The End Of The Road?

While it can’t go unnoticed how many ‘popular’ anime’s of the past and recent history warrant blaring problems of their own, as seen within one of ‘the big three’ in Noriyuki Abe’s Bleach which, although established a rather intriguing premise for a shōnen in its first sixty episodes, did suffer from focusing on unsatisfactory filler that negated the series’ over-arching story-line, it is because of these issues that makes many of these acclaimed anime’s recognisable and ever-lasting. This is certainly the case with Sword Art Online (SAO) since it’s an anime that upholds apparent aspects that have polarised audiences opinions of the said show. Indeed, while it’s timely way of depicting a premise that commented on societies addiction to technology and video-gaming was alluring, it was Sword Art Online’s manner of moving away from what made the show an enticing watch to a rather tropey and formulaic product that stained the viewing experience; which resulted into audiences disagreeing with one another whether Reki Kawahara’s manga-adapted series deserved acclaim or not. Much of the same can be said of this latest film directed by Tomohiko Itō, Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale, as is retains much of what the first half of the first season displayed, such as the tension of being faced with a life or death situation, but presents familiar annoyances that hinder the franchises much-needed capacity…

Taking place after the events of SAO’s second season, Ordinal Scale focuses its premise around the arrival of Augma, a technological next-gen machine developed to compete against the NerveGear and its successor, the Amusphere. Unlike it’s preceding counterparts which uses FullDive functionality, the Augma instead uses Augmented Reality (AR) to get players into their game and simulates objects and others things in real space. While this wearable device transforms the world around the user and promotes a number of different applications, including fitness, productivity and the featured game of Oridnal Scale, an ARMMORPG developed exclusively for the Augma, all is not what it seems for both Kirito and Asuna as bosses from the now gone Sword Art Online game start to mysteriously re-appear…

While it won’t likely convert un-affiliated audiences who aren’t already invested or simply don’t know about the rather popular anime series that, in some way, knows it’s being self-aware by appealing to the hard-core Otaku fan-base, who are also avid-gamers, by initially establishing a premise which see’s characters trapped in a life-or-death game, amalgamating contextual ideas from the likes of Jumanji and the ‘digital world’ setting of Digimon, SAO’s long-awaited and anticipated stand-alone animated feature of Ordinal Scale is sure enough to please longtime fans of a franchise that has an abundance of good and bad qualities itself. From the way this animated feature opens its tale, by concisely encapsulating events of the previous seasons that culminate SAO which serves to be not only a good primer for curious newcomers but also a welcoming re-fresher for those who’ve watched the series before, to the way in which certain events and mysteries unfold, it’s clear that Director Tomohiko Itō, a Japanese animator who’s worked on past episodes of the aforementioned series and has gone on to direct the acclaimed anime series of Erased, has constructed a one-off feature in Ordinal Scale which feels fresh and different yet annoyingly familiar at the same time. it’s a two hour anime-fest which, more or less, follows the exact same structure that the preceding seasons of SAO have come to bare; presenting itself with a new-technological device with a new game (inspired by RPG’s of old like Final Fantasy) which serves to be an exploitation of a rather manic villain for their own goal which, inevitably, is all foiled by the actions that the main character of Kirito carries out. As much as it seems to depict this shift in character dynamics between Kirito and his romantic protegee in Asuna, since we see Asuna becoming skillful in Augma’s popular game in the first and second acts of the feature and not a ‘damsel in distress’ who Kirito must rescue which results in Kirito himself backing-off and diving into familiar ground of VR, the events that unfold makes it so that Kirito, inevitably, is the one that saves the day and not Asuna which is something that could and should have been non-existent; given how the film portrays Asuna to be capable of fixing what misdeeds occur. Even though Kirito’s rather back-seat appearance in not being able to become accustomed with Ordinal Scale’s physical quirks presents a more grounded and vulnerable protagonist in comparison to the way in which he miraculously overcame evil in the the seasons that consist of SAO, this rather vulnerable portrayal of an uninteresting character doesn’t last very long and, instead, the film regresses back to it’s own routes and faults of letting Kirito be the one to save the day, rather than someone like Asuna who naturally reverts to someone who needs saving. Yes, it can’t be denied that Ordinal Scale’s commentary on technological addiction and how it manages to spotlight the ways in which games can transform the space we venture in every-so-often and how VR experiences isolate you from the outside world, even if many argue that they are socially permissible, can be quite intriguing to watch, since it’s incredibly relevant to the ways in which we’re increasingly dabbling with AR technology more and more; as seen with the Pokémon Go phenomenon. However, if you take into consideration Ordinal Scales contextual structure and how it uses familiar tendencies in relation to its characters and the scenarios that they have to face, much of the metaphors and thematics of technology that are ever-noticeable to perceive at the start of the film don’t ever cease to be seen as a relevancy once the concluding moments start to unfold; resulting this feature length animation in being a feature-length copy of SAO: Season 1 that shows intriguing potential from its inception, but never truly follows-up on its own potential. This, indeed, allows the more irritating aspects of the show to creep into this stand-alone title; whether it’s the mind-numbingly annoying companion of Yui or the other character members that don’t really make much of an impact to the story at all .Much of the same can be said of the films conflict and main antagonist since there’s never really any gravitas to associate with the motives that he’s carrying out. While the motivations are there, and while the addition of Eiji, one of Ordinal Scales top players, gives Kirito a run for his money in terms of battling against fantastical monsters, it’s easy to read what the outcome of the villains goals is going to be and, again, it ties back to the original season in a way that lacks any imagination whatsoever. Even the exciting and prolonged climax that follows from this exploitation of motives isn’t enough for the film to save itself. It’s as if Itō and the rest of the writers are chained by the sci-fi genre presented and are limited by the technological aspects of things. 

If there’s one silver-lining to take note of Ordinal Scale, it’s the way in presents itself and how it exploits vibrancy and abstraction within the action scenes displayed. While it may not be as visually stunning and as incredibly detailed in comparison to what Makoto Shinkai has effortlessly produced within many his features, most notably in the highly-acclaimed Your Name, it would be wrong to belittle Ordinal Scale since the production company of A-1 Pictures does a pristine job of culminating different fantastical landscapes with the ‘real-world’ architecture of Tokyo depicted in this film. The animation remains to be an asset, from the episodic series, that is consistent and boasts imaginative prowess that other similar shows and films can only wish they could pull-off. The drawn expressions are heightened even further when the action starts to kick-in; sequences which fuse motion and lively colours to create symphonic painting  that you can’t blink away from. In many regards, it’s as if you’re watching an anime rendition of Dark Souls once characters are faced in dealing with a giant fantastical beast which, in turn, cue’s the epic musical score that epitomises aforesaid video-game. 

As highlighted when discussing the stagnant familiarity that Ordinal Scale offers and how unfortunately similar the structure of the context is reminiscent of SAO‘s first season, making this feature unspectacular compared to the series’ counterpart and unsatisfying, since Itō and the rest of writers had an opportunity where they could bring something new and refreshing to a franchise that has a tendency to fall-back on its promise, the characters themselves don’t serve this film any justice either. Whereas the battling-romantic duo of Kirito and Asuna are regulated to commonplace roles that’s unfortunate to perceive, it can’t go unnoticed just how devoid the rest of the cast is in comparison. If there’s one thing that SAO lovers are ardent for, it’s the ensemble group of friends that Kirito and Asuna share and how they go about their own business with their own problems that makes the franchise as likeable as it is. However, in the case of Ordinal Scale, not one of them contributes to anything significant as far as the main plot goes. Whether it’s Klein trying to be good as Kirito in being a better gamer or Sinon trying to do the same, neither of them are’t compulsory to the events that unfold and as supporting characters to the main protagonists, they’re honestly just seen as quick-‘laughs’. Apart from the humdrum and one-dimensional nature of Kirito, and the way in which Asuna takes a drastic back-seat from the story at the end of the second act, the only real character that’s worth mentioning that adds real vitality to this franchise’s one-off feature, is the addition of Eiji. To give away his motivations in foiling the protagonists ‘adventure’ would be criminal on my own behalf. Yet, the way in which Eiji is placed within the confines of the story, was enthralling to behold and put Kirito’s ‘gaming’ skills to the test. For my own sake in potentially watching SAO’s next season, let’s just hope Eiji appears as an ominous figure once again.

If it hasn’t been made apparent already, it’s fair to say that Tomohiko Itō’s first directed animated feature-film of Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale diminishes the famed aforesaid anime series by thoroughly implementing a contextual structure that doesn’t ooze any originality whatsoever. While it may serve to be an original story for fans of the series that are hungry for the third season of SAO to appear, it’s the lack of imagination of the many aspects of the story and the main characters that halt Ordinal Scale from being an animated feature that’s worth mentioning in alignment with many great anime-filmic hits like Your Name. As much as the film explores the ways in which we’re tinkering with VR and Augmented reality technologies to be commonplace in modern-day society in a manner that’s inviting to perceive and boasts fluid animation techniques that not many lesser animations can execute exquisitely, it’s bothersome knowing that the story presented doesn’t go down a different route instead of a recognisable one that bluntly hallmarks other stories that have already taken place in televised series. One can only assume that season three will provide a concept that is wholeheartedly different…

On that note, it’s time for me to end this week’s Film Review. As always everyone, thank you for reading my latest Film Review of Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale and I hope you’ve all enjoyed the read! 😉 If anyone has an opinion on either my review or on the film itself, you’re more than welcome to leave a comment down below. For next week, since I’m going to do my first Film Review on YouTube of Justice League, of which I’ll try to put out in roughly two weeks time, I will either do a review of Netflix’s Mudbound or do a retro review of Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands, since Christmas is fast approaching and it’s a film that I, more or less, watch around this time of the year. Anyway, thank you for reading this week’s Blog Post and I’ll be back at the same time next week! Have a nice day! Adieu! 😊👾⚔💥👫

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ – Alex Rabbitte