I had watched the first season of SAO last year and it was, well, quite shit. Even though the concept had the potential to make the anime a masterpiece. The romance was flat, the story was a chockful of Deus Ex Machinas and the second arc was just plain bad. I decided not to watch SAO II, as I had read and heard that it was worse than the first season. But when the movie was primed to be released in my region, I just simply had to watch it. It is an indescribable feeling that I guess most anime watchers have felt before: Is the movie going to be as average as the original anime adaptation? Is Ordinal Scale simply meant to be a cash grab, or is it going to be a genuine attempt at telling a good SAO story?
Sitting on the bus now with an SAO: OS promotional paper bag resting on my legs, my opinion stands is that it was a little bit of both.
Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale was surprisingly good.
The film kicks off with the introduction of the somewhat new breakthrough in the gaming industry: the Augma. Compared to the NerveGear in the actual SAO arc and the AmuSphere in the other arcs, the Augma was not a VR device, but an AR device.
What is AR? Augmented Reality, or AR for short, is exactly what it sounds like. AR devices or games aim to capture virtuality in reality. A good example would be the recent hit phenomenon, Pokémon Go, a game which players try to catch virtual objects in the real world.
Ordinal Scale is an AR game on a massive scale. Players, who no longer have to lie in bed and enter semi-sleep just in order to experience a virtual world and its thrilling adventures, could now simply take their wireless Augma out with them, wear it as a piece of headgear and head to various locations in the real world to team up with friends to fight huge game bosses. Of course, rewards were given if each boss was successfully defeated, but the rewards were actually tangible things such as a coupon for a free beef bowl or free cakes at a restaurant. The Augma, however, was not only just capable of providing an all-new way to game, but also had messaging and health management functions. I bet if this was released in the real world, it would be a hit in no time.
Appearing before us is our originally overpowered MC Kirigaya "Kirito" Kazuto, who is caught along by the new wave of Augma fanaticism. Along with Asuna and his old friends from Aincrad, now dubbed the "SAO survivors", Kirito goes out into the real world to fight a boss, only to discover that the boss was an old level boss from Aincrad. Realising that he didn't have the weightlessness that he had in VR, Kirito, an unfit bastard, could not replicate his sheer game-breaking power he had in almost all the other VR worlds. In the midst battle, he meets the mysterious girl who appears to him repeatedly afterwards: a popular AI diva Yuna, who is basically something like a vocaloid with personality. He also has frequent encounters with the 2nd ranked OS player, Eij. As battle after battle rages, Kirito starts to feel something amiss after strange incidents occur and uncovers the conspiracy behind certain aspects of Ordinal Scale.
While it was somewhat refreshing to finally see Kirito so weak at his game for a short while, the story of SAO: OS was not too shabby. Unlike the anime arcs which had many gaps in both plot and timeline, the film is coherent and understandable. There are no longer any ambiguous character intentions (like Kayaba's reason to create Aincrad ¬_¬) and the reasons behind every characters actions, no matter whether they were villains or the good guys, were presented clearly. The concept of Ordinal Scale and the marriage of the real and virtual world isn't anything new to the current era- but this isn't a bad thing. Instead, it helps us to enjoy the movie better because it relates to us here and now. Despite the fact that the movie is set on the 2020s, Augmented Reality (and Vocaloid idol fandom) is something that is widely talked about and enjoyed presently. The film opens our eyes to see how AR could be enjoyed close to the present; but truth be told, we do not have to wait long. Pokémon Go could have public events soon and players would be able to, as seen in the movie, take to the streets to catch legendary Pokémon. The future that SAO: OS shows us is not far after all and gives us many ideas and anticipations for what's to come in the near future. Aside from that, the movie makes several references to the anime which are pleasing to see. These reasons is why I enjoyed the story of the movie somewhat, despite it's occasional clichés and plot predictability.
In the animation department, A-1 Pictures delivers. SAO: OS deviates notably from crappy and sappy story for a more action-centred take on the SAO franchise. Animation is fluid, especially during the action scenes which are fast-paced and literally action-packed, but money didn't leak from the screen unlike films by CoMix and ufotable. A-1 had one job, and they did it. So there's no complaint for this section.
As for sound, I would say that this was one of the greater aspects of the film. You would do well to watch this film in cinemas; the surround sound was simply amazing. Along with great music, the background sound effects did an excellent job and immersed the audience in the action sequences. My seat literally shook when a game boss buried his weapon into the ground.
Speaking of music, Yuki Kajiura did a fantastic job. Her signature way of composing her music is apparent in countless areas in the movie, and tracks from the original OST such as Swordland (unfortunately, without the coffee and soda) were played, inducing a sense of unneeded but appreciated nostalgia. LiSA's theme song, "Catch the Moment", was the credits song for the film. Ironically, most fans who had left the cinema the moment the credits rolled failed to catch it.
Ha. Ha. Ha.
Now for the characters. Like I mentioned earlier, the characters, whether good or evil, had clear intentions behind their actions. Unfortunately, even so, I can't help but feel that the characters are bland. They don't actually really serve much of a purpose for the story, but it was still good to see (and relieving not to see) some of the old characters. I was so happy to see Klein receive just a little bit screentime and Suguha not to receive close to any at all with the excuse of being sent off to Kendo camp. She's the character I hate the most in the franchise; just plain obnoxious. Even Yui isn't that bad. Kirito and Asuna's relationship is also one of the apparent parts of the film, and unlike being such an odd couple in SAO, they actually behave like a mature couple. Although they ain't canonically 20 yet, they already seem like they're married. We also get to see how attached Asuna actually is to Kirito. Don't get too worried yet, it's still a healthy relationship that hasn't descended to yandereism yet.
All in all, I'll have to recommend Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale. It was an unexpected enjoyment-it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and yet exceeds the expectations of an SAO hater like me. The SAO Movie is well-animated and has great sound and music. It provides a new outlook at possibilities of technology in the future, and yet provides a good story to go along with that. The plot is more than I have described, but I tried not to spoil anything at all, so if you are interested in the movie, please watch it at a local cinema near you. Sword Art Online is not leaving cinemas soon and is still being released in countries across the world, so fret not even if you are not able to watch it now.
If you do happen to get a ticket, just don't forget to stay for the after-credits scene!
