In the Land of Leadale
In the Land of Leadale is a Japanese light novel series written by Ceez and illustrated by Tenmaso. It was serialized online between November 2010 and December 2012 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later acquired by Enterbrain, who have published eight volumes since January 2019 under their Famitsu Bunko imprint.
A manga adaptation with art by Dashio Tsukimi and composition by Ryō Suzukaze has been serialized online via ASCII Media Works' Dengeki PlayStation Comic Web website since July 2019 and has been collected in seven tankōbon volumes. Both the light novel and manga are licensed in North America by Yen Press. An anime television series adaptation by Maho Film aired from January to March 2022.
Plot summary
In Japan, a VR-accessed multi-player online fantasy role-playing game named Leadale, which offers a very liberal customization system, has become immensely popular in recent years. A young girl named Keina Kagami, rendered permanently paralyzed and on constant life support, uses this game from her hospital bed to interact with the rest of the world. When she unexpectedly dies after her life support shuts down during a power outage, she finds herself transported into the game world of Leadale, in the body of her personal avatar Cayna. To her surprise, she also finds out that 200 years have passed in Leadale since she last logged into the game, a period in which the seven kingdoms she knew were devastated by war and re-organized into three new kingdoms: Felskeilo, Helshper and Otaloquess.As Cayna begins making her way in this new world and meeting the three NPC children she had created in the game, she finds out that her death sparked rumors that ruined Leadale's reputation and caused the game to be shut down. However, several other players also ended up trapped inside the game as well, some of them for years. The current kingdoms are also increasingly plagued by attacks from high-level monsters, all stemming from Leadale's abrupt cancellation, which made them go rogue inside this world. What's more, after she re-encounters her former in-game mentor, Opus, she learns that Leadale was specifically created to help her out of her isolation following her accident, but was commercialized afterwards. The game had, however, an unfortunate bug which displaced the minds of several players into the virtual Leadale world. After Keina's death, Opus synchronized the game system with her new elven soul, essentially making it into a real living world.
However, the cancellation of Leadale also meant that it was necessary to restrain the game's ultimate challenge elements, the Event Monsters, which have taken a life of their own. They were sealed inside the ruins of the former Brown Kingdom's capital, now known as the Abandoned Capital, but the barrier has begun to fray. Soon, all the players stuck inside the game must unite to stem a tide of unprecedented proportions which threatens to lay waste to the world of Leadale.
Characters
Players and Skill Masters
;Cayna / Keina Kagami;Opus / Opusketten-Shultheimer Crosstettbomber / Rin Kuzuhara
;Shining Saber
;Cohral
;Quolkeh
;Exis
;Luvrogue
;Marvelia
;Liothek
;Kyotaro
;Kujo
;Hidden Ogre
;Jaeger
;Ark
Summons and Familiars
;Kee;Li'l Fairy / Kuu
;Roxilius Roxine
;Heigl
;Siren
Kingdom of Felskeilo
;Skargo;Mai-Mai
;Kartatz
;Luka
;Lytt
;Marelle
;Luine
;Gatt
;Lottor
;Elineh
;Armuna
;Arbiter
;Kenison
;Lopus Harvey
;"Primo"
;Agaido
;Lonti Arbalest
;Myleene Luskelio
;Almana
;Mimily
;Triste and Alnassi
Kingdom of Helshper
;Caerina Sakai;Caerick Sakai
;Idzik
;Lux, Sunya, Dogai Latem
Kingdom of Otaloquess
;Sahana;Sahalashade
;Cloffe Clofia
Others
;Keisuke Kagami;Igdukyz
;Drekdovai
Media
Light novel
In the Land of Leadale is written by Ceez and illustrated by Tenmaso. Originally serialized online on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website between November 2010 and December 2012, Enterbrain began publishing the series in print in January 2019 under their Famitsu Bunko imprint. Eight volumes have been released so far. Yen Press licensed the series in North America.Manga
A manga adaptation illustrated by Dashio Tsukimi and composed by Ryō Suzukaze began serialization online via ASCII Media Works' Dengeki PlayStation Comic Web website in July 2019. Seven tankōbon volumes have been released so far. Yen Press has also licensed the manga in English.Anime
On February 22, 2021, an anime adaptation was announced. At "Kadokawa Light Novel Expo 2020", it was revealed to be a television series animated by Maho Film. The series is directed by Takeyuki Yanase, with scripts overseen by Kazuyuki Fudeyasu, character designs handled by Toshihide Matsudate, Eri Kojima, and Kaho Deguchi, and music composed by Kujira Yumemi. The series aired from January 5 to March 23, 2022, on Tokyo MX and other networks. The opening theme song is "Happy encount" by TRUE, while the ending theme song is "Hakoniwa no Kōfuku" by Azusa Tadokoro. Crunchyroll streamed the series.On January 13, 2022, Crunchyroll announced that the series will receive an English dub, which premiered on February 16.