The official Twitter account for Sword Art Online announced Sword Art Online: Alicization (Sword Art Online Season 3) will premiere October 2018! A new preview and key visual was released with the announcement. A-1 Pictures is returning to animate the series with Manabu Ono as director and Shingo Adachi, Go Suzuki and Tomoya Nishiguchi as character designers.
In February, it was revealed that the upcoming anime series will cover the entire ‘Alicization Arc.’
《アリシゼーション》編、スタッフ情報＆最新PVを公開！新監督は小野学さんに決定！
原作：川原 礫（「電撃文庫」刊）
原作イラスト・キャラクターデザイン原案：abec
監督：小野 学
キャラクターデザイン：足立慎吾／鈴木 豪／西口智也
制作：A-1 Pictureshttps://t.co/86ZYUv3w0P #sao_anime pic.twitter.com/9b9PhlZ8rh— アニメ ソードアート・オンライン 公式 (@sao_anime) March 24, 2018
Yen Press describes the show:
Kirito awakens in a vast, fantastical forest filled with towering trees. In his search for clues to the truth of his surroundings, he encounters a young boy who seems to know him. He ought to be a simple NPC, but the depth of his emotions seem no different than a human. As they search for the boy’s parents, Kirito finds a peculiar memory returning to him. A memory from his own childhood, of this boy and a girl, too, with golden hair, and a name he should have never forgotten—Alice.
TVアニメ「ソードアート・オンライン アリシゼーション」2018年10月放送開始！
キャラクターデザイン足立慎吾描き下ろしキービジュアルを公開！！https://t.co/86ZYUv3w0P #sao_anime pic.twitter.com/Gw05ECJw3O
— アニメ ソードアート・オンライン 公式 (@sao_anime) March 24, 2018
Sword Art Online: Alicization will be in Anime Trending’s Fall 2018 Polls.
Source: Sword Art Online Twitter