Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Season 2 Shifts to New Studio Mid-Production

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online is now in the works with Season 2, and it’s now shifted over to a new studio in the midst of that production. Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online was an official spin-off series for the franchise that made its anime debut back in 2018. It was a spin-off that explored more of the Gun Gale Online game introduced in Sword Art Online Season 2 following a new group of characters without any of the risk of life or death stakes for the real players involved. Now it’s coming back for more. 

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online was such a success that last year it had announced that the anime would be coming back for a new season, but there’s been some changes behind the scenes. Studio 3Hz produced the first season of the anime, and was producing the second. But it’s been announced that production for the new episodes will be shifting over their animation planning and production business to A-1 Pictures (the studio behind the main Sword Art Online anime). 

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What Does This Mean? 

According to the announcement from the anime’s official social media, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Season 2 will be shifting over to A-1 Pictures but will keep on the same staff that already had been working on it, “Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II will still be produced by the same staff that have been working on it up to this point, but animation production will now be credited to A-1 Pictures.” It’s yet to be revealed what this means for Studio 3Hz’s other now in the works anime projects, but the new production is still scheduled to release later this Fall. 

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Season 2 will be premiering later this October as part of the Fall 2024 anime schedule. Masayuki Sakoi returns from the first season to direct for the now credited A-1 Pictures, Yosuke Kuroda will be handling the scripts, and Yoshio Kosakai will be designing the characters. Returning cast members for the new season include the likes of Tomori Kusunoki as Llenn, Yoko Hikasa as Pitohui, Chinatsu Akasaki as Fukaziroh, and Kazayuki Okitsu as M. 

You can catch up with the first season of the anime streaming with Crunchyroll and Hulu, and they tease Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online as such, “In the world of guns and steel that is Gun Gale Online, LLENN has been a devoted, female solo player. She is obsessed with two things: donning herself entirely in pink and honing her skills with consistent game play. She soon discovers her love for hunting other players (a.k.a. PK), soon to be known as the ‘Pink Devil.’ Meanwhile, LLENN meets a beautiful yet mysterious player, Pitohui, and the two click right away. Doing as she is told by Pitohui, she enters the Squad Jam group battle.”