One of The Most Polarizing Anime Out There Has A Perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes Movie, And No One Talks About It

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Anime movies are becoming increasingly popular in Western countries. Recent successes like Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man have earned significant box office revenue. There’s also talk of a movie adaptation for the hit fantasy series Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, and a new One Piece film is planned for release around late 2025, though the author, Eiichiro Oda, hasn’t shared many details yet.

It’s interesting – despite all the incredibly popular anime out there, none have actually earned a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes. That honor surprisingly goes to the 2017 film, Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale. As someone following the series, I found it neat that the movie fits right between seasons two and three of the Sword Art Online anime. It’s still getting praise for its unique story, beautiful animation, exciting action, and the thought-provoking idea of how much we depend on technology.

Sword Art Online Remains Controversial Almost 15 Years After the Anime’s Release

Based on the light novel series by Reki Kawahara, the anime Sword Art Online premiered in 2012 and ran until 2020, totaling 96 episodes. The story centers on Kirito Kirigaya, a passionate high school gamer who becomes trapped in a virtual reality MMORPG called Sword Art Online, with no apparent way to log out. Each season takes place in a new virtual world, but the stakes remain the same: survive, because death in the game means death in real life. Throughout his time in the game, Kirito forms friendships, gains allies, and eventually falls in love with Asuna Yuuki. Sword Art Online is often seen as a key influence on the popularity of the isekai genre, which remains popular more than ten years after the series began.

Sword Art Online was initially very popular, praised for its exciting action, constantly evolving story, and compelling characters. The show’s premise – a shy character becoming a hero in a virtual world – resonated with many viewers, and early seasons featured strong villains, surprising twists, and explored interesting psychological themes. While it still has a dedicated fanbase, online discussions often show more criticism than praise for the series.

Sword Art Online tends to divide fans – for every hundred who love it, about the same number dislike it. Common complaints center on weak writing and a habit of jumping ahead in the story. While many anime skip over unimportant details, SAO doesn’t do a good job of filling in those gaps, often ignoring events that happened during months or even years of skipped time. This lack of detail hinders character development, making some characters feel flat and less engaging than the main heroes. The show did improve in later seasons, but the earlier parts left a lot of viewers disappointed.

Sword Art Online has faced criticism for repeatedly featuring sexual assault as a plot device, happening to a female character in each season. Some viewers find this exploitative and the scenes themselves can be quite graphic. Combined with a noticeable change in the show’s overall tone, this led to a decline in popularity as more fans began to express their concerns. While still a very influential series within the isekai genre, mentioning Sword Art Online (SAO) can sometimes draw negative reactions from within the community.

Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale Boasts a Perfect Score on Rotten Tomatoes

I’ve been noticing a lot of discussion around anime films lately, and it’s interesting how much the Sword Art Online movies vary in reception. Even with criticism of the series overall, the first SAO movie, Ordinal Scale from 2017, is standing out – it actually has a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes! That’s even higher than Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle at 98% and Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc with 96%. However, the later SAO films haven’t done as well. Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night managed 83%, but its sequel, Sword Art Online Progressive: Scherzo of Deep Night, is currently at a pretty low 42%.

Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu.

Critics and audiences both praised Ordinal Scale for its thoughtful look at society. The film explores how dependent people have become on technology, and the problems this causes, like emotional distress and compulsive habits. Viewers also loved the idea of augmented reality fights happening in the real world, and the action scenes are still exciting even years later. The main characters, Kirito and Asuna, grow and change in meaningful ways, focusing on genuine emotional development rather than just appealing to fans.

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Although newer installments haven’t quite matched the excitement of the original Ordinal Scale movie, Sword Art Online fans still have reason to be optimistic. A new film is being developed, continuing the Progressive storyline with a completely original anime plot. While a release date is still unknown, filming preparation finished in January 2024. Hopefully, this new project will recapture the magic of the first movie.

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2026-02-14 18:39