Yōko Hikasa, Tomori Kusunoki star in series based on Keiichi Sigsawa's spinoff novel series

The Sword Art Online stage panel at the "Dengeki Bunko Aki no Saiten 2017 event (Dengeki Bunko Fall Festival 2017) event in Tokyo announced on Sunday that a television anime project of Keiichi Sigsawa's Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online novel series is launching.

Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online TV anime announcement PV pic.twitter.com/vgYEKiWgMv

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Tomori Kusunoki will play Llenn, and Yōko Hikasa will star in the series as Pitohui. Kazuyuki Okitsu will play M, and Chinatsu Akasaki will play Fukaziroh. Llenn will also be a playable character in the upcoming Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet video game.

The story follows Karen Kohiruimaki, a 183-centimeter-tall (6-foot-tall) college student who's insecure her height, and is bad at dealing with people in the real world. She enters the world of Gun Gale Online with her avatar, Llenn, who is less than 150 centimeters (5 feet) tall and wears all pink. She meets a beautiful, brown-skinned female player who goes by Pitohui. They hit it off, but one day Pitohui pressures her to participate in "Squad Jam," a team Battle Royale variation of the Bullet of Bullets tournament.

Sigsawa (Kino's Journey) launched the novel series in 2014, and Kadokawa published the sixth volume on March 10.

Artist Tadadi Tamori launched a manga adaptation in 2015, and Kadokawa will publish the second volume on November 10. Yen Press has licensed the manga, and will release the first volume on November 17.

[Embedded video via pKjd]