Sword Art Online Movie: Ordinal Scale

Sword Art Online has never really been my type of anime but I can see the appeal for a lot of people. So when I was invited to see the movie, I walked in with low expectations and unfortunately lived up to them.

Story: 3
SAO never had the strongest of plots and this movie is no different. Kirito and friends are once again thrown into a new game which ends up another fight for their lives only this time, it takes place in the real world using augmented reality. Besides from being generic and predictable, most of it barely made any sense. SAO never fails ... to impress me on how far I should suspend my disbelief but this movie takes the cake on how often I questioned the choice in writing for some parts especially towards the end. It's lazy writing at its best where things just conveniently work out.

There's also a romantic side plot between Kirito and Asuna if you're into that but it barely goes anywhere. But at least it wasn't a harem.

Art: 9
It's A1 Pictures and their most popular series. Of course it's going to look good for a movie. The animation team really went all out for the fight scenes making them as flashy as possible while making it easy to follow. Definitely one of the few things that is good in SAO. This would have been a 10 if they didn't use some really cheap CGI for some of the minor monsters but the main fights are beautifully animated.

Sound: 7
SAO is also pretty decent when it comes to sound design and music. The fights sounded pretty good and voice acting suited the characters. They were able to incorporate some of the music through a new character who acts as the game's mascot/idol. It did get kinda old after the second time she appeared and sung but it's a part of the generic plot.

Characters: 2
It's the same old cast of Kirito and his friends which are all generally shallow and one-dimensional. The movie does do a good job at showing who these characters were for people who aren't too familiar with the series. Fans will appreciate these familiar faces appearing again as they tried to cram as many as they could into the movie.

The new characters are fairly generic but my biggest gripe is with the main villain. They tried to make him seem justified in his actions but he just comes off as dick for no reason. Yet at the same time, there isn't enough to hate or love the character and ends up feeling completely useless to the plot.

All of the characters had very weak to no motive in their actions. The writers were trying to go the emotional route to connect to the audience more but I'm left feeling disconnected because the characters barely act human at all.

Enjoyment: 4
I enjoyed the action scenes in the movie and how ridiculous the writing got but the fact that there are more holes than swiss cheese in the plot just made it frustrating to watch. I sat there asking myself "why?" throughout the film and got to the point where I wasn't even amazed anymore with its lackluster writing. The actions scenes have been the main selling point of SAO so at least those are good.

There is a lot of small details that fans of SAO will appreciate and enjoy but fanservice can't hide these plot holes.

Overall: 5
Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale suffers the same faults as the series with its badly written story and poorly developed characters. I do think the movie is better since it's only like two hours long and they weren't able to drag things out forever. I wasn't expecting this movie to "fix" what was wrong with the series but I can't fault what makes SAO so popular. Fans will love this movie, even though it technically isn't the best. It checks out every box on how a SAO movie was suppose to be and I'd be surprised if they broke away from this.

Warning:My reviews are full of mature language most times so be advised and get the kids to the shelter in case they get offended..God the world has gone soft in the head...
Oh man how everyone howled when there were news of a new SAO movie.You could hear the screams of joy from 'Murica to the North Pole.That's how much of a stir it caused to the community and indeed the trousers of fans cause they would get to see Asuna all dressed up...You sick sick little b@stards.

But first let's take a quick glance at the history of SAO.The anime adaptation of Reki Kawahara’s light novel ... series SAO originally started airing back in 2012.If you don't know how to count that's 5 years..In dog years that's eternity!The first half of the season was very good indeed while the second half was actually so bad the North Korean army used it as a biological weapon.Then after 2 years,SAO came back in 2014 with a second season,and it was even worse or better..Depends on many factors such as:"Are you a fanboy or not?"..Which brings us to 2017 and a new movie.Was to be expected really,no matter what it was a huge success..Can't think of a reason why but here we are trying to decipher this mystery.

So in goes the DVD and out goes my patience already..A new movie..A fuckin new one and there are scenes from the TV series?Why?In case i got a case of extreme memory loss?That thing there is a sign that something is going wrong.A sign it was made in a rush or that what comes next is plainly pathetic and devoid of any actual meaning.Think about it,5 mins of screen time showing nothing new.5 mins that could be used otherwise.And 5 mins doesn't sound like much in series terms but in movie terms?That a whole new level of different.

But let's dig further shall we..It's a new movie after all.Well that's what they wanted you to think cause apart from the new title and somewhat different setting all else is almost exactly the same.

So they ditched the full dive VR for a bluetooth earpiece-like thingy that enables them to feel the joys of VR with none of the drawbacks of the Amusphere.it does not require it’s users to be in a bed to operate it like the Amusphere does.What’s more,the Augma has become increasingly popular due to a new game called Ordinal Scale,in which players can use some Wii-like controllers for battles against monsters in augmented reality using their own bodies.Of course this time round if you die in the game you don't buy the farm in real life.Before every battle you also get a Pop idol singing and giving players rewards..We needed an idol in 5 mins cause there rarely are any in anime.Player's stats are regulated based on a ranking system.The higher the rank,the better the stats of said player.So when Kirito joins in on the fun he is the king of the hill right..Actually no he kinda sucks at it.Cause here he has to use his body to play the game not just lying around in a bed.From there on SAO goes full beentheredonethat mode where the game isn't what it's supposed to be and Kirito kicks arse.I cannot say much more cause i'll spoil it for ya.

So storywise then not much is all fresh and new and shiny.Just some tweaks here and there and that's it.At least animation was pretty damn good i have to say.Stunning.Take out some notsogood CGI moments and it's great.

Music and VA..VA was spot on no probs there.As for music that's a whole new kettle of fish.Cause of this pop idol i was talking about earlier.In each battle there she is singing amidst the battles.Why?Manowar was too cheesy?Well they are cheesy and disgusting but at least they are not as boring as hearing some high pitched squeaks from a pop idol.

Onto the characters..Is this the work of a "BEST OF album" enthusiast?Cause almost everyone from the series makes an appearance.Speaking for my self that was a stupid move.Sure fanbitches were very happy and made happy noises while playing feverishly with their private parts but for normal people it was out of place.It's like they were out of ideas as to how to procede and thought "oh yeah let's put some old characters there for the heck of it to justify the fact that we made a movie.."

All in all it's the same old formula with a lime twist that lasts for a really short amount of time.I can best describe the whole movie and indeed the whole franchise as fucking lazy writing.Cause no matter what,in the end it's all the same where things just conveniently work out for the characters.SAO never had the strongest of plots and this movie is no different.The only thing going for it really are the fights and the fact that it's only 2 hours long so they couldn't drag things out like in the series.If you're a fan this ticks all the boxes,if you're not though it's as interesting as drinking water from the toilet.

We see the entire SAO survivor roster return to the big screen as they face a new foe, will they overcome what lies ahead?

Ordinal Scale, a very highly anticipated movie (for me at least) that would hopefully revive a once great series to me. After the monstrosities we call GGO, Alfheim and Death Gun took all enjoyment of mine away.

Based Asuna s1 btw

...

STORY: 3

I have no words for this steaming pile of horse shit that the writers decided to pass off as a plot for a movie. There is absolutely no effort, no depth in Ordinal Scale's story and it's absolutely appalling. We've all seen ... cookie cutter plots but in Ordinal Scale there is no effort put into even slightly making the story their own. Listening to the story trying to explain itself scientifically was also a a terrible failure. A VR headset that gains full control of your nerves and can kill you via microwaves? Ok, I can dig it. Yui is a string of code that can coexist alongside the main heroes? Yea, she's a cute child character thing, keeping it PG-13 I guess, go for it. Guy shoots gun through VR headset to kill you? Ok, wtf... and it only goes more downhill. Funny thing is, the Ordinal Scale story makes the flat earth theory seem logical (not really funny if you payed to watch) Alongside the atrocious writing are the literally tens, hundreds even thousands (not really thousands) of plot holes that destroy the story to a point where watching mars of destruction makes sense. The beginning makes no sense, the buildup makes no sense and the end makes no sense. You know what, EVERYTHING in between makes no sense and its painful to say that this is by far the worst SAO story to date.

You may thing it ends there but, sadly you're mistaken. There is no sense of where the writers wanted the story of SAO:OS to go, the sheer amount of directional blindness is overwhelming even to a kid like me who passed with 70's (mind you, high 70's) during my literature courses. These writers are getting paid to do this but i'd put more effort in for a new pair of shoes and a warm room to spend my nights. The writers can't even decide on whether the current situation in the movie is a romance scene, drama or action. I swear it's like they hoped that combining all genres of anime would make for a good movie. Writing isn't everything, but it is arguably the most important aspect of a cinematic piece if you want it to be even slightly good, sadly for SAO:OS there is a complete lack of a good story, or possibly a story at all.
(I'm so harsh, I know.)

ART: 9

What can I say? SAO has always had stunning visual effects. All the fight scenes are well choreographed and well animated. There is no lack of detail in any scene from what my memory serves from watching it an hour or 2 ago. But it's a movie, of course it's going to be stunning visually, that's the staple for anime movies nowadays. You don't get a pat on the back for doing pretty much the bare minimum SAO. I'm not a fan at all of the use of CGI in anime but it was scarce and probably is the only reason why my art rating is 9 and not 10.
SAO is very visually appealing but art is not the only reason to watch an anime, be weary. (Stay woke)

SOUND: 6

I love LiSA, her music is probably why I listen to J-Pop and pretty much J-Anything to this day. Crossing field sprung my heart into motion and changed me as a person. Although all of the music during battles and random singing sequences was good, the audio BALANCING was absolutely horrendous. One moment SAO:OS sound like a movie long attempt at a ASMR video and the next it's ear turning gut wrenching ear-rape that causes half the audience to cover their ears and their children's for their own safety. Truly a failure on the sound balancing team's fault but for that alone it can ruin a whole movie, even ruin a whole person's life if they're even remotely susceptible to hearing loss.
Like epilepsy warnings, SAO:OS needs some sort of sound warning as blood was mere moments from spurting our of my ears.

CHARACTERS: 3

Oh boy, here it is. All the characters in SAO are stale, not just OS but SAO in general. There is nothing special about these characters especially the main villain of OS. The main villain was so mind-numbingly stupid that I was forced to mentally push him aside for the whole story once you learned of his motives. Motives similar to many, MANY characters beforehand from other anime, but you can't feel any pity or remorse in this villains voice or in his actions. He is pretty much becomes a plank of dry wood that longs to be ignored. Nothing clever was given to any of the main characters or villains to make then even somewhat interesting. As much as I love Asuna because of s1 I find it impossible to like her as much because of the lack of creative thinking between the writers. Having characters stick to their old habits and ways is in no way a bad thing, but if they start of stale and end off stale-er then there calls for some changes. It's laughable to even think that some higher ups of the company looked at this and thought "Yes these boring characters seem right" and told them it was A OK to send 'em off to the theaters. Even the cast of the s1 SAO returns and their "character traits" are completely the same. That being that they have none. SAO believes that having a hobby such as raising a pet or enjoying to smith weaponry can constitute an entire characters existence. News Flash: NO THATS NOT HOW IT WORKS, fix your characters.
Kirito is emo as always and all the fangirls enjoy that for some reason but 1 reason why CHARACTERS isn't a 1 is because they were able to make 1 love scene memorable for me, at least.

ENJOYMENT: 5

This would be lower but through sheer fan service (Asuna's and Kirito's lame excuse for a romance) AND (Their signature attacks) I enjoyed the fighting, er.. I mean, movie more than a should have. When you watch SAO either turn your brain off and look at the pretty art and characters or think critically and see what SAO:OS really is, a poorly made SAO based movie.
Maybe it's because i've been let down so many times before by SAO's team, but I watched the entire movie critically thinking instead of enjoying what should've been a fuck popcorn flick with some pals.

OVERALL: 5

Art really brought this up, lol.

Overall SAO is good for the casual anime watcher and if that's who you are, there's nothing wrong with that. We all start somewhere.
Although it is hard for me to recommend to anything with beyond basic anime knowledge it was a cool experience that I probably regret somewhere in my heart.
R.I.P. my 12$

TL;DR
Poor story and characters
Unbalanced sound effects with good music
Beautiful art
Would recommend to casual anime watchers and SAO fanboys/girls
Would not recommend to anyone else

Just please don't rate it a 10 near me, I might have a fit.
and by might I mean will.
soz.

Reviewers point of view: There are many anime that I don't watch for plot purposes simply to avoid pure disappointment. The SAO series and movies are in that category. I don't read any of the light novels or manga and watch the series solely for the fight scenes and animation.

>I put spoiler footnotes at the bottom for those who already saw the movie<

Story: Watching this movie made me desperately desire a stamp (like the ones at the libraries) that can stamp the words "utter bullsh*t" on this whole plot. And I metaphorically pulled this "stamp" out about...9 times. The conflict ... of the story was drastic and unnecessarily extreme. The goal the main antagonist was fighting for could've been easily achieved without using all the time, money, and effort that went into things (spoiler footnote #1). There also were ACTUAL parts or facts that the movie stated that contradicted facts stated in the previous anime!!!(spoiler footnote #2) It was hard to for me to empathize with the struggles when they could've been easily avoided. What I find quite ironic, I still think it's the best SAO anime to come out so far.

Art: The art as usual is beautiful and eye-catching. I enjoyed how the fights were choreographed and how the idea of the Augma and Ordinal Scale game were animated. The only complaint I might have is that the final battle wasn't as dramatic or intense as the ones before it which left me with this anti-climatic feeling.

Sound: The soundtrack carried over a few iconic songs of the series which I liked. However there were quite a number of songs sung by Yuna, Ordinal Scale's mascot-like idol/diva. Out of all the songs she sung, I can only remember one I actually liked (spoiler footnote #3)

New Characters: I was left disappointed when it came to the characters. First up: the new characters. The movie references to SAO's 1st season a lot (almost the whole movie). I already sorted out my feelings toward that season and moved on. However the movie attempted to add new, important characters into SAO's former plot. They were never mentioned nor referenced and thus were only put there for the sake of this movie and that made me feel apathetic towards them. (Spoiler footnote #4) This isn't a big deal, but I wish they did what they did with GGO where the antagonist was somebody Kirito met before.

Recurring Characters:The lack of character development was disappointing. You still have the the only two male recurring characters (Agil and Klein) who were MIA a majority of the movie. You still have Silica who still sucks at gaming and just ends up in the heat of battle doing nothing but screaming and waving a weak knife.You still have the inconsistent character of Asuna, where she's sometimes an independent female gamer bad***, sometimes a problematic "housewife" dependent on her lover, and the rest of the time when she's in the middle (basically commentating the battle until the boss is barely alive and she takes the final blow after doing NO WORK!!!).

Kirito: I saw a hope for improvement when I learned that Kirito is new and inexperienced in Ordinal Scale (since the main issue people had with him was him being overpowered). However, that hope dissipated when he somehow managed to become one of the top players in a WHOLE DAY!!! He literally ran around the city fighting bosses and ranking up without getting the least bit tired. (Spoiler footnote #5). For those who told me it was due to the adrenaline he had from Asuna's condition, I metaphorically stamp "utter bullsh*t" on your logic. XD

Enjoyment: It's pretty clear that I did not enjoy this movie. I had so many issues to point out and the only way I'd get them all in is if I were Cinema Sins (Footnote #6). Sadly, this IS the best SAO anime I've seen thus far. XD XD

SPOILER FOOTNOTES:
1. Did it TRULY have to be SAO survivors? Shigemura was truly prepared to do anything for Yuna and if that's the case, would have gotten a more accurate AI of her personality if he gathered his info from the memories of people who knew her best (friends and family) rather than the collection of SAO survivors who saw her as "that singer I may have talked to on the lower floors". It's clear that even without the memories, the bond remains and compare the quota the few who know her best to thousands.
2. Wasn't the 100th floor boss supposed to be Akihiko Kayaba? He was supposed to help the players and then make the big reveal when they reached the top.
3. That's a shame considering Yuna was an important part of the plot. I didn't even like her last song.
4. I refer to Yuna. The whole "she was there and important the whole time and we didn't notice" cliche? Really?
5. By the time Kirito and Eiji finally fought I was rooting for Eiji who actually abandoned his previous weak will and worked his way to the top possible player.
6. Cinema SIns: A popular Youtube channel that's known for going through movies cut-by-cut exposing plot holes and actions that made no sense.

*No Spoilers*

This SAO Movie manages to have a decent amount of good aspects to be said about it. Although there are just as many that are "wonky".

Many people complain about the setting e.g. the use of the AUGMA device. In my opinion, even though seeing it from a holistic point of view these complaints make sense, at the end this is a work of fiction. It does not hinder ME to immerse in the overall scenario. 

The Movie takes many paths that lead in the right direction but on the way it drifted of that path and began to follow the road SAO usually takes.

The romance ... between Asuna and Kirito is delivered in a way that is not as "cringy" as it once was. It's (development) is more mature than usual. Besides that, romance stays solely between Asuna and Kirito which means.. surprise no harem crap. The respect of to their relationship also adds a bit of surface to the other female characters, mainly Shino. What deafens this is the fact that the overall connection between each character stays mostly as shallow as it was. 
Though this is not as big of a problem as it is in other SAO seasons/arcs. That's because the movie does not forcefully emphasize its main theme on flat characters and a lackluster plot as SAO used to do. The main theme of the movie is action packed combat with sounds and visuals which are a joy to watch.
A few good ol' Aincrad flashbacks come up here and there in the form of characters and enemies which is nice.

There's not really much to say about story and the use of antagonists. It's there, its mostly comprehensible but by far nothing special - generic but not unfitting or stupid. The story and antagonists revolve around the scenes we get to see not the other way around which is a good thing in this case I suppose.

One of the biggest problems I have is nothing new to the series, old habits die hard. Kirito is for no particular reason one of the best at the game with little to no effort. 

Quality level 6/10
Meme level 9/10
It's SAO ffs what exactly are you expecting? We got our same old OP af protagonist, Jesus-kun, on his quest to conquer yet another MMO for whatever lame reason they give. The guy is making it look too easy. All in all if you enjoyed SAO before, then you will enjoy this too.

A little "no shit" spoiler ahead:

It seems that my suspicions were confirmed after the end credits scene. They just won't stop milking the shit out of SAO until they make like 4 new seasons, 8 movies (6 of which will probably be recaps) and at least 2 ... live actions movies which, not surprisingly, will suck major balls as per usual. At that point SAO will probably start dying out and people will just move on to the next overhyped show. And so the circle of memes continues...

Not the SAO we needed, but the one we deserved. The franchise that launched a 1000 'trapped in a videogame' copycats gets its theatrical debut with a film that exemplifies all SAO's strengths and weaknesses.

STORY

"What if Pokemon Go could kill you?" Taking place after the events of SAO II, a new video game craze is sweeping Japan. Using a new device called the 'Augma' that lets gamers play while fully conscious, the video game Ordinal Scale seems to have none of the inherent risks of a full-dive system. But there's a catch, because we wouldn't have much of a story if there wasn't one, now ... would we? (Seriously, why hasn't the Japanese government banned these devices yet?) The story itself isn't too bad for an action film, even if I was able to guess what the last act would look like by the time I was halfway through. Granted, it isn't too good either. Be prepared for more characters sitting around eating while they dump exposition (although mercifully never for as long as some of the TV episodes). There was some potential here, such as the way the first act of the movie brings Kirito's power level down to mortal levels with a convincing explanation thus restoring a degree of tension, but then in the last act those rules and limits are simply broken because the plot demands it. If you see the plot as simply an excuse to set up cool duels and boss battles, the story is servicable. Interesting premise, hit-or-miss execution, a trademark of SAO writing.

CHARACTERS

The cast from the TV shows returns and isn't really changed. They do go through some dramatic moments, but those moments never add up to any kind of character growth. At the end of the story nobody is noticably different or has changed from what you would recognize from TV. Kirito is still Kirito, Asuna is still Asuna, all the girls in Kirito's harem still haven't figured out that Asuna won a long time ago, and I still can't name a single one of the guys in Klein's guild. The antagonists are step up from what we're used to in that they have a clear goal we can somewhat understand and sympathize with (even if their plans and motivations aren't terribly original). This film is pure SAO, it doesn't do anything the franchise hasn't already done before, although it usually gives us the best version of it.

PRODUCTION VALUES

On that line of thought, this film also brings the franchise's traditional strengths. SAO has always relied on excellent music and animation to counter its relatively weak writing and characters. LiSA is back again with the theme song 'Catch the Moment', another high-energy-but-easy-listening J-Pop song in the vein of 'Crossing Field'. The animation is excellent, although if a SAO movie had second-rate animation there might be a riot. For those of you with a knowledge of Tokyo geography there can be some bonus enjoyment in picking out which real-life location the scene is happening in. They took the best part of the TV series and bumped up the budget.

OVERALL

This movie is pure SAO, distilled into movie form and with the increased production values a movie normally entails. It is at least the best form of SAO I've seen, maximizing existing strengths and minimizing traditional weaknesses, but neither fixing the existing problems or adding any new strengths. I'm sure it's just what the fans ordered, but I'd be surprised if Ordinal Scale turned that many heads in the doubters community. As for people like me who see the SAO franchise as a decent place to get your action and sakuga fix, it's a fine movie but not a (video) game-changer.

I told myself that SAO is bad only because Kawahara wrote the LN series during a time when he didn't care about quality that much. Now I can say with 100% certainty that he still doesn't. There will be spoilers in this. I'm just ranting at this point too.

Don't get me wrong, the movie itself is pretty enjoyable. The problem is that the more you think about the technicalities of the plot, the less sense it makes. This is pretty much how I felt about SAO after I rewatched it. The first time I thought it was pretty decent but after rewatches I realized it ... was hot garbage. Only now that I look for these inconsistencies do I know how bad Kawahara's writing is on the first viewing.

My issues with the movie are as follows:

1) The plot makes no sense. Yuna is supposed to be an AI that is revived to a near biological sentience after taking the memories of SAO survivors. HOWEVER, Kirito is greeted by a girl who looks like Yuna that gives him hints on how to save Asuna. During the entire movie, it seemed like Yuna didn't need these memories at all. So, what's the point then?

2) Kirito manages to beat Eiji. During the beginning of the movie, it's clear that Kirito's lack of physical prowess holds him back from being a good player in Ordinal Scale. This is a good thing, because it allows us to see Kirito not as a boring and bland OP protagonist, but as someone who knows what it's like to have power taken away from them. Well, surprise surprise, but this premise is dropped half way through the movie. Kirito randomly becomes a badass again, and defeats AN AUGMENTED Eiji. Bionics that give people super strength and agility. Do you know how little sense this makes? Thanks Kawahara.

3) The sense of danger in the final act was blown out of proportion. After Yuna's concert, a bunch of monsters show up and people's first instinct is to fight them, and not take their devices off? Seriously? Way to artificially bloat danger for no reason.

4) Augmented Reality seems pretty pointless when it comes to VR-like video games. The movie tries to make Ordinal Scale seem like SAO. Why? What is the purpose of this? AR's best use is like how it is used in Accel World, helping with day to day tasks.

5) The characters outside of the main group are as one dimensional as they come. Kawahara doesn't know how to write villains. Kayaba and Sugo were both evil for the sake of it in the series. Eiji and Yuna's dad were evil to resurrect Yuna in the movie. It's stuff we've seen before. Yuna herself is pretty much a pop idol. Not much nuance there either.


I do have to give the movie credit in two areas. The first being that it didn't bore me. I was entertained. The action was pretty good throughout and the art/animation was also good. The second area would be the relationship between Kirito and Asuna. I'm glad they've gone full romance again after letting that go for multiple arcs. Seriously. The last time we saw them kiss was in the Aincrad arc. The harem stuff was awful. At least this time I can say thanks Kawahara unironically.

THERE WILL BE LIGHT SPOILERS ON THE CHARACTER PART.
When I saw the name SAO, I taught is going to be another disappointment after the release of two seasons. However, SAO ordinal scale improves in certain parts that keeps me going till the very end. But the show can be quite flawless in terms of plot and characters.
Story:6/10
The story was quite amusing in the beginning where they introduced us to a whole new game that is full of new challenges that players have to face greater foes in order to be rewarded. But then you will feel that the story can be quite puzzling ... towards the end of the movie as there are some unexplained question that needs to be answered. And the whole antagonist plot is just something that is not too devilish enough compare to the other antagonist from the previous SAO anime films such as death gun. It can be a little bit predictable in someway especially towards the end. Well, the bright side of this movie is that the romance seems like a huge development as they focus more into the two main characters. On the other hand, the action sequence was superior great and stunning especially towards the end. The story is mediocre but at least it has great and solid action sequence moments. The emotional moments of this movie is quite decent enough but is not that great compare to season 1.
Art:10/10
No doubt as the anime has wonderful and splendid arts. The art works perfectly fine with the characters especially the female characters in it.
Sound: 8/10
Well the ost is basically Swordland but they manage to have some new music that is much darker and there is more beat into it. And the ending song was perfect as much as I can say.
Character:6 /10
There will be light spoilers for the antagonist part about Eiji. Well there is no more harem type as Kirito and Asuna are together most of the time in the anime. The other characters like Sinon and Klein are great but there are bunch of annoying characters in it such as Silica, Yui and Liz. I just really hope that they reduced the screen time on this three characters and give more screening time for Sinon and Klein. About the antagonist, (There will be light spoilers in it) Eiji was a bad ass dude but then I could even predict that he was going to be duped or manipulated by the main mastermind which is almost towards the end. And they do not focus on him after that. They just throw him off like a piece of garbage as he was not important to the movie. I wanted Eiji to fight Kirito as the final showdown as Eiji was quite powerful in the anime. But then after when Kirito defeated Eiji almost towards the end, we get some strange final boss in the end just like Batman versus Superman where they throw in doomsday inside as the final showdown. The evil mastermind on the other hand has its own motivation but the motivation is something that is not sinful enough to reconsider him as the best villain.
Enjoyment:7/10
Well I have a good time with it especially the action sequence in it. The movie has tried hard in terms of improving the action sequence rather than making it duller which is a positive sign. If you are a SAO fan, just turn a blind eye in everything you are doing now and watch this movie because you are gonna love it. But if you are not a SAO fan, you should reconsider before watching it. To me, I enjoyed it but it is definitely not a masterpiece for me especially when I compare it with Kimi No na Wa
Overall:6/10
The movie is not that bad despite all the flaws in it. But it is still a good popcorn flick movie to watch .

well this is my first review.
honestly i had high expectations on this.I like first season it was very good, second part was sort of average i guess ( i didn't like it much)

but this one was very close to garbage.i can't believe that same guy who wrote sao 1&2 wrote it.
animation,art all are good
but the story is very bad.
you may think it is childish(though i am child 15yrs old)
if you are like me then you will disappointed
_______________________
i don't hate all sao series I even gave sao s1 10 points and s2 9points and this garbage 7 points i think you get what i ... meant

It's back, but is it better? Eh, not really. Here's the spicy details with some spoilers, read at your own risk:

Negatives:
-They wear Google Glasses and run around the city like people hunting for raids in Pokemon Go. This is actually a main story telling device. I couldn't get over it.
-They blew the budget at the end of the movie for a flurry of colors rather than something that could have held more impact or meaning.
-You don't really meet the real villain until later, and even after all is said and done, his whole evil plot seemed pretty, well, dumb.
-MINOR SPOILER-Despite endangering many lives, the villain ... was granted immunity for his crimes. (After credits)
-There is a sub villain who physically hurt people in the real world. He somehow managed to evade anyone catching him in the act, despite being surrounded by other players. Also, this future apparently has little to no security cameras.
-SPOILER- Klein, or the rest of his guild, doesn't remember who injured them despite their memories of ONLY SAO being taken.
-When searching for the main villain, there is only a small team of agents in suits, and not entire squads of police despite thousands of people being at risk.
-As usual, the only characters who matter are Kirito and the Villain. Everyone else is secondary and really don't matter.
-The movie starts off with a boring explanation as to what the new headset is. That's just lazy.
-Kirito pulled a Deus Ex Machina.
-SPOILER- Somehow the whole group was able to simultaneously login and Full-Dive to defeat the final boss, but the only ones who were able to Full-Dive were those present in the stadium, courtesy of Yuuna. It isn't explained how they Full-Dived.
-The sound effect for AR booting up is lifted from some other movie or show, and I can't help but notice it each time.

There's some more I could say but those are the major complaints.

Pros:
-Asuna's nipple.
-Kirito seems more human.
-The art is pretty darn fluid. Even in moments of high-frame action, you get a feeling of depth and weight.
-The music is pretty good.
-The fights are nice.
-There's a little more mystery and investigating to it.
-Voice acting is alright.

It's easier to list the negatives of something than the pros. If you enjoy Sword Art Online, give it a watch. You will definitely enjoy it. However, to everyone else who has had mixed feelings about the series or has never watched it to begin with, I say don't bother.

Story:

I had to give the story a 1 for a few reasons. Without getting into spoilers, essentially the premise of the entire conflict is completely unrealistic (I mean unrealistic beyond a reasonable suspension of disbelief), the facts are contradictory, and the motive of the villain actually falls apart with just a tertiary examination of both the feasibility of his plan and its execution. It doesn't take much to realize that the movie's story is flimsy and self-destructive, and the only way to get any enjoyment out of it is to completely ignore it and settle for more a more visceral experience. Then again, plot and ... story were never exactly one of SAO's strong points.

Additionally, the movie forgets so frequently that this all takes place in AR, not VR. In AR, people actually get hurt from falling 30 feet or more. In AR, swords don't actually crash against each other, and people don't get thrown back. In AR, if you physically assault someone, you still get arrested. None of these factors are ever addressed in the movie.

Art:

The animation in this movie was actually really good, and it made for some very exciting battles/action scenes. The storyboarding was a little shoddy in some instances, making it difficult to follow placement and such, but it didn't bother me much while watching it. Additionally, the way they handled the transfer into Ordinal Scale and the overlay of the AR world over the real world was fantastically implemented.

Sound:

As always, Yuki Kajiura kills it. Her music is phenomenal by any measure, and simply sitting back and listening to the music playing during the fight scenes was one of the most enjoyable parts of this movie. The only reason this got a 9 and not a 10 was because the sound effects, like the clashing of swords against each other, was deafening, like explosions going off every few seconds. You get numb to it eventually, but it's distracting enough for the first fight to bring the score down some.

Character:

Ordinal Scale fails to correct almost all of the issues with character development that existed in SAO. Asuna is only made to be interesting/cool because she needs to crash and burn so Kirito can save her or pick her back up again. Klein, although he has a bit more screen time, still serves as "Male #2." All of the girls -- Asada, Keiko, Rika, etc. -- only exist to support Kirito or, less frequently, his relationship with Asuna (except of course when they're clearly fawning over him, or in Asada's case clearly flirting with him, which should be no surprise to anyone who watched the anime). The only thing they improved on was by making Kirito actually suck at the beginning, but this was quickly ruined by turning him godlike in a ridiculously short amount of time. And please don't say it's because of those helpful videos he watched, because not once did he use Kendo. The character dialogue also improved a little, but it was still really flat and contrived.

Enjoyment:

Once I learned to get past the most glaring problems with the movie, I was able to enjoy it somewhat. The operative word there being somewhat. The music and the visuals were enough to distract me, on occasion, from the terrible plot, story, and horrible character interaction and development.

Overall:

This movie gets a 5/10. If you're looking for a good movie, don't watch it. Seriously, you'll be much better off just not having watched it. If you're looking for something to heavily critique for some intellectual gratification, then this is perfect for you. If you're looking to just shut your mind off and watch the pretty colors and hear the lovely sounds, then there are many valid candidates for your desired experience, and this is certainly one of them.

Intro:
Before I get into my review I just wanted to clarify where I come from in terms of the SAO universe. In short I am a huge fan of SAO. I’ve watched the entirety of the series a couple of times, played 2 of the PS4 games Hollow Fragments and Hollow Realization (I actually enjoyed the story of fragments a lot), currently reading the light novels (started book 13 recently) and played way too much of the mobile game.

Now that my standing is basis is out of the way, here’s a debrief of why I thought SAO Ordinal Scale fell short of my expectations.

Also note ... that I will be strongly referencing the plot of the movie, so please bear in mind there will be spoilers and comments which won’t make sense if you have yet to watch the movie.

Animation: 10/10
This is by far one of the best animated movies I’ve seen recently with such amazing attention to detail, especially in the fight sequences. I was in awe with all the colours, sharpness and fluidity of every scene. Even with the transition scenes, you can tell that the animators went out of their way to capture the detail to make you feel fully immersed in the movie.

One scene which stood out to me the most is how the captured the essence of a live performance show by darkening the everything but the stereotypical glowsticks which are customarily handed out. Heck, they even managed to get some good product placements in there with the likes of Sony, Dell and McDonald's.

But of course, the main meat was during the fight scenes. Each frame was drawn to an outstanding level of detail, which definitely gave me a feeling that this fight was on an epic level (Something which was far greater than the reality of a few kids running around playing imaginary sword fighting).

My only gripe was that a couple of the visuals were used numerous times without any change. I.e. The transition during the raid boss fight where the city turns into the playable environment and each time Yuna introduces herself in each of the raid battle (this could be choice due to how video games in real life reuse animation sequences).


Sound: 6/10
The voice acting for this movie was good. I say that because I think that each character really sounded the part for the scene they were playing. However, what didn’t do them justice, was the fact that there weren’t enough scenes which explored the dynamic voice ranges of each character (I’ll get onto this later in my review).

The soundtrack of the movie was enjoyable as well with each of the fighting sequences having, what I thought, was their own song each time which kept to the pace of the fighting. However, this is where the soundtrack feels like it has missed something. The original SAO series had great background music in many of their scenes which definitely made me feel more in touch with the SAO world and story. But in Ordinal Scale, many of the scenes were dialogue heavy without any other audio cues, making the movie lack a certain depth. I was hoping to hear something along the lines of ‘Swordland’ or ‘Gracefully’, but sadly any music that I recall was reserved for the action scenes.


Story: 3/10
Here is definitely where I see the movie miss a great opportunity, especially with all the effort that was put into the animation and the sound.

To keep it spoiler free, the premise of the movie is that a new experience is presented to our protagonists; the Augma. A device which lets users enhance their daily way of life by overlaying visual elements on top of the real world environment (Look up Microsoft Hololens if you need to visualise it).

Our characters which we have come to know, of course use this also to partake in an augmented reality game called Ordinal Scale, whereby players can participate in events to win points that can also be used to redeem real world prizes. These events consists mainly of a sizeable amount of players grouping up to take on an in-game boss and use both their augmented weapons and real life agility to win.

Throughout the movie, it does pay it’s respects to previous characters and areas which have been featured in the anime, making it a nice gesture for the fans which have kept up to date in the SAO universe. There aren’t many action sequences which justify the amount of detail in the animation, causing most of the movie to feel like an exercise to read the subtitles (I will say the last fight scene was fantastic and definitely helped redeem a portion of the film).

****SPOILER START****
It felt that a sizeable portion of this was exposition. Although this is important to ensure viewers understand the rules of the movie, it was done in such a way which was not engaging. In the first season of SAO, the first episode talked about the basic rules of the ‘Death Game’ and other aspects of this were discovered along the way (Making it one of the reasons why I enjoyed it so much). But Ordinal Scale took the approach of trying to explain everything in what felt like the first third of the movie and then going into the actual plot of the movie.

The two main antagonists are Eiji; who is one of the best players in Ordinal Scale and Prof. Shigemura; the creator of the Augma device and Ordinal Scale AR game. Eiji is given a nice introduction and some good action scenes to showcase why he is ranked 2 in Ordinal Scale. Prof. Shigemura on the other-hand is given a very brief introduction, a couple of minutes towards the second act and a few more scenes towards the end of the third act.

My issue with the antagonists (and plot of the movie) is that the reasoning behind their actions are not shown to the audience until the the last couple of scenes in the second act. Having to watch through two thirds of the movie only to discover their reasons felt like a very big build up, to what was a poorly executed point in the story. The plot does not go into detail as to what the relationship between Eiji and Yuuna was, making it hard to empathise with why Eiji went to such lengths to reach his goal. The professor’s reasoning is understandable given that he’s a father, but due to the lack of screen time and emotional investment of these characters and their relationships, this is where the plot fell by a significant degree.

****SPOILER START****
There are also various plot holes which come to mind when re-thinking about this movie. One of which was who it was never explained why the gem(?) on Eiji’s back somehow granted him superhuman agility powers. This could be more understandable if the setting was in the VR world, but given it’s an AR environment, no explanation was provided about how we could literally bounce off walls and backflip 10ft into the air.

Which brings me to the other point as to the speed in which Kirito becomes a match for Eiji. We’re given about 5mins of a montage and suddenly he’s transformed from the “indoor gamer, whose girlfriend comments about his physical abilities and tripping up on the pavement” to “someone who is now able to go toe-to-toe with against a person who we has the jumping capabilities of a character off Naruto”.


Characters: 4/10
I definitely felt that this was a movie filled with more drama and seriousness, with very little comedic elements. Yes the plot was to try and return Asuna’s memories back so that the relationship between Kirito and Asuna would blossom further, the plot did not have as much weight behind it compared to that of the series. Some may bash the plot of the series to be repetitive (Die in game, die in real life), I really enjoyed that aspect of it as it felt like the characters had more at stake. Whereas in Ordinal Scale, although they could potentially lose their memories from the days in Aincrad, the story did not expand on this enough to make it feel comparable or emotionally impactful.
****SPOILER END****

I have become accustomed to Kirito’s character throughout the series as one which is easily embarrassed by others, analytical of any situation and one which goes to extreme lengths for his friends. Ordinal Scale did not seem to play on these qualities very much which made Kirito feel mostly emotionless (at least in the first half), wondering around from scene to scene without any noticeable character development. (We learnt that he’s deciding what to do in college and his go to meal, but I don’t think that counts)

The other main characters of SAO had very minor roles to play in this movie, causing them to lack any depth or progression in character development. They were performing with their typical tropes such as Silica playing the girl that constantly needed saving, Liz with her bravado, Sinon as mostly background noise, Agil only showing up as source of info / axe wielder and Klein, who is constantly looking for a girl / trying to flirt with Asuna.

Conclusion: 6/10
I am still a fan of SAO after this, and maybe it was due to my overexposure into this universe which brought my expectations to a high standard, but despite all that, this film is missing that something which got me excited when I first started watching the anime series.

This movie had the potential to be something I would definitely see again. But due to the lack of good character development, unrelatable antagonists and the predictable and shallow plot of the movie, I can only recommend this movie for its visuals and if you are a serious fan of the series and wish to consume everything there is to know about Sword Art Online.

This is a spoiler free review of SAO Ordinal scale.

Art/sound- Similarly to the show the sword art online movie brought along some wonderful art, animation, and sound. There are lots of things to nitpick this franchise for but this category is not one of them.

Story- The story did a good job of sprinkling in some comedy as well as symbolism which is something I can appreciate. Unfortunately it was also packed with a couple cliches and a lot of convenient plot devices to keep the story going. I won't get into all that so I don't spoil anything. It was not amazing but it was ... a nice story that kept me interested most of the time throughout the entire movie. I was mostly relieved that they decided not to build tension through rape like they usually do.

Characters- Bringing the same characters back brings back the same issues as well. At the begging they try to get it through your head that Kirito is not the invincible plot armor god that he once was but then that randomly gets thrown out and he turns back into himself at a convenient time in the movie. One thing I will say though is that I really liked Yuna's character. She has an awesome design and backstory to boot. Her story and character really helped carry this movie.

Overall- If you liked the show you will love this movie. If you're like me and you think that the show had some really good ideas that were executed poorly then you will have similar feelings about this movie. That being said it was still entertaining and I am glad I got to see it in theaters.

I honestly can't decide if this film was great or just mediocre. Visually it was spectacular, with flawless and at times jaw-dropping animation and visual effects, which twinned with the film's amazing soundtrack made the action sequences highly immersive and win the film 'cool points'. The series also has a lot of very touching moments and some great character development which looks as though it should have a significant impact on the next upcoming series, especially since we see two main characters getting engaged at the end of the film. Another plus point is that despite being centred around video games, the plot does involve ... real stakes that directly affect the characters' lives and relationships.
However, the film has a great many problems: The film's villain is a mad scientist who's trying to bring back his daughter as an artificial intelligence by stealing the memories of those who knew her in SAO and recreating her from that. In the story, he takes Asuna's memories of her time in SAO and of being married to Kirito. The issue is that instead of just targeting the SAO players with his brain scanning drones, he needlessly sets his drones to only take people's memories if they are defeated by giant monsters in game events. This is ridiculous; what kind of father would leave the prospect of saving his daughter up to the skills of video gamers at defeating monsters? He'd just suck their memories out anyway. And if their memories can be given back, as we see later on in the film, why does he even need to suck them out in the first place? And why on Earth does he plan to get all of the SAO players in one place at the concert for the climax in order to take all their memories at once if he already knows the school they attend? Why not just target the school instead of wasting an absurd amount of time, money, manpower and resources on a pointless idol concert? (with that said, both he and the other antagonist Eiji have very realistic and relatable motives and are by far the best villains in SAO despite their complete lack of common sense).
And you know how at the end of the Aincrad arc in the SAO series, Heathcliff revealed that he had always intended to become the final boss on Floor 100? Well, in this movie that gets totally retconned, since a giant female knight is revealed to have been the "true" final boss, in what can only be described as an enormous plot hole.
Kirito's personality has also completely disappeared in this movie, with his deep moral uncertainties discussed in SAO II being ignored altogether, in favour of a standard shonen "getting stronger to beat the bad guy and save the girl" mini-arc, and Kirito's coming across as rude at times, at one point driving off on his motorbike seemingly mid-conversation with Asuna and not even saying bye.
The pacing of the film is also all over the place, varying from fast and exciting to slow and dreary in the middle, often with nothing of significance happening in the slower parts of the film, which just focus on the female characters discussing pop idols.All of the supporting cast were wasted in this film, doing virtually nothing and being given no development or exploration. I also don't understand why the players of the Augmented Reality games aren't constantly bumping into non players or walking out into traffic. It also strikes me as I unrealistic that, if doctors are aware of large numbers of AU players losing their memories, this hasn't become a major health crisis and people weren't all warned about this. And since the villains knew the dead girl better than anyone else, why did they need every fragment of her from every SAO player's memories rather than just using their own memories?
Do those problems override the good? I don't really know. It has some amazing action and some really well written scenes, and it will evoke a strong emotional reaction from you... And it has almost everything I look for in a good movie... But it has a lot of problems too that almost make it hard to recommend. 5/10, watch if you're into SAO.

The art is, indisputably, incredible, both visual and sound effects are amazing, which makes you want at the screen more and more, the landscapes and character designs are BEAUTIFUL, but.
God, the plot. It has quite a number of dead ends, misses, just stuff that doesn't add up. The story doesn't make freaking sense. They've tried so hard that they've ended up destroying the whole thing. It's terrible.
I'm not going to talk about the "humor" that makes you want to kill yourself instead of laugh.
And then there's the characters. I mean, I knew I couldn't expect much of this series, but they could've made them ... a LITTLE deeper? Marvelous male-mary-sue saves the world -again- and his little "yeah I know how to fight but always SOMEHOW for SOME REASON end up being unable to do it??? woah almost like all that matters about me is that I am pretty enough to be the male hero's love interest" princess. What a story. So original. Kirito is so freaking perfect that literally every girl around him is in love with him. And guys of course are joking around how hot is Asuna, not in love but, you know, horny. And no other couples or even friendships develop. It's just Super Hero, His Gilfriend, and some birds around for them to play with.
I just, it's all so plain, so boring. I love the animation, designs music, but that's all there's good to it. Unless you are a 12 years old with chuunibyou. Then you're probably a Kirito wannabe so you'll enjoy this.

The SAO movie is the same old same old if you're familiar with the show. It's a lot of dumb shit but this time it has great animated fight scenes. This is probably one of the stronger parts of the SAO anime series however, it's nothing new but I still got some enjoyment out of it.

One of my major complaints is that once again the show sets up stakes and rules that it does not seem adhere to, ESPECIALLY considering they aren't in a game, they're playing in the real world. This ultimately makes some of the cool fight moments make you think, hold ... on.... how the hell can they jump from there to there with out breaking a leg or at least twisting an ankle or something.
As well as, some of the big 'oh no' moments can simply be solved by just taking the damn headset piece off. Like I said at the start there is a lot of dumb shit in this movie just like the normal SAO series. There's nothing I can say to people who hate this to give it another crack because it's the same crap, and it's nothing new for the people who enjoyed the show so it's essentially a re-skin of what they have seen many years ago.

The major positive for me was the fight animation, those partial effects and backgrounds for the game world were very nice to look at.

All in all it was ok but apparently the meta is either love it or hate it so....justify it however you want.

When it comes to SAO series, I know it's going to a huge hype, filled with potential to make it a modern masterpiece. I mean, the concept itself is magnificent. A sucker to those who have a passion for gaming, RPG and leveling up.

In my mind, I pray with all my heart, that the movie won't become another lackluster show with quick cash grab. That somehow, the director might listen to all the criticisms and backlashes from the previous works, rise like a phoenix and reborn their collective thoughts into something mesmerizing.

However, that prayer was not answered. As I was presented that same tragedy that ... happened to its predecessors.

I want to shout out to the animations first as they were definitely top-notch. Fight scenes, background sceneries, heartfelt moments, smooth transition paired with emotional music and intense tunes. Those alone, carried the show heavily on its back.

But what makes a show a masterpiece is not flashy animation or cute moe characters.

It's the story. It's the development. It's in the characters.

We have seen many paragons of those masterpieces before and they certainly didn't have any of those.

Before I start my bashing, here are the highlights.

※ STRENGTH ※
- Art. When it comes to SAO, you could definitely let yourself go and enjoy the beautiful craftsmanship of the artists.

- Ships are back. Yes, your one and only SS Asuna x Kirito cruise is ready to take off once again. Leaving all the other irrelevant girls, I mean boats, behind.

- Beautifully-made. Even though I could not comprehend the logic of what Asuna and many others are saying. She sure is beautiful when she talks and smile, the way she was animated just carried all of that emotional weight. May have touched my heart more than it should.

- Concept. Damn SAO. Back again with another new game mode. Instead of guns and fairies, bringing it into reality. Sneaky sneaky but if the idea of free coupons exists, count me in.

- Bath scene. Looks like they didn't bother to censor the "best" part of the movie, A+ decision. Thank you for the treat.

※ WEAKNESS ※
- Illogical. Skip around and you'll think that you are watching some sort of different arc. HA. Doesn't that remind you of season 1 and 2? The logics don't stay and it's all over the place. One example being in reality, Eiji can do frontflip and be Sonic-level but can people actually run that fast? Or front flip like it's breathing. Don't even need to mention how Asuna somehow gets memory back.

- Are they even trying anymore? Next up, on SAO Movie, Kirito becomes a doctor and Asuna becomes a nurse and they both have to save patients in DO (Doctor Online). Next up, on SAO OVA, Kirito plays against Blank (Sora and Shiro) in DISO (Disboard Online). Final movie, Kirito secretly buys 18+ game and plays FAKKUO (Fakku Online). What I am trying to say is that they are at the point that they can spew out anything, there will be people who will worship it.

- Lack of build-up. So weak. Could have added extra excitement scene to contribute to climax. Maybe how he almost loses everyone in the process. Or maybe how Asuna completely lose memory. The weight was minuscule compare to his reward of winning. Every action should have weight. It wasn't satisfying to watch because there was no build-up to the glorious moment where Kirito wins all.

- MC's divine blessing. Predictable that Kirito was going to win-it-all. No, he isn't going to get falter. No, no matter how strong other people are, he is going to 100% triumphant. Why? Cause he's Kirito.

- From couch potato to Olympic athlete. It is incredibly profound for me to see someone like Kirito, completely disinterested in the AR become some sort of god of sport within 30 minutes. He trained for 10 seconds and now he's number 1 not in virtual reality but IRL. Oh please.

- Side characters are just side dishes. In fact, the show could have functioned well without all the extra girls to fanservice the audience. Little backstory. Little emotional impact. Little screentime. Felt like they were just there to show how much of a slave they are to their master, Kirito.

- Weak executions. In fact, this completely reminds of Eiji. Filled with the potential to make himself stand out and shine brightly. But made poor decisions *cough* and ultimately still irrelevant as a side dish character.

Would I watch again? No. Spare me as I rather imagine my own version of how this should turn out.

Would I recommend? If you are an avid fan, I say give it a watch due to animation, transition, artwork etc. Just don't take the story seriously and you'll be set. Basically, what happened with the previous SAO.

Ultimately. This show had potential.

And one of my biggest pet peeves is when a show had potential but doesn't fully act upon it.

The idea of virtual reality is interesting. Bringing it to everyday life = wow level. Game that involves you physically exercising = POKEMON GO feels. Backstory of Yuna and Eiji to give even more feels? = Nah, we gotta show more Kirito doing Kirito stuff. Screw those side dish characters.

It's sad. Honestly. But what can you expect from a series that had potential but failed twice in a row.

Oh wait. Nevermind, it's the third time now.

Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale is the first anime movie I've seen in a theater since Evangelion 2.0 several years ago.

The basic premise of the story revolves around an Augmented Reality game designed using The Seed and the ever continuing fallout of Sword Art Online and Kayaba Akihiko. The bad guy's plan seems strange and a giant mess that requires like a hundred different things to go perfectly to work right. I would compare it to Captain America 3's villain. For fans of the Sword Art Online series, this story would have made a lot more sense if it took place chronologically AFTER Alicization (read ... spoilers yourself if you want to know why). Instead, it takes place after Sword Art Online II and some of the concepts and ideas are not introduced yet and leads into Alicization from there, resulting in inconsistencies that lead to plot holes. Overall, it leads to Kirito saves the day again, something that has occurred in every story arc. It would have been nice to see something different, but at this point, it is expected to be the tradition.

Like most anime movies, the art is very impressive. Most characters have alternate designs of their Sword Art Online costumes. It makes the characters seem familiar, but also different at the same time. I kind of like it. The visuals are great, but do not help to hide a story that needs to be fixed desperately.

The biggest problem here is the characters. Because this movie is essentially a filler, there is little character development. The relationship between Kirito and his friends do not really change. There is practically no character development in this and do not help to establish much of the relationship between the characters other than Kirito and Asuna love each other and the fact that their friends all want to help each other out when needed. The characters needed a little more depth, but like most anime movies, it is more geared towards fan service, causing the overall story and characters to suffer because god forbid, here is actual long lasting development in fillers.

Overall, this is what you expect of a typical anime movie. The action scenes are great. There is a lot of fan service and beautiful art, but lacks depth. It is better than a DVD recap if you are a fan, but if you are not already a fan of the series, you might want to skip this one.

SAO. You love it. Or you hate it. Then there's me who... "Tolerates" it to an extent. The first half of season 1 was decent enough for what it was. The second half was the worst thing since... Well, anything. Season 2 was an improvement, and finally achieved the right to be called "tolerable" or dare I say decent. Now there's a movie. How does it hold up? Does it rise above everything else the series has to offer? Well, that just depends on how you look at it.

Story: 6
I won't go to deep into details, but just know that it falls somewhere between "decently ... innovative" and "intolerably bad." It's good enough. To be fair, this film does do a good amount of things that haven't been done in the main series, but ultimately plays safe in the end. An example would be Kirito himself. He still doesn't have much that would qualify as a "personality" (keep trying though, maybe the writers will grant you that in the future) but isn't actually overpowered in this movie's central game: Ordinal Scale. In the beginning, he's on par with any generic nameless character in the background. Honestly, that aspect is entertaining. Sadly, that doesn't last. I won't spoil much, but he suddenly becomes a top player of the game sooner than he should have. It doesn't help that his "training montage" is literally a montage (which is what it shouldn't be). What should've been an arc became a few minutes of a good concept that was poorly executed (just like the series as a whole). Normally, this would fall under the 'Character' category, but it harms the plot in such a significant way that it is better said here.
Did I mention it was predictable? Well, it is.
All in all, the plot is barely passable even if the flaws are glaringly obviously even while watching the movie itself.

Art: 8
With this being a movie, the budget is quite bigger when compared to the anime series. Thankfully, it definitely shows. The environments are lively and vibrant. In addition, the battles (namely the finale) are animated beautifully. Everything is great, except...
The characters. In this movie, there are a number of times when the character's faces (notably Kirito and Asuna) look a bit off. This may be my own taste, but it bothered me. Luckily, while in battle, the faces look fine. I'm sure there's a reason behind it, but it's distracting. Oddly enough, I never found a problem like this in the main series.
All in all, I was more than satisfied with the animation.

Sound: 7
If there's one thing SAO has done consistently, it's that it has a great soundtrack. Luckily, this movie does not falter in that department. The various songs that play during the battles blend in with the scenes perfectly, despite not being standouts on their own. Unquestionably, the best song is "Catch the Moment" which plays during the credits. It's quite a shame that it isn't featured within the film itself and is saved for the credits instead. Nevertheless, the soundtrack lives up to the standards of SAO.

Character: 5
I wouldn't say that this film suffers from its characters as much as the main series does, but there are a few flaws.
On one hand, Kirito isn't a horrible protagonist this time around. While he won't be winning any awards for "best protagonist", he's a step up from anything we've seen from him before. Sadly, the writers don't use him to his full potential (as mentioned earlier).
Asuna is probably the weakest part of this film. She's essentially used as a plot device and motivation for Kirito for the mid to late parts of the film. That wouldn't have been so bad if other characters like Klein received the same attention. Then it would have felt like something was truly at stake that's not a single person.
Side note: Yui is still featured too often for my liking. This disappoints me.
In general, the characters hold the film back just like they do with the main series.

Enjoyment: 7
Though flawed in more ways than one, it was entertaining enough. I don't think it warrants a second viewing, but considering that I only watched it because I had nothing else to watch, I was satisfied with my time.

Overall: 6
Yeah, it's flawed. Yeah, it's predictable. But compared to what SAO normally shows off, there's a clear sign that effort was put into this. If you're solely a fan of SAO, then you'll like it a lot. If you're a fan of SAO and other anime, then you'll enjoy it but notice the flaws. If you never liked SAO to begin with, then this may not be for you and would ultimately be better if you ignored it completely.

6/10.


Side Note: I was going to compliment this movie for restraining itself (to an extent) when it came to fanservice... But the DVD/Blu-Ray release with an "alternate" scene did not help it.