Sword Art Online: Box Set II Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Sword Art Online: Box Set II Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 25, 2013

Videogame enthusiasts know it's incredibly easy to get lost in a game for hours, maybe even weeks—but years? That’s the case with the ongoing adventures of Kirito and Asuna in the Sword Art Online saga. And by lost, I mean lost—these players, along with countless others, have been trapped inside a virtual reality game environment battling in life or death duels where their escape, if it’s even possible, is predicated upon their survival. Aniplex is releasing a rather long series of very handsomely packaged box sets which are doling out the Sword Art Online story in chunks of seven episodes more or less at a time, replete with quite a bit of bonus content. This second box set contains Episodes 8 through 14 of the so-called “Aincrad” arc, where Kirito and Asuna, the two focal characters, have been trapped in the game and are attempting to battle their way to the top level in order to forge an escape.

This second half of the Aincrad arc is arguably more compelling than the first half, if only because the characters have been introduced and the basic storyline has fallen into place. There are various subplots here dealing with the Knights of the Blood Oath and Asuna’s goal to get away from them, but the real focus remains more or less squarely on Kirito, who of course springs to Asuna’s rescue on more than one occasion. This second half also benefits from a slightly more lustrous visual quality as some of the new levels have more allure from a strictly aesthetic level. Kirito’s ongoing activities with Heathcliff play an important part in this arc, leading to an interesting revelation about Heathcliff’s identity.

Sword Art Online: Box Set II Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sword Art Online is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Aniplex with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is a just slightly soft looking enterprise, especially for an anime of such recent vintage, but this high definition presentation does benefit from beautifully saturated colors and generally very crisp line detail. This second set is perhaps incrementally better looking if only because some of the virtual reality environments and various enemies are more lushly rendered and designed.

Sword Art Online: Box Set II Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Perhaps surprisingly, the otherwise decent sounding (in terms of actual voice work) English dub is presented in lossy Dolby Digital 2.0. That may mean that most audiophiles will want to opt for the uncompressed LPCM 2.0 Japanese track, which offers excellent fidelity and really wide dynamic range. The audio score above reflects an average of the two audio options put together.

Sword Art Online: Box Set II Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

On Disc Supplements

• Audio Commentary by Creators and Japanese Cast


• Special Animation Sword Art Online


• Original Web Preview


• Trailer


• 1st Season Textless Ending

Non Blu-ray Disc Supplements

• Exclusive Staff Interviews DVD


• 16 Page Deluxe Illustration Booklet


• Set of Pin-Up Illustration Postcards


• Exclusive Bushiroad's Weiss Schwarz Collectible Card #2


• Rigid Box Illustrated by abec (Original Character Design)


• Clear BD Cases with Reversible Wraps

Sword Art Online: Box Set II Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This second set of Sword Art Online episodes benefits from being more generally compelling than the opening set, but individual fans are still going to have to decide whether they want to shell out some considerable loot for relatively few episodes, even if they do come with some appealing supplements and swag. The series itself definitely gets better as it goes along, however. Recommended.