'Sword Art Online' Season 4: Everything We Know So Far

Most millennials are fond of sci-fi anime television series, and 'Sword Art Online' is one such anime series, which they love a lot. It is known as Sōdo Āto Onrain in Japanese and is based on a light novel series of the same name. The light novel is written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by ABEC. The novel was published on April 10, 2009, for the first time and became an extremely successful franchise. Not only was the light novel series made into eight manga adaptations, but it was also picked by A-1 Pictures to be made into an anime television series. 

After three years of its initial publication, the first season of 'Sword Art Online' was released in Japan on July 8, 2012. The show soon became popular amongst fans, and it led to several special episodes. Soon the show was renewed for the second season and season 2 came on July 5, 2014. The show was renewed again for the third time and premiered on October 7, 2018. Now fans want to know when will season 4 come out, and here is everything we know about it.

When Will Season 4 Of 'Sword Art Online' Premiere?

'Sword Art Online' Season 4 released on Netflix today, February 6, 2022. 

The third season of Sword Art Online, which was titled Sword Art Online: Alicization, was released on October 7, 2018, and continued till March 31, 2019. Then season 3, which was preceded by an anime movie titled Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale, came out, and it was a direct continuation of the show from Season 2, and then adapted volumes 9 to 18 of the original light novel series.

Now, an adaptation of the ‘Progressive’ series has been announced. It was released as a movie adaptation of Aincard, the first arc from the series. It adapts the six-volume light novel series and is titled ‘Aria of a Starless Night.' It was released on October 30, 2021, and you can check out the trailer below.

There is an upcoming movie announced to release in 2022, so we initially expected season 4 to possibly arrive in 2023. However, Netflix surprised fans with a February premiere for season 4 this year. 

New 'Sword Art Online' Movie

There are more reasons for 'Sword Art Online' fans to celebrate this year.  Aside from season 4, a new movie titled ‘Sword Art Online Progressive: Scherzo of a Dark Dust' is set to premiere sometime this year, 2022.  We still don't have the exact release date as of this update but we will make sure to share it with you once it's available.

What Is 'Sword Art Online' All About?

This SAO is a brilliant anime adaptation of the Japanese light novel series of the same name by Reki Kawahara and is insanely popular in Japan and all around the globe. Currently, the series is ongoing, and over nineteen million copies have been sold globally. This anime is set in the virtual reality world. The story is set against a future timeline, where technology has become dangerously advanced and is thereby allowing complete integration with the game process. The first VR game made using this engine was Sword Art Online (SAO). Thousands of gamers connected their VR to join the MMORPG. But, little did they know that they would be surprised to see what was waiting for them in the virtual world. This game does not have a usual way of pausing and ending the game in the middle like normal games. The players will have to pass through all the hundred levels to exit from the game. What is scarier is the fact that if anyone tries to log out, they must die in the natural world. Around ten thousand gamers logged in and found themselves in a trap. 

The story becomes even more interesting when Kazuto Kirigaya, nicknamed "Kirito," joins the game. To exit the game, he will have to fight and deal with foes and cooperate with the allies in an attempt to survive. Kirito, unlike any other player, is an experienced one, as he served as a beta-tester of the game for a while. This is the reason why he soon becomes the leader, even though he used to play games alone. He then teams up with Asuna, who later becomes his love interest and soon his wife. They both play the game together and go for a mission to free all the rest player to allow them to exit the game. The upcoming story will be showcasing Kirito's adventures in the virtual world.