Hey everyone, as you may know by now, Sword Art Online Progressive Anime has been revealed after the ending of Alicization War of Underworld. We wanted to contain the initial hype in a single post about the reveal itself and now that it has served its purpose, we would like to provide you a more comprehensive Megathread for you to inform yourself about what Sword Art Online Progressive is and all that jazz (and to hopefully keep all those repeated basic questions out of the front page).

Thus, all questions answered by this thread will be removed from the front page. Other questions one may have will be handled on a case-by-case basis and will be directed to this Megathread if needed.

Hint: If you are looking for a basic clarification or a summary of some sorts, you should ask here.

Update 27 March 2021:

Anime Japan happened. We got a new trailer, along with the reveal of a new Anime original character and significant changes from the original Aria story that was written about 10 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4KpzxD7kzI

We also received a new Key Visual featuring Asuna, Kirito and the new character Mito: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Exd2DJCXEAMaUlo.jpg

The movie is currently scheduled for Fall 2021. No further specific date was mentioned. Considering a Fall release, it’s likely we will get more trailer(s) in the future.

Since a lot of people are speculating about the new character, I will put my Trailer Explained video here, as I have outlined a clear timeline we were provided in this trailer regarding Mito, allowing to ground a lot of the speculation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpLd2WIoG6E

Update 19 January 2021:

SAO Composer, Yuki Kajiura has confirmed that the production was complete and they were aiming for a Spring release, but due to the unpredictability of the Covid-19 pandemic, they are reluctant to officially announce a date. They want to make sure they find a date that they will not have to delay from due to possible measures to avoid fans from being disappointed.

Update 8 Nov 2020:

Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night Movie

Mirror of the official trailer with English subs as Aniplex JP has it regionblocked, while Aniplex USA will likely not have it for a while longer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6glgwz7NT_k

Key Visual: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EmTNQrDVkAgw84Y.jpg

Key Staff as mentioned in the trailer:

• Director: Kouno Ayako

• Character Designer: Toya Kento

• Action Director: Kai Yasuyuki

• Music: Kajiura Yuki

Sword Art Online Progressive Anime will begin with a Movie Adaptation of the first story from Progressive Light Novel Volume 1, Aria of a Starless Night that covers the final days of Floor 1 after 3 weeks had passed since the beginning of the game. Additional scenes from earlier in the game from Asuna’s perspective will be present.

Aria of a Starless Night is scheduled for 2021.

Original Post:

What is Sword Art Online Progressive?

Sword Art Online Progressive is a spin-off Light Novel series written by the author of the SAO series, Reki Kawahara. The books are a revisit to the original Aincrad Arc that was initially written as a standalone story of the final days of Aincrad, that was later expanded on via various side stories, thus leaving a lot of time skips in its wake. Progressive starts 3 weeks after the First Day side story and aims to cover Aincrad’s skipped portions Floor by Floor.

Spin-Off? Isn’t this canon?

It is very much canon. The fact that it is considered a “Spin-Off” is solely due to it not directly being part of the Sword Art Online Main Series Novels that follow the “Sword Art Online Volume XY” naming scheme, but rather going with the title “Sword Art Online Progressive Volume XY”. Canon and Spin-Off are not mutually exclusive terms.

Light Novel? I thought this was a Manga with Asuna as the main character?

The source material for Progressive, much like almost all SAO Stories, are the Light Novels. Progressive Manga is just as much of an adaptation as the Anime will be, if even that. The manga adaptation of Progressive has had multiple runs with different Mangakas, each having their own take on the story and characters. Some are slightly faithful, some change entire events, thus the Manga adaptation is considered to be non-canon.

Yeah, but Asuna is still the main character, right?

Not exactly. Depending on your take, you can consider her a co-main character, or simply a strong deuteragonist. Her appearance in Progressive is very similar to Eugeo’s appearance in Alicization (Anime did not do Eugeo any justice FYI). Majority of the story is told from Kirito’s perspective and his knowledge, but there are portions from Asuna’s PoV too, as Progressive is the story of the duo.

So…. Is this thing anywhere near complete?

Hahahahah. No.

Currently, 6 Volumes of SAO Progressive have been released, with the 7th Volume scheduled for March 10, 2021. These 6 Volumes cover up until and including Floor 6 (V1 has F1&2, V5&6 have F6).

How much is the Anime going to cover?

The first movie, Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night will cover the Floor 1 story, Aria of a Starless Night.

When will it air?

No information provided.

Update 8 Nov 2020: Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night Movie is scheduled to release in 2021 in Japan. No word on the western side yet.

Update 27 March 2021: Movie is officially scheduled for Fall 2021. No word on the western side.

What about the [Insert your preferred language] Dub? Will we have one?

Most certainly. You usually have to wait a bit longer for Dub news, and we have received none so far. Chances are, the various Corona situations in all the different regions will have an effect on certain dubs, so expect the situation to be less uniform than before.

When can we expect more news?

Currently, no major events are in sight where more information can be expected. (As of the end of March 2021)

You can keep following the sources mentioned below for the latest news:

Official Sword Art Online Twitter account (Japanese only)

Sword Art Online Wikia Twitter account (translates from the official account as quickly as possible)

Gamerturk on Youtube (basically news from the Wikia twitter account in video form if that’s your thing, along with Introductory videos we produce with SAO Wikia)

Official Sword Art Online USA account (if you want to get your news 1-6 weeks after you get them from other mentioned sources)

Disclaimer: I am part of the SAO Wikia crew. Gamerturk is also my personal channel. Revenue generated by Wikia videos are directed to the SAO Scans project in full. Revenue generated from my personal videos remain with me.

You can find a comprehensive introduction to Sword Art Online Progressive here (Personal video, generates ad revenue for me): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MjDxqDU7ZY

If there are more questions that you need answered, this is the place to ask, however keep in mind that this post is not a place to share spoilers. Anything contextual from the Light Novels or Manga have to be appropriately Spoiler Tagged.

Questions may be added to this Megathread if need be, so don’t be shy to send a modmail.

See you all on the floating castle!