Anime movies have seen incredible popularity in the West in recent years, with heavy sleuths among them Demon Slayer and A man with a chainsaw seeing their film counterparts pull in huge numbers at the box office. Recent rumors suggest that this is a very popular fantasy series Frieren: Beyond Journey's End he will have his own movie somewhere down the line and more One piece The film has been confirmed to be in production in late 2025, although original writer Eiichiro Oda has given few details.
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However, none of these massive hits managed to achieve a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes. This award goes to something completely unexpected by most in the anime community: 2017 movie Sword Art Online Movie: Ordinal Scale. Set between the second and third seasons Sword Art Online anime series whose theatrical release continues to be praised for its original story, polished animation, action sequences, and its central theme that highlights how humans have become completely reliant on technology.
Sword Art Online remains controversial nearly 15 years after the anime's release
Inspired by the 2009 light novel series of the same name by Reki Kawahara, Sword Art Online It started its anime in 2012 and didn't end until 2020. Its story spans a whopping 96 episodes and follows Kirito Kirigaya, an avid high school gamer who finds himself trapped in the titular VR MMORPG with no way out. Each arc takes place in a different virtual reality world, but the goal is the same: escape at all costs, because to die in the game is to die in real life. Kirito makes many friends and allies during his time in the mysterious game, along with his eventual love, Asuna Yuuki. The series can be attributed in part to the modern isekai boom, with the genre still going strong more than a decade after its initial release.
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Sword Art Online earned a lot of praise during its run, with many fans applauding its approach to action and the ever-changing stakes for Kirito and others trapped in the game world. As the focus changed with each season, the show had less chance of becoming stale, and even during less popular arcs, the show's fight sequences were a major draw for viewers. The related and now common isekai trope of “shy introvert made hero in another world” also made Kirito an instant favorite with many fans, and his many plot twists, believable villains, and psychological themes were a major draw early on. The series still has a lot of fans, but it has long seemed to have a lot more detractors on the internet.
For every hundred fans of the series, Sword Art Online It seems to have an equal number of dislikes, with most pointing to its often sloppy writing and frequent time skipping. While many anime series skip over less important plot points, SAO he does a particularly poor job of making up for this lost time, not mentioning anything that happened during the months or even years that were left out. This means that certain characters don't have time to develop at all, making them superficial and much less interesting than the main protagonists of the series. Thankfully, it got better as the show progressed, but earlier seasons left many fans less than thrilled.
in addition Sword Art Online alienated many of its more sensitive viewers by including sexual assault as a major plot point. This happens to a female character in every season, and while the repetition is quite frustrating for some, others have called it downright exploitative, with some scenes being particularly graphic in nature. Add to that the big shift in tone in the second half of the show and Sword Art OnlineThe initial popularity began to fade for some as more and more began to voice their criticism. There's no denying that she's remained a juggernaut of the isekai genre, but she often does SAO talking to people in the community will earn fans a few raised eyebrows.
Sword Art Online Movie: Ordinal Scale boasts a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes
Despite the abundant criticism of the anime series, one of the three Sword Art Online theatrical films continue to receive incredible praise from moviegoers and critics alike. While in 2025 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle boasts an overall score of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc it is currently at 96%, as of 2017 Sword Art Online Movie: Ordinal Scale has a perfect score of 100%. The next two SAO films did not see the same success as in 2022 Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night reaching only 83% and its continuation, Sword Art Online Progressive: Scherzo of Deep Nightit currently sits at a pretty abysmal 42%.
Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu.
Critics and audiences in particular applauded Ordinal scale's remarkably insightful social commentary. The contemporary world is witnessing human beings becoming completely reliant on technology, and the film highlights the many consequences of this, including negative emotional effects and obsessive behavior. Fans also enjoyed the concept of augmented reality battles in the real world, and the film's action sequences remain highlights nearly a decade after its release. As longtime viewers would expect, the protagonists Kirito and Asuna see a lot of development, not in fan service, but in actual emotional growth.
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While more recent films have not achieved this Ordinal scale's incredible hype, may be more for Sword Art Online fans have something to look forward to in the future. A new film is currently in the works to follow Progressive series and features an all-new, anime-original story. A release date has not been announced, but pre-production is said to have ended in January 2024. Perhaps this fresh project will be able to reach the same incredible heights as the first theatrical release.
