With season three still in the midst of production, Sword Art Online makes it’s big screen debut in Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale. In this new film scribed by SAO mangaka/light novelist Reki Kawahara, Kirito and co. find themselves back in the VR gaming world after Asuna and the others convince him to try a new game; the titular Ordinal Scale. Once they take it for a spin they quickly learn that the game isn’t as fun as they had originally perceived.

Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale is a 2017 film adaptation of Sword Art Online, it is produced by A-1 Pictures, Kadokawa Pictures, ASCII Media Works, Genco, and licensed by Aniplex of America. It is currently available on DVD and Blu-Ray in English.

A great return long after the release of SAO II.

After the experiences he suffered from SAO, GGO, and other titles Kirito is having a tough time dealing with it. It’s effected him so much so that he’s become a bit of a shut in. Now AR technology is rising in popularity, rivaling the VR gaming tech Kirito & Asuna were accustomed to. With Asuna and the rest of her & Kirito’s friends getting into AR, they quickly learn that the new game “Oridinal Scale” isn’t exactly as it appears to be.

Kirito & Asuna are still suffering from their VR hardships.

THE GOOD: Ordinal Scale, while not a new season gets the job done well enough to scratch the huge itch as everyone waits for Sword Art Online III. The action is as fantastic and fast paced as ever & the drama hits the right notes most of the time. The story involves an SAO victim named Yuuna and her father’s plans to revive her through AR using the memories of SAO survivors. As Asuna & other SAO survives lose their memories as a result of the plan from Yuuna’s father, Kirito most stop the Oridinal Scale game from further progress before their brains are permanently damaged and the SAO survivors possibly even die.

Ordinal Scale still has the same issues as it’s predecessors. a weak second half.

THE BAD: I’m not sure what the deal is with SAO, but in regards to the anime it always seems to suffer from “second half syndrome”, a great example is the near perfect first half of SAO II being dragged down by the remaining second act. The film is no different, it does a great job of setting everything up for the climax, but sometime after the first hour it just starts dragging while waiting for the climax to pay off.

Ordinal Scale is a good film that’d be better just under it’s 2 hour run time.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale is a great watch for fans waiting on the next canonical season of the anime. Though it still suffers from typical SAO issues, the first hour is a great build up to a satisfying ending. Otaku Dome gives Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale a 75 out of 100.