Sword Art Online II

Sword Art Online II is a science fantasy Japanese anime series based on the Sword Art Online light novel series written by Reki Kawahara. It is the second season of the Sword Art Online anime series and follows the events of volumes 5 and 6 of the light novels, titled "Phantom Bullet". It also covers the Caliber (part of volume 8) and Mother's Rosario (volume 7) arcs.

The series was produced by A-1 Pictures and directed by Tomohiko Itō. The series also features character designs by Shingo Adachi, based on the original designs by abec, art designs by Yoshinori Shiozawa, and music composed by Yuki Kajiura. The 24-episode series premiered in Japan on July 5, 2014 on Tokyo MX with later airings on Chiba TV, tvk, Teleball, GYT, GTV, MBS, TVA, TVh, TVQ and BS11.^[2]

The English dub of the series aired on Adult Swim's Toonami block from March 28, 2015^[1]^[3]^[4] to September 26, 2015. The series was rated TV-14-LV on Adult Swim.

Plot[]

After putting an end to the SAO incident in 2024 and rescuing Asuna in Alfheim Online (ALO), Kazuto Kirigaya finally returned to the real world to resume a normal life with his friends once more. However, when a string of deaths begin occurring in connection to a virtual reality game called "Gun Gale Online" (GGO), Kikuoka Seijiro of the Ministry of Internal Affairs enlists Kazuto to once again don his character "Kirito" and enter the virtual world to investigate the cause of the deaths. While meeting new allies, Kirito may be faced with his most dangerous challenge yet—a player known only as "Death Gun" with the ability to kill a person in the real world by killing their virtual avatar.

Characters[]

Kazuto Kirigaya (Kirito) — The black knight who led the other players to clear the horrifying MMO Sword Art Online (SAO). Kirito's avatar in GGO is the rare «M9000» type, which is speculated by GGO players to be awarded to players with long play time. It is an avatar that many male players dream of having, due to its feminine appearance. If one did not know better, it would be easy to confuse him with a female. This often causes great confusion to people, such as Sinon.

Asuna Yuki — Kazuto's girlfriend, a skilled player of Sword Art Online who fought alongside Kirito.

Shino Asada (Sinon) — a female player of the gun and steel filled MMO Gun Gale Online (GGO). She is a sniper who wields the giant "Hecate II" rifle. She is a member of Dyne's squadron in Gun Gale Online.

Suguha Kirigaya (Leafa) — Kirito's younger sister who was a Sylph player in the world of Alfheim Online (ALO)

Keiko Ayano (Silica) — She was saved by Kirito in the world of SAO and was a Cait Sith player in ALO, specializing in the taming skill.

Rika Shinozaki (Lisbeth) — The skilled blacksmith who created Kirito's sword in SAO. In ALO she played as a leprechaun blacksmith.

Kyoji Shinkawa (Spiegel) — Shino's friend both in the real world and Gun Gale Online (GGO), in fact he was the one who introduced Shino to GGO in the first place as a form of immersion therapy for her fear of guns.

Death Gun — The mysterious avatar who is responsible for the player kills within the world of GGO. Players who are killed by Death Gun in the game also lose their lives in the real world.

Voice Cast[]

Character	English Voice Actor	Japanese Voice Actor
Kirito	Bryce Papenbrook	Yoshitsugu Matsuoka
Asuna	Cherami Leigh	Haruka Tomatsu
Sinon	Michelle Ruff	Sawashiro Miyuki
Leafa	Cassandra Morris	Ayana Taketatsu
Yui	Stephanie Sheh	Kanae Itō
Klein	Kirk Thornton	Hiroaki Hirata
Silica	Christine Marie Cabanos	Rina Hidaka
Lisbeth	Sarah Anne Williams	Ayahi Takagaki
Seijiro Kikuoka	Matt Mercer	Toshiyuki Morikawa
Death Gun	Ben Diskin	Sōichirō Hoshi
Xexceed	Grant George	Hiroshi Kamiya
Yumikaze	Chris Tergliafera	Go Shinomiya
Spiegel	Johnny Yong Bosch	Natsuki Hanae
Aki Natsuki	Julie Ann Taylor	Ayako Kawasumi
Agil	Patrick Seitz	Hiroki Yasumoto
Dyne	Dan Woren	Satoshi Tsuruoka
Ginro	Ben Diskin	Anri Katsu
Endo	Colleen O'Shaughnessey	Yōko Hikasa
Urd	Karen Strassman	Houko Kuwashima
Freyja	Mela Lee	Yūko Minaguchi
Verdandi	Olivia Charles	Mai Nakahara
Skuld	Julie Ann Taylor	Saki Fujita
Thrym	John Snyder	Shōzō Iizuka
Thor	Richard Epcar	Tesshō Genda
Schmidt	Kaiji Tang	Masayuki Katō
Kyoko Yuki	Johanna Luis	Megumi Hayashibara
Yuki	Erica Mendez	Aoi Yūki
Jun	Max Mittelman	Daiki Yamashita
Talken	Zach Aguilar	Atsushi Tamaru
Nori	Erica Lindbeck	Asami Tano
Siune	Erika Harlacher	Yū Shimamura
Tecchi	Chris Cason	Nobuyuki Kobushi
Dr. Kurahashi	Robbie Daymond	Hidenobu Kiuchi

Episodes[]

Season	Episodes	Toonami Premiere	Toonami Finale
Phantom Bullet Arc	14	March 28, 2015	July 11, 2015
Calibur Arc	03	July 18, 2015	August 1, 2015
Mother's Rosario Arc	07	August 8, 2015	September 26, 2015

Sword Art Online II follows the events of volumes 5 and 6 of the light novels, titled "Phantom Bullet". It also covers the Caliber (part of volume 8) and Mother's Rosario (volume 7) arcs. The series was released by Aniplex of America on DVD and Blu Ray, in 4 volumes, between June 30, 2015 and January 9, 2016.^[5]

Broadcast History[]

The series premiered in Japan from July 5, 2014 to December 20, 2014 on Tokyo MX, with later airings on Chiba TV, tvk, Teleball, GYT, GTV, MBS, TVA, TVh, TVQ and BS11.^[2] The series was licensed in North America by Aniplex of America and was made available as a worldwide simulcast by Aniplex.^[6]^[7] It was also picked up by Crunchyroll for online simulcast streaming in North America and other select parts of the world.^[8] Daisuki also streamed the series in select European countries.^[9]

An English-language dub was produced by Aniplex and Bang Zoom! Entertainment which aired on Adult Swim's Toonami block from March 28, 2015^[1] to September 26, 2015.

Japan (Tokyo MX) — July 5, 2014^[2] - December 20, 2014
United States (Adult Swim) — March 28, 2015^[1] - September 26, 2015
France (J-One) — September 14, 2015^[10] - 2016

Toonami Broadcast History[]

Sword Art Online II premiered on Adult Swim's Toonami block on March 28, 2015 at 1:00 AM.^[1] On June 20, 2015 the series was moved to the 1:30 AM time slot.^[11] The series completed its run on September 26, 2015 and was replaced in the lineup by Parasyte -the maxim-.