Sword Art Online II – Episode 18 Preview Video

The preview video for the upcoming 18th episode of Sword Art Online II has released on the official website of the Sword Art Online anime. The episode will mark the first entry into the Mother’s Rosario (Mother’s Rosary) arc and will air on Saturday the 8th of November at 11:30pm JST.

Episode 18: The Forest House

With the new major of update for Alfheim Online, floors 21-30 from Aincrad have finally released to the public. On the 22nd floor, a small log cabin sits nestled in the woods where Asuna, Kirito and Yui once lived. Their dreams have come true once again as the three were able to live in the house again as a family. On the eve of Christmas, when the update is now live, Asuna, Kirito and their friends join a raid to defeat the boss of the 21st floor, where they can reach the 22nd floor. They immediately head towards the log cabin’s location…

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. To date a total of 15 volumes have been compiled in the series, released in Japan on August 9th 2014. . 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 with handheld and browser video games, international merchandise, and the many spin-off manga of the light novel’s arcs. The latest manga volume, Sword Art Online: Caliber, began serialization in the September issue of Dengeki G’s Comic magazine. In addition, Kawahara has relaunched the series as Sword Art Online: Progressive, a re-release of the light novels with additional content. A new light novel adaptation titled Sword Art Online: Alternative will begin publication on December 10th.

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.

You can visit the anime’s official website here: http://www.swordart-online.net/
And follow the latest developments on their Twitter: @sao_anime

What do you think about the return of the cabin? Will things be as tranquil as their first time together?