Gamers have long been able to see video game elements represented in “gamified” anime series, even as far back as 1986 with the theatrical release of Super Mario Brothers: Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach. However, the gamified anime genre wouldn’t really begin to take shape until .hack//sign came onto the scene in 2002 and started the humble beginnings of the genre. Even then, the genre didn’t truly become what it is today until Sword Art Online debuted a decade later, in 2012.