Sword Art Online: Extra Edition

Sword Art Online: Extra Edition (2013)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This takes place just after the original SAO. The girls want to go swimming, but Kirito gets pulled into yet another "counseling session" with his government contact regarding events in SAO and the first edition of ALO before rescuing Asuna. Interesting how he always seems to bribe Kirito with sweets aside from his promises to pay him for information and help in various projects. A large part of this film goes over key events that happened in the very first series during both SAO and ALO, and how they all came to be close to Kirito.

Sword Art Online II

Sword Art Online II (2014)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I first watched this when it originally came out, having already seen the original SAO and thoroughly enjoying that. While this pulls the main elements in, Kirito being the main character (with Sinon replacing Asuna for game play), it's another MMORPG with potential real lives on the line, though the players aren't forced into a trap. There is some doubt as to the validity of the threat Death Gun places, who he is, and exactly how he goes about executing his targets. As another SAO survivor, meeting him for the first time brings up some bad memories and emotions for Kirito, which oddly helps him gain more help from Sinon. This segment is still entertaining and interesting, though it's frustrating when it flashes back to ALO and the rest of the gain, highlighting further just how much Kirito belongs there instead of in GGO (as if using a sword in a gun game isn't obvious enough).

Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale

Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale (2017)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


While Sword Art Online II was fun, it did not really recapture my love for the original series. A lot of that came back with this movie installment, which ties in the most to the original SAO story, including original game functions and risks as the new RV tech that makes the games appear to come to life with actual physical play in the real world vs. the dream virtual play from the full dive equipment we know from SAO, ALO and GGO. Like the other games, with a few new additions in each arc, the main group largely stays the same, especially Kirito and Asuna. We actually even get a full scale revamp bringing back their original SAO avatars at one point as our heroes fight to stop this new threat from destroying their real lives once again. Some unexpected help from the virtual world not just from Yui, though she of course tries her best to help her "Mama" and "Papa." As far as placement goes, this film is the most recent installment, coming after SAO, Extra Edition, and SAO II.

Sword Art Online: Memory Defrag

Sword Art Online: Memory Defrag (Android)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I'm not very far on this one yet. It looks interesting and appears to follow the general idea of the original anime so far. From what I've seen of game play, other characters from ALO and GGO will also be available to play in later chapters. The fighting itself seems a little confusing to me, but I'm not the best at fight games anyways, let alone on a smartphone. Still, I loved this series and was disappointed there wasn't more to the story at the time. I'll play for awhile longer before I decide if it's worth keeping the memory space or not, but it's more of a fun past time than a burning desire to see more.

Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online (2012)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is an interesting twist as the main characters are trapped inside an MORPG (Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). There's a catch though - dying in the game means you die in real life too. Adventures are real and not all at the same time thanks to this twist of fate. The main characters, Kirito and Asuna, especially grow on you. They have an amusing and very positive dynamic between them that makes it impossible not to cheer for them in the end. We're just starting the second arc when Kirito is out of the game and looking for Asuna.