News coming from Aniplex’s stage presentation at the AnimeJapan 2021 event garnered some big news for Sword Art Online fans. There were more details announced about the newest Sword Art Online film titled Sword Art Online the Movie Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night (Gekijō-ban Sword Art Online: Progressive Hoshi Naki Yoru no Aria). Aniplex’s stage presented a teaser trailer to audiences–the second teaser to be released–as well as a new visual and premiere date. The film will premiere in Japanese theatres this fall, 2021.
Aniplex also debuted the final character design for the new movie character Mito, who is being voiced in the film by Inori Minase.
Progressive Aria of a Starless Night is being directed by Ayako Kawano, who is known for her work as unit director on Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic, High School Fleet, and The Seven Deadly Sins the Movie: Prisoners of the Sky. The film is being produced at A-1 Pictures, which is known for Sword Art Online, The Seven Deadly Sins and Fairy Tail. The lead character designer is Kento Toya, who has also worked on Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld and The Seven Deadly Sins: Revival of The Commandments. Yasuyuki Kai comes to the series to assist as a director for the action scenes. Lastly, Yuki Kajiura is returning to compose the film’s music.
Also returning to the film are the lead roles of Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Kirito and Haruka Tomatsu as Asuna in the voice cast.
The anime film is based on a spin-off of the Sword Art Online series titled Sword Art Online: Progressive. This series of light novels was written by Reki Kawahara and launched to audiences in 2012. The story is a revised telling of Kawahara’s original Sword Art Online novels, which depicts hero Kirito’s journey through the floating castle of Aincrad, floor by floor. The Sword Art Online: Progressive novel series is being published by Yen Press in English.
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