Sword Art Online There Are Things You Have to Protect Cause Itsa Virtual World
Sword Fine art Online: A Series of Retcons
past Kim Morrissy,Correct from the very starting time, Sword Art Online was a work of compromise. When Reki Kawahara showtime began writing the novel 20 years agone in the hopes of submitting it to the Dengeki Novel Prize, he struggled to make his ambitious concept fit the contest's page limit. SAO was a story well-nigh escaping a death game VRMMORPG, but it was also a story about living life to the fullest inside the virtual world. To brand these seemingly contradictory themes complement each other effectively, Kawahara set out to portray every facet of his earth—the good, the bad, the thrills, and the downtime—but carrying all that within the telescopic of a one-shot was a alpine ask indeed for a first-time author.
Somewhen, Kawahara gave up on the competition and posted his manuscript online in the hopes that someone out there would find some enjoyment in information technology. Fortunately for him, his work attracted a modest post-obit. SAO had all the telltale signs of a compressed book—it was filled with underdeveloped side characters and narrative threads—but it was by no means a bad story at its cadre. The positive feedback inspired Kawahara to keep writing, this fourth dimension with the luxury of an unlimited word count.
This would exist the outset of Sword Art Online as a series that constantly revisits and reinvents itself. It's the source of SAO 's biggest storytelling flaws, but also its well-nigh interesting qualities.
Technically speaking, the story of "Sword Art Online" (the game) had already concluded from the beginning. And although Kawahara did settle on a management to accept the serial into the time to come, one of the first things he did was go dorsum to the earth of Aincrad and write side stories that have identify within the gaps in the original story. The story of "Sword Art Online" might accept ended, just there was notwithstanding a lot of unfinished business for its characters and globe.
In that location are obvious downsides to writing side stories after the fact. They tin introduce inconsistencies with the original story (which, as Kawahara bluntly admitted, has happened with SAO ). More chiefly, it can be difficult to justify their existence on a narrative level, because any original elements introduced in a side story can't be allowed to influence the existing plot in an overt fashion. If that were to happen, information technology would become an "alternating universe" story rather than a matter of filling gaps in the original. For better or worse, attempts to refine an already-completed story draw attention to holes that ultimately weren't relevant to the goals of the original work.
Nevertheless, SAO 's side stories certainly are important to the overall plot because they introduce characters who become relevant in later on arcs. The most significant example of this is Yui, who was introduced in a side story covering Kirito and Asuna's honeymoon and comes dorsum to play a major supporting role in the Fairy Dance arc. Information technology's a rather patchwork approach to storytelling, merely it's too 1 of the reasons behind the longevity of the series: Past consistently referring dorsum to events and characters from Aincrad, Kawahara ensures that the game of "Sword Art Online" never truly ends.
Adapting the series—starting time to impress lite novels and then to anime—gave the author nevertheless more opportunities to reevaluate SAO from the beginning and add more than to the story. He was faced with a choice: He could rewrite the Aincrad arc in a way that includes the later on brusk stories as part of the original telling. Ultimately, however, he rejected that path because it would have involved far too much work. Instead, the early side stories were compiled into volume 2. A second Aincrad side story volume was released as volume 8, which included a new story about what Kirito did immediately later abandoning Klein on that fateful first day. The intent behind that volume was to represent the past and present of the series before diving into the print version of the Alicization arc, which was the original final arc of the web novel telling.
When information technology came to the anime, however, the production team decided on arranging the story in a chronological social club. Information technology might be relatively easier for a reader to adjust to a story that jumps around in time on a book-to-book level, but a Television set prove had to exist more straightforward. It was nether that logic that Kawahara was asked to write the events of episode 2 every bit a manner of bridging the opening of SAO's main story to the side stories.
The results at the fourth dimension were… mixed. Episode 2 tells the story of how the players conquered the game'southward first floor; it ends with Kirito begetting the brunt of the players' ill volition and vowing to work alone. However, the next episode immediately opens with him joining a guild. Information technology'due south then revealed through the events of the episode that although his fellow guild members are low-level, Kirito is already a loftier-level player himself, indicating that the time gap betwixt episodes 2 and 3 is even larger than you'd think at first glance. In other words, a bridging episode did non resolve the fundamental pacing problems caused past the time skip.
On the other hand, the experience of writing the plot of episode 2 was what gave Kawahara the motivation to really sit down and "reboot" SAO on a more ambitious scale. The upshot is the Sword Art Online: Progressive light novel series, which includes an expanded version of the events of episode 2 and sets out to tell the story of how each floor was conquered in sequence.
Progressive is undoubtedly a fantastic novel series and i of the peaks of Sword Art Online equally a whole. Considering the kickoff volume was published in 2012, a full decade after the original web novel started serialization, one could run into it as the culmination of everything Kawahara learned every bit a writer. The more than relaxed pacing allowed him to thoroughly explore the mechanics and social dynamics of the virtual world in particular, vividly bringing the world and characters of Aincrad to life similar never before.
But Progressive isn't necessarily consistent with the original story. The plot of episode 2 of the anime was originally written to establish the negative perception of Kirito as a "Beater" that lingers even in the afterwards stages of the game, merely in Progressive, the story moves on from the fallout. Not only do the other players soften their impression of Kirito within the course of the series, Kirito teams upward with Asuna and goes on an extended series of adventures with her. So much for being a solo actor, right?
The reason backside the inconsistencies is honestly quite understandable: An actually consistent telling would have involved volumes upon volumes of Kirito level-grinding and traveling lonely, quickly devolving into tedium. Instead of defining him primarily as an overpowered alone wolf, Progressive's Kirito is ofttimes dragged outside his comfort zone to grapple with people problems likewise. Conflicts effectually side characters are necessary for building tension in a story where the ultimate event has been adamant long ago.
Also, bringing the story back to Aincrad gave Kawahara the opportunity to recalibrate the narrative effectually Kirito and Asuna's courting. The romance was ever a big appeal of SAO , but in the original story, they went from afar acquaintances to lovers in record time. In Progressive, they have the opportunity to collaborate as friends and prove a very different side of themselves to each other. Information technology'southward appealing to existing fans because they're already familiar with the relationship dynamic.
In that sense, you lot could say that the retcons ended upwards edifice on the pre-existing narrative rather than outright replacing it. The anime continues with that tradition equally well past incorporating the newer information into its adaptation. For instance, a villain in the Alicization anime had his lines tweaked to make a passing reference to events from Progressive. There'southward also the anime-original motion-picture show Ordinal Calibration, which was later referenced directly in the Television set anime. The events of Ordinal Calibration were besides mentioned in the post-Alicization light novel volumes equally a way of bringing the book and anime continuities together.
For fans who like to keep rail of "canon," these retcons might be a little infuriating. Information technology's piece of cake enough to regard the video games separately considering the game-original characters and scenarios never get referenced in the principal story, but information technology'south nonetheless hard to say what the definitive version of SAO 's story really is. Personally, though, I don't actually heed. Information technology'southward a natural impulse for an author to desire to keep refining their piece of work, and I similar how this approach keeps the story fresh yet still accessible in the long run. You lot can jump into the series from the first light novel volume or the anime and not lose anything, which is the near important thing.
The new Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Aria of a Starless Night anime film represents yet another series of rewrites by introducing a new character and reframing the story around Asuna's perspective. In terms of adaptation fidelity, it's the nearly significant deviation the anime has introduced thus far, only when you lot have the long view about the series, it'south entirely within the spirit of things. I hope you tin arroyo it with an open heed and effort out the novels while you're at information technology—it'southward humbling to witness Reki Kawahara's growth as an author in existent-time.
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Source: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2021-11-15/sword-art-online-a-series-of-retcons/.178875
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