Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online

Plot

After the Sword Art Online incident trapped 10,000 players, VR game popularity fell but later resurged with the AmuSphere and the Seed. The story follows university student Karen Kohiruimaki, who has a complex about her abnormal height. She begins playing Gun Gale Online because it gives her the short, cute avatar she has always wanted.

Media

Keiichi Sigsawa was tapped by Dengeki Bunko on September 18, 2014, to pen a light novel spin-off of Reki Kawahara's Sword Art Online series. Kawahara supervised the project, with Kouhaku Kuroboshi providing illustrations. The debut volume hit shelves under the Dengeki imprint from ASCII Media Works on December 10, 2014. Yen Press secured the license for English release, announcing the news at Anime NYC on November 18, 2017.

A manga adaptation, drawn by Tadadi Tamori, began serialization in ASCII Media Works' seinen magazine Dengeki Maoh on October 27, 2015. Yen Press also picked up that version for North America, revealing the deal at Sakura-Con on April 15, 2017. An anime adaptation was unveiled at the Dengeki Bunko Fall Festival 2017 event in October 2017. Egg Firm produced the series, with animation handled by studio 3Hz.

Anime

Masayuki Sakoi directed, Yōsuke Kuroda wrote the scripts, and Yoshio Kosakai designed the characters. Eir Aoi performed the opening theme, while Tomori Kusunoki, voicing the character LLENN, sang the ending theme "To See the Future." The show ran from April 8 to June 30, 2018, on Tokyo MX and other channels, totaling 12 episodes spread across six home video sets with two episodes each. Aniplex of America licensed the series and streamed it on Crunchyroll and Hulu. Anime Limited acquired rights for the United Kingdom and Ireland, and Madman Entertainment handled Australia and New Zealand, simulcasting on AnimeLab.

A second season was announced during the Dengeki Bunko 30th anniversary event in July 2023. The main cast and staff returned, but A-1 Pictures replaced 3Hz as the animation studio. It aired from October 5 to December 21, 2024. Muse Asia reported licensing Gun Gale Online II for distribution in Asia.

Airsoft collaboration

The English dub started streaming on Crunchyroll on November 1, 2024. To promote the anime, Tokyo Marui created a limited edition FN P90 submachine gun in a pink finish, collaborating with Sigsawa and Kōji Akimoto, who worked on the air gun's color. Two of these pink P90s were raffled off through a partnership with Pizza Hut Japan. A limited edition Vorpal Bunny pistol from Tokyo Marui was initially slated for a 2019 release but arrived in 2020. A rerelease was announced on February 1, 2025.