with the Fluctlights (artificial intelligences) Eugeo and Alice, and eventually returning later as an effort to heal the brain damage he suffered after being attacked by Johnny Black in the real world.
While Kirito is fully aware that the Underworld is a computer simulation and everyone in it besides him is a Fluctlight, the story asks whether this matters. The Fluctlights are, for all intents and purposes, essentially human, and Kirito and Asuna are appalled by the idea of using them to pilot unmanned vehicles and fight wars in real life.
Kirito is very much an outsider in the Underworld, earning him the label of a "lost chid of Vecta" as one who has no memories or place in society. He, as a human, is one of the few individuals capable of violating the Taboo Index, although Alice, Eugeo and Iskahn also demonstrate this ability. He also does not unquestioningly accept the institutions of the Underworld, and sees Raios and Humbert as the unpleasant bullies that they are, rather than as high-ranking nobles who deserve respect.
Of course, many of the same elements from Aincrad still apply. Everything about the world is part of a program, and the residents are merely unaware of how they're using system commands, rather than magic. Once again Kirito is desperate to return to the real world, and is eventually able to contact those running the Underworld after reaching the top of Centoria Cathedral.
Just as one of Sword Art Online's main themes is the line between the real world and virtual reality, it is appropriate for one of the Alicization arc's primary themes to be whether a world full of artificial intelligences can be considered real. In the end, though, it is largely a microcosm that exists as a means to an end for artificial intelligence research, and is essentially part of our world, rather than a world of its own.
Conclusion
Sword Art Online's Aincrad and Alicization arcs have some elements in common with the isekai genre, but calling the series as a whole isekai would be a disservice to it. Part of the premise of the series is the relationship between a virtual world and a real world, something that cannot be accomplished without having much of the series take place in reality. Even in the two arcs I mentioned, the characters from the real world are unable to fully let go of the memories and bonds they have in the other world, and ultimately seek to return to reality.
While in many isekai stories, the "real" world is merely an element in the protagonist's backstory or quickly forgotten about, Sword Art Online cautions against becoming too absorbed in a virtual world that you lose sight of your real life. The series shows Kirito and his friends adventuring in many virtual worlds, but remains firmly rooted in the real word, so it is not completely an isekai series.
To answer that question, I will look at the two story arcs that qualify. The first is the Aincrad arc, which takes place inside the eponymous game of death, and covers the first half of the anime's first season, as well as Volumes 1, 2 and (part of) 8 of the light novel series. The second is the Alicization arc, which has its own anime series, as well as a whopping ten volumes of the light novel.
What follows is the analysis of how well the Aincrad and Alicization arcs fit into the isekai genre. While the Aincrad arc, as the start of the series, is safe to discuss, beware of spoilers in the Alicization portion.
Aincrad
The premise for the Aincrad arc is as follows. Ten thousand Japanese gamers are trapped in the eponymous virtual reality massively multiplayer online RPG (VRMMO), in which dying in the game results in them dying in real life. There is only one way to escape from the world of Sword Art Online- complete the game. Since the world of Aincrad, the game's setting consists of a hundred floors, and the stairways between floors are in the middle of dungeons, guarded by boss monsters, this is much more difficult than it sounds.
Naturally, the SAO players adapt in different ways. Some remain oblivious to the danger and get themselves killed through carelessness or foolish attempts to leave the world by dying. Others hide away inside the safety of the cities, too afraid to take risks by fighting. Still others set out to brave the dungeons, defeat the bosses and ascend all the way to the top of Aincrad. Unfortunately, a small but very noticeable group decides that a situation like this would be the perfect chance to commit murder and other crimes that they couldn't in the real world.
Most of the people who survive longer than the first two months have two things in common. The first is the desire to stay alive long enough to return home. The second, which is seemingly contradictory to the first, is to accept that they are stuck in Aincrad, and avoid discussing or thinking of their "real" life too much, lest it become a distraction.
As such, this is one way the Aincrad arc does not qualify as an isekai; if everyone in the game world is from the real world, then there is nothing unique or special about being from another world. Apart from the roughly 10,000 players (a number that drops to a little more than 6,000 by the end), there are virtually no entities with human-level intelligence- just monsters, quest NPCs, and the odd mental health program like Yui. The world of Aincrad was created for the sake of its creator's dream, and exists for the players to conquer, rather than being a world with its own inhabitants that existed before the outsiders' arrival.
Another factor is the nature of the world itself, as a man-made video game. Unlike most isekai worlds, which tend to have fantastical elements such as magic or mythical creatures, this is a video game with mechanics like hit points, skill building and equipment, all of which are familiar to RPG players. In fact, a significant portion of the player base(including the protagonist) played the beta test, and know much about how the game works. Some players, like Klein and Asuna, have no experience with VRMMOs, but others, like Kirito, are experienced players, and thus take to the game relatively quickly.
Lastly, the SAO players never actually left the real world. Their bodies remain in the reality, languishing in comas, and shortly before the end, Kirito and Asuna realize that if they stay in the game too long, they will waste away, so they must eventually complete the game. While the players seeking to clear SAO cannot afford any distractions, they also cannot forget that they belong in the real world.
In the end, Akihiko Kayaba, SAO's creator, sought to create a world, but he ultimately envisioned that the story he wrote, with himself as the villain, would inevitably end. Sword Art Online's Aincrad arc is a tale of a video game that became a world unto itself, but is not a true isekai series.
Alicization
Alicization, however, has more of a "Trapped in Another World" concept, even if Kirito is fully aware that it is a computer simulation. Kirito once spent time in the Underworld as a child, developing a close friendship with the Fluctlights (artificial intelligences) Eugeo and Alice, and eventually returning later as an effort to heal the brain damage he suffered after being attacked by Johnny Black in the real world.
While Kirito is fully aware that the Underworld is a computer simulation and everyone in it besides him is a Fluctlight, the story asks whether this matters. The Fluctlights are, for all intents and purposes, essentially human, and Kirito and Asuna are appalled by the idea of using them to pilot unmanned vehicles and fight wars in real life.
Kirito is very much an outsider in the Underworld, earning him the label of a "lost chid of Vecta" as one who has no memories or place in society. He, as a human, is one of the few individuals capable of violating the Taboo Index, although Alice, Eugeo and Iskahn also demonstrate this ability. He also does not unquestioningly accept the institutions of the Underworld, and sees Raios and Humbert as the unpleasant bullies that they are, rather than as high-ranking nobles who deserve respect.
Of course, many of the same elements from Aincrad still apply. Everything about the world is part of a program, and the residents are merely unaware of how they're using system commands, rather than magic. Once again Kirito is desperate to return to the real world, and is eventually able to contact those running the Underworld after reaching the top of Centoria Cathedral.
Just as one of Sword Art Online's main themes is the line between the real world and virtual reality, it is appropriate for one of the Alicization arc's primary themes to be whether a world full of artificial intelligences can be considered real. In the end, though, it is largely a microcosm that exists as a means to an end for artificial intelligence research, and is essentially part of our world, rather than a world of its own.
Conclusion
Sword Art Online's Aincrad and Alicization arcs have some elements in common with the isekai genre, but calling the series as a whole isekai would be a disservice to it. Part of the premise of the series is the relationship between a virtual world and a real world, something that cannot be accomplished without having much of the series take place in reality. Even in the two arcs I mentioned, the characters from the real world are unable to fully let go of the memories and bonds they have in the other world, and ultimately seek to return to reality.
While in many isekai stories, the "real" world is merely an element in the protagonist's backstory or quickly forgotten about, Sword Art Online cautions against becoming too absorbed in a virtual world that you lose sight of your real life. The series shows Kirito and his friends adventuring in many virtual worlds, but remains firmly rooted in the real word, so it is not completely an isekai series.
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