Reki Kawahara

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 series.

Career

Kawahara wrote the first volume of ''Sword Art Online'' in 2001 as a competition entry for the 2002 ASCII Media Works , but refrained from submitting it as he had exceeded the page limit; he instead published it as a web novel under the pen name .Afterword of the first light novel volume Over time, he wrote more main arcs and side stories, which were later updated for light novel publication.

'' The Isolator'' was serialized online starting in 2004, and began publishing in print in June 2014. 5 light novel volumes have been released as of August 2024.

Kawahara entered the first ''Accel World'' novel into ASCII Media Works' 15th Dengeki Novel Prize in 2008 and the novel won the Grand Prize. The first novel was published by ASCII Media Works on February 10, 2009 under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. As of March 8, 2024, 27 volumes have been published. An anime series debuted in April 2012.

After gaining fame from the Dengeki award, Kawahara republished ''Sword Art Online'' in print. 28 volumes have been published as of August 2024, as well as 8 volumes of ''Sword Art Online: Progressive''. An anime series premiered in July 2012, and was followed by a for-TV movie ''Sword Art Online Extra Edition'' on December 31, 2013, a second anime series, ''Sword Art Online II'', in July 2014, an original theatrical film, '' Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale,'' in February 2017, and the third anime series, '' Sword Art Online: Alicization,'' in October 2018. ''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. A second ''Progressive'' film was released in October 2022.

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

Inspirations

Reki Kawahara has many inspirations growing up, from reading manga to online games. Reki Kawahara also stated in a Q&A session between the author Reki Kawahara and Heathcliff (Akihiko Kayaba) 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".

Works

Light novels

*''Accel World'' (2009)
*''Sword Art Online'' (2009)
*'' Sword Art Online: Progressive'' (2012)
*'' The Isolator'' (2014)
*'' Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online'' (2014) - supervision
*''Sword Art Online Alternative: Clover's Regret'' (2016) - supervision
*''Demons' Crest'' (2022)
*''Sword Art Online Alternative: Gourmet Seekers'' (2023) - supervision
*''Sword Art Online Alternative: Mystery Labyrinth'' (2023) - supervision

Films

*'' Accel World: Infinite Burst'' (2016) - screenplay
*'' Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale'' (2017) - screenplay
*'' Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night'' (2021) - script, screenplay assistance
*'' Sword Art Online Progressive: Scherzo of Deep Night'' (2022) - script, screenplay assistance

References

External links

;Interviews
2013 interview from Anime News Network2014 The Accel World Interviews Part I from Anime News Network

;General
*
"Word Gear", his official blog

*
The Inspiration Behind Sword Art Online
(2020) - Rank Anime

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kawahara, Reki
1974 births
Japanese writers
Light novelists
Living people
Writers from Gunma Prefecture
Cyberpunk writers