Final Impressions: Accel World / アクセル・ワールド

Posted by DarrenW, Tr3xus, MedusaS & aaronsine
October 6, 2012

Hey readers,

Today we will be presenting to you the final impressions, the long awaited "Accel World" / "アクセル・ワールド" !

WOW. Its been half a year since we left off with the initial impressions for Accel World, and with it comes the end of the first season! An interesting, emotional,

So the story begins in a setting that's not too far away from us, in the Japan of 2040, where technology has advanced to a stage where manipulation of the five senses have become available. Neuro-Linker, otherwise known as neuro-synchronisation, allows people to operate mobile computers in their hindsight. So basically you can view whatever you want while having computer windows, and enter realistic virtual realms.

"Haruyuki Arita"

But the first thing I noticed was not the the cool technology, but our main protagonist.
O
M
G.

"Kuroyukihime", & DarrenW's Profile Pic XD

He's HORIZONTALLY MAGNIFIED (Obese). Still, at least he has the same voice as Ouma Shu, which isn't half bad. Our protagonist, Haruyuki Arita, appears in front of my eyes as a short obese student, being tortured and bullied by other people. (I like Wikipedia's interpretation, where they say "short, fat boy")

So Haru decides to escape into the virtual world, to vent his angers from reality. (He's virtual avatar is very suitable) He likes playing what I would depict as a 3D version of squash with special power-ups.

However, he comes back one day and finds that his high score has been severely trashed. Life basically sucks for Haru now, or is it? He gets the attention of his school's vice president, Kuroyukihime (Black Snow Princess), who is, on the up side, one of the more beautiful characters in the anime. Mysterious, she presents a proposition to Haru.

Do you want to rebuild reality into a form you never dreamt of?

"Brain Burst"

Haru agrees and installs a file called "Brain Burst", which is the ultimate reality hacking programme ever created, which gives people the ability to freeze time into a thousandth of a second, and lets you think through your strategies. Called Accelerations, users can accelerate in and out, like pausing your reality.

However, with such great powers comes at a cost. Accelerations use up acceleration points. People who install such programmes must fight in a virtual arena, to maintain their acceleration points. (like a HP bar)

"Silver Crow"

Reborn into the "Silver Crow", Haru immediately gets sucked into a battle.

It then becomes clear, Haru's avatar "Silver Crow" is no ordinary avatar. It has the ability to fly, where no other burst linker has ever acquired.

The world of Accel World is broken into 7 legions, where the territories owned in Accel World is a reflection of actual territory in the real world. Each legion is governed by a "King". Players fight in order to get to the highest level achievable. Kuroyukihime's avatar is "Black Lotus", where she once was the King of the black faction, Nega Nebulus. However, due to her obsession to reach level 10, she beheads one of the other kings and was forced into hiding.

Joined by his childhood friends, Takumu Mayuzumi (Taku) and Chiyuri Kurashima (Chiyu), they face opponent after opponent to help Snow Black achieve her dream. As the playing field emerges, it suddenly becomes clear. Brain Burst is not a software, nor just a mere game. It is life, encapsulated into a flurry of differing emotions, to overcome fears and tackle challenges, rather than just "winning".

As the game continues, new opponents reach the stage, and tensions rise as a new enemy threatens everything the main characters stood for.

Will Haru be able to overcome his fears and defeat his enemies, accelerating his world into the greater reality?


DarrenW

I found Accel World to be simply put, one of the most awe inspiring anime I have watched this year.

In terms of plot, the show has really done itself proud by having an elaborate storyline nd delivering it with a punch. You could also really tell that a lot of effort has been put into it, through observing how extensive each of the two story segments in the anime had a planned order about it.

The theme is also that of an excellent one, where there were an ernormous amounts of feelings going on, but mostly, it did not deviate from friendship, camaraderie, hope, willpower, and dream, which were excellent themes to go about. I found the story to be very touching.

The two OPs, Chase the world by May'n and Burst The Gravity by ALTIMA, were wonderfully pieced together (though I don't like rap). The ED, →unfinished→ by KOTOKO was just an awesome fast paced song (personal favourite).

The only thing that I didn't really like was the art used for the Burst Linker avatars. For some reason they didn't appeal to me.

Seiji Nomi

I also found, (great job by Reki Kawahara) the antagonist for the second story to be so utterly awful, that evoked me to actually hating the character. For the first time in a long while, I never actually hated antagonists in the anime until now, because let me tell you, this antagonist really pisses me off!

The ending was very nice, nice as in I finally saw the embarrassed side of Kuroyukihime XD. Definitely going to be a Season 2, but the question is when. Arita nor Kuroyukihime both have not reached Level 10, their dream goal.

This anime definitely got my attention and I can't wait what Kawahara has in store for us in "Sword Art Online"!

Tr3xus

Plot
Accel World’s plot has a good mix of mystery, romance, action, school life and science fiction. It has a lot to offer. Unfortunately, 24 episodes are not enough to squeeze all of the content into the show.

Several important parts of the story are rushed. (Spoiler alert) Particularly, the scene when Haruyuki almost loses control of himself while using the incarnate system. In my opinion, it is not impactful enough to make me feel that the incarnate system is very dangerous and should only be used when needed. Takumu’s training to learn about the incarnate system feels rushed as well. I can empathize with Haruyuki’s as he endeavored to achieve the ability to use the incarnate system. However, I cannot say the same for Takumu’s achievement of the incarnate system because it is all summarized in 1 episode.

Haruyuki’s character development throughout the series is commendable.

Accel World has a potentially good plot, however, it is poorly executed due to bad summarizing of the plot.

Creativity
I like the idea of using feelings to generate the name and build of duel avatars. The concept of duel avatars and virtual reality is not new but the way Accel World expresses it is truly unique.

Art
The graphics are awesome; battles feel very immersive because it is very action packed and elaborate. The location designs are also very beautiful and elaborate.

Music
The battle soundtrack fit very well in all the battle scenes. There are mixtures of genres of electronic music for the battles. Unfortunately, besides the battle soundtracks, the rest of Accel World’s soundtrack is rather lackluster.

Impression
It was hard for me to empathize with any of the characters during the battles mainly because the duel avatars look very robotic and emotionless. I wish that the battle scenes included more of the real-world character’s facial expressions.

Also, because there are no real-world tragedies, I just cannot help but get the impression that all the Burst Linkers are really just taking Brain Burst too seriously.

Overall, Accel World was not very memorable for me because of the rushed plot. This show is a jack of all trades but master of none. Having said that, I am still curious as to what will happen when a player reaches level 10. I wouldn’t mind watching a 2nd season of Accel-world.

P.S Kudos to the director for being able to make Seiji Nomi look like an absolute a*****e.

Sword Art Online, Episode 1

MedusaS

Ooo... So basically I started watching Accel World last month when I saw a random fighting scene from episode 12, and I really liked the sequence.

I found it quite hard to think up of what to say so here goes:

Firstly, plotwise, I have to say that Accel World is quite well done. A Sci-Fi anime should include technology, facts, and details, and that's definitely  tick up.

All the avatars used in the anime were very original, EXCEPT for that episode where I thought I was watching power rangers, then another when I though I was watching gundam.

I found it very emotional, as Arita showed, in his way, the reasons for him to continue fighting, of which to some extent, we can also learn to apply in our own lives. As an action anime, it lives ups to its expectations. Expect nothing lesss than fighting, battles and kick-ass from the main characters.

The way the final scenes were so epic that it made me go into a full rage. You would be pondering: Will they win? OR will they lose? This sort of climax really puts you on the edge of your seat, because you cannot guess the outcome, and that, was EPIC.

I loved Chase the World, possibly the best representation of an action anime opening, but I didn't like Burst the Gravity. ED 2: Unite was okay.

Also, Kuroyukihime is definitely "deliciously sexy". [DarrenW, I agree with your choice :D]

The scene where DarrenW fainted... (Out of Joy XD )

aaronsine

Accel World is, in my opinion, one of the best animes I've watched in a while.

I mean, seriously, this is the wet dream of every nerd/geek/bullied kid/etc! You're short, fat, bullied, but kick some huge ass in an online game, and you have this really hot and cute girl falling in love with you. (I never thought a girl could be hot AND cute at the same time, until I saw this anime) Also, he has incredible luck with other hot/cute chicks. Seriously!?

[Left] Takumu Mayuzumi

I loved the plot of this anime. While overall, it kept the whole "okay-we-need-to-beat-the-shit-out-of-people-and-win" theme that's always present in every shounen anime, I loved the transitions between every mini-arc or so. A plus would be that the focus wasn't always on our dear Arita-kun, but other characters instead. Considering that he's definitely the main character (and not sharing the "main character" role with others, a la Gundam 00), the shift in focus to other characters provided a fresh new perspective.

However, I must say that the second half of the arc was slightly disappointing in my opinion. (which means I was tempted to stop watching) When your main character has the capability to beat the crap out of everyone that stands in his way of success, you get bogged down by ONE antagonist!? The sudden narrowing of the plot line from a macro to such a micro perspective was...annoying for me. Of course, I must commend the excellent executing of the plot and the twist at the end though, despite myself having a personal distaste for it.

oops, forgot to remove the touch thingy

When I was watching Accel World, there was a particular point when I started laughing out loud (literally) in front of my computer. You see, DarrenW already warned me about a particular episode, but I didn't really take note of that. What eventually happened was that I texted him while watching that particular episode, laughing my ass off while I did it, and...

One does not simply review a sci-fi anime without talking about the technology inside. Seriously, I WANT A DAMN NEURO LINKER! To think of the things you can do with one in class...watch anime, chat with your friend, record the lesson in case you miss out something, and the list goes on non-exhaustively... of course, the penetration rate of wifi is one hell of a sweet add-on. (unfortunately, even if we could get our hands on a neuro linker each, we can't play Brain Burst...that really stinks.)

On the bright(?) side, considering that this anime appeals to guys (in my opinion at least), there was quite little fanservice - some will like this, some wouldn't for sure. (I sure know who wouldn't, though) Also, I liked how there weren't many girls with, uhm, significant assets...I mean, let's be realistic here, they're Asians. (you can't accuse me of being racist because I'm an Asian too, hur hur)

Music wise...there's nothing much I can say, I felt like the tracks had pretty much generic J-Pop feels, I didn't get the "OMG I WILL DOWNLOAD BUY THIS SONG THIS INSTANT" feel. Not to say that the songs aren't nice, though, I should clarify.

To be honest, I was disappointed at the end. Very disappointed. Extremely disappointed. You see, right at the beginning, Arita was supposed to aim for Level 10 with his hot as hell girlfriend whose name I might just kill to know Kuroyukihime, but there wasn't a hint of getting anywhere near there! Then, I realized that there's supposed to be a second season. /facepalm (don't blame me for that though, I finished the whole anime in 2 days)

All in all, this anime is brilliant. I'd love to watch it again (if not for upcoming exams...) but I'd rather wait for season 2 of course. :D

• WWHC Award - Best Anime (Action Category) Spring 2012

Accel World has an awesome 24 episodes and had finished 2 weeks ago. It also comes with a light novel and manga version. It also comes with an extra special. It is currently fansubbed by Commie, Asenshi, Hadena, UTW, and WhatStory.

Welcome to the accelerated world. Welcome to Accel World.

DarrenW, MedusaS, Tr3xus & aaronsine
Edited by FayeA & DarrenW