Interest

Sword Art Online's Traditional Craft Goods Line Offers Kirito, Asuna Kokeshi Dolls

Anime News Network's merchandise coverage sponsored by Tokyo Otaku Mode.

The retail chain Animate unveiled the Sword Art Traditional line of collaboration merchandise on Thursday to promote Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale, which will open in Japan on Saturday. The anime and producers of Japanese traditional crafts are teaming up for the project.

All of the products in the line are hand-made by artisans. The merchandise showcases regional traditional crafts from across Japan. The product lineup includes:

Set of two Kokeshi dolls (Gunma)
11,800 yen (about US$104)

Edo kiriko glass (Tokyo)
21,000 yen (US$185)

Kyokuro montsuki some black cloth dyed book cover (Kyoto)
4,500 yen (US$40)

Kishū Lacquerware nail clippers (Wakayama)
5,400 yen (US$48)

Satsuma porcelain cup and saucer sets (Kagoshima)
20,000 yen (US$177)

Takaoka copperware letter opener (Toyama)
20,500 yen (US$181)

Set of two Awa Japanese paper bookmarks (Tokushima)
3,300 yen (US$29)

Kyokuro montsuki some black cloth dyed tote bag (Kyoto)
5,800 yen (US$51)

Byōbu folding screen (Tokyo)
21,000 yen (US$185)

Kyoto paper fan (Kyoto)
7,500 yen (US$66)

The film will screen in United States theaters for a one-night event on March 9. Prior to the wide release, Aniplex of America will host a premiere event in Hollywood, California on March 1. The film will screen in Canada from March 17-19.

Aniplex of America describes the movie's story:

In 2022, the world of virtual reality was upended by the arrival of a new invention from a genius programmer, Akihiko Kayaba, called NerveGear. It was the first full-dive system, and with it, came endless possibilities to VRMMORPGs.
In 2026, a new machine called the Augma is developed to compete against the NerveGear and its successor, the Amusphere. A next-gen wearable device, the Augma doesn't have a full-dive function like its predecessors. Instead, it uses Augmented Reality (AR) to get players into the game. It is safe, user-friendly and lets users play while they are conscious, making it an instant hit on the market. The most popular game on the system is “Ordinal Scale” (aka: OS), an ARMMORPG developed exclusively for the Augma.
Asuna and the gang have already been playing OS for a while, by the time Kirito decides to join them. They're about to find out that Ordinal Scale isn't all fun and games...

The film will open in Japan on February 18 in 150 theaters. Kadokawa had announced in October that the film would be "simultaneously released worldwide on February 18, 2017.” The film will screen in about 1,000 theaters worldwide.

Source: Anime! Anime!