Sword Art Online: Extra Edition

First and foremost, if you ever plan on or have considered watching this special, I'm assuming you've seen the first season, otherwise, there's no real reason for you to be here. Because this is a special, my rating for it is not based on complete quality of the special on its own, but how the special relates to the first season. A special is an addendum to a series; it's like an extra episode. Keep that in mind while reading my review. Examining the special piece by piece, I will start with the basics: art and sound. As I mentioned before, if you're considering watching thisspecial, it's probably because you saw the first season and are interested in seeing similar content. I can assure you that the art and sound in the special is exactly as it was in the first season. Not even the opening theme is new. Simply put, your personal opinion on the art and sound of the first season is going to be identical to your opinion of the art and sound in the special. So because nothing has changed, these two factors can be ignored. The same goes for characters. None of them have changed, so expect nothing different from before. What really matters is the story, right? Yes. As far as specials go, I thought the story was, in a word, decent. Everything started off incredibly slow; the whole first half of the special was basically recapping some of the more important scenes in the first season with brief bits of character dialogue strewn around in between. It wouldn't surprise me if you said that that sounds horribly boring. You'd be right. It was horribly boring. I can't think of a single person that enjoys recap or flash backs. The only thing that kept everything at least somewhat interesting was the inclusion of some mild fan service. Which, I should specify, although it probably should have been obvious to you, is entirely female only. Having watched the first season, I'm sure you know that this is an anime tailored mostly for males or really anyone attracted to females; I say males because the only real canonical pairing is Kirito and Asuna which is obviously a straight relationship. All of this is to say, there is female fan service, so expect it and appreciate it if you want. Now, while the first half of the special is truly boring, the second wasn't so bad. The rest of the plot involves a quest in Alfheim in which all of your favorite characters take part. Of course before the actual quest begins, there is plenty more fan service. The quest itself isn't really all that interesting. It isn't exactly high stakes as some of the events and quests were in the first season. Overall the quest is laid back. We see some fighting, some humor, some dialogue; really everything you'd expect from a typical episode of really anything. It wasn't incredibly captivating, but everything sort of fit together enough for it to be pleasing. Looking at this special as a whole, I would say that it was pretty good. As you can probably see, I gave it a 7, which I think is a generous score, but not something it didn't deserve. It really and truly is an extra, fun episode involving the characters of Sword Art Online doing things you never got to see them do in the first season. If mundane events where nothing really happens don't appeal to you, I wouldn't bother watching it, otherwise I think it's at least worth the watch.

Now before you shoot me for rating it low...hear my reasoning. This is intended for people who haven't seen it, it's my advice whether to watch it or not waste time watching it. It's ok if you liked it more than I, it's ok if you hated it more than I. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Here goes mine: First off, don't even think about watching this movie-length special before you have watched the series Sword Art Online if you planned to do it. Also, if you are somehow discouraged to view this movie by its huge flashback, it's all fine, I reallydon't think it will become a key element between SAO S1 and SAO S2 For a duration of 1hr 40 seconds, majority of this movie is a recap. The extra footage you might want to see is like, 20 minutes of end the show. Other than that it's mostly fanservice pieces and recapitulation of the previous season of Sword Art Online. In my opinion, it's kind of a waste of time to waste 1hr 20 mins on flashbacks. But hey, Season 2 of Sword Art Online is airing soon, so maybe it's the right time to reminiscence and nostalgizise. Might just ring your nostalgic wibes in the right moment The last 20 minutes or so are extra footage. To avoid spoilers, I will just say: It was very inspiring. As someone who likes playing some MMORPGs and would like to make a MMORPG someday in the future (hopefully) I was all like "why are we not funding this" because none of the MMORPGs i played so far have stuff even remotely as awesome like this. Just that very aspect was what I really liked about the movie. As the series, this movie feels like something to please younger audiences in pre/early-teenage years, judging by the plot development and depth. It's in no way hard to understand and feels simple - doesn't make one think too deep about it. Of course, it can also please audiences that would prefer action and don't like to think too deep about what happens in the anime. The plot piece in this anime is fairly simple and easy. It's really light-hearted, so if you are looking for something like that, shoot for Sword Art Online : Extra Edition! Of course, after Sword Art Online the series, that is.

The SAO: Extra Edition gives the viewer a great chance to re-live the epic storyline of the first season of SAO with the added benefit of seeing it through another perspective. The main characters re-tell the events with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight in a relaxed atmosphere, which serves to further familiarize the viewer with the cast. The flashbacks are well-edited and condensed and this Extra Edition is highly recommended for both newcomers to the franchise and old-timers alike. The story revolves around Kirito retelling his story to an investigator, giving an insight into his psychological state and thought processes during his time in-game.For the rest of his friends, they reminince how they first met Kirito, which further exemplifies the way they behaved at the time. If this does not put the "typical harem, piece of rubbish" detractors to rest, then it is simply inconceivable how these people derive any sort of satisfaction in life. For the Extra Edition grants a more than adequate, in fact a flawless, excellent explanation behind the characters. After the recap segment, the main cast set off on a quest in ALO where A-1 Pictures diversifies in it's method of narrative. A combination of extensive battle animation and teamwork followed by economical but effective still frames is highly commendable, for MMORPGs are repetitive in nature. This is because a direct "adaptation" of a MMORPG into an anime would be a lot of battle-grinding boredom. Again, the battles are combined with ingenius character reflection which only serves to develop the viewers' bond and linkage with the cast. Combined with the realistic metal sword effects and the strong, compelling soundtrack by Kajiura Yuki and the previous OP/ED songs being used as inserts, the viewer is not let down in the audio department either. I can only wish that the highly-acclaimed video game "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" had battle sounds that was anywhere near as compelling as SAO, but it is hard for anything to match the high bar which this franchise sets. The only downside is the relatively low resolution and detailing of the art. Having watched shows by SHAFT in recent days, the detailing does not come close at all to SHAFT's standards. Although this may be because A-1 Pictures decided to actually animate, unlike SHAFT's excessive usage of budget-stretching still frames. Overall the Extra Edition combines a great cast with compelling characterization. Despite much of it being a recap, the story has a completely fresh perspective which has much to add. Sword Art Online: Extra Edition is definitely not to be missed. P.s. I am surprised by the striking coincidence involving the naming of Sakuya the Undine and Alicia the Cait Sith in this franchise. For these terminologies remind me of a moe-pandering so-called "slice of life" anime which is called Aria that uses words of the same name. This is a series which must be never watched, for it features deadpan, one-line catchphrasing characters in stark contrast with the compelling characterization of SAO: Extra Edition. Any attempt at "plot" is simply horribly contrived and the enlightened MAL community of connoisseurs must make every effort to avoid such monstrosity.

What a masterpiece. As expected of the legendary SAO series, one of the greatest animes of all time. Where other series would make a boring clip show of scenes from the previous season as a lazy cash grab, A-1 Pictures in a brilliant move makes a recap film that is enticing and able to captivate the audience. The shock as i saw many low ratings only lasted a short while, as I remembered the complexity of SAOs brilliance that makes it hard for the average anime watcher to understand and simply fly over their head. A must watch for all SAO fans or people witha high enough intelligence to comprehend its glory. Also nice tits.