Sword Art Online the Movie: Progressive – Scherzo of Deep Night Movie Review

Positive Messages

a lot

Characters display perseverance, courage, kindness, and respect. Teamwork is often the best way to success.

Positive Role Models

some

Asuna is a competent young woman trapped in a video game. She sometimes gets frustrated and at one point punches a friend when she feels disrespected. Generally she values friendship and shows good teamwork. Mito is driven by guilt for introducing Asuna to the game. She tries to find her own way of life in the world, but helps when she can. Kirito is a young man with experience of the game. He vows to protect and support his game partner, Asuna. He is assertive, confronts leaders, and uses diplomacy to try to unite two guilds. Argo is a young woman who acts as an information broker. She is confident in her abilities, well practised, and humble. Characters scheme to disrupt the players and cause groups to fight. Other characters have become “PKs” or “Player Killers,” whose victims die in real life.

Diverse Representations

a little

Characters are Japanese. Strong gender balance, with both sexes being equal in battle. Mention of “girl talk,” which is implied to mean talking about boys. Some female characters wear short skirts and some camera angle decisions feel sexualized as male characters do not get the same treatment. The movie is available in both the original Japanese and as a dubbed version.

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Violence & Scariness

some

Fantasy fighting with swords and weapons against big bosses and smaller enemies. Death is shown with drained life bar rather than gore. A character punches a friend when they feel disrespected. Ghost-like mournful monsters have scary faces and sharp teeth. Threat includes a character crushed between moving stone and a blade held to characters’ necks and backs.

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Sex, Romance & Nudity

a little

Implied naked bathing in a hot spring with no nudity shown. Some camera shots are leering toward the female characters.

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Language

a little

English subtitled version has one use each of “what the hell” and “crap.”

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Products & Purchases

some

Part of a franchise that includes video games, books, a TV series, and other branded merchandise. Very brief shot of characters playing real-life video game Tekken 7.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

very little

Characters drink what looks like beer at a bar and champagne on New Year’s Eve, but with no effects of alcohol implied.

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Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Sword Art Online the Movie: Progressive – Scherzo of Deep Night is a movie spin-off of the Japanese Sword Art Online anime series. It is the sequel to the 2021 movie Sword Art Online: Progressive – Aria of a Starless Night. The story is about characters trapped in an online world and how they must fight for their lives in an attempt to beat the game or face death in real life. The heroes — most notably Asuna (voiced by Haruka Tomatsu) and Kirito (Yoshitsugu Matsuoka) — show good teamwork and perseverance, while others try to create chaos or even kill. The movie has a video game feel with fantasy violence and a few epic boss battles, but with no blood or gore. Some scenes are tense but not scary. A character is implied to be naked when bathing in a hot spring. The English-language subtitled version has two uses of mild language (“what the hell?” and “crap”). An English dubbed version is also available.