This is a recap of Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale. See the main page for a list of tropes appearing in this film.
A Distant Prologue shows Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki being trapped in Sword Art Online, during their "honeymoon" on the 22nd floor. While looking at the "ceiling" sky, Asuna thinks of watching the night sky in real life, as she lives in the city and could not enjoy such sights. Kirito suggests they see the meteor shower at Dodaira mountain in Saitama, near his home, if they manage to return to the real world. He also promises to give Asuna a ring as gift when they get there. Back into the current time, nearing the end of April 2026, Asuna, at her home, looks forward to the promised date: May 4.
Meanwhile, at the server room of the now-defunct Argus, a figure is seen walking to the SAO main server. putting his hand on the server, he utters some words.
A new device called the Augma is taking Japan by storm - an augmented reality device, the Augma's primary attraction is Ordinal Scale, a massively multiplayer online game with RPG elements, as well as its mascot, Yuna, an AR idol. She is going to have her first live concert at the new Tokyo National Stadium. Students of the SAO Survivor School are invited to the concert free of charge. OS uses drones to boost signal transmission, allowing players to experience battles anywhere in Tokyo.
Kirito, Asuna, Keiko "Silica" Ayano and Rika "Lisbeth" Shinozaki discuss the utility of Augma at a family restaurant. Silica looks forward for the concert, so much that she has sung karaoke of Yuna's songs with Suguha before. Kirito on the other hand is unenthusiastic about the event. He comments while the Augma is a wonderful gadget, nothing beats VR when it comes to experience. Silica mentions the rumour that boss monsters from the "old Aincrad" (that is to say, the Aincrad in SAO, compared to the new one in ALfheim Online) are appearing in OS. The girls ask Kirito, who has a motorbike, for transport.
That night, Kirito and Asuna go to the UDX in Akihabara, where a boss battle is scheduled to take place. There they are greeted by Ryoutarou "Klein" Tsuboi and the Fuurinkazan. True to the rumour, the boss monster is from SAO - the floor 10 boss "Kagachi the Samurai Lord". Kirito finds himself unable to cope with the battle due to his weak physique. From a corner, a figure analyses the battle, scanning 8 persons - Kirito, Asuna and all 6 of the Fuurinkazan. As they are about to finish Kagachi, a stray shot from a player's bazooka is about to hit Yuna. The mysterious man from before deflects the shot, hitting Kagachi, and reveals himself as Eiji, the second-ranked player of OS. Through Eiji's coordination, the players defeat Kagachi, with Asuna landing the killing blow. Yuna comes down and kisses Asuna, who is also made MVP. Klein notes that Kirito hasn't gained much rank. After the battle, a Fuurinkazan member is hunting for treasure. He stumbles upon Eiji, thinking he wants to fight over the treasure.
At their cabin in ALO Aincrad's 22nd floor, Kirito and Asuna, as well as Klein, reminisce the battle with Kagachi with Silica, Lisbeth, Suguha "Leafa" Kirigaya, Shino "Sinon" Asada, and Andrew Gilbert "Agil" Mills. They also discuss Yuna's concert, for which Sinon (who isn't an SAO Survivor) and Agil have tickets. Klein begs Agil for a ticket, as do Leafa with Sinon - however as Suguha has kendo training camp upcoming, she can't attend and calls off. Meanwhile, Eiji and Yuna talk about a jar of orbs the latter's holding, and he reads a book about the SAO incident, saying he's "taking revenge on those people".
The next afternoon, Suguha heads off for the camp. She tells Kirito, who's going to university soon, to not neglect his physical training. While browsing the Internet for potential universities, he sees the profile of professor Tetsuhiro Shigemura, an expert in AR. Frustrated that AR is everywhere, he logs into ALO to meet Asuna. They note that players of VR games like ALO and Gun Gale Online are decreasing, due to many of them picking up OS instead.
That night, Klein invites Asuna to a boss battle in Yoyogi Park, near her home. However, the Fuurinkazan lacks one member, so they wait for him while Asuna goes ahead. The battle has begun and the remaining member still hasn't arrived - what waits for them instead is a separate boss. As the Fuurinkazan are tackling the boss, Eiji attacks the members one by one. Klein tries to stop, but is curb-stomped by Eiji. Eiji breaks Klein's arm and chokes him while the boss monster "finishes" Klein. Elsewhere, near the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, Asuna organises the battle well, and comes out on top again. She dodges Yuna's kiss this time. As she walks home, she wonders what happens to Klein and his friends.
The next day, Kirito goes to the same spot to meet Asuna. He practises with OS while waiting for her, but also meets a mysterious hooded girl. She points at a direction while uttering some words. From Yui's reading, she seems to be saying "search". Kirito wonders what does the hooded girl mean when Asuna shows up. Asuna notes that Eiji was a member of the Knights of Blood guild - the same guild of which Asuna is sub-leader - back in SAO, under the handle "Nautilus"; however he was timid and stayed off the frontlines, unlike the other members of the guild. They also discuss the appearance of the hooded girl, which they think is a digital spirit. Yui appears suddenly, having found out that the boss battles' location in OS correspond to the parks and plazas in Tokyo by plotting the SAO boss room layouts on the map. They also note that Klein is missing. After logging out, Kirito asks Agil to find Klein. Asuna calls Kirito, noting that other OS players have seen the wraith before.
Asuna, Silica and Lisbeth go to Ebisu for the next boss battle. While fighting the boss monster, Asuna talks to Eiji, who's denying his past as Nautilus, and notes that his former lieutenant has changed. Suddenly, "Pina" shows up, distracting Silica. However it turns out to be "The Chaos Drake" from floor 91 of SAO. Silica pulls a Screw This, I'm Outta Here, only to run into and be pushed by Eiji. As the Chaos Drake approaches Silica, Asuna shields her, taking damage in her place. Asuna suddenly experiences the same feeling she had when Heathcliff "killed" her at the 75th floor boss room in Old Aincrad. Her Augma flashes and she collapses. Enraged by what he has seen, Kirito, who was watching from the sidelines, attacks Eiji, only to be intercepted by the second-ranked player, noting the differences in their ranking level. The boss battle runs out of time.
After getting home, Asuna tries to reminisce her first meeting with Kirito at the 1st floor boss battle briefing. Later that night, she has a nightmare where Kirito forgets her. Frustrates, she calls Kirito to log into ALO, telling him that she's forgetting the moments she had in SAO. The next day they go to a hospital in Yokohama (the same place where Yuuki Konno, Asuna's friend, received the Medicuboid treatment) for an analysis. Dr Kurahashi (Yuuki's doctor) tells them that Asuna's brain has been scanned for memories of playing SAO, and the scan has affected her spine, which risks further brain functions. They also learn from the doctor that other SAO Survivors have also been attacked, and similarly lose their memories. Asuna breaks down, with Kirito unable to help.
Agil phones Kirito, telling him that Klein is hospitalised in a facility in Yoyogi. While buying drinks from a vending machine, Kirito meets the hooded girl again, pointing in response to Kirito asking her the meaning of the "search" she mentioned before disappearing. Back at home, Kirito urges the OS player community not to play in fear of further memory loss incidents. The forums ignore him. Frustrated, he seeks to solo the monsters himself. While fighting "The Diamond Tusk" in Shibuya, Yui informs Kirito that 10 boss monsters are appearing throughout Tokyo. Another SAO survivor is attacked and defeated. Yui attempts to track his memories, which is uploaded into an Augma drone, but is blocked by the security system. With the help of Sinon, Kirito finishes the Diamond Tusk.
Kirito suddenly finds out the hooded girl is pointing at a general direction, and asks Yui to pinpoint the location - Touto Technological Institute, in Ookayama, Setagaya, where Prof Shigemura works as lecturer. Kirito confronts Shigemura at his seminar the next day, but the professor denies knowledge of the memory theft and Eiji's doings. However Kirito discovers Shigemura is building a robot, and has a picture of a girl that resembles Yuna. By contacting SAO incident task force officer Seijirou Kikuoka, for whom Kirito is an informant, he discovers that Yuuna Shigemura - the professor's daughter, also played SAO, but died from the microwave brain fryer upon player death. Kirito visits Asuna, and finds a diary she uses to record her feeling after losing her memories. Touched, Kirito hugs Asuna, promising to get her memories back.
Kirito goes to the Meiji Shrine, where he meets the hooded girl again. She reveals herself as Yuuna, and tells Kirito he isn't at a ranking to defeat Eiji and retrieve Asuna's memory yet. She also tells him that all she wants to do is to sing, after singing to a soundtrack from SAO. From there, Kirito solo attacks the bosses one by one, taking the shortest route in order to rank up quickly. Suguha also records videos of her training so that Kirito can improve his Kendo skills. Under intense soloing, Kirito reaches rank 9, and Eiji tells him to meet at the New National Stadium underground carpark tomorrow - the date of Yuna's concert - if he is to have a chance at saving his friends.
At Yuna's concert, a fistfight ensues between Kirito and Eiji. At the same time, Shigemura talks to the digital ghost of Akihiko Kayaba - the inventor of the Nervegear and SAO about his motives - he lost Yuuna to the death game, having bought the Nervegear for her as present - and that he will use the memories of the SAO Survivors, most of them gathered at the stadium - to rebuild Yuuna as an AI: Shigemura would even sell his soul to the Devil in order to bring Yuuna back. He has also made Yuuna the number one player of OS. Eiji overpowers Kirito, telling him that he was together with Yuuna, who rolled a bard, in SAO, and her death motivated him to take revenge on the other Survivors. Noting that Eiji has a device embedded to the back of his neck, Kirito rips it out, depowering Eiji's acrobatic prowess. Kirito is able to defeat Eiji, calling him out for denying his past. However, Eiji tells him it's too late: the drones situated around the stadium arena will unleash bosses from SAO, triggering fear from the audience needed to power up a massive microwave emission within the stadium, with the potential of killing everyone inside.
True enough, the monsters do pop up, and a Mass "Oh, Crap!" ensues amongst the crowd. The Gleameyes, the 74th floor boss, appears where Asuna and her friends are seated, but is intercepted by Kirito. Eiji informs Shigemura of his defeat, however, with the plan put into action, he will be with Yuuna again. The professor promises otherwise - As Eiji spent the most time with Yuuna, his memories will be taken as well. Eiji screams in fear as the Chaos Drake appears and attacks him. Meanwhile, Kikuoka and the task force try to apprehend Shigemura, failing due to assuming he is in the stadium. After the Gleameyes is defeated, the Deadly Scythe from the undergorund labyrinth appears. Hooded Yuuna intercepts the scythe, telling Kirito he must login to SAO to defeat the 100th floor boss - the Augma also has Fulldive capabilities like the Nervegear. As the emotion meter approaches full capacity, Kirito, Agil, Silica, Lisbeth and Sinon prepare to log in, and Kirito gives Asuna a ring as a promise to return her memories.
The initial attacking party encounters "An Incarnate of Radius", the ultimate boss of SAO, and struggle to even damage it. At the same time, Yuuna apologises to Asuna, explaining to her why all this happened. Asuna contemplates taking off Kirito's Augma to prevent his brain from being destroyed, but doing so risks everyone else in the stadium. Eventually, she decides to log in and help Kirito as well, telling Yuuna she did not die in vain: After all, to die in SAO means one has adventured beyond the safe zones of towns and cities. Asuna logs in, just at the nick of time, to save Silica from being crushed. Silica tearfully apologises to Asuna, and Asuna forgives her. As an Incarnate of Radius is going to attack again, green flashes surround and strike the monster - Leafa, Klein and other players from ALO and GGO are brought in by Yui as reinforcements. Yui also restores the save data she retrieved from the SAO servers, as well as grabbing Sinon's GGO save, and the players change into their corresponding appearances. Under the constant pummeling of the players, they manage to defeat the ultimate boss. Kayaba's voice congratulates them, and Kirito is bestowed a giant sword.
Back at the stadium, the Deadly Scythe overpowers Yuuna, but is killed by Kirito, in his Black Swordsman outfit and wielding the giant sword - he is now ranked Number One. With one swing, he can kill the boss monsters with ease. Yuuna takes the chance to sing and motivate the crowd, relieving them of their fears. As the meter reading drops, Shigemura breaks down when he sees the ghost of Yuuna, just as Kikuoka moves in.
Yuuna thanks Kirito's group for helping her, and returns Asuna's memory. She tells them that she's actually made up of data resources of the 100th floor boss, and as it's defeated, she will be reset as well. The players remember the brief moments seeing Yuuna when they were playing SAO, and Yuuna tells Eiji she has fulfilled her wish (to sing) before she disappears.
On May 4, 2026, the news breaks out about the "surprise event" at the stadium, and of Professor Shigemura's resignation. Klein celebrates his discharge at Dicey Cafe, with Agil telling him he has to pay due to wasting a ticket to the concert. Leafa reveals she brought her Amusphere with her during her camp - the reason she was able to log in that day. The bunch wonder where Kirito and Asuna are. At Mount Dodaira, Kirito and Asuna fulfill their promise of seeing the meteor shower made in SAO, with the latter now remembering it clearly. They talk about Asuna's mother wanting to see Kirito. She returns the ring to Kirito, asking that he put it on her finger this time. As they kiss, Yui, on board the shoulder-mounted device Kirito built, interrupts saying the meteor shower is happening.
The book on the SAO incident is shown again, with the addition of the tale of a songstress that blessed everyone, and that the lesser-known players would not be forgotten.
In The Stinger, Kikuoka leads Shigemura to a room - Shigemura is revealed to be The Mentor of Kayaba and Nobuyuki Sugou - and that Kikuoka is not arresting him, but acquiring his help in developing Underworld Online onboard Rath.
