Review of Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale

"The series that is frowned upon the community got another sequel? A movie sequel? How could it happen?!" That statements above could be heard from the people who bash on SAO. I personally enjoy SAO to be honest. It's not perfect, I know that but it didn't deserve the hate it gets from the community in my opinion. So, cut to the chase. Ordinal Scale is a movie adaptation to set things up for the upcoming SAO Season 3 or Alizication arc for the LN readers. So, for die-hard fans, this movie is a must because it set the pace for the third season. The storyrevolves around the same protagonist (obviously). But what is wonderful from this movie is that they are able to invoke the feeling of nostalgia from seeing the world of SAO one more time. I love the idea of the AR (Augmented Reality) they implemented so that 3 major VR games come to life in one spot (GGO, ALO, even SAO). The antagonist this time is decent and relatable (the last decent antagonist in the series was Kayaba Akihiko).

As for the animation, they certainly improved it on all aspect. The fight, the choreography, everything is good. The only problem I had with the movie was the character design. I mean, did they look like that in the series or the animator was dead-set on action scene, they forgot how to draw a decent character? I don't know for sure.

As for the BGM, as expected of SAO. Always comes at the top. The mood is perfect and all. That's all I can say. Oh, the VA is still the same so, don't worry about it.

The character is a damn interesting addition. The old ones gave you nostalgia feeling while the new cast puts you on the edge of your chair, thinking what do they up to and why did they do such things. The antagonist here is a decent character

Overall, this is a good movie for you who watch it for the story. The story is good and it set the pace for the third season. For those who watch in on whim, you may get confused by the terminology and reference but you'll understand the story for the movie only just fine (proven by my friend who didn't know SAO but still managed to understand the story)