Sword Art Online Movie: Ordinal Scale

In 2026, four years after the infamous Sword Art Online incident, a revolutionary new form of technology has emerged: the Augma, a device that utilizes an Augmented Reality system. Unlike the Virtual Reality of the NerveGear and the Amusphere, it is perfectly safe and allows players to use it while they are conscious, creating an instant hit on the market. The most popular application for the Augma is the game Ordinal Scale, which immerses players in a fantasy role-playing game with player rankings and rewards.

Following the new craze, Kirito's friends dive into the game, and despite his reservations about the system, Kirito eventually joins them. While at first it appears to be just fun and games, they soon find out that the game is not all that it seems...

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kirigaya, Kazuto Main

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Yuuki, Asuna Main

Tomatsu, Haruka Japanese

Yuna Main

Kanda, Sayaka Japanese

Nochizawa, Eiji Main

Inoue, Yoshio Japanese

Asada, Shino Supporting

Sawashiro, Miyuki Japanese

Yui Supporting

Itou, Kanae Japanese

Kirigaya, Suguha Supporting

Taketatsu, Ayana Japanese

Tsuboi, Ryoutarou Supporting

Hirata, Hiroaki Japanese

Ayano, Keiko Supporting

Hidaka, Rina Japanese

Shinozaki, Rika Supporting

Takagaki, Ayahi Japanese

Miki, Kazuma Producer

Kaneko, Atsushi Producer

Kashiwada, Shinichirou Producer

Kanbe, Muneyuki Producer

Reviews

Nov 27, 2025

ThxBoki

Recommended

Ordinal Scale surprised me in the best possible way. The AR twist wasn’t just a flashy change — it actually made sense and fit naturally into SAO’s world. I loved how the movie highlighted the differences, strengths, and weaknesses between AR and VR without overexplaining it.

The villain side was honestly great. The motivations behind Illfang, Eiji, and the whole memory-related plot felt deeper than expected, and it added real emotional weight to the story. Eiji especially stood out because his reasons were understandable, not just “evil for the sake of it.”

The Kirito and Asuna focus was a huge highlight. Their relationship felt meaningful and central ... to the story, not just added in the background. And the fights? Phenomenal — creative, intense, and visually amazing thanks to the AR system. The pacing was tight, and the final battle delivered everything I wanted: hype, emotion, and payoff.

The ending, especially the ring moment, tied everything together perfectly.

Overall, Ordinal Scale was an absolute blast from start to finish. I genuinely enjoyed every part of it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Nov 4, 2022

Zany_Zombie

Mixed Feelings

Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale

This movie is a mixed bag; fans of the series to this point will enjoy this. If you hate the series, avoid this. People who think the series is just average, may have a good time if they enjoy action and solid art.

Characters - 5/10
The unoriginal characters are written at the same level as their anime counterparts. Kirito and Asuna are given the most attention, and the others are on the sidelines (because their arc is over). The main two aren’t give much growth either, but they do go through a challenge that is unique to the series up to ... this point.

Animation & Art - 6/10
There is a slight improvement to both the animation and art from the rest of the series, but it doesn’t seem to really change the overall impact of the presentation. This movie is just an extension of the story, but technically is fine and serves its purpose

Story - 3/10
Parts of the story were solid, mostly during the buildup. The rest was a chore to get through. Most of the plot points aren’t worth mentioning, and the new spin on the VR game world just didn’t make much sense. It replays the Aincrad Arc in a way, but with the mortality being only in the final part. The villain was cookie cutter. I did enjoy Yuna’s story, but it was pushed to the side and not really built upon. She’s just another character that died in SAO.

Action – 7/10
The action was really fun in this movie. Some of the best fights, up to this point in the series, are in this movie. Although, they’re just eye candy with Kirito or Asuna doing some final move every time. However, the final fight was a headache. The scenes were to quick and convoluted, none of the movements were smooth and it was hard to tell what was going on.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Apr 25, 2024

Squid1es

Not Recommended

I know a lot of anime movies dont have anything to do with the anime itself and a lot arent even cannon, but this movie is so fucking boring and lame i genenly had to watch it 3 times because i kept falling asleep, and even when I finally finished it I was so confused, it had literally ZERO correlation to the show, most anime movies that dont have anything to do with the original anime at least make sense, but at the end all i could think was “so why did they add this new headset bullshit just for this movie???” The only good ... thing to come out of this movies creation is the music, absolute bangers and i still listen to them sometimes.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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	Poll: Sword Art Online Movie: Ordinal Scale Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) -Stray - Feb 18, 2017	387 replies	by Shivuru »» Nov 3, 8:03 PM
	plot hole MCA5EY - Sep 21, 2018	11 replies	by amf85 »» May 8, 2024 3:52 PM
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	Why R+ - Mild Nudity? winfoharso - Mar 4, 2020	19 replies	by Kirito_online »» Aug 10, 2022 5:06 AM
	Somebody should fix the Source from Light novel to Original KiraShitpostKage - Jul 20, 2020	1 replies	by ToumaTachibana »» Dec 4, 2020 11:51 AM

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