Swimsuit episode to air on December 31

The key visual and story for the year-end Sword Art Online: Extra Edition special was revealed at the "Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2013" event at the Akihabara UDX & Belle Salle in Tokyo on Sunday. Sword Art Online light novel author Reki Kawahara contributed to the script for the new scenes.

Kawahara noted in the afterword of Sword Art Online volume 13 that the special will be a recap of the Aincrad and Fairy Dance arcs, but it will contain some new footage. In the story, the computer program Yui wants to see a whale with Kirito who embarks on an underwater quest in the world of Alfheim Online. However, he's shocked to find that his comrade Leafa cannot swim. Asuna and her female friends believe that training Sugeha in a real-world pool will help her ALO character. Meanwhile, around the same time, Kirito meets a certain someone.

The special will air on TOKYO MX, BS11, and niconico on December 31. Aniplex of America mentioned Sword Art Online Extra Edition at its panel at Otakon, but specified that the show is going to be in Japan only.

Source: MoCa News

Image © Reki Kawahara/ASCII Media Works/SAO Project