For better or worse, Sword Art Online has helped shape the modern isekai landscape, but the franchise — barring the video games — is hardly the most active. Good news, then, for fans of the anime, as a new original film is currently in production, with more information to be shared in July.
The news was unveiled at the end of a live-stream concert starring Yuna from 2017’s Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale, confirming that the upcoming instalment won’t be based on any of the light novels. While the latest title, Progressive – Scherzo of Deep Night, was partially based on a storyline in the source material, Ordinal Scale followed an original plot set after Season 2, making the upcoming feature the first original Sword Art Online theatrical project in nearly a decade.
The July announcement will likely be held close to the release of the Sword Art Online: Echoes of Aincrad game on 10 July, alongside a 110-120-minute promotional anime movie titled Unanswered//butterfly.
Written by Reki Kawahara, the light novels began in 2001 and were serialised from 2002 to 2008. The series takes place in the 2020s and focuses on the protagonists, Kazuto “Kirito” Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki, as they play through various virtual reality MMORPG worlds and, later on, their involvement in the affairs of a simulated civilisation. The books have sold over 30 million copies worldwide, spawning novel and manga spin-offs, a TV anime adaptation with several seasons, the Gun Gale Online spin-off, and more.
“In the near future, a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) called Sword Art Online has been released, where players control their avatars with their bodies using a piece of technology called Nerve Gear,” reads the synopsis of Gun Gale Online. “One day, players discover they cannot log out, as the game creator is holding them captive unless they reach the 100th floor of the game’s tower and defeat the final boss. However, if they die in the game, they die in real life. Their struggle for survival starts now…”
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
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