Aniplex announced today on March 24 that Sword Art Online: Alicization, the upcoming third TV anime adaptation of Reki Kawahara's sci-fi action adventure light novel series Sword Art Online, is set to premiere in October 2018. The latest adaptation is based on the novel's fourth arc told from its ninth to 14th volumes.

The first TV anime Sword Art Online was aired for 25 episodes from July to December 2012, then the second season Sword Art Online II followed with 24 episodes two years later. Instead of the first two's Tomohiko Ito, Manabu Ono (Saki, The Irregular at Magic High School) is newly served as director at A-1 Pictures. The third season's official website is updated with a key visual introducicing Kirito, Alice, and Eugeo, drawn by anime character designer Shingo Adachi below.

Teaser PV

《アリシゼーション》編、スタッフ情報＆最新PVを公開！新監督は小野学さんに決定！

原作：川原 礫（「電撃文庫」刊）
原作イラスト・キャラクターデザイン原案：abec
監督：小野 学
キャラクターデザイン：足立慎吾／鈴木 豪／西口智也
制作：A-1 Pictureshttps://t.co/86ZYUv3w0P　#sao_anime pic.twitter.com/9b9PhlZ8rh

— アニメ ソードアート・オンライン 公式 (@sao_anime) 2018年3月24日

Main voice cast:

 Kirito/Kazuto Kirigaya: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka

 Asuna/Asuna Yuuki: Haruka Tomatsu

 Alice Zuberg: Ai Kayano

 Eugeo: Nobunaga Shimazaki

Source: Aniplex press release

(c)2017 Reki Kawahara/KADOKAWA Ascii Media Works/SAO-A Project