Review of Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale
From the mess of a series that is SAO comes Ordinal Scale. but the real question is how does it hold up? Well, the answer to that is that it surprisingly held well. Before we go into this, I will say I may have a bit of a prejudice, since SAO was my first series, and made me go "Wow, anime is like this?" mainly because of the fighting and visuals rather than the overall story. With that out of the way, I'll get into my review. Story: Ordinal Scale does what SAO couldn't, providing an actual coherent story that makes sense. It continues off wherethe main series left off, so some prior knowledge should be needed. However, since SAO is one of the biggest series in anime, I wouldn't count on anyone watching to not know the story. After the beginning part, the movie reintroduces main character Kirito and how he's wary of VR due to the entire incident where he was trapped in a game for 2 years. He eventually tries it out, and the thing that this movie did right was not to make him an overpowered edgy boy, rather making him rational and also relatable to some degree. The pacing in this movie fluctuates a bit, but it's not enough that would impede on your experience, and there's a shift from the gang needing to finish a game to them needing to find out what's going on with the Augma. What I feel is that the original SAO was more of everyone trying to figure out stuff to put between the beginning and ending, while Ordinal Scale was given an actual storyline. The difference is in everything from plot to pacing to minute details.
Art: For some of the stuff that SAO pulled, I can say that the art here is a pretty big step up, at least in my opinion. The animation is much cleaner due to it being 5 years since the original SAO series aired, and completely reworked designs work well. The big kicker for me though was the final scene. Without much spoilers, seeing that final floor 100 boss being an absolute giant that would be a pain to solo was the cherry on top. Also, everyone retaining their gear from the games they first appeared in was massive fanservice, but fanservice I can get along with. The last thing I'd like to talk about for art is the scenery. Ordinal Scale delivers some pretty good background art with its VR battles. Not everything was perfect with art, but it was a pretty big step in the right direction.
Sound: As for most animes now, voice acting is still great. Ordinal Scale makes sure that everyone sounds the way they should. For music, the movie makes sure to make use of their idol type character, giving songs that necessarily wouldn't help with a person's concentration, but fit well for a movie fight scene. The movie also does reuse old music, so I can't really talk about it that much, but the old music does fit in whatever situation it's used for.
Character: Ordinal Scale took what mess the original cast of SAO was, reworked them, and made them different. Kirito is now a cautious person who no longer is overpowered because he's the main character, but rather because he did actual work. That's a good thing since he now has a sort of backbone and seems more like an actual fleshed out character. Now, Kirito isn't a perfect character still. In some ways, he's the weakest link in the movie, but in others he can be the strongest. Asuna follows the same kind of thing, but since something happens in the movie, it's cut short temporarily. The real kicker for character, though, comes in the form of the 2 new characters, Yuna, and Eiji. Eiji starts off the movie as the Kirito archetype, being overpowered for the sake of being overpowered. It isn't until later in that you learn his connection with Yuna is what made him powerful due to his importance. Does he come off as an unlikeable character? Yes, but for an actual reason. However, later in, you learn that he's only the antagonist because he was promised something, so even I can't come to hate him. Now, Yuna. Her role at first seems to be as an idol, only existing to be a mascot. However, it is revealed that she is the Augma's creator's daughter, and that she had a secret she needed to reveal: her father's plans. She starts to go out and get attention from players, but that doesn't work. Yuna is definitely a character that took a longer time to develop, but she does so in a way that makes sense that isn't for a shallow reason. I wish I could talk more about her, but I'd probably be spoiling.
Enjoyment: SAO Ordinal Scale was something that I'll admit was something I didn't expect from the SAO franchise. It had a few bumps here and there, but it was an extremely solid entry for the SAO franchise. There were many things I found enjoyable, and also some things I didn't like as much. I didn't hate anything in this movie. Oh yeah, also +1 point to the score for having a Wagnaria reference. I'm a sucker for that series.
Overall: Ordinal Scale, as stated above, was a solid entry for the SAO franchise. For the other stuff that SAO has used, this was a giant leap forward. Where the first 3 main series seasons left off, it picked up and reworked. It still had some errors with its new result, but it left the finished product that was SAO in a much better state than it began. I'm looking forward for the next SAO project, since this was my first actual series I watched seriously. For those who hate SAO, I'd still suggest this movie, since it could change your opinion. And for those who are fans, whether by a little or a lot, I still recommend this as it is a great start in what could be success for this franchise.