Continuing the legacy of one of the most popular manga and anime, SAO's franchise has resulted in another movie, based on the “Sword Art Online: Progressive” light novels written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by abec. “Scherzo of Deep Night” is a sequel to “Aria of Starless Night”, with the cast and crew reprising their roles.
Theatrical Dates Set for February 1 in the United Kingdom and Ireland; for February 2 in Australia and New Zealand; and for February 3 in the United States and Canada; with additional dates for Europe and Latin America to be announced
The world's first VRMMORPG (Sword Art Online) has taken a rather dark path, since 10,000 users have been trapped inside the game world, and have to clear the top floor of the floating iron castle of Aincrad, in order to escape. Death in the game, however, also means death in reality, with the fact weighing heavily on the players. At the same time, the two most major clans, ALS (the Aincrad Liberation Squad) and DKB (the Dragon Knights Brigade), instead of cooperating, have succumbed to conflict, with the current story suggesting that someone is pulling the strings towards that way from the inside. Furthermore, the emergence of PKs, player killers, who prefer to kill others than finishing the game, has made things even more dire.
Even in this setting, however, our main protagonists, Asuna, who takes the first role here, Kirito, and Argo, a female information broker who usually helps for a fee, have managed to clear the fourth level in a relatively short time. Before reaching the fifth, however, they learn of a cunning plan of one of the two aforementioned clans, and the three of them, with the help of some of the most valiant members of the two groups, decide to clear the room on their own in order to avoid any more friction between them. Asuna also proceeds on asking the help of Mito, although the meeting with her is not exactly a stroll in the park.
The psychological elements that have set the original anime series, regarding the dependence of people on the web and MMORPGs in general, are nowhere to be found here, since every protagonist is actually stuck in the game at the moment. This however, does not mean that the film is devoid of context, since the comments regarding human nature, and particularly in the way some people decide to succumb to evil when they should be fighting all together echo quite intensely here. At the same time, though, the focus is more action-oriented, with a secondary arc revolving around the will-they-won't-they between Asuna and Kirito, whose relationship does move a bit forward this time. Lastly, a sense of mystery regarding what is going on behind the scenes, adds a bit more depth to the narrative.
In that fashion, the overall aesthetics point more towards a PG-13 title rather than one directed to adults, with Kento Toya's character design, the overall bright coloring where the light blue seems to dominate, and the lack of blood all moving towards this direction. Nevertheless, some moments of subtle fanservice still exist, in the case of the anime favorite sequence inside the baths, which also includes a one-on-one battle between two girls in their bathing suits.
The rest of the narrative focuses on action, with the battles being quite impressive, even within the aforementioned aesthetics. The two one-on-ones, the initial group battle, a subtle cunning attack, and most of all, the final battle are all a wonder to look at, with A-1 Pictures's animation finding its apogee in those scenes, both due to the intricacy of the character's moves and the overall speed with which they unfold.
Essentially a prolonged episode with better production values, “Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Scherzo of Deep Night” has still a lot fans of shonen anime and of the particular arc will enjoy, while remaining entertaining throughout the 100 minutes of its duration.
