Sword Art Online: Extra Edition

Don't be fooled by promises of new content. SAO: Extra Edition is almost entirely one long recap, using the debatable technique of cast commentary to make an attempt at giving viewers something fresh, with a little something at the end for the people who are here for more than just a refresher course on everything that happened during the series. The movie itself starts out promising, with the gang discussing a big quest in ALO, and the girls hanging out at the pool while Kirito is called in for a surprise counselling session. We get fanservice, and meet a new minor character, but all this is quickly swept aside as the recap of the series begins with a vengeance, with an hour and a half of revisiting the important moments of the show, with the characters (mostly the girls) commentating on the action. While no doubt there are some people who are just happy to get more Asuna/Liz/Leafa/Kirito, most viewers will find revisiting all the already memorable moments of the anime to be tedious at best. When the movie's story finally picks up again later, the new content we were promised feels boring, short, and hastily put together, like a badly written fanfiction offered as a reward for sitting through the recap more than anything else. Even worse, for all of the KiritoxAsuna/Liz/anyone-he's-not-related-to fans, the character with the most spotlight is Suguha, whose one-sided relationship with Kirito upstages even Asuna. Besides story, the characterization is lacking as well. Not because of the characters themselves, who are all absolutely fantastic. Rather, it's the lack of any real character development or meaningful screen time that brings it down. While it's great to see the gang interacting together in the offline world, most of the characters are largely relegated to background roles this time, with Suguha getting most of the spotlight, with a bit of room left over for Yui and Kirito. The art itself is also fairly poorly done, and feels horribly under budget. While the recap moments are as beautiful as when we first saw them, and the pool scene is as good as can be expected from blatant fanservice, the actual fresh content shows an egregious lack of the scenery porn that was one of the draws of the show itself, with relatively bland and uninspired visuals that along with the aforementioned terrible writing make the fresh content almost as tedious to sit through as the recap. On a positive note, the music department at least doesn't fail to please. With more work from the amazing Yuki Kajiura, the soundtrack is easily the best part of the movie, which would be saying more if it wasn't the only good part as well. SAO Extra Edition could have been so much more, and an amazing addition to the animated version of the story. Unfortunately insufferably long recaps, terrible writing, horribly lack lustre visuals, and watching the entire cast (including Asuna) be sacrificed on the altar of SuguhaxKirito makes this a venture in masochism more than anything else, because watching it is nothing short of painful.

Sword Art Online: Extra Edition serves as little more than some entertainment - maybe just a time filler. Complete with flashbacks and mindless, fanservice-filled endeavors, this is truly made for fans of the anime that want to reminisce over everything for an hour or so. I, on the other hand, prefer The Lion King ½ for this sort of thing. I guess the point of this, being a special consisted mostly of flashbacks, is to be relaxing and fun, and to not necessarily have much of a story. Kirito mainly gets asked about what happened in the online worlds that he was in during the course of Sword Art Online. This makes for many flashback clips, all of which we've seen and remember - but, again, for avid lovers of SAO, this may seem enjoyable. A small and fairly cute underlying story takes place during the last 30 minutes or so. There is some added fun and fanservice between the flashbacks - mostly just buildup to more excuses for flashbacks. The overall enjoyment of these parts is actually not too bad, but mostly I felt that the experience was tarnished by me getting bored. With the art being practically the same as it was in Sword Art Online, it is top of the line, and the animation is enjoyable. The characters are looking their best in their swimsuits, so... Well done in this department. I've always enjoyed the music. However, after over an hour and a half of watching, it becomes repetitive. There's nothing much new added, except near the end. I enjoyed those songs - they are, of course, well done. And the characters. What to say? Barely anything changes about them, but we do get more info on Suguha, which is definitely a plus for me; it was nice to see some more depth. There is also some explanation on why they did the things that they did. Otherwise, everyone is the same as before, but I did find them a little more bearable - and it is fun how they interacted with one another. Enjoyment-wise, Sword Art Online: Extra Edition bored me exponentially at many points - I didn't have too much interest in the flashbacks. I wouldn't even call this more than just a recap with an added episode mixed in. Just good enough for killing time. I recommend this for fans of the series, but otherwise, you might just want to skip most of the flashbacks, condensing this into 40-45 minutes or so. An added plus is that there are some teasers for the next season - but otherwise, Sword Art Online: Extra Edition could be skipped.

SAO Extra Edition is mostly a recap of the important events in the original anime series told by Kirito and the main female characters (Asuna, Sugu, Silica, Lizbeth) while they're at the pool. Pool? Well, just the female characters. Too bad Kirito is stuck telling his flashbacks to an investigator somewhere else. At least the viewers get to enjoy the girls in swimsuits as they teach Sugu how to swim and talk about their own memories of meeting Kirito inside SAO. Story: 7/10 A large part of this special is just flashbacks told from the characters' point of view. As far as the story goes, Kirito is persuaded to relieve the events of SAO for investigative purposes, while the girls get to frolic around in the pool and also reminisce about how they first met Kirito. The last half hour or so is original content; everybody goes into ALO to do an underwater quest. It's nothing special, no death trap, but still enjoyable for any fan of this series. Art: 8/10 This anime series has always had excellent art quality and beautiful background scenery inside the game. A lot of it is recycled from the flashbacks but in the quest we get to see a whole new underwater world too. And of course, as the pool/beach episode, there is no shortage of the female characters in swimming attire. It's all pretty cute. Sound: 9/10 The soundtrack from the original series makes an impressive reappearance in Extra Edition, starting with Crossing Field as the opening theme. The other opening and ending themes for both arcs are inserted during the most important flashbacks, which was done very effectively to highlight them. There are also new songs (insert and ending) which are pretty good. Character: 9/10 Honestly, I feel that most SAO fans are just pleased to see their favorite characters back in action, be it having fun at the pool, going on the quest, or playfully chatting with each other. Since the recaps are told by each character, we get to hear the character commentary as well as dialogue between characters in the present. Silica & Lizbeth teasing Asuna about Kirito, everyone being jealous of Sugu's chest, Silica worrying about her own, etc. This kind of episode won't have much character development except the typical romance and pool cliches. Except Klein: I didn't know he was such a doomed womanizer. Enjoyment: 9/10 I really enjoyed this type of episode. As I said before, we get to see all the characters again, in a relaxed atmosphere free of all the pressure and drama so rampant in the 25 episode series. This allows us to see them in a different light as they do everything for fun instead of to survive. It's a welcome relief episode with a lot more comedy. Now, people typically dislike recaps because they may be redundant, but fortunately these flashbacks were mostly action/turning point scenes. It would not hurt to watch them (and then hear the characters' witty comments). Overall: 9/10 An excellent recap/pool/fun special episode with a way different mood from the other 25 episodes. Nobody's in trouble and the world doesn't need saving, so everyone can sit back and enjoy themselves after their grueling adventure earlier. And then get ready for the next season of Sword Art Online!

I feel like the whole extra edition did one of two things: Add that swimsuit episode that they did not have, and build hype for the second season. The reason this score is not lower because I really enjoy Sword Art Online and anything involving it. I was fooled by the 100 minute "movie". The first 70 minutes is recapping what happened in the first season from different perspectives, but still using all the same footage. Like those flashback episodes in 90's sitcoms. Here is what the extra edition did right: Built a LOT of hype for the second season Taking the time to recap what happened was a good concept so people who watched Sword Art Online a while ago can remember what happened What they did wrong: They took WAY too long recapping what happened. The reason Suguha is learning to swim and why they are doing the quest was honestly really anti-climatic If you are a huge fan of the series, you will enjoy this movie, if not, you might not enjoy this as much. For me, this was a little bit of a let down because I thought something was going to be shown in SAO or ALO they didn't show in the first season. Either way, I feel like the biggest SAO fans will feel a little let down from this movie.

So really most of the entire OVA consisted of recaps of the anime, and I guess some insight from Kirito and others on recalling those events. There isn't really a story to the OVA except of wrapping things up with normal life after SAO and ALO. So 3/4 is recap with the characters doing casual stuff with a few funny and lighthearted scenes in between, and the other fourth is where they actually do things. The part with actual action is nothing serious but rather invokes a sense of adventure and just there to close things up for the OVA with happy feels. In all, this is just for reminiscing while seeing all your favorite characters interact with a nice segment at the end to appease those looking for action. I enjoyed it a lot because I felt nostalgic, and happy just watching the character continue daily life in paradise with flashbacks, and witnessing the great Animation and Sound that were brought to us in the anime.

Whenever someone says that the 2012 juggernaut, Sword Art Online is one of, if not, the worst anime in existence, it's really easy to want to point at more broken, insipid, and pointless pieces of shit that have come out before or since. Personally, Hand Shakers, Arifureta, Darling in the FranXX, and Irregular at Magic High School are some of the first things that come to mind. However, those people are likely only talking about season 1, as unless they're completionists, they tend to not even care about watching anything else in the franchise in fear of wasting even more time. People don't tend to watch the continuation of a show they consider among the worst of all time. That makes our job so much easier as we can introduce them to this ill-conceived recap film that sucks by even those standards, and tell people that things can always get worse. It’s not much worse, mind you, but still. What's worse than Sword Art Online: Extra Edition being tedious by even recap standards is the fact that the writers decided to justify its existence by taping an Alphein filler adventure to the back end of this monstrosity and cutting between recap footage and the girls from the main series getting to know each other over a pool party. If you thought the main series was boring, then this is like listening to an hour-long lecture for a class you couldn’t give half a billionth of a fuck about. The whole damn thing is so drawn out, and the added content brings a new dilemma you don't get with most recaps. If you want to marathon or otherwise consume all of the main SAO anime canon for some godforsaken reason like I did, you're gonna need to subtract 2 hours from your life with this bad boy to see like 30 minutes worth of mew material. If not for that, this would probably be an hour-long special no one but hardcore SAO fans and completionists watched instead of being something most people backtrack to when they remember this thing exists and is considered a sequel to SAO 1 and the prequel to SAO II. There are strange decisions made all over the place. For example, they cut from one scene in episode 4 to a minute later in the exact same scene and conversation.Sure, it’s best to try to save some time and only really keep the bare essentials if they’re going to try this at all, but this is a head-scratching edit. On the opposite side of the spectrum, earlier in the recap, they keep the entire ending of episode 1 instead of cutting it when Kirito runs away after Klein left for the first time, which is strange since the recap is wasting time that could be spent recapping things faster and more neatly. The constant cutting between SAO 1 content and the new scenes also results in some heavy tonal whiplash with absolutely no time to brace yourself or be eased in by a scene as it starts changing tones.It doesn’t help that the events of SAO proper are, to put it lightly, really fucking dumb. However, it’s nonetheless jarring when we cut from, say, Kirito mourning the death of someone he really cared about, to Suguha’s feet splashing about as Asuna towes her across a pool. Part of the problem is due to how the first arc was not really written in chronological order despite the anime adaptation assembling it that way, so the recap inherently feels more jumbled and like a lot of what’s in it means absolutely nothing. However, this recapm doesn’t even go through that order as almost everything in the first arc barring the beginning and end get shuffled depending on who’s telling the story or which part of a conversation introduces an event from the series. Inevitably, a recap won’t contain the pathos or a lot of the spectacle of what it’s summarizing, which is why recaps often feel like an absolute waste of time only meant to give production teams another week to finish the next episode of a TV show. This being a 101-minute special makes the bulk of it being a recap feel even more pointless, regardless of them attempting a framing device of Kirito being effectively coerced into an interview to tell the bulk of the story, or the other framing device of the girls telling Suguha how they met Kirito during the SAO 1 side-story episodes. It’s not even worth delving into contradictions in the new scenes, like how Kirito says you can’t beat floor bosses on your own when he pretty much did just that at least once or how the first boss wiped out half a raid when we only see one man in the entire group die. Before anyone tries to argue that the clip doesn’t do it justice and that the show must have shown others die, there was only one casualty in the fight during the SAO proper. Suguha’s swimming lessons get resolved in an afternoon and are basically just the backdrop to the girls talking about how they met the legendary Kazuto of the Kirito is Always Right Foundation It means nothing in the last 20 minutes, anyway. The Alphein quest that makes up the last 20 minutes is an excuse to get the gang back together to do a thing while hijinks happen and we learn a little bit more about Suguha. She then gets sidelined because, remember, Kirito’s the main character, not Suguha. What, are you stupid? These excursions are mildly cute at best but are otherwise drier than a desert. It honestly feels like they didn’t want to make 2 episode-length OVAs so these 20-ish minute pool and Alphein mini-stories get this shitty, awkward recap attached to turn this thing into a feature-length “movie” that’s treated like a special. There’s no other reason I can see for this when either way, this is a blatant attempt to tie fans over while they wait for SAO II to come out. SAO was never good with its characters, and this is no different. Barring Kirito really not wanting to be interviewed by and being agitated by a guy in a suit who will be a mainstay in the series, Everyone’s about the same as always. Kirito’s a boring lead, Asuna is a lame tsundere in a relationship with Kirito, SIlica's a flat-chested bubbly girl who loves Kirito, etc. etc. Actually, Asuna drops the tsundere act altogether and becomes a milquetoast nice girl that’s somehow even more dull than before. Now that Suguha’s done with her arc from Alphein, she’s left to be a boring girl who hasn’t gotten over Kirito. Don’t worry, this won’t be relevant or be its own arc for her, moving forward. The special also damages the one character I actually liked, that being Lisbeth, or “Rika” as she’s known IRL. Sure, she retains some of her smug snark factor, but having her only be there to tease people and then squeeze Suguha’s tits and contrast hers with the nonexistent cups Silica --or Keiko because real life-- has, like the perv this recap reveals her to be, is eye-rolling. The finale of SAO 1 already reversed her only character arc, so I guess it’s no surprise that he one female character who didn’t just feel like a trope or a mess of awkwardly-handled drama ideas gets turned into the pervert with tits trope LNs are somewhat fond of. Klein’s been relegated to a similar role, that being another pervy comic relief character like he sometimes was in the show itself, At least that makes more sense, even if it’s similarly annoying. Oh, and all of the character arcs outside of Suguha's are cut out, too, which makes sense for a recap, I suppose, but nonetheless adds to how pointless this damn special was. Poor Agil wasn’t even mentioned in the recap before being thrust into the last 20 minutes… The last thing to touch on is the audiovisuals. There are a couple of decent new tracks snuck into the recap as well as in the new scenes proper. The ED, "Niji no Oto" by Eir Aoi, is a solid song despite not being as good as OP 2, which is turned into an extended insert song for this special. Some tracks somehow still feel reused despite the recap sometimes taking liberties with the show’s music, but I need to at least try to list some positives, don’t I? Meanwhile, the visuals are as decidedly mediocre as in the TV show. There are a couple of decent action cuts,…

Before you watch this it is imparitive to have watched the show first. You will jip yourself of all the emotion an beauty of the story if you don't. Honestly, for a fan, it's cool to see some extra scenes and things like that, but these we're sort of useless. The movie is an hour and 20 minutes of "previously on" and its kind of a waste of time. It highlights certain things and the characters are all back to tell the story, but you're seriously better off just leaving it be. The last 20 minutes are new and basically give you a bit of filler to hold you over for the new season. Though, they may have given us a glimpse of a new villain or two! I love the show but the feature is sort of an overlong refresher of something worthy of viewing all the way through again anyway. 4.5/10. Watched subbed.

To watch or not to watch that is the question. If you've seen the first season, then this is what your probably thinking: Is there anythin new? To answer your question, I'd have to say both yes and no. Here goes... Story 7/10 Lets get the facts straight, this is a recap episode of the 1st season including SAO and Alfeim Online. That being said they have managed to do what most other anime couldn't by adding a bit of new content into the mix. The story is set post season 1 where Kirito, Asuna and their friends are going to their school for SAO survivors. The pretext for the recap is an investigator asking Kirito about what went on in SAO and Alfeim Online. Sounds boring right, well they also added a new underwater quest in Alfeim Online that Kirito and the whole gang decide to go on. If I had to compare this episode to any other anime, the closest thing would probably be the beach episode you normally see, with a SAO twist to it. Art 10/10 SAO had had one of the most stunnig visual and art styles I have seen, and its at par with if not better than most of the other great anime. If nothing more its at least as good as it was in the 1st season. Sound 9/10 I guess you'd be expecting too much if you thought there was a new opening song. Its the same as in the 1st half of season 1, but i still enjoyed listening to it just as much. The voice acting and background music are also just as good as before. Character 7/10 We don't get to see any new character development here. Same old Kirito taking the lead, Asuna who's got his back and his little sister still chasing him (sighs). Enjoyment 8/10 For a recap episode it was surprisingly enjoyable. Although the new story isn't much, it still quenches the thirst of fans who have been waiting for something since the first season ended and before the second season begins. Overall 8/10 They managed to do a descent job with this episode. And a must watch for those who loved this series.

First, I really enjoyed the first season and the show as a whole; it's my 3rd favorite series, but I'm not going to act like one of the many fanboys trying to make others think it's a god of anime. Secondly, this movie was pretty good recap of some of the important events from season 1, but it's still a lot of flashbacks. I definitely like how they explained why Kirito chose to be called a beater; when I first watched the series, I didn't understand why he took the title. The new ALheim quest wasn't bad, but more could've been added to it; at least they didn't have the characters participate in an unrealistic fight against the kraken. I love the sound and art, but it was basically the same as season 1 so I'll give it an 8. I like how they dove a little bit more into Sughua's personality and had everyone explain to each other how they met Kirito. Unfortunately, Sughua is my least favorite girl from the series so since my least favorite is the only one that got developed more, I personally, can't give the character part more than a 7. I did enjoy this though, but two times is enough; I likely will not always rewatch this every-time I start a rewatch of the whole series. Overall, a 7/10 is fair; some people are too harsh simply because it's mainly flashbacks, but it was purely meant to just give slightly more backstory so a 7 is comfortable to me.

As an addition to the two currently available seasons of Sword Art Online, I wanted to watch the movie. To be honest, the idea of the movie is great, but there's again the main mistake of the whole show: A cafeteria scene. A REALLY long one. And what does it include? Recaps of the whole series. I guess most of work on the movie was a copy and paste. They could have made the movie much more interesting, because the side story with Suguha (Avoiding spoilers here) was really interesting. The quest at the end was also really good (But it didn't make the movie better. Should have been the key part of the movie). The general movie idea is kind of what I imagine the third season to be like. More real life related & interesting fights. In general, it is watchable, but you can get really bored. I kind of spent more time playing guitar while it was on my screen.

First review ever... Well, pretty bad! Nothing of a movie... just a recap, a way to say "hey, we are alive and the new season is going out soon". SAO is not my favourite anime, but i like it, and was dissappointed with the Extra Edition. Nothing more to say. Just a recap, just that.

After being disappointed by the second arc of Sword Art Online, I came in with low expectations for the OVA, hoping that it would prove me wrong. The Extra Edition did little to progress the anime and improve my feelings for it. Story: 5 Most of the story was a recap for the first season (80% recap, 20% quest), which is the main reason behind the low score. The Extra Edition mainly focused on explaining the motives and feelings of the characters during SAO while including fan service where it can. However, the story itself does not have any noticeable flaws. Though a New Year-themed setting would be more appropriate for an episode released before the New Year, it's good they adhered to the original timeline. The OVA also introduces a crucial character and has a unique whale idea. Despite the lack of progression due to recaps, because of these reasons I scored the story a 5. Art/Animation: 7 Not much has changed due to the use of old scenes, which arguably take up the bulk of the OVA. Since I deemed the anime's art/animation good, I decided to stick to that. The monster battles and scenery were somewhat nice to look at. Not much to say here: it's good. Sound: 7 Most of the music was borrowed from the original SAO, which was good in itself. I believe they added a few new pieces toward the end, which were also pleasing to hear. I question the use of the first OP but that's about it. Character: 4 The story mainly focused on character reminiscing on what happened in SAO, letting us learn more about them. At the same time, they change little at all, and their likeability depends on your opinion of the stereotypical overpowered main lead, aggressive sandwich-making heroine, and little sisters. Though a new character is introduced, nearly nothing about him is revealed. The comedy from Klein is welcome though. Enjoyment: 3 Unfortunately, the recaps left me bored for most of the OVA. A few enjoyable moments came every couple of minutes or so through the characters eating or swimming, which were easy to enjoy and relate to. I had to force myself to watch (or skip) through to the last 20 minutes, which were fun to say the least. Though it ended on a good note, a bulk of the OVA was unsatisfactory to me. Overall: 5 It was okay to say at best. My recommendation for watching the OVA is to skip through when characters flashback except one of them which involves Asuna and some slightly new or edgy material. Watch the parts you enjoyed or did not understand. If you enjoyed SAO, you'll probably like the Extra Episode, but if not, watch it with some care.

I had no idea that this was coming out. by just sheer luck I was checking the updated anime list on CR and holy mother of grail, there it was. lol Yes this one is a recap. It doesn't have any defining story line. The first 1 hour or so you will see Kirito stuffed in a room with the hot counselor( A.K.A the middle aged govt. official) but It is quite refreshing to look back at one of best anime of 2012 & remind us ourselves why SAO was so great. The recaps weren't boring & they essentially summarized a 25 ep show. Fan service, Yes you do get a lot of them. Specially on the 1st half. You might miss those glorious moments if you are skipping because of the recaps. Story- 7 There was no story, It is a recap episode. But don't get me wrong. This ep didn't had a story because it didn't needed one. Art - 9 Think about the beautiful SAO arts, well they are here. Sound - 9 Same as SAO, Had tears in my eyes when I heard the intro after 1 year. Character - 7 I was a little bit disappointed in the characters. Yes they were there. specially in Asuna's case. Would have liked to see a little more intimacy between Asuna & Kirito. Enjoyment - 9 It's SAO, It reminded us why this show is so great & what's more to come. I enjoyed it to the fullest.

...why am I even doing this right now... Sooooo, about 2-3 years ago I was HUGE into Sword Art Online. (I've changed my mind since then, but that's against the point) Despite being so deep into this "masterpiece" of a series I once enjoyed, one thing never changed throughout the course of time- I hate this film. All of it. The animation is decent enough, but it simply meets SAO standards. Besides, this film was released in the modern age of anime, so good animation is to be expected. But I will say this much- the representation of a lot of the characters (mainly girl characters) were absolutely disgusting, and I'm a male. If you had not seen the series before this, you would assume that all of these characters were rapists or prostitutes. I mean that. Now, the story... uh... it's recap. Moving on. The characters were all so weird in this film. If it had not been for the original series, these characters would have come off as genuinely creepy pervs. They took whatever development any of them had prior and threw it out the f***ing window. Out. Kirito is a generic lead, who was empathetical in the previous series. However, this film makes him out to be this unlikable teen who's "too edgy for you." All of the girls in this series come off as sex objects, and they were completely one-note in this film. Again, had it not been for the series prior, they probably would've come off as part-time prostitutes. There was nothing likable about them whatsoever. Klein is a creeper in this film, which is odd considering how great he was in the series. I think that they decided to take whatever was likable about the original series, sh*t on it, and flush it down the toilet. Nothing about the characters in any sense were likable to anyone. The music used in this series was decent enough, but I don't care. The core of this series is dead. It's broken, and it can't come back. How about we do the world a favor, and burn every goddamn copy of this film. The only reason why I won't give it a 1/10 is because the animation was decent enough, and the music wasn't half bad either. But the reason we came here in the first place is dead. We're done here. I hate this f***ing film. I want to die. Later.

The first 80 minutes are nothing but a Season 1 recap and some fanservice of the girls in swimsuits. I can at least say that SOME new perspective is placed on the events of the show by being shown from the character's viewpoint. The final 20 minutes make for a cute story. This could easily have been a 25-minute OVA, but instead it forces you to sit through a highlights reel for over an hour first.

Story 2/10 This is essentially a compilation movie of the first series with some new animation. Of course. we are to face the sexual tension between Kazuto and her sister/cousin Suguha over again and Asuna almost getting raped by creepy Sugou in front of Kirito. Fortunately, we are spared the tentacle monsters that capture Asuna for escaping. The first part of the new animation is pure fanservice with Kirito's harem teaching Suguha how to swim. The second part of was considerably better, focusing on a quest, closer to the plot of the first arc's episodes Art 4/10 Same as the television series, A-1 Pictures spares us gracious 2DCG for what they consider their Magnum Opus. Sound 8/10 The music of the television series is featured including Eir Aoi's Innoncence. There is also new song that for the end credtis. Character 3/10 There is no development here other than Suguha's sudden inability to swim. Enjoyment 4/10 Compiling a oversimplified version of the first arc, the disturbing parts of the second arc and newly animated fanservice.

So the special is an hour and 40 mins long. The first hour is pretty much a recap of the whole season and what happened. However, Kirito explains some parts of the recap with more details and explanation about what happened. There are extra scenes that weren't shown in the original 25 eps and are like added romance or to clear up some parts. Those scenes were great. While they have the recap of the 25 eps, Kirito's sister is learning how to swim in the real world with Asuna and Kirito's friends from SAO. The recaps were great to remember what happened and for them to clear up the parts. Also, the extra scenes were great to watch since they weren't in the original. In the last part is 40 mins of original scenes/ OVA of SAO. This part was great because it was a near story/add on to ALF online. After the credits at the end, something special happens so DON'T MISS IT !!!!

Sword Art Online Extra edition consists mostly of flashbacks of what during Aincrad and Alfheim. Most of the time there will be long flashbacks each time a character explained what happened In the game. So basically you can just skip the flashbacks and get right to the point of the extra edition and find out what's going to happen next. Although if you are a fan of Sword Art Online then you should watch this special even though it doesn't show that much anything new.

This has no reason to exist, Like, none whatsoever. The movie is basically just a recap of SAO with new animation. The characters were never really OOC per se, but all the conversations felt a bit forced in some places. However, Suguha/Leafa got some development, as well as Asuna getting a new design which looked kinda cool, and a new world seen in ALO, but other than that nothing really happens until the last 15 minutes or so. But, the same music from the show is used, so that's still good, and the animation looks as beautiful as ever. Even if you're a fan of SAO and/or ALO. I don't recommend it

There's always 2 kind of movies that you usually see on anime: 1. A total racap of a season with a few extra scenes 2. A totally different story be it a continuation or another side story Unfortunately, it belongs to the first group. Hence, I under the assumption you have watch the first series before moving on to this movie. If u realise I say movie, the reason is that I personally its more of a movie that a special, since special don't usually last this long and also its basically recapping the story. Thus, I will use this terminology for the rest of the review. First off, is the storyline and the character. There is nothing much to speak off since the story is a repeated story with just the addition of fanservice and some things happening regarding ALO. However I give it a slightly higher rating than of the usual movies of this type cause the way it was presented is different. Rather than simply showing you what the summarised version is, it tells you on the point of view of some of the character that have involved with Kirito (including himselves) and may not even follow in order to what event occured in the main series. There were some laughter that they provides in conversations and scenes in which we can relate to how we do in our daily lives. This results in a better storyline than what I have expected. Due to this, I give a 7, a slightly better score than what I give for the same type of movie. Next, the art is done exceptionally well. I am even surprise on the fanservice there is, there was a lot of effort put in. The fighting scenes are slightly improved and the extra scenes are also a lot better. For the sound, I was surprised that they bother to reuse the OPs and the ED2 of the main series as part of this movie. They were use in very good timing where it should be so I'm pretty much enjoy what's going although it happened before except the music this time is used at different parts of the movie. I don't really like giving reviews longer than this so I'll stop here. Anyway this is sufficient on what the movie is all about. With that I have a slightly better average enjoyment of this movie resulting in me giving an overall 7. A movie which is something you may generally want to watch to relax though if you do not want to, you would not really miss out anything much.