One Decade Later: How Sword Art Online Defined the Isekai Genre

A brief analysis of the show’s massive impact on anime!

Anyone who’s been following anime over the past few years knows that isekai has become one of the most dominant tropes in the medium. Isekai (異世界) translates to “Other world” in Japanese and the meaning is quite literal. The main idea of an isekai anime is that the main character suddenly finds themself transported to some other realm completely foreign to their own. Usually, the protagonist has some unique ability that helps them succeed in this foreign world.

The history of isekai can be disputed all day, but A-1 Pictures’ anime adaptation of Sword Art Online is usually credited with making the genre mainstream in the anime community. At the time, there really weren’t many anime like it. SAO brought many new ideas to the table and presented them alongside themes that resonated with anime fans worldwide. This influence persists to this day.

The plot of SAO revolves around Kazuto Kirigaya, a high school student who finds himself trapped inside the Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game of Sword Art Online. Virtual reality in this anime’s universe is so advanced that users can’t differentiate reality from virtual reality. Kazuto, alongside the 10,000 other players, are…