The <\/span>Sword Art Online<\/span><\/i> novel series<\/span><\/a> (on which the anime are based) has been wildly successful in Japan, topping more than a few monthly–and even one yearly–light novel bestseller list since the first novel\u2019s debut in 2009. The main series is currently up to its 20th volume, with interquel series <\/span>Sword Art Online: Progressive<\/span><\/i> sporting an additional four volumes.<\/span><\/p>\n All these have been written by <\/span>Reki Kawahara<\/span><\/a> (when he hasn\u2019t been working on the related 22 book series <\/span>Accel World<\/span><\/i><\/a>). What sets <\/span>Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online<\/span><\/i> appart is the simple fact that, unlike all the <\/span>Sword Art Online Novels<\/span><\/i> to come before it, it\u2019s not written by Kawahara. Instead, it\u2019s written by another light novel author, <\/span>Keiichi Sigsawa<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Sigsawa is famous for writing <\/span>Kino\u2019s Journey<\/span><\/i><\/a> (which got its second anime adaptation last year) and the <\/span>Tale of a Single Continent<\/span><\/i><\/a> series (which got an anime in 2006). He\u2019s a man whose passions include travel, motorcycles, and–as luck would have it–guns.<\/span><\/p>\n The third arc of <\/span>Sword Art Online<\/span><\/i> (the first arc of anime <\/span>Sword Art Online II<\/span><\/i>), <\/span>Phantom Bullet<\/span><\/i> is set inside VRMMO first-person shooter \u201cGun Gale Online.\u201d As people fight with everything from pistols and shotguns to gatling guns and sniper rifles, GGO is a gun nuts wet dream. So when <\/span>Sigsawa read it in 2010, as an author, he was thrown into a fit of existential jealousy.<\/span><\/p>\n In his own words: \u201cThat was so entertaining! And\u2026 why didn\u2019t I come up with a setting like this? With such a setting, I\u2019d be able to write as many gun action stories where people don\u2019t die as I wanted, wouldn\u2019t I?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Soon Sigsawa came to the obvious conclusion: anyone can write fan-fiction. He could even self-publish his own <\/span>Gun Gale Online stories as doujinshi. But if possible, he wanted to get the permission of <\/span>Sword Art Online<\/span><\/i>\u2019s publisher, Dengeki Bunko (which also serves as his own publisher), and release it as an official spinoff. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There was just one major hurdle: there was really no precedent for doing this that he knew of; authors, even famous ones, don\u2019t just decide to start writing another author\u2019s story–especially in the same medium. But as he had nothing to lose, he mentioned the idea to his editor who gave him a surprising answer: it would be possible if he got permission from all those involved–starting with Kawahara and his artist partner on <\/span>Sword Art Online<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>abec<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n Knowing it was at least potentially doable, Sigsawa put it on the back burner for several years–never writing down even a single word–and worked on other projects. His plans for his own Gun Gale Online spinoff might have forever sat there–lurking in the back of his mind and never coming to fruition–but then came the <\/span>Sword Art Online II<\/span><\/i> anime.<\/span><\/p>\n Adapting the Gun Gale Online arc, t<\/span>he chief producer on the series, <\/span>Nobuhiro Osawa<\/span><\/a>, felt it was important to have the staff working on the anime fire some real guns–something all but impossible in Japan. Having worked with Sigsawa before on the first <\/span>Kino\u2019s Journey<\/span><\/i> anime, Osawa asked the noted gun-maniac where they could try some real ones out. <\/span><\/p>\n Together they, with the staff, went to a shooting range in Guam and afterwords, Sigsawa was offered a job on the anime: Small Arms Supervisor. Basically, he brought in his model guns for the artists to reference, talked about when and how they\u2019d be used, and finally checked to make sure the guns in the final product didn\u2019t have any (unintended) mistakes.<\/span><\/p>\n It was during this time that he finally had his chance. He sat down with Kawahara (along with both of their editors) and pitched his idea of a story set in Gun Gale Online that didn\u2019t involve Kirito, Asuna, and the rest of the main cast.<\/span><\/p>\n As <\/span>Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online<\/span><\/i> is now six books long and has a currently airing anime, it\u2019s pretty easy to guess how that conversation turned out. <\/span><\/p>\n If you want to read the full story in Sigsawa\u2019s own words, check it out in the afterword of the first <\/span>Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online<\/span><\/i><\/a> light novel when it is released by Yen press on June 26, 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/DWSTfY_X0AAaefw.jpg?w=700&ssl=1\")
Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300e\u30ad\u30ce\u306e\u65c5\u300f\u516c\u5f0f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/DXsQeegVoAA9W7m.jpg?w=700&ssl=1\")
Image source: \u30a2\u30cb\u30e1 \u30bd\u30fc\u30c9\u30a2\u30fc\u30c8\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30e9\u30a4\u30f3 \u516c\u5f0f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Dad7C3uUQAASFqP.jpg?w=700&ssl=1\")
Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300cSAO \u30aa\u30eb\u30bf\u30ca\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6 \u30ac\u30f3\u30b2\u30a4\u30eb\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30e9\u30a4\u30f3\u300d\u516c\u5f0f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/DawPiaDUwAc-_Er.jpg?w=700&ssl=1\")
Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300cSAO \u30aa\u30eb\u30bf\u30ca\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6 \u30ac\u30f3\u30b2\u30a4\u30eb\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30e9\u30a4\u30f3\u300d\u516c\u5f0f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/DaAaM_4VwAAgetD.jpg?w=700&ssl=1\")
Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300cSAO \u30aa\u30eb\u30bf\u30ca\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6 \u30ac\u30f3\u30b2\u30a4\u30eb\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30e9\u30a4\u30f3\u300d\u516c\u5f0f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n
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