Sword Art Online: How The Progressive Films Can Improve

Sword Art Online: Progressive’s appeal couldn’t be more alluring to longtime fans: a revisit of the storyline that started it all, but with an opportunity to do more. As A1 Pictures continues to bring these stories to the big screen, it might be time to assess what they’re doing well, and what they can improve on going forward to make the most out of this second chance.

Progressive began in 2012 and was written to expand upon the Aincrad arc of the main series, where everyone was trapped in Sword Art Online. It serves as a return to fans’ most beloved arc but also a chance to show how Reki Kawahara’s writing skill has improved ever since he started writing the series when he was younger. As of the time of writing, Progressive has received two feature films: 2021’s Aria of a Starless Night, and 2022’s Scherzo of Deep Night, which celebrated the anime’s 10th anniversary. However, while the films offer the same penchant for great music and flashy action that fans are used to, they can feel like they are playing things safe and should strive for something bigger.

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More Creative License

Kawahara’s chief objective with Progressive was to explore untold parts of SAO’s story, specifically each floor boss, and have Kirito and Asuna partner up sooner rather than later. He is quite unabashed about wanting to diverge in the name of creating a story he wanted to tell, and it makes sense to expand on what was a fairly rushed part of the story.

“In the previously published series, Kirito doesn’t get to know Asuna until much, much later… For a long time, I wavered between two options: avoiding that contradiction by starting off Progressive with a different heroine, or embracing the contradiction and going with Asuna right from the start. Ultimately, I admitted to myself that it didn’t feel right having anyone but Asuna at Kirito’s side, and I suspect that most of my readers feel the same way.”

-Reki Kawahara, Sword Art Online: Progressive Volume 1 AFTERWORD

Progressive was already conceived to expand without much concern about contradiction to the main storyline, and the anime followed suit by taking even more creative liberties. The emphasis on Asuna as a protagonist is unique to the film adaptations, as is the existence of Mito, Asuna’s friend who is a major character in the two films released thus far.

It’s clear that A1 Pictures is willing to change things up even more, and depending on one’s view of the films, this can be seen as either good or bad. To their credit, Mito might be one of the best new additions to the cast thanks to her complicated relationship with Asuna and her own hangups explored therein. It serves as a bright spot within the otherwise middling core that is Scherzo.

For what it’s worth, they shouldn’t shy away from doing things differently, but only if they are ideas backed up by talented writers and directors who can bring new flavors to the franchise. These films are all inherently different because they are set on new floors, brimming with new allies and threats, which means different kinds of stories. And the stories themselves are where these films need to re-evaluate things.

A More Focused Narrative

The first Progressive movie, Aria, didn’t have to try very hard to be compelling. The plot was effectively laid out by the anime’s opening episodes. All that was left to do was flip the perspective and show how those same events went down for Asuna rather than Kirito, and over the course of the theatrical runtime, it captured the magic of the original series well.

However, Scherzo, the sequel, struggles a bit more to create a focused plot to occupy its time, feeling more like a collection of episodes strung together than something concocted as a film. Is it about Player Killers trying to manipulate the guilds, or is it about Kirito trying to be a good guy, even if it means getting labeled as a cheater (or any number of terribly conceived nicknames)?

Both of those subjects could inhabit a single script, but the execution of these seemingly disparate elements leaves lulls in the pacing that hurt the overall story. Scherzo felt most satisfying when it was tying up loose ends from the first film and a bit lacking when building up what was to come. And that’s especially unfortunate since the film was released to commemorate the franchise.

Future Progressive films could benefit from shortening their scope, but being bolder with their execution. The stories shouldn’t feel like TV episodes edited together, but one cohesive whole, built around a central tension that’s easy to latch onto. This is also a byproduct of the production values, which can feel less than stellar compared to past SAO films, especially Ordinal Scale.

It’s clear from the two films so far that they aren’t wary of skipping some of the novels, so it stands to reason that they’re picking stories that might be best suited for the big screen. And for that reason, they should pick novels and stories that can take these characters in exciting new directions.

Expanding the World and Characters

Like the best standalone episodes from SAO’s first season, these stories should be different and explore ideas that deepen the audience’s relationship with these characters and this world. To its credit, this is something that the films have tried to do, like in Scherzo, when Kirito and Asuna look for collectibles. In theory, this incentivizes exploration while also using the video game motif.

SAO is infamous for portraying an MMO but sorta dropping the ball with its understanding of video game mechanics, so scenes like this are appreciated. It’s just a shame that the film grinds to a halt in order to delve into these ideas rather than making something fun out of the experience. Much to the last point about a focused narrative, the flow between events needs addressing.

Something these films don’t seem to have a problem with are supporting characters, and other than Mito, Argo is a very fun character to have around. She has a unique role within the world and her interactions with Asuna are some of the most fun in the second film, where Argo plays a bigger role. And hopefully, this same treatment of new characters will carry over to new stories involving returning characters.

Not just Agil and Keith, but Lisbeth and Silica as well, once the films bring them into the fold. Having already witnessed the introductions of these characters in the main anime, these films could offer new adventures with them. Alternatively, their pasts before entering SAO could be explored, similar to how the first film benefited Asuna.

Sword Art Online: Progressive has potential – not merely to elongate this franchise – but to breathe new life into it. Through better storytelling, more effective worldbuilding, and stronger visuals, these could be great films, and defining pieces of what this series will be in the next decade.

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