#Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Aria of a Starless Night Gets New Key Visual, October 30 Debut

During Aniplex Online Fest 2021, it was revealed that Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Aria of a Starless Night anime movie will premiere in October 30 in Japan. A new key visual was also revealed. 

◤劇場版 ソードアート・オンライン
-プログレッシブ- 星なき夜のアリア◢
　　　　　　　
　10月30日公開決定
　 　 ＆
　本ビジュアル解禁

これは、
　ゲームであっても遊びではない――
　￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣　　https://t.co/rivYvY6aHD#sao_anime pic.twitter.com/geSst0lEvA

— アニメ ソードアート・オンライン 公式 (@sao_anime) July 4, 2021

The official English account for Sword Art Online revealed the US release date will be announced later.

Ayako Kawano (surname romanized as Kouno according to Sakuga Blog and MyAnimeList, Kawano according to Anime News Network) is directing the movie. Kento Toya is in charge of character designs, while Yasuyuki Kai and Yuki Kajiura are the action director and music composer respectively. A-1 Pictures is in charge of animation production.

Yen Press is publishing the English version of the Sword Art Online: Progressive light novels and describes the first volume as:

“There’s no way to beat this game. The only difference is when and where you die…”

One month has passed since Akihiko Kayaba’s deadly game began, and the body count continues to rise. Two thousand players are already dead.

Kirito and Asuna are two very different people, but they both desire to fight alone. Nonetheless, they find themselves drawn together to face challenges from both within and without. Given that the entire virtual world they now live in has been created as a deathtrap, the surviving players of Sword Art Online are starting to get desperate, and desperation makes them dangerous to loners like Kirito and Asuna. As it becomes clear that solitude equals suicide, will the two be able to overcome their differences to find the strength to believe in each other, and in so doing survive?

Sword Art Online: Progressive is a new version of the Sword Art Online tale that starts at the beginning of Kirito and Asuna’s epic adventure–on the very first level of the deadly world of Aincrad!

Unlike the main Sword Art Online series’ Aincrad arc, which was told entirely through Kirito’s perspective, Aria on a Starless Night features several chapters told from the perspective of Asuna, albeit using a third-person point of view instead of the first-person point of view found in Kirito’s chapters.

Source: Aniplex Online Fest 2021 live stream 

(C)2020 川原 礫/KADOKAWA/SAO-P Project