Accel World – 19

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Whatever else I might catch a glimpse of once in a while, in the end Accel World is what it is.

[UTW]_Accel_World_-_19_[h264-720p][5CADDCEF].mkv_snapshot_00.54_[2012.08.17_22.48.00]What did we have in episode 19?  Well, a screw turning into a Go-botCute girls being cute.  A villain doing bad things because…  He’s an asshole, and in AW villains are all assholes and that’s enough of a reason.  And one of the all-time asspull moments, of this season anyway.  And Chekov’s gun.  All in all, it was pretty much par for the course – entertaining enough, but altogether feeling insubstantial enough that a good gust of wind would carry it off.

[UTW]_Accel_World_-_19_[h264-720p][5CADDCEF].mkv_snapshot_04.38_[2012.08.17_22.50.41]I was beginning to think Crikin’s sole purpose in the story was to provide comic relief, but he did have a small amount of value before he sunk to the bottom of the ocean stage, forgotten.  And a good thing, too, because Kuroyukihime was having her share of difficulty against Sulfur Pot (Hiyama Nobuyuki, very busy all of a sudden).  Turns out Crimson Kingbolt once had the strongest long-range arsenal in the game apart from the Six Kings, though due to inactivity he’s gotten a little rusty (I sincerely apologize).  As for Sulfur Pot, he’s tamed a dragon as a familiar, and is part of an organization that’s using Okinawa and it’s weakling players as easy pickings while diving remotely from Tokyo (political metaphor?  Nah – not in this series) and using a backdoor program to hide their identities (hmmm).  Nick the Dragon proves more than a match for Kingbolt, though, and his special move combo of gunpowder and fire really turns the screws on Crikin.

[UTW]_Accel_World_-_19_[h264-720p][5CADDCEF].mkv_snapshot_06.17_[2012.08.17_22.52.21]We manage to get both a deus ex machina and a Chekov’s gun in the same episode, which I suppose is an achievement.  The former is Megumi walking into the café where Snow Black and the chibis are plugged in, then having a magic sprite appear before her as she’s about to unplug Snow Black.  I get that Megumi has some sort of past connection to Brain Burst, but for her to just appear inside and turn the tables on Sulfer Pot, shift the stage to water and disappear felt very arbitrary and silly.  The Chekov’s Gun is Sulfur Pot’s “Mystical Reins” ability that Crikin finds on the sea floor and gifts to Kuroyukihime.  Once introduced, it must surely be used – but we get several lines of dialogue to that effect just in case we missed the significance of the moment hitting us in the head like a two-by-four.

[UTW]_Accel_World_-_19_[h264-720p][5CADDCEF].mkv_snapshot_08.48_[2012.08.17_22.54.51]That was a pleasant enough diversion – and I suppose a needed break from the heavy-handed moralizing of the Noumi arc – but there was really no back-story supporting the whole Megumi thing, so Haruka-san or no the whole thing had very little impact on me.  Accel World isn’t the most subtle or substantial story to begin with, so when it goes with a featherlight side story like this, for me it has almost no presence at all – I’ve forgotten it as soon as it’s over.  I’m sure there are elements of this mini-arc that will tie into the main story, but as diversions go it certainly paled in comparison to the Sky Raker chapter.  I think AW is better off sticking as close to its core story as possible, because it just doesn’t have enough depth to stretch very much.

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15 comments

  1. b

    As expected, those two eps., while providing some nice Kuroyukihime fanservice, didn't add much to the story, so I still don't understand why they couldn't have showed it after the Noumi arc was over or even as OVA eps.

  2. d

    Okay. I am starting to seriously doubt whether Enzo has clones. Shift in writing style? Bad hair day?

    Some errors: Namely… (Former not Latter). (Best long range before lolli red king came about).

    Next week back to the predominantly male cast of the main AW plot line. AW- poking fun at Tokyo male-female? Nah, not in AW

  3. I really don't understand what you're hinting at – the main cast is 2 girls and 2 guys.

  4. d

    Nah Chiyu aint really part of the main casts. Anywhere next week is 3 guys and a gal.

  5. d

    P.S.
    Nomi is more an interesting character than the childhood friend Trio. And his skill to steal, probably says alot about his traumas. Poor kid? And his theft is only in the game world so i wont say he is bad. Sadistic though.

    Think about it, all Nomi did was beat the crap out of two guys and the stealing is his actual ability. True, he did frame Silver Crow but Silver Crow lost to him fair and square. In actual fact Nomi didnt do anything really wrong. He did give Chiyu a hug, but he didnt go further than that.
    Sexual Deviant. No
    Thief. No
    Sadistic. Yes, but he's not using bats or nails like other anime

    Back to the point. He has become sort of a main character now. Heck, I see him joining black lotus gang in the future. Too many males in this show. The females are mostly side characters who pop up once in a while.

  6. Heh, I can't find a single sentence in that comment that I agree with. Ain't opinions a grand thing? That's why fiction is such an amazing phenomenon.

  7. A

    (-_-) … I can't even…
    I agree with Enzo, the main cast is: Haru, Kuroyukihime, Taku & Chiyu. The fact that Chiyu hasn't been IN the Accel World until just recently doesn't change that. Heck, ALL of the interpersonal dynamics pivot on Chiyu. (Kuroyuki sped up her overtures to Haru because of Chiyu, Taku is unbalanced because of Chiyu, Haru… I dunno WTF is up with Haru admittedly)

    As for Nomi, his KNOWN "wrongs":
    -He cheats (at kendo and academics at MINIMUM)
    -He INTENTIONALLY (Haru did so unintentionally) went into the girls locker room (to set up the camera)
    -He sexually HARASSED (altho, yes, not ASSAULTED) Chiyu

    More than anything, Nomi is a BULLY. Physically to Haru, emotionally to Chiyu, mentally to just about everyone. I want to see him get punched in the nose for exactly that reason. (not the AW nose, the RW, on his face nose)

  8. F

    Who needs significant plot when you have loli moe and yuri?! Is what the developers probably thought. Well they weren't too far off the mark XD.

    This arc was a pretty entertaining distraction and provided some fun moments. Although I wish the Megumi thing was explained better. Was she a former defeated Burst Linker? I know Burst Linkers lose their memories once they lose all their points, but if that's the case what allowed Megumi to return to Accel World? If they provided a more plausible reason to that then this ep would have been much better. Noumi is obviously apart of this new "organization" that KYH vows to crush, and I guess they'll be the antagonists for the rest of the season?

  9. I guess the answer to your first question is, "I do." 😉

    Yes, obviously this is all going to connect back to Noumi and it's too much of a coincidence how rotten-egg cup used the same basic trick. But the exposition around Megumi was really the big sticking point for me – very ineffectual, I thought.

    Delete

  10. j

    I suppose Kuroyukihime won't be using those Mystical Reins on Haru.

  11. H

    My take on Megumi is that she wasn't a Burst Linker before, just someone who loved a book about a magical world, and she had felt a similar immersion in the world of that book, but can't remember what it was. I write off her Magical Girl character and way out-sized power as a one-off thing to help her friend, and help her realize there's another world.

    Honestly, this whole arc would have been better and had more meaning to me if they didn't have Haru's stupid voiceover at the beginning of the previous episode saying he didn't know anything about it, and that it's not really continuity. If only the heroes of shows would compare notes more often! It seemed pretty obvious that Sulfur Pot could be somehow related to Noumi's group. We'll see if they bring that knowledge together, but I don't have much hope for it.

  12. A

    Gotta say, Enzo… those puns were hilariously bad =P

  13. A

    Agreed. 🙂

  14. n

    wow this episode is so bad I don't even-

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