‘Sword Art Online’ Tops Major 2017 Anime Film Poll

A new year is here, but there are still honors to give out from 2017. Recently, Japanese audiences gathered to poll their favorite anime films of the last year, and Sword Art Online went over very well with everyone.

Anime! Anime! just released the results of its recent fan-poll for 2017 films (via ANN). With nearly 600 respondents, fans voted for their top anime features of last year, and Sword Art Online‘s theatrical debut came out on top. You can check out the list’s top 18 picks below:

1. Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale
2. Fate/stay night: Heaven’s Feel I. presage flower
3. No Game, No Life Zero
4. Gochūmon wa Usagi Desu ka?? Dear My Sister
5. Detective Conan: The Crimson Love Letter
6. Free! -Timeless Medley- Kizuna
7. Gekijōban Kuroko no Basuke Last Game
8. Girls und Panzer das Finale 1st episode
9. Free! -Take Your Marks-
10. Kizumongatari Part 3: Reiketsu
11. Free! -Timeless Medley- Yakusoku
12. The irregular at magic high school The Movie: The Girl Who Summons the Stars
13. Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic
14. Gekijō-ban Hibike! Euphonium: Todoketai Melody
15. Fireworks, Should We See it from the Side or the Bottom?
16. Code Geass – Hangyaku no Lelouch – Kōdō
17. Gekijōban Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya: Sekka no Chikai
18. Godzilla: Kaijū Wakusei
18. Genocidal Organ
18. Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!

Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale nabbed the top spot with nearly 30% of the poll’s votes. Male voters tended to poll for the film while all three Free! films of 2017 landed the top prizes for female votes. In total, the poll’s respondents were made up mostly of men with a 62% turnout, and about 40% of all voters were under the age of 19.

If you are not familiar with the film, you should know it is a massive one. The film picks up with Kirito and his friends four years after they were trapped in a full-dive game. The gaming industry is now buzzing over new technology that allows gamers to enter in AR titles, and the Augma allows players to stay in control while wearing it. The device’s most popular game Ordinal Scale intrigues Kirito enough to check it out, but the protagonist learns quickly enough that AR gaming is no safer than any VR worlds out there.

Ordinal Scale did quite well in the theaters, both domestically and overseas. Stateside it hit over $1.5 million and cruised worldwide with an over $20 million dollar haul. That’s rather impressive considering it only opened in Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale hits Blu-ray and DVD on December 19, 2017.

Did you enjoy Sword Art Online‘s first film? Hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to let me know and talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!