Sword Art Online is currently in the works on Kirito’s next full anime adventure, but the newest episode of Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Season 2 brought Kirito back to screens for the first time in years. The last time fans had gotten to see Kirito in action in Sword Art Online was during the feature film, Sword Art Online Progressive: Scherzo of Deep Night. This film told a story from the early Sword Art Online arcs before Kirito and Asuna escaped from the virtual reality game. But it’s been even longer since we’ve seen Kirito in a TV anime series.
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Sword Art Online: Alicization ended its run back in 2020 as the final TV anime appearance for Kirito, and teased he would be returning. That ended up being the Scherzo of Deep Night film released in 2022, but now Kirito has returned in quite the unexpected way in Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Season 2. As Pitohui reminiscences about the two players she’s ever been impressed by in a virtual reality game, Kirito is actually the first one brought up as he really shook her during the Sword Art Online beta. So this is the earliest version of Kirito seen yet too.
How Does Kirito Return in Sword Art Online?
Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II Episode 8 sees Pitohui readying for a new showdown with LLENN, and she’s asked about whether or not she’s actually afraid of LLENN. It’s here Pitohui reveals that only two players in her VR gaming history have managed to impress her with their strength and willpower. While LLENN is one of them, the first actually came across her during the Sword Art Online beta test. Meaning that Pitohut actually crossed paths with Kirito before even the events of the original Sword Art Online anime.
Through her memory we see the version of the Kirito character that Kirito had been using in the beta test, she reveals that she fought one on one with him. Describing him as “slender, stud of a man” and a “real poser,” she then explains that Kirito ended the fight early. Impressed that someone two levels under than him doing so well, he lets her have the boss. Promising to fight again if they ever reach the same level, Pitohui thought he was amazing and was even ashamed of how weak she felt as a result. So we’re seeing Kirito through someone else’s eyes, without the actual Kirito influencing that vision. And he’s still the strongest!
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What’s Next for Kirito in Sword Art Online?
As for what is coming next for the actual Kirito, the Sword Art Online TV anime has been on a hold since the end of the Alicization Arc back in 2020. Reki Kawahara’s original Sword Art Online light novels have since gone on to craft the next arc of the story, so there’s still a potential for the TV anime return someday. What has been announced, however, is that a new original anime feature film is currently in the works.
Sword Art Online officially announced earlier this year that a new movie in the franchise is in production, and it’s being teased as a “completely new” work. Teasing that it would not be adapting any of the prior light novel, manga or TV anime releases, Sword Art Online has yet to share any major updates about how this new movie is coming along just yet. So it’s going to be a longer wait for Kirito to return to screens in full.