‘Sword Art Online – Ordinal Scale’ Ticket Sales For American Audience: Aniplex Prepares For Nationwide Theatrical Release Of Highly Anticipated Anime ‘SAO’ Movie [Update]
The highly anticipated Sword Art Online – Ordinal Scale will soon land in the United States. Aniplex America announced it has begun ticket sales for the highly anticipated SAO movie. Along with film distribution company Eleven Arts, Aniplex will also host a special event in March.
Aniplex America announced that ticket sales for the upcoming nationwide theatrical release of the highly anticipated movie, Sword Art Online – Ordinal Scale began Friday January 6, reported Anime News Network. Ticket sales commenced from 12 p.m. P.S.T (3 p.m. E.S.T) on the official website of the movie. Besides beginning sales of the tickets, Aniplex of America, along with film distribution company Eleven Arts, has planned a special one-night Fathom Event on Thursday, March 9.
The highly anticipated Sword Art Online movie, Ordinal Scale, is set to release in English-speaking regions in a couple of months. Similar to the anime series, the movie too is in Japanese. Hence, Australian film distributor Madman Entertainment recently released the third official trailer for the action-adventure animated movie. Incidentally, it’s the same teaser that Aniplex began streaming on December 25. The only difference between the Aniplex’s teaser and the one released by Madman Entertainment is that the latter chose to insert English subtitles for the English-speaking audience. The video features LiSA’s theme song, “Catch the Moment.”
Sword Art Online is an immensely popular Japanese anime. In fact, it has dedicated fans across the world. Moreover, the anime is actively discussed on online forums. The anime also has a dedicated Reddit thread, where hardcore fans discuss current and upcoming episodes as well as other topics related to SAO.
Aniplex America had recently confirmed it was be bringing the latest installment of the popular anime to North America. The movie will be available with English subtitles. Eleven Arts will provide the subtitles. There are no immediate plans of English dubbing of Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale.
As reported by the Inquisitr, Aniplex had announced it would host an event prior to the screening of Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale in Hollywood, California. Interestingly, the movie has a huge fan base down under. Hence Australian publisher of popular Japanese anime, Madman Entertainment, confirmed it would be hosting three festivals. Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale is expected to be released across the world in about 1,000 theaters simultaneously.
Interestingly, Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale is an anime-only story. In other words, the movie will feature a brand new story penned exclusively for the movie. In addition to the new storyline, the movie will also feature three never-before-seen characters. The characters have been identified as the Augmented Reality idol Yuna, the swordsman Eiji, and Augma developer Professor Shigemura. Although the creators haven’t categorically mentioned, it is possible these characters were created to augment the new storyline.
Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale is set in 2026 but is influenced by the events of 2022. The story takes place after the events of Mother Rosario arc, which was the final arc depicted in the TV anime’s second season. The world of 2026 is already familiar with NerveGear, an invention by genius programmer Akihiko Kayaba. The system is supposed to be the first full-dive system that offers an ultra-realistic and completely immersive gaming experience for VRMMORPGs (Virtual Reality based Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games).
To compete against NerveGear, Professor Shigemura builds Augma. The Augma system relies on Augmented Reality (AR). It is touted to be better than even NerveGear’s successor, the Amusphere. Since players using Augma are conscious throughout their playtime, the system is promised to be safe and user-friendly. Ordinal Scale is the new hit game utilizing Augma’s AR technology. Experienced players like Asuna and others are actively playing the game when they realize that everything’s not as perfect as promised. Finding his friends in danger, the hero, Kirito, decides to intervene.
Update: According to the movie’s official website, the tickets for the U.S. premiere event slated for March 1 appear to have been sold out. However, Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale will hit U.S. theaters nationwide on March 9.
[Featured Image by ASCII Media Works]
