Sword Art Online the Movie - Progressive - Aria of a Starless Night

"This might be a game, but it's not something you play!"

2021 1h 37m JA

🙌

7.8

BANGER

★7.8TMDB · 352

AnimationActionFantasyScience Fiction

Synopsis

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Asuna Yuuki had never played online games until accidentally putting on the NerveGear for Sword Art Online, the world’s first VRMMORPG. She soon finds herself and other players trapped inside a game, where if a player dies in the game, they die in the real world. As she continues to live on in this world where death is always a step away, a solitary swordsman named Kirito appears before her.

“This might be a game, but it's not something you play!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Yoshitsugu Matsuoka
Kirito (voice)
Haruka Tomatsu
Asuna 'Asuna' Yuuki (voice)
Inori Minase
Misumi 'Mito' Tozawa (voice)
Koichi Yamadera
Akihiko Kayaba (voice)
Hiroki Yasumoto
Agil (voice)
Nobuyuki Hiyama
Diabel (voice)
Rina Hidaka
Silica (voice)
Ryusei Nakao
Mito Avatar (Voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ayako Kono
Writers: Reki Kawahara, Ayako Kono, Masakazu Obara
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 5 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Sword Art Online Progressive Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CAST

Did you know

226+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ayako Kono, shot by Yuki Oshima. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Yuki Kajiura. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Kiyoshi Hirose shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Yoshitsugu Matsuoka and Haruka Tomatsu and Inori Minase carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "This might be a game, but it's not something you play!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ayako Kono directs. Yuki Oshima behind the camera. Yuki Kajiura scores. Kiyoshi Hirose cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 5 years ago.
2Part of the "Sword Art Online Progressive Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3226+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
4Directed by Ayako Kono, shot by Yuki Oshima. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Yuki Kajiura. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Kiyoshi Hirose shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Yoshitsugu Matsuoka and Haruka Tomatsu and Inori Minase carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "This might be a game, but it's not something you play!".
9IMDB entry: tt13424422 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 17 themes, including "monster", "video game", "virtual reality", "fight".
11Released under 21 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Yuki Oshima
Original score: Yuki Kajiura
Editing: Kiyoshi Hirose
Runtime: 97 min · 1h 37m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $14,037,060
Original language: JA
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Sword Art Online the Movie - Progressive - Aria of a Starless Night (2021)

Part of

Sword Art Online Progressive Collection

A two-film duology that offers an expanded reimagining of Sword Art Online’s original Aincrad arc, following Kirito and Asuna step by step as they fight their way through each floor of the deadly game. The films fill in missing gaps and provide deeper character development that the original series glossed over, with a particular focus on Asuna’s early perspective.