Following the first movie’s recent release, a new Sword Art Online Progressive anime film has been announced, and it’s set to release in 2022.
This upcoming SAO Progressive move is titled Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Kuraki Yūyami no Scherzo (Scherzo of a Dark Dusk in English). This new film was revealed in a teaser which was shown after the initial screening of Sword Art Online The Movie -Progressive- Aria of a Starless Night in Japan over the weekend.
Following the teaser, the official SAO Twitter confirmed the news and revealed its 2022 release date in Japan.
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劇場版
ソードアート・オンライン
-プログレッシブ-
冥き夕闇のスケルツォ
- -－2022年公開決定－#sao_anime pic.twitter.com/c68GzsUmRe
— アニメ ソードアート・オンライン 公式 (@sao_anime) November 1, 2021
In case you’re unfamiliar, Progressive is a light novel series is sort of a spin-off of the original SAO series as it’s an expanded retelling of the Aincrad arc, covering floors which the original arc skipped over.
The first light novel volume is described by Yen Press as:
“ ‘There’s no way to beat this game. The only difference is when and where you die…’
One month has passed since Akihiko Kayaba’s deadly game began, and the body count continues to rise. Two thousand players are already dead.
Kirito and Asuna are two very different people, but they both desire to fight alone. Nonetheless, they find themselves drawn together to face challenges from both within and without. Given that the entire virtual world they now live in has been created as a deathtrap, the surviving players of Sword Art Online are starting to get desperate, and desperation makes them dangerous to loners like Kirito and Asuna. As it becomes clear that solitude equals suicide, will the two be able to overcome their differences to find the strength to believe in each other, and in so doing survive?
Sword Art Online: Progressive is a new version of the Sword Art Online tale that starts at the beginning of Kirito and Asuna’s epic adventure–on the very first level of the deadly world of Aincrad!”
Source: Crunchyroll