Reki Kawahara

Reki Kawahara (川原 礫, Kawahara Reki, born August 17, 1974) is a Japanese novelist. He is best known as the creator of Sword Art Online and Accel World, both of which have been adapted into anime.

Reki Kawahara
Native name
川原 礫
Born (1974-08-17) August 17, 1974[1][2]
Takasaki, Gunma, Japan
OccupationNovelist
Genre
Notable works
Signature

Career

Kawahara wrote the first volume of Sword Art Online in 2001 as a competition entry for the 2002 ASCII Media Works Dengeki Game Novel Prize (電撃ゲーム小説大賞, Dengeki Game Shōsetsu Taishō, now Dengeki Novel Prize), but refrained from submitting it as he had exceeded the page limit; he instead published it as a web novel under the pen name Fumio Kunori (九里史生, Kunori Fumio).[3] Over time, he added three further main arcs and several short stories, which like the first arc Aincrad, were later adapted into the light novels.[4][5][6]

Kawahara entered the first Accel World novel into ASCII Media Works' 15th Dengeki Novel Prize in 2008 and the novel won the Grand Prize.[7] The first novel was published by ASCII Media Works on February 10, 2009 under their Dengeki Bunko imprint.[8] As of March 10, 2022, 26 volumes have been published.[9] An anime series debuted in April 2012.[10] After gaining fame from the Dengeki award, Kawahara republished Sword Art Online in print. 26 volumes have been published as of June 2022,[11] as well as eight volumes of Sword Art Online: Progressive.[12] An anime series premiered in July 2012,[13] and was followed by a for-TV movie Sword Art Online Extra Edition on December 31, 2013[14] a second anime series, Sword Art Online II, in July 2014,[15] a theatrical film adaptation, Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale, in February 2017,[16] and the first of two seasons for the third anime series, Sword Art Online: Alicization, in October 2018.[17] Sword Art Online: Progressive was given an anime film adaptation in the form of Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night, released in Japan on October 30, 2021.[18] A second Progressive film was released in October 2022.[19]

The Isolator was serialized online starting in 2004,[20] and began publishing in print in June 2014.[21] Five light novels and four manga have been written.[22]

In 2022, Kawahara started publishing a new light novel series, titled Demons' Crest, with illustrations by Yukiko Horiguchi.[23]

Inspirations

Reki Kawahara has many inspirations growing up, from reading manga to online games. Reki Kawahara also stated in a Q&A session[24] between the author Reki Kawahara and Heathcliff (Kayaba Akihiko) in 2005. "If I were to ask for you to mention one of the games you like best, which would it be?", Reki Kawahara stated the following "If you mean aside from SAO, it would be Wizardry, a game from long ago. I acquired a lot of inspiration from it". Rank Anime[25] also wrote a story on what inspired him to write Sword Art Online.[26]

Works

Light novels

Film

References
  1. "Reki Kawahara (川原 礫) Brief Biography". T-ono.net. Archived from the original on September 18, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  2. "Personal Twitter". August 20, 2014. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  3. Afterword of the first light novel volume
  4. "Understanding Sword Art Online". Anime News Network. March 1, 2017. Archived from the original on January 24, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  5. Afterword of the sixth light novel volume
  6. Fumio Kunori (Reki Kawahara). "web novel". WordGear (in Japanese). Archived from the original on February 17, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
  7. 第15回 電撃大賞 入賞作品 [15th Dengeki Bunko Prize Winning Works] (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Archived from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
  8. アクセル・ワールド1 [Accel World 1] (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  9. アクセル・ワールド26 －裂天の征服者－ (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  10. "Accel World, Natsuiro Kiseki, Zetman, Dusk maiden of Amnesia Premieres Listed". Anime News Network. February 29, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  11. ソードアート・オンライン26 ユナイタル・リングV (in Japanese). Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  12. ソードアート・オンライン プログレッシブ８ (in Japanese). Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  13. "Sword Art Online Light Novels About Virtual MMO Get Anime". Anime News Network. October 1, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  14. "Sword Art Online Extra Edition to Air With New Footage". Anime News Network. August 12, 2013. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  15. "Anime Expo to Host Sword Art Online II Premiere Event with Reki Kawahara, abec". Anime News Network. May 17, 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  16. "Sword Art Online Ordinal Scale Film to Open in 2017 (Updated)". Anime News Network. March 13, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  17. "『ソードアート・オンライン アリシゼーション』『ソードアート・オンライン オルタナティブ ガンゲイル・オンライン』がTVアニメ化決定". Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  18. "Sword Art Online: Progressive - Aria of a Starless Night". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  19. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (March 22, 2022). "2nd Sword Art Online Progressive Anime Film Opens This Fall". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  20. "絶対ナル孤独 連載ページ". Wordgear.x0.com. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  21. "New License Announcements". Yen Press. June 13, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  22. "絶対ナル孤独者5 ―液化者 The Liquidizer―". Dengeki Bunko. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  23. "Sword Art Online Creator Reki Kawahara to Launch New VRMMO Novel Series This November". Crunchyroll. September 4, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  24. "Reki Kawahara Q&A Session 2005". 2005.
  25. "The Inspiration Behind Sword Art Online". Rank Anime. 2020. Archived from the original on April 9, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  26. "Website For Anime Motivation". Anime Motivation. 2020.
Interviews
General
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