As translated by
@frog_kun on Twitter,Kawahara recently stated in an interview with Newtype magazine that he first wrote the
Alicization arc more than ten years ago. Noting that he wrote the entire arc almost in one go, briefly stopping because he got stuck one time. To break from this, he then created and submitted the Accel World series for the Dengeki Novel Prize in 2008. He actually won the Grand Prize for his work that year too!
What's surprising is that the
Alicization arc didn't begin in the light novel series until the 9th volume in 2012. Meaning that while Kawahara started work for the arc early on, he continued working on it and fine tuning it for quite some time. The amount of work and passion going into the Alicization arc explains why fans have been drawn to it, and why it seems so different from what has come in the series before.
If he's been fine tuning this arc for that long, then it would explain its strong first impression. Unfortunately, all that time working on it still left the arc with a glaring mark on it with its use of sexual assault as a plot device. Though Kawahara has explained his reasoning behind the use of it.
Recently, Kawahara decided to address the issue after an episode of
Sword Art Online: Alicization housed a scene featuring graphic assault. Not only did the writer apologize to the show’s actors for having to act the scene out, but he revealed why he used the plot device at all.
"This may be a bit late, but if you're wondering why
SAO has so many of those scenes, a considerable number of light novels (although they weren't called light novels back then), epic sagas, and adventure stories I read back in middle school contained those plot elements. I would cite Ōgun Hakusha (
Gold Spur) as a representative title. My writing was bound to that as if it were under a spell,” Kawahara wrote. (via
ANN)
"These days, the spell has finally worn off. Nowadays I would prefer to express catharsis through other means. If it was an absolutely necessary scene for the story, I would write it, but I would prefer to do that in a book that isn't a light novel."
Continuing, Kawahara said he was shocked the anime made its recent episode so graphic. “I believe that the level of grittiness in SAO is extremely average for light novels. The directing, animation, and voice acting in the anime are too powerful, which has absolutely boosted the impact [of the scenes],” he explained.
For fans, this explanation is a considerate one as many have questioned
Sword Art Online’s use of assault before. The franchise has used the plot device a few times to spur its male heroes into action, leaving its female leads to suffer for misogynistic silence. Now, Kawahara admits he’s matured enough as a writer to avoid cheap sequences of assault, and fans of
Sword Art Online are happier for it.
