‘Sword Art Online’ Schedule Change Confirms Season 3 Break

Before Sword Art Online began its big third season, fans were wondering how long it would last considering the original Alicization arc is one of the longest arcs in the light novel series to date. While there were reports that the third season would be broken into four cours of episodes, fans were wondering if it would go on break to split them up.

A new schedule listing for the series reportedly confirms that there indeed is a break coming soon, as Sword Art Online: Alicization will be losing its timeslot on April 6.

According to the official website Monogatari Series franchise (via Anime News Network), the “Zoku Owarimonogatari & Monogatari Series Selection” will be airing six select episodes from the Monogatari Series beginning April 6, followed by Zoku Owarimonogatari for six episodes starting on May 18. This special re-airing will be taking Sword Art Online: Alicization‘s spot in the schedule until then.

With the Alicization Rising arc currently underway, it seems the second cour of the series will officially be coming to an end before April 6. If the series is to return for the rest of its third season, it won’t be until after May 18 if the series returns to its previous time slot. There has yet to a full confirmation of whether or not the series will go on for four cours as initially rumored, but this news does mean a pause on Sword Art Online‘s anime content is coming soon.

If you have yet to catch the new season of Sword Art Online yourself, the original Japanese release of Sword Art Online: Alicization can currently be found streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Hulu. The English dub of the series is now airing Saturday nights on Adult Swim’s Toonami block. The series is officially described as such:

“Where… am I…?” Before he knows it, Kirito has made a full-dive into an epic, fantasy-like virtual world. With only a murky recollection of what happened right before he logged in, he starts to wander around, searching for clues. He comes upon an enormous, pitch dark tree (the Gigas Cedar), where he encounters a boy. “My name is Eugeo. Nice to meet you, Kirito.” Although he is supposedly a resident of the virtual world – an NPC – the boy shows the same array of emotions as any human being.

As Kirito bonds with Eugeo, he continues to search for a way to log out of this world. Meanwhile, he remembers a certain memory deep down within him. He remembers racing through the mountains with Eugeo as a child… A memory that he should not have in the first place… And in this memory, he sees someone other than Eugeo, a young blond girl. Her name is Alice. And it is a name that must never be forgotten…”

via Anime News Network