Story 5

The virtual worlds that are within Story 5 of The Stories of Ibis first reminded me of the anime Sword Art Online, specifically, the Alicization Arc from the light novels that served as the basis for the anime. While I could never find a translation of the work, as I understand it, the basis was a virtual world with one real person, who believes that this is reality. The intent, I believe, was to raise intelligent AI. Once again, as I never actually read the relevant media, I don’t know the specifics. Upon further reflection, the virtual world brings to mind the concept of Mata-Nui from Bionicle. Mata-Nui was a massive robot constructed to reform the shattered planet of Spherus Magna. He was so massive, in fact, that it was considered a universe in its own right. The first eight years of the franchise take place either on top of or within Mata-Nui, with the inhabitants not realizing that the universe they lived in was just a creation of the Great Beings. The parallels go further, because, as previously mentioned, the planet Spherus Magna was ravaged by a war that ended in mutually assured destruction, much like the First World from Story 5. Things came to a head in the final year of the original run of the franchise, Year 10. The Mata-Nui Robot had been overtaken by Makuta Teridax, the primary antagonist of the story, and after exiling Mata-Nui’s spirit from within his body, Teridax followed it, eventually landing on one of the three chunks of Spherus Magna and engaging his opposite in combat. The inhabitants of the Matoran Universe who made up the resistance followed Teridax’s forces out of the artificial collus, joining the fight to save the world. While less similar to Story 5, this parallels the inhabitants of the Virtual Worlds making plans to enter the First World with the intent to save what they can.