The Philippine cinema chain SM Cinema announced today that the Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale anime film will receive additional screenings in other SM Cinema venues nationwide starting on February 22, Wednesday UTC+08. SM Cinema will announce screening venues and schedules soon.
SM Cinema screened the film in a limited engagement on February 18, Saturday UTC+08 at SM Megamall. There was supposed to be only one screening on Saturday, but a new screening was added after the first one was fully booked. SM Cinema then decided to add screenings on Sunday soon after.
The screening took place alongside the film’s opening day in Japan, and similar screenings in other Southeast Asian territories. The film is still scheduled for a wide opening in March 2017.
Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale’s staff previously confirmed that the film will screen in about 1,000 theaters worldwide.
Aniplex of America, the film’s United States distributor, describes the story:
In 2022, the world of virtual reality was suspended by the arrival of a new invention from a genius programmer, Akihiko Kayaba, called NerveGear. It was the first full-dive system, and with it, came endless possibilities to VRMMORPGs.
In 2026, a new machine called the Augma is developed to compete against the NerveGear and its successor, the Amusphere. A next-gen wearable device, the Augma doesn’t have a full-dive function like its predecessors. Instead, it uses Augmented Reality (AR) to get players into the game. It is safe, user-friendly and lets users play while they are conscious, making it an instant hit on the market. The most popular game on the system is “Ordinal Scale” (aka: OS), an ARMMORPG developed exclusively for the Augma.
Asuna and the gang have already been playing OS for a while, by the time Kirito decides to join them. They’re about to find out that Ordinal Scale isn’t all fun and games…
The film opened in Japan on Saturday in 150 theaters and is currently screening.
The film features a returning cast from the previous two anime series, including:
- Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Kirito
- Haruka Tomatsu as Asuna
- Rina Hidaka as Silica/Keiko
- Ayahi Takagaki as Lisbeth/Rika
- Miyuki Sawashiro as Sinon/Shino
- Hiroaki Hirata as Klein/Ryotaro
- Kanae Itō as Yui
- Ayana Taketatsu as Leafa/Suguha
- Hiroki Yasumoto as Agil/Andrew
- Kouichi Yamadera as Akihiko Kayaba
The film also added three new characters and cast members:
- Sayaka Kanda as the AR idol Yuna
- Yoshio Inoue as the mysterious young swordsman Eiji
- Takeshi Kaga as the Augma developer Professor Shigemura
Original light novel author Reki Kawahara wrote the new story for the film. While Tomohiko Ito returned from the two TV anime series and the anime special in order to direct the film at A-1 Pictures. And Shingo Adachi also returned from the TV anime to design the characters based on abec’s original character designs, and Yuki Kajiura returned to score the music. There was also LiSA who performed the film’s theme song “Catch the Moment,” and Kanda also performed the insert songs for the film.