The Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale movie is now available to rent in Japan. The rental copy of the movie has something in it to delight fans of the series and it’s not Asuna’s nipples (although they are featured in the film. If you hear something, that’s probably the sound of people clicking off this post to go look for a fan sub of the rental release.) At the end of the DVD, there is a teaser for the long-awaited third season of Sword Art Online which looks to feature the Alicization arc of the light novels by Reki Kawahara.
Yen Press holds publishes both the manga and the light novels in North America. The 9th volume of the light novel, which starts the Alicization arc, was made available back in July.
Unfortunately, the teaser trailer does not state when a third season of the anime will be released. According to RightStuf, the anime will be released on December 19, 2017 in the United States. The movie is being released by Aniplex of America.
RightStuf describes the movie as follows:
The NerveGear, the world’s first dedicated full-dive device developed by the genius programmer, Akihiko Kayaba in 2022…a revolutionary machine that opened up infinite possibilities for the world of VR (Virtual Reality). 4 years later…. A next-generation, wearable multi-device called the Augma has been released to compete with the NerveGear’s successor, the Amusphere. A cutting-edge machine boasting the ability to enhance AR (Augmented Reality) to the maximum, the Augma offers a safe, user-friendly experience, as it can be used while the player is awake, making it an instant hit. Its most popular title is an ARMMORPG developed exclusively for the Augma, “Ordinal Scale (a.k.a. OS).”
Kirito is about to join Asuna and the others as an Ordinal Scale player, but they’re about to find out that it isn’t all fun and games…
The Outerhaven’s Karl Smart has a review of Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale, which can be found here: https://www.theouterhaven.net/2017/05/sword-art-online-movie-ordinal-scale-review/
A screenshot of the trailer can be seen below courtesy of Crunchyroll