There are few anime franchises that are as large and as prolific as that of Sword Art Online. Having been around for almost 30 years, the Progressive franchise helps the franchise to continue to evolve and be very much in tune with today’s increasingly digital and decentralized culture, even if the tech in the series is a bit overshot of what is actually available, but that’s the fun is it not?
In any case, Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Scherzo of Deep Night is the sequel film to 2021’s “Aria of a Starless Night” which helped kick off an expanded retelling of Sword Art Online’s Aincrad storyline and takes place three months after the prequel film which takes place in November of 2022, that’s right, Sword Art Online and it’s 10,000 entrapped players are celebrating the 2023 New Year and there’s a big party to help celebrate. Of course, the main players, led by Asuna and her friend Mito, are trying to achieve the real goal at hand which is to complete 100 levels so that they can escape Akihiko Kayaba’s hellish VRMMORPG where “Game Over” means death in the real world. In the 100 minute feature-length film from A-1 Pictures, we see Asuna and Mito have separated but Asuna and Kirito are continuing on and making progress but have to face a huge monster when they stop for treasure.
With the support of female Information Broker Argo, clearing the floors seemed to be progressing smoothly, but…Conflict erupts between two major guilds who should be working together – the top player groups ALS (the Aincrad Liberation Squad) and DKB (the Dragon Knights Brigade). And meanwhile, behind the scenes exists a mysterious figure pulling the strings…In a dangerous battle of death, there is an assault that differs from the threat, and it will involve Asuna and Kirito. Essentially, the sequel film not only sets up a three-quel focusing on catacombs and raids and whatnot, but a plot not unlike Dexter that offers up a far more sinister barrier to game completion.
The film is directed by Ayako Kōno, with character designs by Kento Toya and music by Yuki Kajiura and for the most part the production elements are exquisite, with Ayako continuing to dazzle us with a blend of new and older anime production techniques that are definitely more appreciated on bigger screens. The English dubbed adaptation of the animated science fiction action adventure film features all of the dub cast from the first movie reprising their roles include the always reliable Bryce Papenbrook and Cherami Leigh as Kirito and Asuna respectively, with the likes of Kimberley Anne Campbell(Argo), Anairis Quiñones (Mito), AmaLee (Liten), AJ Beckles (Morte), Patrick Seitz(Agil), and Derek Stephen Prince (Kibao) all part of the cast and giving fantastic efforts. The dub of everything isn’t perfect, menus and other background items seem to sway back and forth between English and Japanese with rarely any English subtitles to help out in that arena.
With all of that said, the plot is very, very good, adding even more weight to a premise that is becoming frighteningly realistic as time goes on in the real world, and I’m excited to see additional installments. With all of the stylish elements and plot twists, I highly recommend seeing Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Scherzo of Deep Night in theaters near you.