Full Record of SAO the Movie "Behind-the-Scenes"

Edit: Added a translation of Aincrad lore and stuff about the final boss in the movie (see bottom of the page).

Well, I'm still struggling with my exams, so my translation progress is on hiatus for the time being. In the meantime, I figured I'd post some more filler content until we have something bigger to show.

On that note, the Full Record of SAO the Movie "Behind-the-Scenes" is a booklet that was given as the eighth week Ordinal Scale movie bonus in Japan. The booklet contained an interview with some members of the staff talking about the movie, all spoilers allowed, as well as some other stuff, like boss images and lore for one of the bosses. The interview also had some pictures, but I only had photos of the book to work from, as I haven't seen actual scans of the booklet itself. So, for the time being, I'm only releasing the translation of the interview itself. I'll add the pictures (+ translation of the captions) when scans become available.

Note that some excerpts of this interview had been translated by someone else, though they haven't translated the whole thing, as far as I know, so don't be surprised if some of the stuff here sounds familiar.

Any feedback is appreciated. Especially if you've noticed any error, as I haven't had the time to proofread the translation.

Note: The booklet came with official English names for all the bosses in the movie, which I used as reference for the translation. Please note that the booklet still uses "An Incarnate of the Radius", even though it was retconned to "An Incarnation of the Radius" in the disc version of the movie. For translation accuracy, I will keep the original version of the name in the translation.

Credits

Raws: Takazuki
Translation: Gsimenas

SWORD ART ONLINE THE MOVIE -Ordinal Scale- Confidential Discussion

——After the nationwide release in 18th of February 2017, this is the first time we've gathered all the main members of 『Sword Art Online』 the Movie. To commemorate this precious opportunity, I would like to to hold the first all-spoilers discussion in the country.

Everyone: Looking forward to it.


——The topic is 『God dwells in the details』. We would like all the major members of the staff to reveal as many tidbits, direction choices, fixations, inside stories and so on in this conversation.

Kawahara: Well then, I'll start. About the mainframe that appears when Professor Shigemura goes to the abandoned building and copies 《SAO》's data in the beginning scene. That was my fixation. During the plot draft stage, I wrote the scene imagining a "IBM Z13-like large computer", and then IBM actually collaborated with us ("Sword Art Online The Beginning Sponsored by IBM"). When I visited IBM and said "Actually, the 《SAO》 server is modeled after System Z13", the supervisor was very pleased.

Miki: They received it so well that they gratefully touched on the subject on the IBM official Facebook page afterwards.

Itou: Because the movie's last scene where Shigemura was arrested was also that place.

Kawahara: That place is the basement of《Argus'》main office.

Itou: He couldn't bring the mainframe that stored《SAO》 data with him, so he just stayed there; that's how it was described in the original plot, so we just went with that. The old《Argus》 was located somewhere in Akasaka, so Akasaka became the center of the game's 10 km-wide stage in Tokyo.

Kawahara: Aincrad was reproduced in the middle of Tokyo, and the location of the main office of《Argus》 overlaps with the position of the 《Ruby Palace》 at the topmost floor of SAO.

Miki: I really like that direction choice. The last scene (location) of the movie ending at the beginning scene (location).

Itou: Glad to know (laughs).


——In the beginning, there was also the scene where the 《Augma》 is explained on a TV programme.

Miki: That's right. The people explaining about the 《Augma》 on the TV programme in the beginning have been seen somewhere before.

Kawhara: Yes, I regret not noticing them.

Itou: Not people; only one of the nekama⁽¹⁾ duo appeared.


Everyone: Surprised.


Itou: The person in the middle just happens to look alike; only the fat one is a character who appeared in the 《Aincrad Arc》.

Miki: Really!?

Kawahara: The person next to him has the same face and body……

abec: But that is a woman! When I first saw them without knowledge of this, I thought 'Wait, are those two……no, that looks like breasts' (laughs).

Kawahara: Hou~!

Adachi: I can comment on that. During the 2 years of 《Aincrad》, the two developed love and, after getting out, they got "work" done… is what I thought arbitrarily, but when I brought up the idea to Director Itou, he said "Oh no, not at all. She was intended to be female from the start." (laughs).


Everyone: Laughs.


Itou: The two only appear together in the stadium scene at the end.

Kawahara: So, only one of them was both an 《SAO survivor》 and a commentator.


——This time, there were a lot of depictions of supporting companies; product placement (PP), so to speak.

Miki: Among the Lawson's Karaage Kun, Sony's headphones, gyuudon, and other items that were shown as examples of goods you could get from companies for free through the 《Augma》 in the beginning scenes was the item that Asuna casually gave to Kirito as a present in the end.

Adachi: At the German and French foreign screenings, we received the question "What was that present?" from the fans, and answered "It was gloves."

Miki: Yes. Kirito's biking gloves. Actually, the contents of the present were indicated all along.

Itou: The same gloves that Asuna was looking at on her smartphone in the bath scene. At the time, Asuna was thinking of a present for Kirito.

Adachi: Well, in that scene, there was something more captivating than the screen of a smartphone (laughs).

Itou: Incidentally, in the TV anime, Kirito was wearing gloves when riding his bike, but as a matter of fact, he was bare-handed when riding his bike in the movie, as he would receive gloves as a present.

Kawahara: How detailed!

abec: By the way, what merit do the companies cooperating with 《Ordinal Scale》 (henceforth, OS) have from giving gyuudon discounts and stuff?

Itou: An announcement effect due to the tie-up, I guess. Like a certain Pokemon GO……

Kawahara: Also, 《OS》 players support them by providing data. I believe that big player data, such as where and what players use, is put to good use.

Miki: If, for example, the 《Augma》 actually existed, I believe AR with casual software like the one in that fitness video would propagate far.


——《Ordinal Scale》 has adopted a ranking system.

Miki: About the family restaurant scene, we see the characters' 《OS》 ranking No. displayed above their heads in AR. Director, were you the one who came up with the numbers?

Itou: Hmm. I had the assistant director, Mori (Hirotaka)-kun decide on them, requesting that "I would like only Kirito to have an awfully low rank".

Kashiwada: Kirito is in the 100,000s, so Asuna being in the 1000s makes it seem like she's spending a lot of time on the game.

Miki: The reason behind Asuna playing 《OS》 so much can be deduced from the conversation Liz and Asuna had on the Augma afterwards. It was also written in her diary that she was saving up points to buy a present for Kirito.

Itou: Asuna is forbidden from working part-time, so she has no choice, huh.

Oosawa: But, how about the time when Klein remarked "you haven't gone up much" to Kirito while he was in the 100,000s……

Itou: The 80,000s. In 《OS》, you rise up by just participating.

Oosawa: Yeah. I thought "He did go up."

Itou: With the defeat of the wolf-type boss 《Waheela the Black Wolf》 in Takeshiba Wharf, he went all the way up to rank 9.

Kawahara: The wolf is the boss of Aincrad's 28th floor. It's the boss of the floor where Kirito went wolf hunting in the third episode of the first season of the TV anime.

Miki: And, when he defeated 《The Gleam Eyes》 in the New National Stadium, he went up to rank 3.

Adachi: About 《OS》 rules; if you become stronger as you rise up in rank, wouldn't the possibility of someone strong falling in rank be low? If so, wouldn't it become a one-sided game?

Kawahara: As it's AR, despite rank being important, the specs of your own body are just as important. After all, in a battle of physical strength, the faster one is the stronger.

Itou: Regarding details like that, I had Eiji-kun give 《OS》 commentaries on the official homepage, thus be sure to check them out (laughs).

Kashiwada: That reminds me, what about Adachi-san breaking his collarbone at the climax of the production?

Adachi: I believe there are people aware of that. I have talked about that at Akihabara events and Niconico live streams.

Miki: Breaking a bone at the climax…… don't tell me you worked on drawing with a broken bone?

Adachi: It really hurt, but I continued working ever since the day I broke it.

Miki: That's more amazing than Klein! Klein got hospitalised over his fracture.

Kawahara: That day, I coincidentally came by with a task and when I saw Adachi-san already working on the same day as he suffered a fracture, I was really shocked!

Oosawa: He decided to use a bus because he thought that commuting via bicycle was dangerous, but on the way to the bus stop…… It would have been better to use the bicycle.

Kashiwada: So this is the result of the plan to stay safe (laughs).

Adachi: This piece of work sounds the alarm bell about the respective dangers of VR and AR!

abec: With personal experience (laughs).

Miki: Indeed, Professor Shigemura's words were on point. He talked about traffic accidents during his lecture at the Touto Institute of Technology (laughs).


——Now then, in connection to the talk about vehicles, please tell us about the conflict for riding on Kirito's bike.

Miki: Yes yes. When Asuna said "I won at rock-paper-scissors" upon Kirito and Asuna meeting with Klein at Akihabara for 《OS》, she referred to settling who would get to ride on the back of Kirito's bike in the previous scene through rock-paper-scissors. It was the scene where Silica, Liz, and Asuna called out "Kirito-kun" in the shopping mall.

Adachi: Wha? Really!?

Kashiwada: And here I thought that she won at rock-paper-scissors against Kirito, thus she forced him to come along.

Miki: For the record, it was a three-way rock-paper-scissors (sweat drop).

Oosawa: 'That sure is hard to realise', I thought.

Itou: Whoa whoa! That's impossible!, right.

Miki: Afterwards, Silica, who likely lost at rock-paper-scissors, muttered "This time for sure, I'm getting on Kirito-san's bike……", right. Then Sinon reacted by moving her ears as if she failed to hear that.

Kawahara: Speaking of which, when Kirito and Sinon fought in 《OS》 alone in the middle of the movie, she said "At least let me ride your bike home", but did he actually escort her in the end, I wonder.

Itou: He most likely did escort her. Since Sinon lives in Yushima, Bunkyo, which is relatively close to the Tokyo dome. Actually, I thought about including that scene in the ending credit scroll, but we already had too many cutscenes, so I could not do it.


——And so, Yuna finally enters the stage.

Miki: When Yuna makes her appearance on stage, all players are given a buff (a thing that raises an ally's and one's own abilities). What kind of effects did it have?

Kawahara: The icon differs on a case-by-case basis.

Itou: A rise in defence, attack, or HP. Only these three could be created. In AR, speed is based on one's real body, thus a bonus would be physically impossible. So, rising the amount of damage dealt, reducing the amount of damage received, or rising one's HP…… it would have to be a numerical increase in such parameters.

Adachi: Speaking of which, in 《OS》, long-range attacks are supposed to be weak. If that wasn't the case, it would break the game balance, as you can't move your body as freely in melee battles as in VR.

Itou: Right. Otherwise, everyone would just take it easy from afar.

Miki: This was something that the director brought up during the storyboard.

Itou: I thought that, graphically, it would look effective. Though, in the battle against Aincrad's 18th floor boss 《The Dire Tusk》, Sinon's portrayal was amazing (laughs).


Everyone: Laughs


Kawahara: It was quite effective.


——In 《OS》 battles, there were quite a few cases of Asuna dealing the final blow and becoming the MVP.

Miki: A truly important question! Is that MVP kiss reward given to male players too!?

Itou: I wonder?

abec: I'd like to believe she doesn't.

Adachi: Colonel feline wanted one (laughs).

Oosawa: Indeed. He did say kiss me please. I did think she gives kisses impartially.

Miki: No way. She doesn't do that. Men get a flick in the forehead.

Adachi: But either way, since it's AR, she can't touch you, so it doesn't seem like you'd feel anything.

Itou: You'd probably feel the vibration of the controller. So, there was no sound of kissing. In post-recording, we had Kanda Sayaka-san say "chu", but it was taken off.

Miki: Speaking of Yuna, it took me three watches to finally notice; the scene with the chubby Fuurinkazan player going to pick up an item in a back alley. Eiji was lying in wait there, but Yuna was hiding behind him! I thought that was amazing.

Oosawa: Wha, really?

Itou: Oooooi, you guys didn't notice it!

Adachi: For a moment, you could see the round ornaments on Yuna's head behind Eiji. I knew that because I drew them myself, but I don't know why they were there.

Miki: At that time, it was not yet clear that Eiji and Yuna were working together, thus she hid away.

Itou: Of course, it was written in the scenario too! That Yuna was behind Eiji. I had thought about having her behind the fence, but seeing how nobody realised this, I'm glad I didn't (laughs).

Miki: Even some of the producers didn't notice.

Oosawa: Speaking of which, it was in the scenario.

abec: Speaking of Yuna, the candies that the Black Yuna (the Yuna cooperating with Eiji), those things launched from the Augma and sucked up by the drones, and the thing that the White Yuna (the Yuna that Kirito met on the pedestrian bridge in Yoyogi Park) had when she touched Asuna's cheek in the end; are all of these the same thing?

Itou: Those spheres are a representation of extracted memories. I believe the ones sucked up by the drones and the ones gathered by Black Yuna look alike. When White Yuna's program activated, yellow balls that looked like Yuna's spheres appeared on the PC screen, and when a lot of them gathered, White Yuna was formed. But, what White Yuna had was not the balls themselves. They just looked round the moment Asuna's memories were restored, but that doesn't mean that White Yuna was holding the balls themselves.

Miki: These candies also appeared in 『Sword Art Online Hopeful Chant』, a short story bonus given to movie attendees.

Kawahara: Yuuna loved to sing and took good care of her throat. She'd always carry "throat lozenges" with her, thus she frequently gave some to Eiji.


——Yuuna's father's, Professor Shigemura's, lab (laboratory) sure has some prominent members.



Everyone: Laughs



Kawahara: The headquarters of evil, Touto Institute of Technology, abbreviated as Toukou——

Kashiwada: Please hold that thought (laughs)!

Itou: It's the same abbreviation.

Kawahara: Kayaba Akihiko, Sugou Nobuyuki one grade below him, Koujiro Rinko-san (the researcher who developed the Medicuboid based on the data left by Kayaba), and Higa Takeru (the person in charge of the development of the experimental Soul Translator that appears in the Alicization Arc).

Itou: That's one heck of a laboratory.

Miki: With such advanced technology being researched, it does deserve praise.

Kawahara: Nevertheless, Professor Shigemura himself feels more like heretical researcher who's performing non-mainstream, cutting edge research.

Kashiwada: Though, there were a lot of students in his lecture.

Oosawa: That's because there were auditing students there as well.

Kawahara: Probably because the 《Augma》 became popular. Until then, I believe it was quite empty.


——『SAO the Movie』 has quite a thing for cooking scenes.

Miki: There was a scene where Kirito was told by Yui that "Papa's standard menu consists of spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino with no garnish." and, in the next cooking scene, he seems to have reflected on that and used garnish.

Itou: At that time, he made Japanese-style paste and was told "You really do only eat pasta" by Asuna, so he also made a salad in a hurry.

Kawahara: It's best eaten with chopsticks. Due to being Japanese-style.

Adach: I liked how Kirito tapped with the chopsticks when draining the hot water from his pasta.

Oosawa: Me too.

Miki: I don't get it at all! Did that even happen?

Oosawa: Twice for sure!, I thought. Oh, and the sound of the sink too.

Itou: I actually thought that sound was loud.

Kashiwada: We also got a detailed depiction of the headphones from the director.

Itou: In the scene where he got a call from Asuna, he raised his left hand to his ear covered by the headphones. The noise cancelling function was on until then. One of Yuna's songs was playing and he set it to 'off' with his hand.

abec: That's so detailed!


——Asuna's bathing scene was also depicted in detail.

Kawahara: That was really magnificent!! Oh and…… will it get an upgrade in the BD?

Kashiwada: It…… will (laughs). The part where she gets out of the bath currently changes to a cutaway to the shampoo though.

Adachi: What about the nipples? I did draw them in full.

Oosawa: That is…amazingly… graphic……

Itou: Right!

Kawahara: And yet they were present in the postrecording.

Adachi: They were in colour back then. Everyone was shocked.

Itou: I was pretty peeved that they were replaced (laughs)! But, I did slightly resist even after being told that we couldn't do them. As a matter of fact, they can be faintly seen even in the movie. We combined the nipple and nippleless versions together, though it's really faint……


Everyone: Bursts into laughter.


abec: You'll just have to keep your eyes peeled in the cinema (laughs).

Itou: I put them in during video compilation, figuring that I'd stop if Oosawa noticed.

Oosawa: What, I didn't realise that.

Adachi: The original has been fully drawn, so I would like you to see it if there was an opportunity. I drew the nipples slightly upturned, the way I like them (laughs).

Itou: The bath scene was done by an animator named Kamimoto (Kaneshi), whose forte is nudes, I want you to see them.

Adachi: If we start on that, it'll go on for hours…… (laughs).

Miki: Well then, shall we get back to the actual topic (sweatdrop).


——What can you say about Eiji's battle scene?

Miki: The scene where Klein's 《Fuurinkazan》 gets attacked by Eiji. Eiji's powered suit shows off its true abilities. The capabilities of his body and the future prediction viewpoint were extremely cool.

Itou: Though it only appears in that scene; the future prediction I mean.

Miki: But due to that future prediction scene, you can realise that that's how Eiji always sees things. That's why he's so absurdly strong.

abec: Does it have any behind-the-scenes story?

Itou: The motif is based on Ironman from 『Captain America: Civil War』. I asked Storyboarder Shikama Takahiro-san and Director of Photography Waki Akiratarou-san to make it "like Civil War".

Miki: Completely coincidentally, in Kawahara-san's book 『Accel World』, when Haruyuki's mind is corrupted by the cursed 《Disaster Armour》, a practically identical phenomenon occurs.

Oosawa: What bothered me at that scene was how Eiji lifted Klein up with one hand. I wondered how would the viewers see that. Though, it was later revealed that it was the strength of the powered suit, rather than his own strength……

Miki: Like how he kicked off walls midair in the parking lot scene in the second half.

Oosawa: If you realise that it misled you to think that it was his real ability, then I'd call it a success.

Miki: Speaking of which, regarding that first 12 minute clip released on the PS store before the movie was released, there were some viewers who wrote "(Seeing the scene where Eiji jumped down) Like any human can do something like that.". "Huhuhu, this mystery is resolved in the actual movie", I chuckled.

Kawahara: Setting-wise, the blue lines lit up when he's activating the powered suit.

Itou: Right.

Kawahara: It's cool how it looks like 『Tron: Legacy』. Here, when it focuses on the button flickering below Klein's ear, you realise for the first time that his memories are being extracted.


——Due to the influence of the 《Augma》, the news that the population in《ALO》 began to dwindle was reported on 《MMO Stream》.

Miki: A nice tidbit here is that Fukaziroh-chan, to whom Dyne sent his call of love by saying that he obtained a grenade launcher is the name of a girl who appears in Sigsawa Keiichi's 『SAO』 spinoff novel 『Gun Gale Online』.

Oosawa: The appearance of Recon, Eugene, Alicia, and the 《Sleeping Knights》 is sure to make the fans of the TV series happy.

Miki: Speaking of which, when White Yuna appears, some small whites appear; what is their intention and purpose?

Itou: You're talking about the meaning of the butterflies…… they existed in the original plot and I used them as a symbol of scenes where (the difference between) the virtual and dreams are vague.

Kawahara: So, it's a symbol of "ephemerality" or something?

Itou: Of course, that too. At nearly the last shot in the movie, there was a scene where the 《SAO》 Eiji and Yuuna stood in a flower garden with tons of butterflies, so something like that.

Oosawa: Oh, actually, I thought that those were listening devices from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Miki: That's absurd (laughs).

Itou: Only the two in the Yoyogi Park flower bed were shown clearly, while all other butterflies were slightly faint to intentionally make the sense of reality fuzzy.


Oosawa: And here I thought they were listening devices from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

abec: "It was a conspiracy!" "What did ya say!?", something like that (laughs)?

Miki: If that were the case, wouldn't we have left some leads unresolved!

Itou: If so, in the end, there was a butterfly fluttering over Kikuoka's head.


——There was a mascot always with Yuna the Diva, right?

abec: The mascot is a deformed version of the last boss in the movie, the boss of the 100th floor of《Aincrad》, 《An Incarnate of the Radius》.

Oosawa: Wha? Really?

Itou: Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?

Miki: Hey, hey! Producer-san!? I did say that at the meeting!?

abec: My friends who went to see the movie with me noticed. "It has some connection to the boss, right?"

Kawahara: Because Yuna was running on the 100th floor boss's resources and language module.

Miki: During Yuna's concert, that hardworking mascot let Yuna ride on its head like a Dodai from Gundam. Then I thought 'She's riding on the last boss' (laughs).

Adachi: It doesn't have a name.

Itou: We've been frequently asked to give his name, huh.

Kawahara: Let's decide on it here.

Itou: I've been referring to it solely as "the manjuu".


Everyone: Laughs


Adachi: We all call it the "butaman".


Everyone: Laughs


Miki: Hmm…… The 100th floor's boss's official name is 《An Incarnate of the Radius》. By the way, do you know what we'd get if we abbreviate it?

Kashiwada: If you took the initials, it would be "AINCRAD", right.

Itou: In that case, Ain.

Miki: Ain-chan. Is Ain the German word for "1"?

Itou: Hmm. Yuna's name originates from the Latin word for "1" too, so I guess it works well.

Kawahara: It's decided then, it'll be Ain-chan!


——Is there any setting for the sword that Kirito acquired after defeating the last boss?

Kawahara: The last boss that was present in the 《Ruby Palace》 was the one formally developed by 《Argus》 before Kayaba took over. Thus, the sword that appeared upon defeating it would probably be as strong as Yui's 《Object Eraser》.

Miki: Have you decided on the name for the sword?

Kawahara: I'm sorry, I haven't decided on it yet, but I'll think of one eventually (laughs).


——There was a scene mid-movie where it seemed like Pina had come to help.

Itou: That's inaccurate. Its colour was slightly changed and its voice was also different, so it's not the same creature. The actual Pina is played by Izawa Shiori, while the voice of that small dragon (the boss of 《Aincrad's》 91st floor, 《Dorz'l the Chaos Drake》) that turned into a big one was created with special effects.

Miki: I see.

Itou: By the way, the dragon was made by using a boss monster from Bandai Namco's 『SAO』 game 『Infinity Moment』 as reference.

Miki: The monster that attacked Eiji in the parking lot is the same one, right?

Itou: Yes, it is.

Kawahara:The actual 91st Floor boss would have also misled the players to let their guard down by making them think it was a cute dragon like Pina, then turn into a giga dragon…… I guess that's how it would have played out.


——I'm interested in the scene where Asuna's lips moved without making a sound.

Adachi: You're thinking of the scene where she was with Kirito in bed, right. In the storyboard, it was written that it was "It's alright." I'm surprised that people haven't realised it.

Oosawa: Then, what about the end? The camping scene where they went to see that meteor shower. When Kirito whispered something in Asuna's ears.

Itou: I don't think we need to explain that one. We haven't explained a similar scene in the final episode of the first season of the TV series, so I feel that we can just leave it to the viewers to interpret.

Miki: On a related note, about Black Yuna and White Yuna being separate beings……

Itou: Surprisingly, that didn't go through well.

Miki: The Black and White Yuna. Both of them are separate existences. The White Yuna was that white ghost who made her request to Kirito by pointing with her finger. The Black Yuna is an AR idol diva.

Itou: Until midway through through the movie, you'd expect them to be the same being, but they're actually separate…… everything was explained by Shigemura in the climax.

Miki: The Black Yuna is an AI crawler with limited emotions meant solely to drawn in players to 《OS》. Singing was her only purpose. The White Yuna was an existence born with the activation of an AI program midway. She continuously received upgrades through deep learning and was about to be reborn as Shigemura Yuuna. This Shigemura Yuuna was the yellow-haired girl in plain clothes that appeared before the professor as a phantom in the end. Oh, and she was also shown in the researcher's picture frame.

Kashiwada: I thought that Black Yuna was wiped out, but then I saw her singing on the TV in the 《Dicey Cafe》, and I began crying.

Oosawa: She was singing in Shinjuku, huh. I was very very glad when I saw her started up again.

Kashiwada: Midway through the movie, wasn't Kirito lead to a shrine? Was the one to lead him there the White Yuna?

Itou: That's right.

Adachi: That was kinda hard to grasp, even though there was a ringtone……

Miki: Speaking of which, I would like to explain that with spoilers now. At the stadium in the end, the White Yuna said "At the place where we met yesterday…… at the old 《Aincrad's》 100th floor, defeat the boss monster. Black Swordsman. If you do, I'm sure——" as she faced Kirito to have him log in to the Ruby Palace in VR; the continuation of it would be "If you do, you can become ranked number one in 《OS》" "And you can sweep away all the boss monsters rampaging in the stadium and save everyone!"

abec: My friends thought that the sword from the last boss had an effect particularly effective against bosses.

Itou: That interpretation works too.

Oosawa: Kirito sure became a pyrotechnician.

Miki: That felt really good.

Itou: In my mind, Digimon respect. The Omegamon from 『Digimon Adventure: Our War Game!』.

abec: Ah! I see (laughs).


——Please tell us about the design for the last boss of the 100th Floor.

abec: Before the design, I received an awfully detailed setting from Kawahara-san; aside from the visuals, it also included the story on Aincrad and hidden details on the world. It already had the healing thing back then.

Itou: Araki Tetsuhiro (director of the TV anime 『Attack on Titan』) found the healing with the fall of a drop very interesting. He burst into laughter. Then he asked me "you could have just reused something from the bank, so why did you create a new shot?", and I answered "because the artist was different".


Everyone: Laughs


Miki: When it first appeared, I was shocked by the large number of health bars.

Kawahara: The reason why Kayaba changed himself to the last boss was because he saw the data for the original boss and thought "Like hell anyone can beat this thing" …or at least that's what I think he did.

abec: This time, the players had guns, flight, and magic, so it was kinda like cheating. If you fought it in the original 《SAO》 world and could only attack its feet, you'd have to climb a wall or its body to attack or you wouldn't have been able to defeat it, huh.

Kawahara: There were corridor like places in the dome walls, so you climb up there and do something with long-range Sword Skills, I guess (laughs).

Miki: The scene where Kirito and the others descended from the sky was also intense, huh.

Itou: That was a super~ long pan. About 5 frames of panning.

Miki: It was awfully big and seemed like "There's no way you can win against it".

Oosawa: The lack of expression was also scary. I thought there's no way they can win.

Kawahara: That is included abec-san's character comparisons.

abec: I had completely forgotten about them, so while watching the movie, I thought "Uwah, so huge" (laughs). What was the setting like again?, just as I had this thought, I recalled that I was the one who drew it.

Miki: abec-san, when you drew it, did you receive any motifs or inspiration for the design?

abec: In the setting, there was a reference to a god-like being that was involved in the creation of Aincrad, thus I took the motif from there, oh, and since 6 magic stones were supposed to create a protective barrier, I imagined the boss as a 『goddess with magic stones』. Oh, and with several means of attacking……

Adachi: The way they kept switching to destroy that protective barrier was cool, huh.

Kawahara: As a matter of fact, there was also a scene of Klein being healed with magic.

Miki: And he said he was invincible in VR……

Itou: It's nice that you can still fight despite having a bone fracture in VR.

Miki: This might be a foolish question, but what are the names of the Sword Skills Asuna and Kirito used to take down the last boss?

Itou: 《Mother's Rosario》 and 《Starburst Stream》.

Adachi: I was concerned about whether we should have them say the skill names.

Itou: In the end, we chose not to. At the postrecording, we had Matsuoka-kun shouting vigorously all the time during the sword swinging.


——And now, finally, about the ending……

Kawahara: In the ending, the ring Kirito gave to Asuna had a jewel that looked like Yui's crystal with data (the item where Yui's data was stored in『SAO』season 1 episode 12)……

Itou: Just a coincidence.

Kawahara: Wha!! And here I was sure it was all planned!

Itou: We had the design for the ring chosen with the help from agete. My wife had a friend in agete, so that's how it came to be. There seem to be rumours about this having some sort of connection to Kawahara-san's wife, so allow me to deny that!

Kawahara: Because I don't have a wife! In the real world.

Oosawa: Speaking of accessories, I felt a lot of interest in Asuna's clothes in the movie. I really like the fashion of the ones she wore for the date in Yoyogi Park. Her large belt and her slightly different than usual hairdo. The necklace is also lovely.

Miki: How did the design for her clothes came about?

Adachi: I began by imagining Asuna as a character who normally does not like to show her bare legs. Her uniform showing her legs in the shopping mall was probably the only fanservice shot, I think? Other than that, she practically always wore stockings. Even in 《OS》, she wore coloured tights. In Yoyogi Park, she was conscious of dressing smartly in a long skirt. Since it was a date with Kirito, I figured Asuna would go all out. Thus, I also changed up her hair.

Miki: What's your favourite outfit?

Adachi: The outfit Asuna wore when talking to Kirito in front of her house after her memories were stolen. She was wearing short leather pants. Though the lower half of her body could barely be seen there.

Itou: For about 5 shots.

Adachi: You couldn't see it, thus I wanted it to be seen. Her last outfit also had the same problem; it's a shame that you could only see the top. Though I drew her full-body.

Kawahara: Asuna alone had 5-6 different outfits, right?

Adachi: Asuna had the most, I guess. Then we have a lot of Kirito's T-shirt variations. Among them, the one here wore when he went to the hospital was the best.

Itou: The one with the headphones?

Adachi: Yeah. The Sound 3H brand. I made it arbitrarily (laughs).

Kawahara: There were a lot of people disappointed that Suguha's 《OS》 outfit never came up.

Itou: I've said that to the person herself (Taketatsu Ayana-san). If you're in this, you'd probably be unbeatable, you'd end up winning against Eiji.

abec: 'Cause she's a kendo girl.

Oosawa: Speaking of which, Leafa brought Yui in her breasts.

Adachi: That was a big hit in screenings abroad.

Oosawa: That was the only place where the director gave the OK for comical SE (sound effects).

Itou: You mean I had no choice but to add it to a scene like that (laughs).

abec: In the last scene, what made it clear that Suguha had gone to Shimane was the phrase "Like hell would Shimane have computers!" from 『Digimon Adventure: Our War Game!』?

Itou: "There are not computers in Shimane." That was purely a homage.


——By the way, people would want to know how Kirito and Asuna's visit in the ED shots went.

Kashiwada: That shot was really profound.

Oosawa: And the scene of them lying in the train together; I wonder if they were exhausted from meeting with her mother……

Itou: I'd like to leave that to everyone's own interpretation.

Miki: Speaking of which, there was a clip after the ED…… about that.

Oosawa: It wasn't in the scenario. The director was playing around.

Kashiwada: Take it as the director's bonus. When we're asked what happens next, we answer that we'll do our best.

Adachi: If you've seen『Doctor Strange』, that came up in the end.

Itou: That's right, it was respect to MARVEL.

Adachi: If the words "SAO will return" weren't there in the end, foreigners and those who don't know about the original wouldn't be as excited.

Itou: Tranquilo (note: this means "don't be in a rush" in Spanish) ……well, it means please wait for the official announcement.


——Everyone, please share your favourite lines from 『SAO the Movie』.

Kawahara: There were a lot…… As for me, I liked Black Yuna and, for some reason, despite her limited functionality as an AI data crawler, it seemed like she was working hard on improving herself. I liked that impression. How she was working hard about her limited functionality. In that sense, I liked the scene mid-movie where Black Yuna read Eiji's book (『Full Records of the SAO Incident』) with interest and said "When I draw my second sword, there's no one who can stand against me』, it says…… wow, that sounds cool!". She's probably not on Yui's level, but it conveyed how she was evolving and I liked that.

abec: As for me, it's the scene with Klein in the hospital. When, having lost his memories, he took the stance of an outsider and said "Because not everything was fun and games……", it was the first time someone involved the incident gave an impression of giving an opinion of a bystander…… That couldn't really be put to words, huh.

Oosawa: As for me, I liked Asuna's numerous small nods to Kirito. At first, it was when Kirito said "I'll give you a ring as a present" in the Aincrad scene. The next one was down the middle, when Kirito said 'Believe in me', after burying his face in Asuna's chest in the bed scene. I liked how this portrayed Asuna accepting Kirito.

Kashiwada: As for me, it would be the part where Asuna caught Silica mid-air in the last boss battle. "So you've been worrying about it all this time, I'm sorry", brought me to tears. Until now, Asuna and Silica did not have such a deep dialogue, thus I felt "Have they formed a bond" here. And another thing related to Asuna, "What I can do now". That was awesome. I believe there was no one who didn't cry at the scene where Yuuki appeared.

Miki: As for me, it's Eiji's line. I really liked when Eiji said "What's wrong with giving us the memories of that shitgame 《SAO》" in the showdown with Kirito at the end. I'm glad we had that line in the script. The more carefully the creators handle 『SAO』, the harder it is to say such a thing, but, I mean, for example, if you were no longer able to call your own work boring, you'd be done for as a writer, that's what I mean. Thus, I was really glad that there was that line. In the same sense, when Kirito was unparalleled in 《OS》 boss battles and, during the battle with 《Waheela the Black Wolf》, the moment he collided with a minor character, the latter said "W-what's up with you. Don't be so feverish about a game…… it's only a game, right?". I also really liked that part. Since everyone in the audience would have thought "No, it's not just a game!"

Adachi: As for me…… Hmm, let's see, Kirito's "You guys, haven't you been spending a bit too much time on games?" in the beginning scene. I loved that. It was the most amusing thing. The fact that 'You're one to talk!' (laughs). He was told "I don't want to be told that by you, Kirito-san" by Silica.

Itou: ……Nothing in particular. If I'm forced to say something, it would be Shigemura's lines in general. Probably because they were a pain to record. Without any fear of Kaga Takeshi, I personally entered the booth and personally guided him. Oh and….. The sentence that appeared before the ED title. I'm referring to the sentence added to the 『Full Records of the SAO Incident』.


——Your final words please!

Itou: Like the fact that there was someone who looked like Kibaou in the stadium? There were also people who looked like Thinker and Yulier in the same shot.


Everyone: Oh, right.


Itou: Also, the brown man from the Blue⁽²⁾ Dragon Alliance from the 《Aincrad》 arc, and the Titan's Hand people who attacked Kirito and Silica. It was the shot with the characters looking up as the White Yuna scattered in all directions in the stadium.

Kawahara: There was a lot of them (laughs).

Itou: Oh and…… In the last boss battle, in the shot where Sinon shot with her Hecate in her 《GGO》 outfit, and the next shot after she fired twice, there was someone shooting behind her in the lower left, but he was badly done in by the boss. That was Yamikaze-san.


Everyone: Bursts into laughter.


Miki: Despite calling his Agility so great, he was shot (laughs).

Itou: After he was done in by the boss, Kirito and Asuna came in; there were only 3 seconds in between, so nobody noticed.

abec: Next time you're watching it, you won't be able to miss it in a different sense (laughs).


——Thank you very much!!

《Aincrad Genesis》 by Kawahara Reki

Setting 1

■Aincrad World Lore
Once upon a time, the balance of all creations on The Ground was maintained by the divine protection of the white and black ≪Great Holy Trees≫. The Dark Elf race, who are the devotees of the ≪Black Great Holy Tree≫, established ≪Lyusula Kingdom≫, while the Forest Elves, who are the devotees of the ≪White Great Holy Tree≫, established ≪Kales'Oh Kingdom≫ and both prospered to a great extent through the divine protection and powerful magic of the Great Holy Trees. Additionally, the ≪Alliance of the Nine≫ was established by the human race, the ≪Underground Kingdom of Aul-Da≫ was established by the dwarf race; in the company of several small-to-medium nations of several more races, a generally peaceful period among the races continued for a long time.

However, at some point, a group of elves, seeking to obtain bodies impervious to even blades, attempted to hurt the two Great Holy Trees to gain their sap. Their plans were foiled and the group was banished from both kingdoms for eternity. In the legends of the Dark Elves, they were depicted as Forest Elves, while in the legends of Forest Elves, they were depicted as Dark Elves, but before long, both sides began to call them ≪Fallen Elves≫.

Having been exiled to the northern region of ice and snow, the Fallen Elves detested both kingdoms and spent many years afterwards attempting to secretly incite war between the two kingdoms. Bit by bit, the tension between the two kingdoms escalated, until finally, with an attempted assassination of the Lyusulan Kingdom's queen, their diplomatic relations were severed. The human Alliance of the Nine and the dwarven Underground Kingdom were divided in their support of the two elven kingdoms, unprecedented tension engulfing The Ground.

And so, in the end, war broke out and the sorcerers from both elven kingdoms were about unleash their largest scale offensive magic, when a disaster took place. A ring of light engulfed the ten kilometer wide field that had become their battlefield, detaching it from The Ground and sending it flying into the sky.

Besides the battlefield, the capital cities of Lyusula Kingdom, Kales'Oh Kingdom, the Alliance of the Nine, and the Underground Kingdom, as well as their main cities were all scooped up by the ring of light. The ≪disks≫ numbered a hundred and, upon rising high up into the distant skies, they piled atop each other vertically. Through this incident that was later dubbed as the ≪Great Separation≫ the Floating Castle Aincrad was born.

In Aincrad, which had lost the divine protection of the Great Holy Trees, almost all magic was lost while, perhaps due to some kind of force, any arrow fired from a bow became unable to fly straight. Many years since then, the tale of the Great Separation was only passed down to the descendants of the two elven races.

●The Ground
In the distant past, it was a world where all races lived in peace. The huge continent of Yunier was at its center, while various big and small islands dotted its surroundings. After the ≪Great Separation≫, its civilizations declined, leaving only small villages dotting the world, barely getting by.

●The Great Holy Trees
Beings that safeguarded The Ground in ancient times. The super large conifer ≪Black Great Holy Tree≫ and the likewise huge broadleaf ≪White Great Holy Tree≫ formed a pair, maintaining the balance of all creations.

●The Great Separation
The natural disaster that served as the basis of the creation of the Floating Castle Aincrad. The main towns of the continent of Yunier were all cut out in a disk shape and banished to the skies. The two miko of the Great Holy Trees caused the incident through their wish, giving up their lives in the process. Since then, the lineage of the miko came to an end.

●The Sanctuary
A facility hidden below the center of the First Floor of Aincrad. It was sealed by using six ≪Keys≫; enshrined inside is a huge magic stone (the crystalisation of the two miko) that supports all functions of Aincrad. The owner of the magic stone would gain the ability of using ancient magic, but upon the magic stone being removed from its pedestal, the ≪Teleport Gates≫ and ≪Inner Area Barrier≫ would cease to function, while if the stone were destroyed, Aincrad itself would collapse. The Fallen Elves, operating behind the scenes in Aincrad, scheme to obtain the magic stone and place all the floors under their control.

Setting 2

Aincrad 100th Floor Boss
An Incarnate of the Radius

A super large monster that looks both like a goddess and a monstrosity.

Ordinary physical attack: An attack with the sword, spear, or tentacles
Ordinary ranged attack: An attack with lasers and missiles.
Special attack 1: Summoning the Black Great Holy Tree to perform a wide-ranged attack.
Special attack 2: Summoning the White Great Holy Tree to conduct self-healing.
Special attack 3: Performing the Great Separation, the ground beneath the player's feet is cut into a disk, which is sent flying into the air; the disk crumbled in the air, causing the victim to fall.
Special defence: Using 6 magic stones in various placed around its body to create a barrier.

Notes

1. ^ A slang term for people who play as the opposite sex in a game.

2. ^ That's what the raw actually says. Probably a typo or a case of lapsus linguae?