Story

Following on from the previous film, Sword Art Online: Progressive – Aria of a Starless Night, the main characters, including Kirito (voice of Yoshitsugo Matsuoka) and Asuna (voice of Haruka Tomatsu), have made it to the fifth floor of an online game where the players are trapped inside and are not only fighting for their lives in the game but also for their real lives beyond it. There are 2 main guilds battling each other for leadership status; rogue individuals trying to kill off players; and virtual monsters and ghosts who fight in the dungeons and catacombs. Kirito and Asuna work together to organise a small group to outmanoeuvre the warring guilds, destroy the floor boss and level the playing field, giving each trapped individual an equal chance at survival. The only problem is that the game is adapting and intent on destroying them all. Will Kirito and Asuna succeed, or will they perish in the process?

Themes

Online gaming; war; manipulating others; monsters; violence as a means to solve conflict; the pursuit of power at all costs; the dangers of AI and human ego

Violence

Sword Art Online: Progressive – Scherzo of Deep Night has some violence. For example:

  • Asuna punches Kirito in the stomach.
  • Asuna repeatedly attacks and kills a number of rodent-like creatures with her sword.
  • One character says to another that he wants him to, ‘fan the flames and make them want to kill each other’.
  • A character slices a rodent-like creature with a sword. It is clearly part of the game and explodes as it dies.
  • There is discussion about PK (Play killers) who intend to kill off characters so that they will die in real life.
  • An animal is blasted with a laser and a deer with red eyes has its throat cut.
  • Asuna and another character have a duel in a forest. Asuna is knocked to the ground and it looks like she is slashed with a sword but she turns out to be fine and only her necklace is broken.
  • Rock giants try to smash and pound characters as they set foot on the floor. Giant fists try to crush them and Asuna is trapped in a staircase while 2 stairs attempt to crush her between them. Meanwhile, Kirito and others attack the rock creature: slicing, hitting, blasting, and searching and attempting to stab it in its weak point.
  • Characters attack a rock monster with axes, swords and chains while it shoots lasers from its eyes. Kirito and Asuna repeatedly slice and stab the monster in the face while screaming loudly. The monster’s face slices open and he explodes into what looks like thousands of shards of glass.

Sexual references

Sword Art Online the Movie: Progressive – Scherzo of Deep Night has some sexual references. For example:

  • When Asuna secretly hides at an alleged meeting place in the catacombs, she says that if a couple comes to this spot then she is totally a, ‘Peeping Tom’.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Sword Art Online the Movie: Progressive – Scherzo of Deep Night has some substance use. For example:

  • Characters drink in a restaurant.
  • Kirito and Asuna drink champagne to toast the New Year.
  • New Year’s revellers drink large mugs of beer or ale at a party.

Nudity and sexual activity

Sword Art Online the Movie: Progressive – Scherzo of Deep Night has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:

  • Two girls are naked in a hot spring bath together. One bare backside is shown when she emerges from the pool. The 2 later have a mock sword fight in bathing suits.
  • Occasionally the camera will focus, in a suggestive manner, on a female character. For instance, when 2 characters embrace, the camera is at a lower angle, tilting up, appearing to centre on the female’s bottom. Though you can see her head at a distance and part of her legs, the bottom of her short skirt seems to be the main focus.

Product placement

There’s no product placement in Sword Art Online the Movie: Progressive – Scherzo of Deep Night.

Coarse language

Sword Art Online the Movie: Progressive – Scherzo of Deep Night has some coarse language. For example, ‘damn it’, ‘hell’, ‘crap’ and ‘idiot.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Sword Art Online the Movie: Progressive – Scherzo of Deep Night is a Japanese anime based on the light novel series by Reki Kawahara. Featuring an action-packed, fast paced, plot and English subtitles, the film is best suited to older teen audiences and fans of the anime series.

The main messages from Movie title are be true to yourself, find your own path in life, and remember that where a single sword would fail, the impossible can be accomplished by working together.

Values in Movie title that you could reinforce with your children are friendship, teamwork, compassion, determination and courage.

Movie title could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of things like:

  • becoming addicted to or playing excessive games, be it video or on-line
  • manipulating others for personal gain
  • the personal cost of focusing on power and ego over everything else
  • becoming heavily reliant on artificial intelligence.

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