'Sword Art Online' Season 3 Air Date, Spoilers: Kirito's Adventure in the Virtual World Continues in 'Alicization Arc'
Following the release of a theatrical movie earlier this year, the popular Japanese anime series, "Sword Art Online," is capping 2017 off with the announcement that the next arc in the source light novel is going to be adapted into anime soon as the series' upcoming third season.
"Sword Art Online: Alicization" picks the story up in 2026, during which the series protagonist, Kirigaya Kazuto, aka Kirito, is offered a job at a private enterprise known as Rath. The one who is recruiting him is Kikuoka Seijirou, the VR crimes division member with whom Kazuto has been cooperating with since the Sword Art Online (SAO) incident was resolved.
His job, which requires him to stay connected to a fourth generation experimental FullDive machine known as the Soul Translator (STL) in the weekend, seems to be a simple enough task until complications in both the virtual world, herein called the Underworld, and his real-world eventually forces him to stay connected to the STL for a longer period of time.
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"Alicization" is the fourth arc in the light novel series by Reki Kawahara and covers events from June 26, 2026, to sometime in August of the same year, in real-world time.
The upcoming third season was officially announced at the recently held Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2017. It has also been confirmed during the said event that Yoshitsugu Matsuoka and Haruka Tomatsu will be reprising their roles as Kirito and Asuna Yuuki respectively. Additionally, Ai Kayano will be voicing the Underworld character, Alice, and Nobunaga Shimazaki will be doing the voice for a character named Eugeo.
Moreover, there will also be a spin-off anime titled, "Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online," which is based on the spin-off light novel written by Keiichi Sigsawa. This series will focus on a new cast of characters, which include two female players who will enter the Gun Gale Online team tournament.
More information will be released as they become available on the "Sword Art Online" official Twitter account as well as on the upcoming series' official page.
