Reviews

After watching the first season of SAO, a question might arise in your minds - "how did Asuna get this good? How did she get into VRMMORPG anyway?" This movie shows the opening events of SAO in Asuna's POV, expands on her backstory, and answers those questions. The actions scenes and the music were fire, really enjoyed those. The writing got real sloppy in the second half though. But it was a real treat to see so much characterization of Asuna in the first half.

Story: 6/10
The plot felt rather mediocre because we have already experienced many stories like this (yeah ik SAO was one of the pioneers of this genre).

Art: 8/10
Nothing much to complain here. The mix of 2D and 3D was a hit.

Sound: 9/10
The strongest part of the movie. It had the experienced Iwanami Yoshikazu and LiSA involved. It was a great experience.

Character: 5/10
After building up the character Misumi, the movie neglects her a lot in the second half. Also the friendship of the two girls doesn't get proper treatment in the end.

Enjoyment: 7/10
Got to relive some great moments of the opening season. Enjoyed the action scenes a lot as well.

Overall: 6/10
Could've been higher if they didn't include some sketchy elements like some stuff between the two girls and a monster attack on Asuna.