Update: Added higher quality Image
A large number of new images have surfaced for the upcoming season 2 of Sword Art Online. New posters have been sighted around Japan, new visuals found in magazines and the official website itself has released new character designs. All of this for Sword Art Online II, which will air on July 5.
The first new image is of a brand new poster for Sword Art Online II. It is of course an advertisement for the upcoming series
The official website of the anime has released new character designs, joining the three already that were already revealed. Here are the previously revealed designs of Kirito (voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka – Sora in No Game No Life) , Sinon (voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro – Himeko Inaba in Kokoro Connect) and Death Gun:
And here are the four new character designs are for characters returning from the first series:
- Asuna, voiced by Haruka Tomatsu (Haruka Takayama in Sakura Trick)
- Leafa, voiced by Ayana Taketatsu (Azusa Nakano from K-ON!)
- Silica, voiced by Rina Hidaka (Enju Aihara in Black Bullet)
- Lisbeth, voiced by Ayahi Takagaki (Mikako Satsukitane in Sora no Otoshimono)
Lastly, a whole bunch of new visuals from various magazines have released. One of them, is a saucy visual of Shinon. You can click on the images for their full size.
Sword Art Online is a light novel series written by Reki Kawahara, who also is the author of Accel World. The light novel series began in 2009 being published in ASCII Media Works’ Dengeki Bunko. Since then it sold millions of copies, topping the charts in 2012. Additionally in 2012, an anime adaptation was released. The Sword Art Online anime aired in July and was produced by A-1 Pictures, which received a large reception. Since then, the series has appeared on a plethora of media from handheld and browser video games, to spin-off mangas and international merchandise. The latest canonical light novel, the thirteenth in the series, was released in Japan on August 10th 2013. In addition, Kawahara has relaunched the series as Sword Art Online: Progressive, a re-release of the light novels with additional content. The second issue of the re-releases launched in December 2013.
Here is a synopsis of the series from MAL:
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. 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…
Sword Art Online II will air from July 5, during the Summer 2014 anime season. The Opening theme of the anime will be Ignite from Eir Aoi, and the Ending theme will be Startear from Haruna Luna.
You can visit the anime’s official website here: http://www.swordart-online.net/
And follow the latest developments on their Twitter: @sao_anime
Source Images – MyAnimeList
Source Images – Sword Art Online Website
“Sword Art Online”, “Sword Art Online II″, images, video and all associated brands and titles © 2014 Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures, ASCII Media Works and the SAO Project.