SWORD ART ONLINE II DUB RELEASE DATE!

Back by popular demand!

Hey guys. So while today started off a little wonky, it's taken a turn for the awesome now that Aniplex of America have announced that the second season of Sword Art Online will start airing on Toonami late March - dubbed I might add. This is spectacular as the series only finished airing in Japan in December and we're already getting a dub late March. 

To be honest, I knew we'd get Sword Art Online II dubbed in 2015 instead of 2016, but my personal prediction was mid-August. That's my honest to god prediction so I am really excited we're getting it so early. 

We've also been introduced to the cast line-up (or part of it anyway) which include:

Bryce Papenbrook as Kirito

Cherami Leigh as Asuna

Cassandra Lee Morris as Leafa

Sarah Anne Williams as Lisbeth

Christine Marie Cabanos as Silica

Kirk Thornton as Klein

Stephanie Sheh as Yui. 

Michelle Ruff as Sinon.

Now from this cast news, there's two important new elements to take note of. The first is the most obvious - Michelle Ruff voicing Sinon. I must admit I am really surprised by this news. I haven't seen much of Ruff lately. I originally know her as Zoe from Digimon, Miharu from Girls Bravo and Doujima from Witch Hunter Robin, but that's about all I can name off the top of my head now. I do think she has a great voice, so I am looking forward to hearing her Sinon. 

The second thing is that Bryce is listed as Kirito. Now this isn't exactly new or anything, but if there are no more casting news about Kirito then it's most likely the case that Papenbrook will be voicing the girl-type GGO Kirito, as well ALO Kirito and his real-life player Kazuto. Remember last year, I did an article about having two VAs for Kirito since even though the female Kirito is still a male avatar, just incredibly feminine, it would still sound kinda weird having him speak in a muscular tone? 

Yeah, personally, I'm hoping they do cast a female VA for GGO Kirito or at least use some voice modulation to change up Papenbrook's voice. I'm not sure if they did that for the Japanese guy because I know they kept the male voice, but in the end it sounded slightly more feminine. I don't know. I just can't believe Sinon would identify Kirito as a girl after hearing Bryce Papenbrook voicing him.

Of course, the downside to it is that if we do get a female VA for GGO Kirito, then there's less Papenbrook and Bryce does an awesome job voicing Kirito. Part of me really wants to keep that element, but another part of me wants to hear a feminine voice coming out of a feminine looking character. Don't know about you guys. Let me know in the comment section what you think.