Sword Art Online: Alicization is the third season of the Sword Art Online anime television series based on the light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by abec. It was produced by A-1 Pictures and directed by Manabu Ono. It covers the first part of the "Alicization" arc and adapts from the novel's ninth volume, Alicization Beginning, to the fourteenth volume, Alicization Uniting. The second part of the anime, titled Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld, adapts the story from the novel's fifteenth volume, Alicization Invading, to the eighteenth volume, Alicization Lasting. While not covered in the light novels, Alicization takes place after Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale, as it incorporates elements from the film not found in the novels.