Dengeki Announces New 'Sword Art Online' Anime Adaptations

The Sword Art Online stage event at the Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2017 announced on Sunday that the franchise will receive a third anime series, which will adapt the Alicization arc from the light novel.

The Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online spin-off novel will also receive a TV anime adaptation. New cast members for each anime adaptation have also been announced.

Story (Alicization Arc)
Kirito awakens in a vast, fantastical forest filled with towering trees. In his search for clues to the truth of his surroundings, he encounters a young boy who seems to know him. He ought to be a simple NPC, but the depth of his emotions seem no different than a human. As they search for the boy's parents, Kirito finds a peculiar memory returning to him. A memory from his own childhood, of this boy and a girl, too, with golden hair, and a name he should have never forgotten—Alice. (Source: Yen Press)

Cast (Alicization Arc)
Alice: Ai Kayano (Amanchu!)
Eugeo: Nobunaga Shimazaki (Ano Natsu de Matteru)

Story (Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online)
Karen Kohiruimaki always felt out of place in the real world. Due to her extreme height, she found it hard to make friends with other girls her age. Everything changes when she's introduced to VR and Gun Gale Online. In GGO, Karen is free to play the cute, chibi avatar of her dreams! Can Karen find friendship in this bullet-ridden MMO...? (Source: Yen Press)

Cast (Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online)
Llenn: Tomori Kusunoki
Pitohui: Yoko Hikasa (Hataraku Maou-sama!)
Goushi "M" Asougi: Kazuyuki Okitsu (Fuuka)
Miyu "Fukaziroh" Shinohara: Chinatsu Akasaki (Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!)

Written by Reki Kawahara with illustrations by abec, Sword Art Online has been publishing since 2009 and currently has 20 volumes in print. The light novel received its first anime season in Summer 2012, followed by a TV special in December 2013, and a second season in Summer 2014. The Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale anime film featuring an original story by the Kawahara premiered in Japan on February 18.

Yen Press licensed the light novel in English in 2014 and published the 11th volume on August 22. Aniplex of America licensed both anime seasons, as well as the special, in North America. American production company Skydance Media announced to adapt the light novels into a live-action TV series last August.

Keiichi Sigsawa began publishing the Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online spin-off novel with illustrations by Kouhaku Kuroboshi in 2014. Kadokawa published the sixth volumes on March 10.

A manga adaptation drawn by Tadadi Tamori has been serialized in Dengeki Maoh magazine since October 2015. The first compiled volume of the manga was published in October 2016, with the second volume scheduled for release on November 10. Yen Press licensed the manga in English earlier this April and will publish the first volume on November 17.

Alicization Arc Announcement PV

Note: The video is region-locked; click here for an alternative link.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Announcement PV

Note: The video is region-locked; click here for an alternative link.

Official site: http://www.swordart-online.net
Official Twitter: @sao_anime
Official site (Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online): http://gungale-online.net
Official Twitter (Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online): @ggo_anime

Source: Moca News

Sword Art Online: Alicization & Sword Art Online: Alternative Gun Gale Online on MAL

Let's hope this isn't as bad as the movie.

Actually looking forward to Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale. The LN is/was written by Sigsawa, Keiichi who wrote well kino. So it might actually be decent.

Not 1 but 2? Wow, did not expect the spinoff.

Yeeessss . Really want to see Alice animated .

Oh wow. So here is the long awaited third season. loool can't wait for all the drama

maybe i will watch this if i ever feel like watching Ordinal Scale first though

Yes yes yes!!! Here comes Alicization arc animated. Hooray! Banzai! Now waiting for eromanga sensei S2 & Index S3.

I haven't read the novels that far yet. Anyone possibly know how long Alicization Arc might be?

didnt they already announce a 3rd season at the end of the movie?

anyway, im pretty damn hype

Oh boy...

Brace yourselves. MAL forums are going to have a hard time now.

Of course I'm going to watch. I won't miss the shitfest for nothing.

A series that seems like everyone hate, but at the same time a lot of people love. Will be watching s3, hearing a lot of good things about the arc it is going to adapt. Keeping my expectation to a minimum.

@Stark700

From what I've heard, a lot of fans that have read that arc said 25 episode isn't enough to adapt the entire arc.

more shitstorm incoming...
great news anyway.

Anybody read the spinoff of GGO? How is it?

Noice but a live action Hollywood movie was also announced :(

I thought its a TV series? Well, aside from SAO there's also Your Name, Naruto and One Piece. Oh God help us.

That was announced ages ago actually

I lived for this day to come.

Wow, what's up with this flurry of sequels and adaptions lately?
I was expecting Season 3 to be in the making since Ordinal Scale mentioned it in the end but who would have guessed that we'd also get a spinoff series.
Hopefully, at least one of the two will air next year but I'm not really one for high hopes for this show. Just going to watch it for the sake of watching it and seeing Kirito expand his dominance.
Here's hoping both will be better than the Second Season of Sword Art Online and more like the first half of the First Seasom...

The collective screams and sounds of keyboards smashing from the wannabe elitists is sweet, sweet music to my ears right now.

They could never even make the season 3. Just the reactions from the announcement alone are worth it.

*facepalm*
Oh boi... Please no... Well, at least please be released after I graduated.. I can't hear more chippers about SAO from all of my otaku friends in RL anymore.. I'll go nuts.. So please...

Alicization huh... I wonder if they're gonna do all of it at once, or spread it over 3-4 years to boost LN sales. The spinoff was written by the author of Kino's Journey (the new anime is the result of his connections, seeing how lots of A1 staff are working on it) so maybe it's good? I haven't read it so I wouldn't know.

I think the anime is made to shill the new GGO game.

It was only a matter of time, and now here it is. The long-awaited 3rd season. The forums are going to be fun.

I've heard many positive things about this upcoming arc, this better not be one of those cases where LN readers overhype the shit out of something, causing me to raise my expectations greatly, only to be severely disappointed later.

Also, if it this arc really does need 50-60 episodes to be fully adapted, I'd much rather get part of it in the 3rd season and the rest in a 4th season, rather than a rushed mess that's crammed fully into the 3rd season.

24 episodes is definitely not gonna be enough. It needs like 50 or more.

Alright SAO fans, you said that the Alicization arc was going to git gud. So when I watch SAO III, it better git gud...

Yeah, with any Kadokawa brand companies the most important objective is boosting light novel/manga/video game sales.

OH MY GOD!!!!!!
It's finally announced!!! How long will it be I wonder? If there trying to adapt all of alicization then it has to be at least 50-60 EPs to cover 11 volumes of the light novel.

enjoyed the first half of the first season, but didn't like the second half or the second season. maybe the third will be different? or will it share the same fate

Bless this news, haters and lovers rejoice. Finally we get an announcement of more SAO. This is such good news, am very hyped.

Alice share the same voice as Darkness but their personality is totally different even if they are both knight. I am waiting for someone to swap their voices.

Was a long wait but finally we get an announcement. Considere me very interested.

Writer for Gun Gale spin-off sounds promising. Will probably check it out.

Writer for Gun Gale spin-off sounds promising. Will probably check it out.

1st announcement was expected but the second one I didn't see coming. The spin-off is apparently written by the Kino's Journey author so I'll keep my eye on it.

Bahaha we all knew this day will come and I'm not gonna lie, I was also waiting for this. So good or bad, this should be interesting.

I already knew the Alicization arc was going to be adapted but GGO spin-off getting an anime adaptation as well is a complete surprise. HELL YESS!!!

inb4 JC Staff does the adaptation of GGO spin-off since A-1 Pictures has their hands full doing other series and the third season of SAO as well.

The movie was amazing. It's the best rated SAO animation on here. If you liked the series, then you should've liked the movie imo.

what a great news for haters and lovers.

Isn't the Alicization as long as all the previous arcs together? I would think 4 cours to adapt then, yes?

That’s great and all! But where’s the sequel to Accel World!

Index 3 already announced lol I thought anyways. It’s bern added to MAL

nice to see some fans of Accel World, we are in the minority here lol

I will be watching and hopefully these new anime are as good as the movie. I would have preferred a second season for Re:Zero, but this is nice too.

Alicization arc is 12 volumes long and counting(?)... I wish it could at least adapt up to Eugeo vs. Synthesis one. And what an unexpected GGO we got here.Nah, She can do this.

Amd here I will expected a " Go check the original source" kind of thing from the anime adaptation. But, that doesn't change the fact that I'm hyped for it!


More Kirito-sama!!!




That's no sweat! If it is 24 EPs long :/

I dont mind the trainwreck it gonna gives.

I just wanted to see how it turned out despite never having fully watched the series.

Of course she can. I already hear her voice Alice in Hollow Realization. I just find hearing Alice saying Darkness' lewd lines amusing.

With the asspull near the end that ruined everything?

No thanks.

I'm hype and nervous for the alicization adaptation cause its super long arc, hope they won't rushed and fit this in a single season or sao ln fans will riot.

sao threads will be flooded again xD