Sword Art Online: Progressive - Aria of a Starless Night Spanish dub review

 Sword Art Online: Progressive

Aria of a Starless Night

Spanish dub review

  ¡Bienvenido! Welcome back to Learning Spanish With Anime! I've been reviewing SAO's Alicization arc for the past few weeks, but the SAO: Progressive movie, Aria of a Starless Night, was recently released on Crunchyroll, and when I saw that it had a Spanish dub, I decided to do a special edition review of this long-awaited film before continuing Alicization. 

    Unlike the Progressive light novel Aria of a Starless Night is based on, the movie follows Asuna's point of view instead of Kirito's and adds a bunch of new content. It all starts off by showing Asuna's life before the SAO incident, particularly her interactions with her family at home and her classmates at school. This offers some new background behind her decision to log in, and more detail to her early days in the game. 

    These new scenes don't always match up with the storyline from the original light novel, but I enjoyed both versions very much. A few of the new scenes even turned out to be some of my favorites from the movie. And just as I've come to expect since watching Alicization, the Spanish dub is very high quality.

 

Another uncomfortable breakfast with the family. At least her brother, Koichirou, gets to make his first anime appearance!  

    The opening scenes give a good sense of the family dynamics at Asuna's home. The stern voice used for Asuna's mother fits well with her personality. Asuna's father and brother, on the other hand, sound much more relaxed and casual in their dialogue. The atmosphere stands in stark contrast to her cheerful and fulfilling school life, where Asuna is constantly surrounded by friends. 

    This is where another one of the movie's major additions comes in, new character Misumi who is an avid gamer. Misumi has a more tomboyish voice compared to Asuna's sweet, higher pitched tone, but it definitely suits her character. She becomes the one who gets Asuna into gaming and tells her about Sword Art Online. When she finds her brother's brand new NerveGear and a copy of SAO sitting on his desk, Asuna can't resist diving in to explore the world for herself. 

"¿De verdad estoy dentro del juego?" ("Am I really in the game?") - Asuna

    Like the innocent newbie she is, the first thing Asuna does upon entering Sword Art Online is ask an NPC where she might find her friend - by shouting her real name in the middle of a crowded town square. Of course, Misumi nearly tackled Asuna to stop her, resulting in much confusion because her in-game avatar, a big burly dude named Mito with a scythe, bears no resemblance to Asuna's friend Misumi. It was hilarious how menacing the voice of Misumi's male avatar sounded through the skull mask when trying to reassure her, "Asuna, calmate. Soy yo, Misumi." ("Asuna, calm down. It's me, Misumi.") While Asuna was insistent at first that this couldn't possibly be the same person, her poor embarrassed friend shouts, "¡Callate, no me llames por mi nombre real!" ("Shut up, don't call me by my real name!")

    After that misunderstanding is sorted out, Mito shows Asuna all of the fun things to do in el castillo de Aincrad (Aincrad castle). All seems to be going well until Asuna tried to log out, only to realize that the option isn't there, and the two are teleported back to the plaza where an enormous cloaked figure appears and, looking over the town, delivers his message.

    The cloaked figure identifies itself as Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of the game, then explains the situation to the captured players - no one is leaving this game until they conquer all one hundred floors, and death in the game means they die in real life. Kayaba's tone of voice was the perfect mix of calm and intimidating, befitting his real life personality and the towering in-game representation of him. He sounded like he was taunting them at the end of his speech when he said, "Buena suerte, jugadores." ("Good luck, players.") 

    Just as Kirito did in the first episode of the anime series, Mito also decides that the best course of action is to leave the town and get to the best areas for leveling up early. However, Asuna was not an experienced gamer, and jumping right into the fight proved difficult for her. After her first encounter with a monster almost ended in her death, Asuna breaks down in tears. You can hear the complete despair in her voice when she screams at Mito, "¡No, no estoy bien!" ("No, I'm not okay!") Mito does her best to reassure her with a heartfelt promise, "Puedes confiar en mi." ("You can trust in me.") 

    As time passes and Asuna improves her fighting capabilities with Mito's help, the two start to feel comfortable in their routine of progressing through the game. However, their false sense of security is shattered when they come across a group of players who triggered a trap and were surrounded by monsters. Asuna insists on trying to save the players in danger, pleading with her friend, "¡Tenemos que ayudarlos!" ("We have to help them!") But Mito urged Asuna to take the safer and more practical approach, gently telling her, "No hay nada que nosotras podemos hacer por ellos." ("There is nothing that we can do for them.")

Asuna & Mito vs the army of carnivorous plants, aka Nepenthes 

    This turns out to be some major foreshadowing of things to come when Asuna and Mito find themselves in trouble after a routine monster slaying excursion suddenly becomes too much to handle. Asuna and Mito are separated, surrounded on all sides by vicious man-eating plants, and reduced to only a sliver of their HP as their healing potions run out. With no visible chance of reaching her friend, Mito believes she is unable to protect Asuna, and decided that she would rather leave than watch her die. 

    Both voice actresses did a great job in this scene. Mito's voice is filled with pain and regret as she blames herself - "Perdoname. No puedo cumplir mi promesa." ("Forgive me. I can't keep my promise.") Asuna, on the other hand, is just as paralyzed by her fear and despair as she was on the first day of SAO. Fortunately, Kirito appears just in time to save her by taking down the monster himself in this movie-original first meeting.

    Kirito's soft, adorably awkward dialogue in this scene stands out even more after watching Alicization's Spanish dub so recently, which is really a testament to the skill of his voice actor. There are several years of experience between the Kirito we see here and the one I was watching just last week, who was threatening goblin hordes and cracking jokes with ease. It made me realize yet again how great his character development has been over all this time. 

    After the shock of being abandoned by her friend, Asuna throws herself into battle, spending days at a time fighting her way through dungeons with little rest, until she finally meets Kirito again. Her tone of voice in these scenes, hushed and defeated in a way but still possessing a hidden strength that pushes her forward, is a good representation of her emotional state. Once again, Kirito helps her out of a potentially deadly situation, and then informs her of a strategy meeting for Aincrad's very first boss raid.

    The strategy meeting, in addition to highlighting the tension between beta testers and the rest of the players, introduces some of the other major characters who will be fighting on the frontline in Progressive. Despite watching around half of Alicization's Spanish dub already, this is also the first opportunity I've had to really listen to Agil's portrayal by his Spanish VA prior to War of Underworld. 

    It was a bit of a surprise to me that Agil's voice in the Spanish dub wasn't as deep as his English or Japanese voices, but in the end, it was still a pretty good fit for him and sounded totally natural in the boss raid scene. Kibao, on the other hand, sounded just like I figured he would, loud and assertive, and Diavel's voice had an air that was both casual and commanding, befitting the leader of the raid party when he proclaimed himself a knight. 

    Following the heated debate at the meeting and Kirito and Asuna agreeing to form a party, making him the first person she partnered with since Mito's departure, they share a meal of bread and cream together and then return to the little farmhouse he was renting to continue planning for the upcoming battle. The conversation they have outside is an anime original, and one that I really loved because of how well it incorporated Mito's story into the themes already present and tied everything together. Kirito relates to her predicament, both as a beta tester and as someone who also had to make a decision on the first day of SAO whether to stick with his new friend or forge ahead on his own with only his own life to worry about. The choice weighed heavily on him, and it shows.  

    Another thing I really appreciated about these scenes between the boss fight was how they showed the progression of Kirito and Asuna's relationship in the way they speak to each other, from the awkwardness of their first meeting to the relaxed, easy dialogue they share on the way to the labyrinth tower. I thought it was a really nice touch, and the transition was done well by their voice actors. 

The first floor boss chamber had a really beautiful design.

    The boss fight itself was just as epic as it was in the original episode from season 1, plus a stunning animation upgrade. There were a few notable differences, like a bulked up boss and a more dramatic end for Diavel, but the biggest addition by far was Mito's role in the fight. Although it did come off as slightly unrealistic that the battle around them just seemed to stop while they had their heart to heart, the scene was well acted by Asuna and Mito's VAs. Asuna's declaration to her old friend, "Ahora terminamos este juego" ("Now we end this game"), was a clear sign that she was finally able to accept Mito's actions, forgive her, and keep moving forward. 

    The boss battle ended in victory, but it was not the last challenge that Kirito and Asuna had to face before moving on to the next floor. The hostility against beta testers reaches a breaking point when a member of the raid party - a familiar face who also appeared in the Aincrad and Alicization arcs, Johnny Black - fires accusations at Kirito and all beta testers, blaming them for Diavel's death during the battle. Mito is conflicted but ultimately decides, "Debo decir la verdad." ("I must tell the truth.")

    However, before she can come forward, Kirito steps up and delivers his iconic "beater" speech. His Spanish VA really sold this shift in personality, sounding like he was totally in his element playing the villain. I've mentioned in my reviews of Alicization that Kirito's voice actor has a great range which made him one of my favorites to listen to in the Spanish dub, and this scene is a perfect example of that. 

"Al final, somos iguales." ("In the end, we're the same.") - Asuna

    The movie ends on a slightly different note than the original, with Asuna and Kirito moving on to the second floor together instead of going their separate ways following their conversation. It was another addition I really enjoyed, and Asuna's hints that Kirito gave her hope was a perfect end to the film.

    Check out my translation guide below for common and key phrases from this episode, and stay tuned for more weekly reviews. Next time, I'll be continuing my reviews of Sword Art Online: Alicization's Spanish dub. ¡Hasta luego! 

Voice Acting: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Translated Script: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Recommended Proficiency: Moderate

Key phrases: 

• ¡Bienvenida a Sword Art Online! - Welcome to Sword Art Online! 
• El castillo de Aincrad - Aincrad castle  
• ¡Cambio! - Switch! (Literally, "change") 

Common phrases: 

• Primero - First
• Saludos - Greetings 
• Felicidades - Congratulations 
• Hermano - Brother
• Entendido - Understood
• Cuidado - Careful/Watch out 
• Buen trabajo - Good work
• Bien, ya me voy - Okay, I'm leaving
• Soy caballero - I am a knight
• ¡Eres la mejor! - You're the best!
• ¿Qué dices? - What did you say?
• Si tú lo dices - If you say so
• Tengo un idea - I have an idea
• Ya me siento mejor - I already feel better
• No te confundas - Don't get confused
• ¡Perdí otra vez! - I lost again! 
• ¿Ya terminaste? - You're already done?
• ¿De verdad lo crees? - Do you really believe it?
• ¿Puedo decir algo? - Can I say something?
• ¿Podemos continuar? - Can we continue?
• Gracias por la comida - Thanks for the food
• ¿Cómo va a la escuela? - How's school going?
• ¿Quiere jugar conmigo? - Do you want to play with me?
• ¿Quieres practicar un poco más? - Do you want to practice a little more?
• ¿Puedo decirte algo? - Can I tell you something?
• No entiendo que está pasando - I don't understand what is happening

*All images are from Sword Art Online: Progressive - Aria of a Starless Night, screenshots taken by me