is a Japanese

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written by Okushō and illustrated by Shizumu Watanabe. The story follows the siblings Ataru and Yuri Kashiwagi who live together alone and in poverty since their parents died. Ataru often uses a social media platform called ''Real Account'' where he is able to find new friends online. However, a real-life social media game takes a twisted turn when Ataru, along with 10.000 other users, gets trapped in virtual reality and is forced to play deadly games against each other. The series started publication in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

's ''

Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine is a Japanese monthly manga magazine published by Kōdansha. The magazine was started in September 2009 as a spin-off of another Kōdansha magazine, '' Weekly Shōnen Magazine''. Currently running manga series Past series * '' ×××Hol ...

'' in January 2014, but moved to ''

Weekly Shōnen Magazine is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published on Wednesdays in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. The magazine is mainly read by an older audience, with a significant portion of its readership falling under the male high ...

'' in December of the same year and ended in November 2019. In total, 24 volumes have been released.

Plot

After their parents died, a second-year high school student, Ataru Kashiwagi, and his younger sister, Yuri, lived alone together and in poverty. At school, Ataru seeks refuge to find new friends online through ''Real Account'', a

social media platform Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the creation, sharing and aggregation of content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongst virtual communities and networks. Common features include: * Onlin ...

that enables its users to link their accounts to gain followers in real-time. One day, however, the borderline between online and reality suddenly began to merge when Ataru, along with 10.000 other users of that app, found themselves trapped in a virtual reality version of the app where they were unable to leave the virtual world with their real-world bodies being immobilized. Marble, the app's mascot, forces the trapped users in participation to play games against each other with their lives at stake. Not only that, but each user has followers whose lives are endangered as well. Once a user dies, all of his or her followers lose their lives as well. When a user loses all followers, they will die as well. The rules of this social media game get twisted out of control due to many users dying because of losing followers while the rest of the world can watch this life-or-death game with the risk of becoming a follower as well. In a fit of panic, Ataru attempts to block Yuri in order to save her life, only to be interfered with by an unexpected encounter with Yuuma Mukai, an unknown user who looks exactly just like him. In order to complete these games, Ataru teams up with Yuuma, along with other users, to participate in the deadly games and fight for survival in the hope of finding the mastermind behind this game and returning to the real world alive someday.

Media

Manga

Okushō started writing the series on January 9, 2014 with illustrations done by Shizumu Watanabe. The first chapters were published in

's manga magazine ''

'' in 2014, moved to ''

'' in December of the same year but moved back to ''Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine'' in June 2018. The first printed volume was published on May 9, 2014. In May 2019, it was announced that the manga has entered the final arc of the story. In September the same year, it was revealed that the series would end in 3 chapters. The last chapters were published in the December 2019 issue of ''Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine'' released on November 9, 2019 with last compiled book being published a month later. The manga series received localizations in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

Novel

A novel based on the manga and written by Ren Kanan was published under the title ''Real Account 0'' on June 7, 2019.

Cancelled live-action film

In January 2018, it was announced that ''Real Account'' would be adapted into a live-action film. However, the adaptation was cancelled in March 2025 due to various circumstances.

Reception

Commercially

According to an article written by Maximilian Gottselig for the German-language manga news website in October 2020, ''Real Account'' has sold about 3.3 million copies in Japan alone while in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

however the demand was low which may have been caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Reviews

Rebecca Silverman reviewed the first volume of ''Real Account'' on

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

saying that it shares more simularities to '' Btooom!'' than to ''

Sword Art Online is a Japanese light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by abec. The series takes place in the 2020s and focuses on protagonists Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki as they play through various virtual re ...

'' as the series takes the genre to very different angle.

References

External links

Manga official website
at ''Shōnen Magazine''
Manga entry
at the Incomplete Manga Guide * {{Weekly Shōnen Magazine - 2010–2019 Action anime and manga Anime and manga about death games Battle royale anime and manga Cancelled films Fiction about social media Fiction about virtual reality Kodansha manga Science fiction anime and manga Shōnen manga Suspense anime and manga Works about mobile phones