Sword Art Online: ‘Gun Gale Online’ Reveals Premiere Date

In less than a month, a new season will take over the anime industry. The upcoming spring season will see a slew of high-profile shows return to television, and Sword Art Online will be amongst them. The franchise is preparing to debut its first spinoff title, and fans just learned when Gun Gale Online will go live.

So, you better get your calendar ready. The new anime is slated to drop the first week of April.

Not long ago, the official website for Gun Gale Online confirmed the anime would premiere on April 7. The show will air on a variety of Japanese networks such as Tokyo MX, BS11, Tochigi TV, and Gunma TV. MBS, TV Aichi, and CS NTV will also air the series at a later time slot (via ANN).

So far, there is no official word on whether Gun Gale Online will be streamed for international fans. Funimation has yet to release any details about a simulcast or simuldub.

If you are not familiar with Gun Gale Online, then you need to re-watch Sword Art Online‘s second season. The anime covered the new game way back when. The spin-off will follow Karen Kohiruimaki as the abnormally tall college student enters the world of Gun Gale Online. The player operates under the avatar Llenn, and the character’s life gets turned around when she meets a player named Pitohui who convinces them to enter a tournament known as Squad Jam.

For those unfamiliar with Sword Art Online, the series was originally created by Reki Kawahara with illustrations provided by abec. The series follows a boy named Kirito after he and thousands of gamers get trapped in a virtual reality video game known as Sword Art Online. The gamers must band together to defeat the game’s final level to escape, but Kirito and his guild learn there is more behind their prison than they were originally told.

Its first season aired in 2012 and ran for 25 episodes, while its second season, Sword Art Online II, aired in 2014 and ran for 24 episodes. The series currently gearing up for its next big arc in the light novel series, “Unitial Ring,” and the next season of the anime is set to adapt “Alicization.”

Will you be watching this anime spinoff? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!

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