Today marked the release of the 14th episode of Sword Art Online II, wrapping up the Phantom Bullet Arc. The official website and Twitter account for the Sword Art Online anime has revealed what’s next for the series; The Calibur & Mother’s Rosario arcs.
《キャリバー》編（10/18~）、《マザーズ･ロザリオ》編（11/8~）の放送が決定！さらに主題歌がOP：戸松遥、ED：LiSAに決定しました！両キービジュアルも公開！！【クエストno.172対象】（500RTでクリアコード発行） pic.twitter.com/z4J6p1Az0J
— TVアニメ「ソードアート・オンライン」 (@sao_anime) October 4, 2014
The first new arc following Phantom Bullet is the Calibur arc, which will debut on October 18th. The arc is from a short story from the 8th volume of Reki Kawahara’s light novel series. It is set between the end of the Phantom Bullet arc and the Mother’s Rosario arc. In this arc, Kirito and the gang are back in Alfheim Online as they go on a search for the legendary sword Excalibur. The arc itself will last three episodes.
The second arc after that is the Mother’s Rosario arc, which will air from November 8th. The arc is from the entirety of the 7th volume of Reki Kawahara’s light novel series. It is set between the end of Calibur and the beginning of a future arc, Alicization. In this arc, a fierce swordsman known as Absolute Sword is challenging and defeating players in Alfheim Online’s Aincrad, enticing them with the offer of a 11 hit Sword Skill. Asuna investigates and goes to challenge this mysterious swordsman. This arc also focuses on the new character, Konno Yuuki voiced by Aoi Yuuki (Madoka Kaname in Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica).
The anime will also feature a new Opening and Ending theme. The new OP will be sung by Haruka Tomatsu (Sakura Trick OP and ED) and the new ED will be performed by LiSA, who did the first OP of the anime’s first season.
Additionally, the announcement video for the new arcs was also released on the anime’s website:
The returning cast includes:
- Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Sora in No Game No Life) returns as Kirito
- Haruka Tomatsu (Haruka Takayama in Sakura Trick) as Asuna
- Miyuki Sawashiro (Himeko Inaba in Kokoro Connect) back to voice Sinon
- Ayana Taketatsu (Azusa Nakano from K-ON!) voicing as Leafa
- Rina Hidaka (Enju Aihara in Black Bullet) voices Silica
- Ayahi Takagaki (Mikako Satsukitane in Sora no Otoshimono) as Lisbeth
The staff of the anime is as follows:
- Director: Tomohiko Ito (Silver Spoon, Seikimatsu Occult Gakui)
- Anime Character Designer: Shingo Adachi (Wagnaria!!, Galilei Donna)
- Sound Director: Yoshikazu Iwanami (Fate/Zero, Baccano!)
- Music Composer: Yuki Kajiura (Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica, Fate/Zero)
- Animation Studio: A-1 Pictures (Aldnoah.Zero, Fairy Tail)
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 anime from MAL:
1 year after the SAO incident, Kirito is approached by Seijiro Kikuoka from Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Department “VR Division” with a rather peculiar request.
That was an investigation on the “Death Gun” incident that occurred in the gun and steel filled VRMMO called Gun Gale Online (GGO). “Players who are shot by a mysterious avatar with a jet black gun lose their lives even in the real world…” Failing to turn down Kikuoka’s bizarre request, Kirito logs in to GGO even though he is not completely convinced that the virtual world could physically affect the real world.
Kirito wanders in an unfamiliar world in order to gain any clues about the “Death Gun.” Then, a female sniper named Sinon who owns a gigantic “Hecate II” rifle extends Kirito a helping hand. With Sinon’s help, Kirito decides to enter the “Bullet of Bullets,” a large tournament to choose the most powerful gunner within the realm of GGO, in hopes to become the target of the “Death Gun” and make direct contact with the mysterious avatar.
The next episode of Sword Art Online II will be a recap episode that will be airing on October 11th at 11:30pm JST, which will also contain a small preview for the Calibur arc. The arc itself will begin a week later on October 18th and will end on November 8th where the Mother’s Rosario arc will begin.
What do you think about the new arcs being animated? Are you excited? Let us know below.
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 Article – Anime News Network
Source Article – Haruhichan Network
“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.