I'm gonna be honest, I expected a pretty awful movie when I decided to finally watch Ordinal Scale. Not only was I pleasantly surprised to see that it was actually quite good, but it actually made me care about the story and characters because it ended up being the best this anime has ever reached. Why? What if I told you that every problem from Sword Art Online was completely solved, for the most part? Have I got you're attention now?

Ordinal Scale did something that surprised me, it made me care about Kirito/Kazuto, the character that many people criticize as one of the most overpowered characters ever made. He's not trying to be some anti-hero and he's not completely invincible at the start. And when he finally starts achieving in this movie, his accomplishments feel earned. He acts like a real person who has shown growth, not an action figure. Likewise, Asuna also gets some valuable screen time and she is also much more fleshed out. Rather than just being a plot device character, she actually has a defined character outside of Kirito (While he is trying to form a life outside of VR, Asuna is doing the opposite and pursuing it since that shaped her identity.) The Sword Art Online fans will get plenty of fan-service throughout this movie, and seems to be actively aware of it's flaws, and corrects most of them.

The conflict is more philosophical and mental than physical, and this is honestly a welcome change since people are getting sick of the "If you die in the game" format. The romance is what we care about, and I like how it's expanded upon. Though, there are some problems since there's a bit too much focus on the whole singing Miku aspect and some of the side characters are pretty useless as always, but if you don't mind the side characters and/or if you like anime girls singing, you'll be just fine. Unfortunately, Yui is still a Deus Ex Machine program rivaled only by the Eagles in LOTR, but it's somewhat forgivable since it really isn't the deciding blow in the final battle, but rather the final push that allows the heroes to claim victory. However, the fact that there is a plot that's truly interesting, truly heart tearing moments, and also the fact that best villain in the series so far is in this film, I think it's actually pretty special.

It was great I like this show. Don't judge it by the rating.