ray42 - 2014-09-12 01:06:36

Just trashy. There was no need for this "movie" at all. Kirito and the gang have to clean the school pool for no apparent reason, all the while Kirito has a special meeting with a counselor and nurse, for again, no apparent reason. Except OH DRAMA, the counselor is actually a government operative who has been following Kirito very closely and had many conversations with him off-camera, and is for some reason asking him about the events Kirito has lived through.

Cue literal replays, not even re-edited, from the original first season, intersperced with fan-service from the girls. The first 3/4 of this movie add nothing of value to the series. Finally, at the end, the gang returns to ALFheim, and does a pointless quest without relevance to the plot at large. 

It's a huge time-sink. It doesn't flesh out the characters, it doesn't build upon the series, and until the last 30 minutes, it's not even interesting. If you haven't seen the original series, well, why not? Go watch that. If you have watched the series, you've already seen the movie; consider going back and rewatching your favourite episodes rather than seeing them in clip form. 

tbreitenberg - 2014-05-01 10:28:25

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.

fbrekke - 2014-01-21 06:32:31

I personally liked this episode. Not for seeing what happened in season one but knowing that they are still making SAO.

jay.howe - 2014-01-08 08:36:26

This is the worst piece of shit made in chinese cartoon history.

You want some SAO crap? Here have a bunch of recaps with extra tits.

Only episode 1-12 were good. This whole SAO thing is dead.

I rather watch boku no pico 5 times instead of this.

qlynch - 2014-01-07 18:25:41

Intro:

Alright first off for those who don't know what this is, this is a movie type/OVA for the anime Sword Art Online (SAO). The main purpose of Sword Art Online Extra Edition (SAO:EE) was to get the audience excited for the upcoming season two of the show and bring the hype level up for it. But there are still questions like: "Was SAO:EE any good?" or "Is it worth the watch or should I just skip it or wait until season 2 Gun Gale Online (GGO)?" well I will try to answer those questions with this review.

Story:

The story for SAO:EE starts off with some of the main crew from SAO (Asuna, Sugu, Lizbeth, Silica, and Kirito) trying to teach Sugo how to swim. While the girls do that Kirito is sent to a room within his school to talk to a higher up of ALfheim Online (ALO) about the events of SAO and uncover the truth about it and why it happened. This starts the very long and dragged out recap of the series.

Kirito talks about what happened to him during SAO through a series of flashbacks that take up most of the movie. For the people who haven't seen the show in a while it is a good refresher but it drags on for a long time and gets boring real fast if you have seen the series a couple times like I have.

Alright, so next I will talk about the swimming section. The swimming section is nothing special. Its just fanservice galore and also filled with long recaps on how each of them met Kirito (Besides Sugu because they are brother and sis- nope! Cousins.) which also dragged on and was boring for the most part.

Then we get onto the actual story, which was still very weak. The story revolves around an underwater quest in ALO! The quest is that they have to retrive a pearl inside an underwater castle to get a big reward! I'm not going to spoil the rest because it's the only new content this movie has to offer but let me say this.. It was extremly rushed.. But hey it had it's fun moments.

Animation and Sound:

The animation was still great as always. Looked as beautiful as ever and was one of the high points of both the show and the movie. I can never get enough of the crystalized bursts of light when someone dies or when Kirito uses Starburst Stream. The animation is truely great.

The sound was like the animation. Still fantastic and another high point. I can never get enough of the opening and when it played at the start of the movie I couldn't help but grin and bob my head to the beat. The music was also great during boss fights and just in the overworld too. Also I have to say the voice acting is great and spot-on!

Characters:

The characters didn't really develop in this movie besides Sugu learning how to swim and fight underwater. But what's cool about the characters in this is that we get to see some of their magic and weapons in ALO. Well we didn't get too see much magic, only Asuna's and Sugu's but hey, its better than nothing. Other than that nothing really happened with the characters, I guess they are saving the big development for GGO.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, I thought that SAO:EE wasn't bad, but wasn't too great either. The story mainly consisted of flashbacks for the first seventy or so minutes with a fifteen or so minute quest in ALO which was very rushed. I would say that unless you are a big fan of the show you can watch the whole thing and find it exciting but other than that I recommend skipping to seventy minutes in just to see the new content that SAO:EE has to offer.

But I would like to take note of the little GGO teaser after the credits, it makes me hyped for the second season!

kkassulke - 2014-01-06 21:16:15

As a fan of Sword Art Online, I was pretty excited for this extra edition. As expected with any extra episode, there was the requisite fan service but not overly done as to be distracting. However, I was disappointed with how much time was dedicated to recapping the entire series. I suppose for those who haven't seen it in awhile, it was a good refresher, I just simply felt it was too long. I think they could have used the time better to build up to the actual new material which felt rushed and lacked any real depth. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great. The animation and music were on par with what we've already seen in the first series. Nothing more, nothing less.

The most exciting thing for me was supposed to be the very end with the teaser for the next season featuring Gun Gale Online! Unfortunately, the file I viewed completely cut it out but simply knowing it's coming is enough for me!

Overall, any fan of the franchise will enjoy being able to catch up with their favorite characters again and while not a must watch, it was good to be immersed back into the world of the VRMMO.

kaleigh.halvorson - 2014-01-05 05:05:47

Happy New Year’s Eve! A-1 Pictures just had to give us more of this plague to anime. The shitheads that actually enjoy this can fap to this worthless fanservice episode all they like. As for me, I’m planning to get wasted so that I’m hoping that it’ll make me think Sword Art Online never existed.

Which is impossible since Sword Art Online II was unfortunately announced. And I still have to tear it apart while it’s on Toonami. Either way, Sword Art Online is never safe from my wrath.

Oh and Word of Advice: if you even try to comment with that “If you don’t like it, then don’t watch it” and/or “Haters gonna hate” bullshit, I suggest you think twice.

The episode begins in the summer of 2025. Kazuto and Suguha are (motor)biking to school to meet Asuna, Keiko, and Rika.

Anyway, the reason is because they have to teach Suguha to swim, and somehow that means she can’t swim in-game. I don’t know; If you ask me, this reeks of Kawahara’s “virtual life is the same as real life” bullshit morals.

Anyway, Kazuto heads to the counselor’s office for emergency counseling, which is actually to meet a man named Kikuoka, an elite member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’s Virtual Division, and be interviewed about the incidents with SAO and ALO. It also turns out that he was the one who told Kazuto where Asuna was hospitalized, and allowed him to keep his NerveGear. You know, the ever-so-dangerous device that killed thousands of people and should’ve been disposed of.

I’m not gonna go over the recap because it all leads to worthlessness either way, but I will point one thing out: Akihiko Kayaba said, and I quote: “There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost. And simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain.” In other words: Once your HP hits zero, your brain gets fried and you are dead. Game Over. No continues. Now, think about what happens in Episode 14 and you can realize what the problem is.

There’s another thing that about the NerveGear that I just noticed: The thing is attached to your head, but the user has to calibrate it so that it can recognize his/her gender, body shape, height, etc. I mean, if it was a full-body scan, that’s fine, but this is a device that goes on your head. You see the problem here, right?

Also, Kazuto said that the Floor Bosses are too strong to be beaten one-on-one. You have to Zerg Rush them to have a fair advantage. But Kirito solo’d The Gleam Eyes no problemo. Yeah, so much for teamwork, huh? How about I just point out every single damn inconsistency?

And really, do I even need to get started on that “Oh, I set up this elaborate plot to trap 10,000 people into a virtual realm and committed mass murder for no reason” bullshit Kayaba spews out? Really, that was the moment where Sword Art Online jumped the shark big time.

Although I will give points to Mr. Kikuoka for pointing out the stuff that makes no sense. Makes you wonder if he’s aware of all the bullshit that happens in this show.

And Nobuyuki Sugou, No… Not just Sugou and his actually pretty hilarious moustache-twirling cartoonish villainy. ALL of the Fairy Dance arc. Really, about an hour worth of stuff that you can skip over and not miss a thing.

Anyway, Kazuto mentions the Game Master abilities make you the God of the game and it was Sugou’s thrist for power that led to his defeat. This coming from someone who took Sugou’s GM powers with no explanation. And of course Kazuto never mentions that. Anyway, Kazuto leaves because he has to meet up with his harem to tackle a undersea sidequest in ALO and to show Yui a whale.

The group goes down to an undersea temple where they meet an NPC named Nerakk. Leafa notices of the name she seems suspicious of.

Thieves stole a pearl that Nerakk was going to give to someone and put it deep inside the temple. Kirito and Klein wonder whether they need to cover for Leafa’s inability to swim and then they fall into a trap… that they even saw coming.

Anyway, a monster comes out from the trap which is named Armachthys. But I’m just gonna call it Relicanth, because it looks like Relicanth to me.

It even has a Rock Head ability, meaning you can’t attack it head-on. Everyone attacks but Relicanth uses Whirlpool, which makes things even worse for Leafa. Kirito goes in and saves her by killing Relicanth… with one hit… Hey, didn’t Kirito reset his stats at the end of last season. I don’t think he reset his abilities to be Gary Stu.

Anyway, becuase A-1 apparently ran out of budget because at this moment the’re only seven minutes left in the episode (Yeah, maybe next time you’ll focus more on the video game part instead of girls in bikinis.), we’re treated to a slideshow of the group reaching the pearl and bringing it back to Nerakk. However, it turns out that the pearl is actually an egg. And Kirito’s group are the aforementioned thieves. And Nerakk is an anagram for Kraken. Yes, Kraken.

The Kraken is too powerful of a boss for even Kirito to defeat, but they’re saved by Leviathan the Sea Lord. Honestly, I’d take the lesser cop-out over whatever Kirito’s Deus ex Machina number God knows how much.

So Leviathan takes them back to land with his giant whale, the quest is complete…

…and that is 100 minutes of nothing more than a bunch of random events badly sewn together into a mess of completely godawful coherency. This anime, these 100 minutes of worthless here represents the bane of anime. I’ll just stick with Log Horizon. I mean, it’s not great, but at least it doesn’t rely on catering to those with lower tastes.

jacey.glover - 2014-01-01 16:12:51

What a great way to start of the New Year with low expectations. Sword Art Online Extra Edition a recap of the first season while giving a preview of the next season. If you enjoyed Sword Art Online your going to enjoy this if you didn't enjoy Sword Art Online well this obviously isn't going to change your opinion. So to enjoy Sword Art Online II have low expectations and just have fun it might be overrated but its still a fun series to watch. It doesn't have great story or character development but you have to admit with great animation and sound you can't say this is a terrible anime.

bertha41 - 2014-01-01 03:42:20

Before I begin, I would like to say that this was mainly supposed to be a gateway into the second season and to make the first season smoother among the edges. It was not solely meant for new content so rating it based on that would lead to an inaccurate review.

STORY

It is a recap that is told as a sort of story from Kirito to an investigator who is wondering what happened to him in SAO and ALO. This is in present time, in real life. Meanwhile Asuna, Suguha, Keiko, and Rika are teaching Suguha how to swim to help her with a mission they will all be taking on after Kirito is done with the interview the girls are unaware of. While Kirito is talking about his perspective, the girls are discussing their perspective of SAO and Suguha talks about hers with ALO.

It never bored me even though I knew what happened. That is because they had an equal amount of real life cuts to the recap. Also because Kirito gives his thoughts on what happened, which develops his character more. The girls weren't too developed but they were a step up from the show. I give the story an 7/10 as the girls were kind of one dimensional in this, but Kirito actually got developed.

ANIMATION

Nothing special in this extra edition. It is the same as the show, which is pretty well done so I give it a 9/10.

SOUND

There was some new tracks in this extra and the songs were pretty well planned for the tone of the show. It fit and it conveyed moments alot better. 8/10.

CHARACTER

Kirito was developed through this extra as we learn his thoughts, and some motivation/reason as to his actions. The girls on the other hand are sort of one dimensional and do not share the development Kirito has, which is a shame. 5/10.

ENJOYMENT

This is where the extra gets its points. I loved this extra more than the show because not only did it cover the main parts of the entire first season, but it expanded the world slightly as the last twenty minutes involved new footage of the group taking on a mission in ALO, the one Suguha was training for throughout. And that cliffhanger at the end left me really excited. I give it a 9/10.

OVERALL

Sword Art Online Extra Edition is a simple hour and forty minute recap, but it manages to expand on the world and develop some things that needed it desperately. It didn't develop EVERYTHING, but this isn't a masterpiece and I am not praising it as such. I give SAO: Extra Edition a 7/10 because it does things really well, while still making character development mistakes. However, don't say anything about the story because it did the story aspect well, including more footage.

cullrich - 2014-01-01 01:36:16

A recap episode movie acting as transition from first to second season with intermixed pieces of pool fan service.

There's no new story until the last 10 minutes of the movie where some actual content is presented. A great deal of content is reused from the first season, including the soundtrack (as expected from recap episode, innit?). Albeit the reuse, new character, which might play an important role in the story next season explores, is introduced.

I was very disappointed the scene from the first season was animated in greater detail.

NOTE: The rating of 1 on animation, sound and character is a default of hummingbird and I won't rate them as there's nothing to rate. The story rating rates the fan service and the aforementioned 10 minutes.