Sword Art Online: Progressive Movie - Kuraki Yuuyami no Scherzo

After vanquishing another boss and stepping through the gates of the fifth floor, the misfit duo Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki are greeted with a beautiful landscape of crumbling ruins and catacombs steeped in mystery. This idyllic adventure is short-lived, however. Tensions between the Dragon’s Knights Brigade and the Aincrad Liberation Squad—the two leading guilds focused on clearing Sword Art Online—continue to rise and threaten the fragile stability of the frontline raiding group.

Kirito and Asuna are forced to act quickly, making a desperate gamble and gathering a small number of allies for a dangerous mission. As a result, Asuna and Misumi "Mito" Tozawa must come to terms with their relationship after the near-tragedy that forced them apart on the first floor.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kirigaya, Kazuto Main

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Yuuki, Asuna Main

Tomatsu, Haruka Japanese

Mills, Andrew Gilbert Supporting

Yasumoto, Hiroki Japanese

Argo Supporting

Izawa, Shiori Japanese

Tozawa, Misumi Supporting

Minase, Inori Japanese

Casals, Vassago Supporting

Koyama, Tsuyoshi Japanese

Kanamoto, Atsushi Supporting

Oosaka, Ryouta Japanese

Morte Supporting

Kobayashi, Yuusuke Japanese

Kibaou Supporting

Seki, Tomokazu Japanese

Liten Supporting

Hondo, Kaede Japanese

Futami, Yousuke Producer

Aoki, Haruka Assistant Producer

Kuroi, Hitomi Assistant Producer

Kouno, Ayako Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Oct 29, 2022

maplesyrup47

Recommended

*Disclaimer: tried my best not to spoil anything. However, there could be very minor spoilers.

Sword Art Online: Kuraki Yuuyami no Scherzo is the second movie of the SAO’s progressive series. It covers the 4th volume of the progressive LN (mainly the 5th floor of Aincrad but some events take place on other floors). Overall, I think it’s great. Enjoyable story, fascinating animation, great characters, and epic music.

What I love the most about the progressive series is that they take it slow rather than just skipping all the floors and major events. Just like the first movie, the second movie did this, which is nice. ... However, since the movie skips the second and third volume of the novels, it started quite slow with a lot of talking as they need to explain the key points from the previous volumes such current relationship between Kirito & Asuna, the guild situation, Argo who is our new character, and at the same time building the plot for the current situation. Although I personally feel like there should be better ways to introduce the above-mentioned things other than just talking, if you’re a fan of the series, you will find all the talks and buildup are actually interesting. The second half of the movie (plot rising, climax, and resolution) is just pure awesome.

Animation is great as we know from the recent seasons of SAO, and I don’t think I need to explain the brilliance of SAO’s battle scenes. The boss battle against the fifth-floor boss was epic and very intense. This combined with Yuki Kajiura’s music and awesome work of the seiyuu makes it even better. The characters are also nice. Rather than focusing fully on Asuna like in the first movie, I feel like they tried to focus more on the relationship between Asuna & kirito. Argo was a breath of fresh air, and the second movie is almost like a redemption arc for Mito. I can’t say much about this since it will be a spoiler, but if you’re a fan of her, you will love it.

I personally feel the first movie was better (from the animation, story, and character perspectives). However, the second movie was great as well, so definitely give it a watch if you’re a fan of the series.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Dec 5, 2022

HaiKaneDesu

Mixed Feelings

Funny

The movie is a continuation of the first Progressive SAO - straight into a meaty fight scene right off the bat. The cinematography is so crisp that you won't want to take your eyes off the screen! This combined with the ear-pleasing sound effects made all the attacks from the Kirito gang so satisfying that it's almost like asmr!

...And that's about it :p

Aside from a cute furry being introduced, the movie felt like a copy and paste of an episode from season 1: a plot that was ok at best, a tonne of scenes with lore I didn't really care about (apart from the ones ... with fanservice), and a villain that looked like a rip off version of the stone boss from kirby. It's understandable why because this series is all about the worldbuilding of Aincrad, but they could've at least developed more engaging characters or designed the floors so they're more memorable and unique like Made in Abyss.

Overall, it's a must watch for lore enjoyers, but it's better off watching the original series if you're in for the nostalgia. But most importantly,

KLEIN GETS 0 SCREEN TIME FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Feb 9, 2023

Snot-nosed_Brat

Not Recommended

The Progressive reimagining of SAO could have been an opportunity for Aincrad to be done right, but with the direction things are headed, it will still suffer all of the same problems of the original.

The biggest problem with the movie is that it doesn't really justify being a movie. The story feels like a filler arc because the central conflict is just about maintaining the existing status quo. The consequences of the conflict in the movie are not explored in the movie itself and is instead left as foreshadowing for what could happen in the future of the series. The story probably would have been ... better off as an OVA or TV show because after the movie you are left feeling like nothing happened since it's all setup.

That isn't damning by itself, but there isn't any meaningful themes, character growth, or drama in the movie either. You are left wondering what the point was in watching it at all. At least in the original SAO there was the drama of Aincrad being a death game and people constantly grappled with that fact. But the audience already knows Kirito and Asuna are never going to die because this is a prequel, so that deflates a lot of the tense moments. That being said, they could at least try to make it suspenseful. Everyone is just presented as epic badasses that know exactly what to do.

Unfortunately the action doesn't really live up to that presentation. You'd think since this was a movie they would put more diligence into the art. Yet at its best, this looks like a moderately above average TV anime. You still got shots of 10 people standing still in non-combat stance during climactic boss fights just like the original anime. The bosses will do things like shoot lasers directly into a tank's shield to look cool and pretend they are useful instead of the tanks actively trying to block the attacks for the fighters. And the fighters will jump 2 stories high and hit tiny targets with pinpoint accuracy like they have superpowers, breaking any immersion that this is supposed to be a semi-grounded world with swordplay. The choreography is often just not well thought-out and none of the sakuga really caught my eye.

Overall, it's mediocre to watch, and the more time you spend thinking about it the more you realize it's actually just bad. There is a lot worse to say but I don't wish to write spoilers. I give it a 4. It gets extra 1 point for still having a decent soundtrack. The action gets an extra 2 points because while it's mediocre it still redeems the movie a little bit. Skip the theatrical release and watch it at home with a meal if you really want to see it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Sword Art Online: Progressive Movie - Kuraki Yuuyami no Scherzo Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Koito91 - Nov 14, 2022	106 replies	by Martin_Taylor »» Nov 10, 11:24 AM
	Why is the anime story different from the movie story? zazo_Zero_2 - Sep 3	20 replies	by Dhanamerdeka »» Oct 4, 5:33 PM
	Mito is basically a replacement for Kizmel Tank895 - Dec 31, 2023	5 replies	by Touma_Mikoto »» May 4, 11:00 PM
	Are we getting a sequel? Mystogan14579 - Dec 20, 2023	8 replies	by Sajonji »» Jan 11, 1:36 PM
	English dub?? Ryan-marsh611 - Oct 29, 2023	5 replies	by MazeCuber »» Oct 30, 2023 9:47 PM