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Is there a name for this genre of Japanese manga/anime that features VR MMORPG storyline?

Older stories includes:

They all seem to formulaic and

  • start as a light novel
  • have the premise of VR MMORPG in a fantasy genre
  • have a protagonist that somehow does things outside of the norm of MMORPG
  • newer stories in this genre have are extremely long titles

Is there a name for this genre of Japanese manga/anime that features VR MMORPG storyline?

alvas
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  • Um, do you understand what "VR" and "MMO" mean? These titles have at least some elements from (J)RPG, such as levels and skills, but many of them have nothing to do with VR or MMO. – naruto Mar 13 '23 at 09:17

3 Answers3

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Are these not just a subset of 異世界? The very long light novel name certainly checks out, and the only thing which is a bit restrictive is that you specified they should involve VR.

jogloran
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もの is the suffix to form a genre name, so the phrase you want is simply "VR MMORPGもの", or "VRMMOもの" for short. 系 is another suffix for this, so you can say VRMMO系のアニメ, etc. For example, this page introduces 9 popular light novels of this (sub)genre, including 防振り.

However, if I understand correctly, of the titles you listed, only SAO, .hack, ログホラ and 防振り are truly in the VRMMO genre. In スライム倒して300年, 転スラ, 自動販売機に and 異世スマ, the main protagonist is transported to an RPG-like fantasy isekai, but the story has nothing to do with VR (virtual reality) or MMO (massively multiplayer online). The characters of ダンまち live in a (somewhat RPG-like) fantasy world from the very beginning, and there is no isekai transfer or computer involved in the story in the first place. This may go without saying, but not all RPGs are VRMMORPGs. Just because characters have a level or skills does not necessarily mean the work belongs to the VRMMO or isekai genre.

naruto
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I do not think something can become a whole genre very easily, and "VR MMORPG" is very specific even for a sub-genre.

isekai refers to being transported or reborn into another world and some of the titles you refer to definitely belong to this group. Isekai is a sub-genre of fantasy.

Kimbi
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