Review - Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night (2021)

         Hey guys, Chuck here, and I back again talking about the anime franchise Sword Art Online . This time, however, we're going to be taking a look at the 2021 movie Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night, which is actually the first Sword Art Online title I ever actually watched, and of course I saw it in a movie theater. 

       Now, unlike the anime series which is told from the perspective of Kazuto Kirigaya/Kirito, Aria of a Starless Night instead puts center focus on Asuna Yuuki. Yep, this movie explains how Asuna got into the world of Sword Art Online in the first place. It turns out that Asuna was, in fact, an avid gamer, and often played various video games along with her close friend at school Misumi Tosawa, who much like Kirito is a former BETA tester. Anyway, Misumi convinces Asuna to give SAO a try, and she does so after picking up a copy of the game, as well as a NerveGear rig. Upon launching the game, she bases her avatar on her real life appearance, and chooses the avatar name Asuna. Upon arriving in the Town of Beginnings, she desperately seeks out Misumi, who is in the form of a hulking male avatar named Mito. So, the two partner up, and head out to fight monsters in an area unknown to non BETA testers. 

       It's at this time that Akihiko Kayaba's infamous announcement of no logging out of Sword Art Online, revealing its nature as a "death game," is made. Mito's avatar is replaced with her real world appearance. But, even still, Mito and Asuna stick together for the duration of the next number of days, fighting monsters and adjusting to the new reality of being trapped in a virtual world for however long. 

       Unfortunately, things take an unfortunate turn as, when fighting some plant type monsters called nepenthes, Asuna and Mito get separated, and Mito dissolves their party out of fear of Asuna possibly dying. Asuna is, however, rescued by Kirito and given health potions. It's here where Asuna makes a decision: if she's going to die in Sword Art Online, she'll do it on her own terms. And thus, she gets a brown cloak, gears up, and heads to a nearby cave to fight monsters and get stronger. It's ultimately here where Kirito shows up again, and he pulls her from the cave after she passes out from exhaustion. And he then invites her to attend a meeting in town. Yep, it's here where we get to the meeting set up by Diabel to go up against the Floor One boss. Of course, if you saw the anime series, you already knows what happens. Kirito and Asuna form a party, Kibaou calls out the former BETA testers, and Agil shows them all a guidebook that was readily available to all players...and was written by the former BETA testers. One major difference is that Asuna notices that Mito was at this meeting as well, but Asuna decides not to confront her. 

      That evening, of course we get the bread scene from the anime, and we get some extensions of the sequence with Kirito helping Asuna get a new weapon and work together to train up for the upcoming boss fight. That night, Asuna asks Kirito is all BETA testers are bad, having been abandoned by her friend who was one. Kirito mentions he found himself in a similar situation before (obviously a reference to Klein from the anime series), and it was likely a means to save herself in a dire moment of life and death. Feeling relieved, Asuna continues to strategize with Kirito. 

        So, the day of the boss fight arrives, and of course it pretty much exactly as it was portrayed in the second episode of the anime. With one exception: Mito's presence in the fight. The end result is the same. Diabel dies, Kirito finishes off the boss, is chewed out by Kibaou and called a "beater," and he takes the moniker and goes off on his own. Meanwhile, Mito finally reunites with Asuna, apologizing for abandoning her earlier, and offers to reform their party. However, Asuna declines the offer, deciding her path is tied with Kirito, goes off to join him on the second floor. The two introduce themselves to each other properly, and head off to face whatever awaits them on the second floor. 

      Okay, so as my personal introduction to the world of Sword Art Online, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. And going back and looking at it after watching the entire Aincrad Arc from the series, I definitely see some of the gaps that are filled in regarding how Asuna came to be in SAO. Of course, both Bryce Papenbrook and Cherami Leigh are on top of their game, once again, as Kirito and Asuna, and I really enjoyed the one major newcomer with Anaris Quinones as Mito. I think it actually makes sense that Asuna would be persuaded to play the game from someone she knew outside of the game. And the fact that said person was also a BETA tester, much like Kirito, is a nice touch. 

       Of course, a lot of the details of story in the movie that are held over from the anime are pretty much well covered. But, it's nice to see them from a perspective other than that of Kirito. Having Asuna as the central character of the movie adds something unique to the movie that makes it easily accessible to newcomers. With that said, I'm giving Aria of a Starless Night a rating of 4.55/5. Well,. that's it for me and my Sword Art Online reviews until the release of the next movie, Scherzo of Deep Night, in February. Well, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll be back tomorrow with my review of the Disney sci-fi classic Tron.