2nd Sword Art Online Progressive Anime Film's 1st Key Visual Announces September 10 Opening

The staff for the Sword Art Online franchise revealed the first key visual for Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Kuraki Yūyami no Scherzo (Scherzo of a Dark Dusk), the second film in the Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- anime film series, on Wednesday. The visual announces the film's September 10 opening.

The staff also announced a "TV Anime Sword Art Online 10th Anniversary Countdown!" special that Tokyo MX and other channels will run on July 1 at 24:00 (effectively, July 2 at midnight). The special will announce details about the "SAO Selection" rerun starting on July 9, as well as more news on the upcoming movie and 10th anniversary project. The Ueno Mori Museum in Tokyo will host "The Art of Sword Art Online" exhibit from July 2 to July 25.

The franchise will host a 10th anniversary event on November 6 in Tokyo.

Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Aria of a Starless Night, the first anime film in the project, opened in Japan in October 2021, and topped the box office in its first weekend.

Funimation screened the film in both standard and IMAX theaters in the United States and Canada on December 3 last year and screened the film in Australia and New Zealand on December 9. The film opened in over 40 countries and territories around the world. Odex screened the film in Southeast Asia last year.

Ayako Kohno (unit director on Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic, High School Fleet, The Seven Deadly Sins the Movie: Prisoners of the Sky) directed the film at A-1 Pictures, and Kento Toya (Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld, The Seven Deadly Sins: Revival of The Commandments) designed the characters. Yasuyuki Kai served as action director, and Yuki Kajiura returned to compose the music.

The anime is based on Reki Kawahara's Sword Art Online: Progressive light novel series. The novel series launched in 2012 as a revised retelling of Kawahara's original Sword Art Online novels. The story depicts Kirito's journey through the floating Aincrad castle from the beginning, floor-by-floor. Yen Press is publishing the Sword Art Online: Progressive novel series in English, as well as two manga adaptations.

Source: Comic Natalie