The mobile game Sword Art Online: Variant Showdown (SAOVS) has unveiled a new opening video that includes a fresh track by ASCA. This video retains numerous scenes from the earlier opening but incorporates the song's lyrics as text overlays. The track, titled "Saizensen," means "frontline" in English. The animation was produced by A-1 Pictures.
Sword Art Online: Variant Showdown (SAOVS) was created to commemorate the anime's 10th anniversary in 2022. Set in a brand-new game called Cross Edge, it features not only the original character Layla but also fan-favorites Kirito, Asuna, Leafa, Silica, and Lisbeth as playable characters.
The game's official description poses the question, "Have you heard of Cross Edge?" This is a game familiar to Kirito, one that has garnered significant attention, partly because it's rumored to be the brainchild of a middle school prodigy.
While at the Dicey Café, Kirito comes across two unsettling rumors about Cross Edge. The first involves a mysterious player who launches surprise attacks, with the victims losing part of their memories upon defeat. The second rumor describes the player as someone who conceals their eyes beneath a low-drawn hood.
These rumors bring back memories of Laughing Coffin, the notorious player-killer guild from SAO. To uncover the truth behind these rumors, Kirito and his companions dive into Cross Edge, only to find themselves ambushed in an unexpected attack.
Reki Kawahara originally wrote the Sword Art Online series as a web novel on his website from 2002 to 2008. ASCII Media Works acquired it and began publishing it as a light novel through their Dengeki Bunko imprint from April 2009, where it is still ongoing. It received 3 TV anime seasons, titled Sword Art Online (2012), Sword Art Online II (2014) and Sword Art Online: Alicization (2018-2020). The movie Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale was released in 2017, with the story set between the events of the second and third TV seasons. It got numerous other adaptations and spin-offs.
The franchise recently revealed a special GAME CLEAR visual, commemorating November 7, 2024, the day Kirito cleared the game.