Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Aria of a Starless Night
One month after Kayaba Akihiko's game of death began, the death toll continues to rise, two thousand players having already lost their lives to the ultra-difficult VRMMO world of Sword Art Online. On the day of the strategy meeting to plan out the first-floor boss battle, Kirito, a solo player who vows to fight alone to get stronger, runs into a rare, high-level female player. She gracefully dispatches powerful monsters with a single rapier that flashes like a shooting star in the night...
- Released: 2021-10-30
- Runtime: 120 minutes
- Genre: Action, Animation, Fantasy
- Stars: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Haruka Tomatsu, Koichi Yamadera, Hiroki Yasumoto, Nobuyuki Hiyama, Inori Minase, Rina Hidaka, Ryusei Nakao, Tomokazu Seki
- Director: Ayako Kono
Comments
- djdogmanfish - 2 January 2023
This could have been better
While this is mostly good, the biggest gripe I have is what I call the Star Wars prequel treatment. My problem is I'm not a fan of when in the main series/saga two characters meet, and then down the road the creators make a prequel where those same characters keep running into each other. Did we really need Kirito and Asuna to meet and converse twice before the initial meeting in the original series? What did this add? A different character could have filled the Kirito role and it would have made more sense. It didn't even have to be a new character, it could have been an already established character. What it comes down to is the creators were probably too worried that fans would be mad that Asuna and Kirito don't share time until two thirds through the movie. Give the fans more credit. - jamesz-17921 - 16 December 2021
Beat expectations
TLDR: yes watch it.
I made an account just to review this. I've seen all of SAO and I really think the actual aincrad (I think it's called?) stuff is the best. SPOILER - when the threat of death isn't present in the series I lose all investment. The original idea of being STUCK in a game and having to life or death the game makes the series so much more intense, immersive, and impactful. Stakes are high, tension is high.
So I was literally about to change my mind last minute and not go see this movie. I mean cmon. SAO right? Insert SAO meme here. I'm very happy I didn't listen to myself.
I went to see the movie in theaters and was immediately disappointed it was a DUB. HOWEVER!!! Whoever the voice actors were on this absolutely bodied it. Especially asunas voice. Emotions were conveyed perfectly. Hopelessness, anger, sorrow, relief, excitement. Many times DUBs lose the emotion in voice lines through translation. This was not one of those times
It was very immersive. The movie transitions flawlessly scene to scene and never made me feel like I was just waiting to get to the next part. Tons of very nicely animated action. Zero wasted time in this movie.
The music wasn't to memorable. Great for making you feel like it's a video game. They dive really deep trying to "get you in" that video game. You can see it with how they explore it in the script as well as the camera angles they use.
Originally I went to see this because I'm restless waiting for that new Jujutsu Kaiden movie to come out. But honestly this movie held its own and will be one I remember and recommend.
I been watching anime for like 20 years. This is a perfect medium to explore SAOs first floor again. Very fleshed out and to be honest, if they adapted the rest of the aincrad (again?) stuff like this...I would definitely go watch it.
