Sword Art Online: Progressive seems to be telling the story out of sequence. They may be ignoring the content or doing something else entirely.
Kodoani.com – The first movie in the series Sword Art Online: Progressive, Aria of a Starless Night, will premiere in English on December 3 . The film is based on an ongoing light novel series by Reki Kawahara. Progressive is a retelling of the Aincrad portion of Sword Art Online that aims to tell the story of characters traversing all 100 Levels of Aincrad. This includes the Floors that were omitted from the original light novel series.
Sure, A-1 Pictures seems to be making some creative changes to Progressive storytelling. Most notably, the title of the sequel, Scherzo of a Dark Dusk, is set after a later point in the series. The name leads fans to believe that the A-1 pictures will be gliding through the Floor in the light novel. If the floors are omitted, this would be against the purpose of Progressive and the light novel of the story itself. However, there’s more to the story of the production than fans might realize, so it’s important to see the facts.
The first thing to understand is the true meaning of Scherzo of a Dark Dusk. The title comes from a story in Volume 4 of the light novel series. Similarly, Aria of a Starless Night is named after the first major storyline mentioned in Episode 1. Between the two are three other story sections that could potentially be turned into a movie.
Skipping all of these sections also means skipping a lot of important stuff. Aria of a Starless Night ends with the player clearing the First Floor. Scherzo of a Dark Dusk begins on the Fifth Floor one day after the player clears the Fourth Floor. If the movies named after these seasons are any indication of their content, that means the entire three Levels of Aincrad will be skipped. If this trend of skipping floors continues in later seasons, it will contradict Kawahara’s intention to show fans the entirety of Aincrad.
Despite the obvious conflict of interest, Kawahara himself has stated that the movie is going according to plan. As the studio admits, the story is omitted, especially that of Volume 2, which includes content with an incomplete story. The studio specifically mentions the Elf War campaign quest that begins on the Third Floor. This quest involves a storyline that lasts until the player reaches the Ninth Floor – a point not even the novels reach. Supposedly, A-1 Pictures will return to this Floor once the story can be introduced in its entirety.
The Sword Art Online: Progressive movie will include as many light novels as A-1 Pictures can. While it may seem like they’re ignoring the content, they’re simply waiting for their time until they can tell the story the right way; Reki Kawahara herself said the same thing. As to whether all 100 floors of Aincrad are actually presented in full, that remains to be seen even in the novel. Fans should believe A-1 Pictures knows what they’re doing with the movie adaptation Sword Art Online: Progressive.
Via: Kodoani.com
