TOKYO, Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- KADOKAWA CORPORATION
has published the light novel series "Sword Art Online" (author:
Reki Kawahara/ illustrator: abec) under its light novel label
"Dengeki Bunko." Following the announcement of the
worldwide simultaneous release of "Sword Art Online The Movie -
Ordinal Scale-," a movie based on a
whole new story written by the original author, Reki Kawahara,
KADOKAWA CORPORATION has opened a website for the English version
of the light novel series to raise the awareness of the title
worldwide. The English website features explanations about each of
the novels and episodes, including the Aincrad Episode and the
Fairy Dance Episode.
(Photo: http://prw.kyodonews.jp/opn/release/201609304845/)
"Sword Art Online" English-version novel website
http://dengekibunko.jp/title/sao_en/
"Sword Art Online" is set in the world of a mysterious
next-generation VR online game called "Sword Art Online" in which
those who die in the game will die in real life as well, with the
storyline following the main character, Kirito. Currently 22
volumes of light novels have been published in Japanese. The light
novel series has become a mega hit worldwide with 19 million (*)
volumes being sold, including translated versions.
(*) "Sword Art Online" novels in circulation by country/region:
Japan 12.5 million/ Mainland China 3.73 million/ Taiwan 1.45 million/ South Korea 770,000/ North America, U.K. 370,000/ etc. As of
August 2016, total overseas sales
reached 6.5 million, bringing the total sold worldwide to 19
million.
"Sword Art Online" is also popular for its extensive cross-media
developments, which to date include nine comics, two TV anime
adaptations, video games, and various merchandise. Since the
release of its first console game in 2013, the series has sold 1.9
million copies and achieved 9 million downloads of its mobile
games. Also to date over 9.3 million home video units of the TV
anime series, produced by A-1 Pictures under the coordination of
Aniplex, have been sold worldwide. In March
2014, the series earned even more popularity when it began
streaming on Netflix in North
America. In August this year, Skydance Media, a diversified
U.S. media company, acquired the global live-action rights to
"Sword Art Online" and announced an ongoing project to create the
world's first "Sword Art Online" live-action TV series. As
theatrical animated movie fans had been long awaiting, "Sword Art
Online The Movie -Ordinal Scale-," will be
simultaneously released worldwide on February 18, 2017.
Furthermore, a "Sword Art Online" stage event titled "Sword Art
Online Festival @Anime Expo 2016" was held on the second day of
Anime Expo, the largest anime event in the U.S. that spanned four
days from July 1 to 4 in Los Angeles, and welcomed 300,000 attendees.
During the event, a teaser trailer of the movie was released along
with the second key visual. There was also a live recording of the
English dubbing cast and more, all of which greatly excited the
3,000 fans in attendance.
A special stage event for "Sword Art Online The Movie -Ordinal
Scale-" was also held at the main stage at the hugely popular
"Dengeki Bunko Fall Festival 2016" (attendance: 79,213) which was
held in Akihabara, Tokyo, on
October 2, featuring guests from the
original female casts including Haruka
Tomatsu, who was cast to the voice of Asuna, and also
introduced the third new key visual and teaser trailer. Moreover,
the venue reached a fever pitch with the announcement of the
movie's release date set on February 18,
2017, and the second version of advanced tickets set to go
on sale on October 15, as well as by
the introduction of three new characters in the movie: The
mysterious songstress Yuna; the second-ranked player in the new
game "Ordinal Scale," Eiji; and the developer of the Augma AR
device, Professor Shigemura.
There is also a collaborative tour planned between "Sword Art
Online The Movie -Ordinal Scale-" and travel agency H.I.S.
tentatively titled "Sword Art Online Release Celebration: SAO Tour
Japan -Presented by H.I.S.-." In
addition to this, there are even more projects and collaborations
in the works.
"Sword Art Online The Movie -Ordinal Scale-" website
http://sao-movie.net/us/
"Sword Art Online" English website
http://www.swordart-onlineusa.com/
About Reki Kawahara
Author. Chosen from among 3,541 entrants as the winner of the
Grand Prize of KADOKAWA's "15th Dengeki Novel Prize" for the Rookie
of the Year. His award-winning novel "Accel
World" debuted under the "Dengeki Bunko" imprint in
February 2009. "Sword Art Online" and
"The Isolator," novels written under a different pen name
that were originally serialized on his homepage, began being
published by "Dengeki Bunko" in April
2009 and June 2014
respectively.
Collectively, more than 17 million volumes of his works have been
sold just in Japan alone. He is
one of the most prominent light novel authors in the industry at
the moment, and continues to captivate fans with his work.
About KADOKAWA CORPORATION
Founded in 1945 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, KADOKAWA CORPORATION is one of
the most well-established Japanese entertainment companies,
producing a wide variety of publications and visual content
including novels, comics, magazines, live-action films, and
animation series. In April 2016,
KADOKAWA announced partnerships with Hachette Book Group and
Crunchyroll, Inc. to distribute its content to the North American
market.
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SOURCE KADOKAWA CORPORATION