Four years ago, Akihiko Kayaba released the highly anticipated virtual reality MMORPG, Sword Art Online. Utilising a special virtual reality console known as the NerveGear that fully immersed players into the games they played, the game secretly trapped 10,000 players into the game with their lives held hostage. If anyone tried to pull the players out of the game from the real world or if any player’s hit points reached zero, the NerveGear would fry their brains and kill them instantly. The only chance players had at surviving was to clear all 100 floors of the castle Aincrad and beat the game. After two years trapped in Sword Art Online, players finally emerged but not without thousands having fallen to a cruel fate.

One of the players responsible for helping those who were still alive escape, Kirito, caught the attention of the VR crimes division in Japan and cooperated with them on cases that the hero of Aincrad would know best about. Through his help, Kirito would eventually be offered a job at a company known as Rath from one of the members of this VR crimes division to help them test a next-generation experimental VR machine known as the Soul Translator. All Kirito has to do is remain in virtual reality continuously for extended periods of time.

If there’s any entry in Sword Art Online to get excited for being adapted into an anime, this is the one. A whole new world, a whole new set of risks and rules, and a whole new set of possibilities make Alicization much more than just the third season of Sword Art Online. With an appealing mystery on the horizon for a familiar cast, Alicization is going to be one of the most special stories this series has ever told.