A first glimpse at SWORD ART ONLINE season 3

Thanks to Wakanim and Aniplex, Japan Expo’s attendees had the honor to meet the chara-designer, the producer, and the director of SWORD ART ONLINE season 3 (SWORD ART ONLINE -Alicization-), Shingo ADACHI, Masami NIWA, and Manabu ONO, on the Yuzu stage. These prestigious guests made an entrance in front of a full house giving them a warm welcome before getting started with the much awaited revelations about the series’ new addition.

This is when fans got to discover a world-exclusive trailer of the third season showing their favorite protagonists, Kirito and Asuna, in an unknown world filled with new characters, new stories and plot twists, which triggered everyone’s curiosity without revealing too much. Masami NIWA and Manabu ONO then gave some more information about this first preview. The attendees thus learnt that SWORD ART ONLINE -Alicization-‘s main plot partially goes back in time to follow 11 year old Kirito’s adventures, and that they should pay a close attention to Eugeo and Alice, two new characters with mysterious personalities…

Shingo ADACHI then worked on a live-drawing after asking the fans which characters they wanted him to draw. This is how an unique portrait of Asuna and Kirito saw the light of day, followed by a second art piece of Shinon on the audience’s demand. However, the best had yet to come, for these two artworks have been given to two lucky spectators. The first one was won by a young attendee (as young as Kirito in this new season!) after wild rounds of rock-paper-scissors against three other contestants who still got to leave with a signed poster. The second one was given to a Shinon cosplayer chosen by Shingo ADACHI himself among the crowd.

On this joyful note, the team ended the panel after thanking the audience again. If you’ve missed this event or if you want more SWORD ART ONLINE activities, you can meet these prestigious guests at signigns, tomorrow at Sumiré 4 between 11.00am and 12.00am!

In partnership with Wakanim et Aniplex