Aria of a Starless Night: The best SAO has ever been

Ach ja, Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night is the newest animated entry in the Sword Art Online franchise… and it absolutely rules might be the best incarnation of Sword Art Onlines ideas, themes and moments that make me keep coming back to this series.

Now, I myself have a small history of defending certain aspects of SAO or not caring about its many technical writing flaws, see my Twitter thread (or the Unroll for better readability) and I am of the full belief that Sword Art Online shouldn’t be viewed primarily as an action series focused on resolving its central conflict of being trapped in a video game, but rather as a character drama about living under these difficult circumstances. For all intends and purposes, the finale of the original Sword Art Online, or at leasts its anime adaptation in 2012, was not the fight between Kirito and Kayaba, but rather the resolution between two wildly different opinions of what Sword Art Online, specifically the setting of Aincrad, means to the both of them. While Kayaba created Aincrad as his dream of the vision of a floating castle that later escalated into full-blown escapism, for Kirito it became simple reality. A reality that differs from the one outside the game, but is still as valid and real to him and everyone else trapped in the game, as the one outside is. Every connection formed and every bond forged in SAO, while virtual, eventually became the real deal and naturally followed over into the real world, once the game was cleared. Even after its first arc, the series continues to value the experiences shared by everyone in the game, especially those entries that look back retroactively towards SAO like Ordinale Scale, and it is this time spend together that Sword Art Online Progressive sets out to explore more deeply while retelling Sword Art Online from the ground up (literally).

The Progressive novels are being held in rather high regard and it seems to be the consensus that Progressive both addresses and fixes the more fantastical aspects of the story, i.e game-mechanics, world-building and so forth, as well as improves upon the way it approaches its characters and player-base as a whole, giving them more depth and characterization in the process. However, I was also a bit hesitant approaching the movie adaptation of the first (half of the first) Progressive novel, as the movie would end up including an original character not yet featured in the novels. I ended up totally wrong about them, as my initial reaction was along the lines of Great, another character for Kirito’s pseudo-harem, but more about Mito later.

If I were to recommend someone this movie, especially to someone with some knowledge about the original series, it would be on the basis of a shift in focus away from the overarching plot of SAO and towards the characters inhabiting the game. Also, Aria of a Starless Night is Asuna’s movie through and through and the opening act is set completely outside of the world of Sword Art Online, giving us our first glimpse into the relationship with her family, as well as with the new character of Mito. The Mother’s Rosario arc already touched upon Asuna’s relation towards her mother and how she, while caring for her daughter, be it in a rather strict fashion, is also utterly disconnected from Asuna’s experiences. The movie adds to it by doubling down on the kinda awkward family atmosphere, her father being more chill, but also distant towards Asuna and her brother, with whom she does have a good connection, going away overseas, leaving her with no one to approach emotionally. This instability in her life is later used to great effect in a scene that I would simply describe as emotional angst toward her family.

Beyond this, Asuna is portrayed as the normal girl she was before SAO with a life outside the game and ambitions for her future. Her little talk with her friends at school and her later interactions with Mito sell the idea that Asuna does in fact has something to loose while being trapped in the game.

But let’s finally talk about Mito! Mito adds another facet to the different kinds of gamer SAO portrays over its continued course. Unlike Kirito, who got into video games due to being secluded, Mito, while trying to make friends, wasn’t really able to connect with others through them, until she eventually met Asuna. For her, video games are one way of expressing herself and there is this one – arguably a bit superficial – scene of her friends not wanting to play with her anymore, as she was simply to good at games and got left behind. As such, she kinda works as a bridge between traits both found in Asuna and Kirito. Beyond this, she is also quit fun in the moments of levity granted in the movie. Her character, before changed to her real-life appearance, was neither female, nor a pretty JRPG boy, but an old man with a hunched-over back, frog eyes, kind of a gremlin vibe and wielding a giant scythe… unironically a great character design full of personality.

SAO has some pretty strong non-romantic (or at least not seriously considered romantic) relationships. Agil and Klein are great bros, Yuuki brought out the best in Asuna and Eugeo is deserving of his own post sometime™ and Mito can easily stand right next in line with them. The way they interact outside of SAO, how she explains the game to Asuna and teaches her some basic internet etiquette are believable building blocks upon which the movie greatly expands the depth of their relationship once the “actual” plot gets going.

From there on out, it more or less mimics the beginning of the anime series. The both of them flee the starting city, are attacked by wolves and Asuna gets almost killed. It is here where the dynamic between the two solidifies. Asuna has a mental breakdown, either unable to fully understand or simply not willing to comprehend her situation and admitting to herself that she won’t be able to go forwards. Mito stops her from lamenting too much and swears to protect Asuna, so they can eventually beat the game and go home together again. Mito is in this moment the pillar of support Asuna not only needs, but never found in anyone else (yet) and the fact that she so clearly accepts the power imbalance shows great trust in each other. I also really like the gesture of forming the party in this very moment and not later or at an earlier point in time. While, as Asuna stated herself, they are already friends, forming a party makes it more official that they are connected in one way or another… it is also set-up for arguably the strongest scene in the movie.

From there on, we continue our small tutorial tour. All in all, this iteration of SAO gives us maybe the best comprehensive look into how playing SAO is actually like and showing how Asuna learns the game also eases her transition into becoming one of the better players. Beyond the two major events still including Mito, there are also a couple of great scenes of mundanity and moments of silence. Asuna braiding Mito’s hair is not only a nice parallel to the beginning of the movie, it also shows her growing intimacy towards Mito, especially after Mito doubles down again on protecting Asuna. I know my girls-love poisoned brain might lead me to weird places, but this scene was incredibly *chefs kiss* gay and I am here for it! However, despite my girls-love poisoned brain, there is indeed a better romance (or at least the beginning of one one) to be found later in the movie.

Concerning the aforementioned events: One deals with the prospect of not being able to help other players out and leaving them to die. This moment shows the different ways Asuna and Mito approach difficult situations, mainly that Asuna wants to do her best, while Mito deals with it more realistically and even rationalizes why the other players fell to their demise. It again further characterizes them in two slightly different ways, how Asuna tries to protect everyone, while Mito is mostly focused on Asuna.

The second event really is the thematic bread and butter of the movie. Asuna and Mito fight against a horde of monsters, until they are separated from each other. Both struggling to survive, Mito takes the decision to leave the party after seeing Asuna’s HP approaching zero. This scene is strong in two ways. Firstly, the movie confronts one of its characters with a difficult decision befitting of its context. Of course you could pull through with the power of friendship, “do the right thing” and allow Mito to save Asuna or you could rather juxtapose the two aspects defining Mito, let her struggle and eventually reach a conclusion, that while being believable in character, also sits rather heavy with the viewer. Mito, who promised to protect Asuna at all costs, abandons her, because she doesn’t want to see Asuna essentially die, while she herself can not do anything against it. It shows Mito in a moment of weakness and maybe even cowardice, which leads to fantastic drama. On a side note: Mito literally falling down a mountain cliff spiked with coffins and not being able to ascend again is beautiful symbolism, even if it is as subtle as a punch to the face. It can be really effective to use your secondary characters in this way, as you seldom want to wish such fate on your main characters (see Eugeo throughout Alicization).

Secondly, Mito leaving the party means neither of the two know for certain what happened to the other and have to assume that they are dead, which leads them to take two different paths, especially with Asuna now having to stand alone and independently from Mito. While Mito tries to live with her guilt, Asuna goes straight into depression and shuts herself in, before going on what essentially boils down to a suicide march. This is also the time where her angst towards her own family and Mito starts. All in all, I prefer this iteration over what I was told happens in the original novels. The prelude and everything concerning Mito really earns Asuna’s current mental state and eventual development with Kirito, compared to the more straightforward approach of the novels. While Mito is basically out of the picture for a good chunk of the movie, I cannot understate how important she is from a narrative standpoint beyond just being a good character in her own right. Expanding upon Asuna as our main point of view is absolutely necessary going forward and I am pleasantly surprised how well the transition between the new content and the original novels work from both a storytelling and a thematic standpoint, especially since Kirito was not yet really shown thus far.

Speaking of him, Kirito – and I almost can’t believe myself for what I am going to say – is a good character in this one. First of all, I adore his introduction: He sweeps in to save Asuna like a cool knight in shining armor, only to completely freeze once he realizes she is a girl. He can’t look her into the face, keeps a literal arm’s length distance to her and tries to comfort her with potions and map data, all while Asuna is utterly paralyzed from the shock of almost being killed. He then tries to sheath his sword on his back and just… fails to do so, stands there awkwardly and eventually just leaves… what a smooth operator!

The anime series always tried to portray Kirito as this cool and confident guy, despite him being a massive dork and what better way to characterize him as an awkward teen as what I have just described. He also comes of way less insufferable, mostly because we see him interacting with Asuna from the get go and the both of them have genuinely good chemistry. Considering the movie is mostly told from Asuna’s perspective, it is interesting to see how Kirito helps Asuna grow. After the incident with Mito, Asuna got into the mindset of becoming strong enough to clear the game or die trying, while Kirito is way more adjusted to simply living in the game and recognizes how much harm Asuna does to herself. I mean, Kirito literally dragged her out of a dungeon, just so she doesn’t commit a mistake and die due to her exhaustion, though he still had to be tsundere about it and say it was for the map data.

A scene that wonderfully displays their initial different views of being stuck in the game is where they both eat bread in the town plaza. Asuna clearly doesn’t enjoy the bland bread and most likely only sees its functional use. Meanwhile, Kirito can see the bread as actual food, even going as far as to complete a quest that rewarded him with the cream he puts on the bread. Sharing the cream with Asuna is the first step in her journey to realize that there is more to this game than to clear it. At the start, Kayaba proclaimed that SAO is not something you “play” and the introduction of Kirito slowly challenges Asuna’s interpretation of that statement. While Asuna claims that she didn’t come to this town to eat good food, she still enjoyed it and was rather fast on board once Kirito mentioned a bath. Interactions like these, beyond just being adorable, really make the developing bond between Asuna and Kirito believable and most importantly, bear substance, which unfortunately often lacks concerning the other characters. He also helps her understand Mito a bit more, which was an unexpected touch. Portraying Kirito as a more grounded and facetted character really helps the second half of the movie and I hope they keep this approach for the next movie going, so he eventually becomes a fully realized character beyond the scope of the original first novel.

Beyond further banter between Asuna and Kirito, the rest of the movie mostly follows what was shown in the anime series and most of my complaints about this part of the story still stand. I will die on this hill that Kibaou has a point about the beta testers, though this is mostly due to the narrative keeping relatively quit about the beta testers and I agree that he didn’t have to be such a douche about them. Diavel still shouldn’t have died too and I am kinda sad this part was retconned as well. I get the point about his character, even if, according to the Wiki, both animated versions omit some of his motives, but him refusing to take the potion and simply dying is such an uninteresting way to end his character. Give him some actual comeuppance, or at least let him sacrifice himself the next time Kirito is in danger!

The fight itself, while pretty entertaining to watch, is relatively unspectacular outside of the new content. Asuna and Mito reunite again and clear up what was essentially a misunderstanding whose Asuna is already above and beyond, as she understood Mito through her conversation with Kirito. It is here where Asuna’s new found determination and growth shine brightly, now standing as equal and fighting alongside Mito. Asuna doesn’t need to be protected by Mito anymore to survive in this world and can go her own path forward. Add Mito giving Asuna her new sword and we have a really effective end to her character that both concludes her introduction to the story, as well as her thematic relevance for Asuna’s development. Going forward, I just hope the next movie doesn’t completely forget about her and at least acknowledge her existence, even if only as a background character and as someone Asuna knows. She is a fun and strong character and if Eiji is allowed to exist, so should she.

Also, let me actually do gush a bit about the fight, specifically the moments with Asuna, Mito and Kirito. Beyond being stunning to watch, there is some narrative to the way they fight together. Asuna being impressed by Kirito and immediately trying to help him out, Mito now closely fighting with Asuna as an effective tag team and the moment when the two of them shouted “Switch” at Kirito, I was so excited I wanted to scream. Like, this guy went at it, as if he were born for this very moment. Utterly unhinged. Do you know when you are so hyped that it becomes somehow physical? This was the reaction the fight induced in me. I had to stay still though, as to not startle the person next to me, but I probably had the biggest grin on my face throughout the whole fight.

Once the fight concluded, there is one last scene I thought was done better in this movie. In the anime series, Kirito proclaiming to be a beater always felt like a very transparent attempt at painting a target on his back and to divert attention from the other beta players. It always struck me as odd, as this whole charade felt rather lackluster and I can’t fathom how anyone actually fell for it. In this iteration, the whole presentation had more gravitas to it. He belittles Asuna, says he doesn’t want to be associated with the other beta players and gladly takes up the name of beater, literally claims “Skill Issue” on the players that died, equips the boss drop in front of the crowd and dares anyone to follow him to the next floor… What an asshole… I love it. Now this is a speech with some impact. I also hope the next movie comments on the fact that Kirito most likely didn’t make a lot of friends with this move.

From a production standpoint, the movie looks as good as one would expect from Sword Art Online, though I still find myself a bit disappointed. Especially compared to Ordinal Scale, Aria of a Starless Night doesn’t feel like a movie, but a rather polished four episode long anime series. The action sequences are definitely more ambitious than what you would see in a TV series, but the rest felt rather standard, though it might also just be me being accustomed to Kentarou Waki as Director of Photography since the Ordinale Scale Movie. I also hoped that Tomohiko Itou would have returned as the director, as his more drama-based series really shine in their character interactions and scenic storytelling, something this movie really leans in to. However, the new staff didn’t fail in any way and brought their version of SAO successfully to screen. Who did return however was Yuki Kajiura and she brought us a nice mix of new tracks and reworked old classics. Every track with the leitmotif of Swordland and Luminous Sword are certified bangers and even feel almost nostalgic, considering I first watched SAO seven years ago in 2015.

And that’s about it. Not sure where I actually wanted go with this post, but hopefully I could explain what I like so much about this movie and for what it stands in the larger context of SAO as a whole.