Sword Art Online (published by Dengeki Bunko) is a light novel series by Reki Kawahara, winner of the 15th Dengeki Bunko Novel Grand Prize.

The story revolves around main character Kirito and his heroics as a player in Sword Art Online, a next-generation VRMMORPG. The series has enjoyed massive popularity since Volume One was first published in April 2009, with cumulative worldwide sales topping 30 million copies by 2022.

An anime adaption, Sword Art Online Season 1, aired in 2012, followed by four more seasons to date (for a total of 97 episodes *1). In 2017, a theatrical film, Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale, was released. In addition, the franchise has produced a wide-ranging media mix of games, comic books, etc.

Sword Art Online Progressive is a reboot series, penned by Kawahara himself, offering a deeper look at where it all began, on Aincrad’s first floor.

2021 saw the launch of an all-new animated film series based on Progressive. The first film in the series, Aria of a Starless Night, a rebooted Aincrad Arc seen from Asuna’s point of view rather than Kirito’s, debuted at No. 1 in the weekend box office revenue rankings, and was a long-running hit, staying in theaters nationwide for 10 weeks.

And now, Aria’s sequel, Scherzo of Deep Night, is set to premiere in 2022.

A death game where “Game Over” leads directly to death in the real world…

This is the long-awaited second movie in the animated film series Sword Art Online Progressive, a journey back to where it all began!

• *1 Excluding recap episodes and Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online