Accel World – 18

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[Hadena] Accel World - 18 [720p][C543F1D1].mkv_snapshot_03.16_[2012.08.10_20.48.17] [Hadena] Accel World - 18 [720p][C543F1D1].mkv_snapshot_11.33_[2012.08.10_20.55.42] [Hadena] Accel World - 18 [720p][C543F1D1].mkv_snapshot_22.09_[2012.08.10_21.06.45]

If any anime episode ever screamed “side story”, this was the one.

[Hadena] Accel World - 18 [720p][C543F1D1].mkv_snapshot_00.33_[2012.08.10_20.45.34]While I like Accel World well enough and SAO more, I confess I do see some basis for the complaint that Kawahara-san’s works are a sort of male wish fulfillment.  A hyper-realistic VRMMO where most of the players are impossibly cute lolis?  Yes, it’s an otaku wet dream – and while I mostly see the charge leveled against Sword Art Online I think AW is equally – if not more – guilty, as episodes like this show.  As for myself, I never played any RP or simulation – MMO or otherwise – that didn’t have a decidedly male bias in the demographic.  On the other hand, since probably more than half of the series in any given anime season (probably much more this season) basically amount to male wish fulfillment, it hardly seems fair to single out Kawahara for criticism simply because he’s more successful at it then most.

[Hadena] Accel World - 18 [720p][C543F1D1].mkv_snapshot_00.51_[2012.08.10_20.45.52]So what do we make of this mini-arc, then, given that it’s purpose superficially seems to be to show off as many of the aforementioned cute girls in swimwear as possible?  Well, it’s perfectly pleasant and mostly harmless – and in that sense not too far off from how Accel World normally comes off anyway.  It also serves the function of getting Kuroyukihime – who’s the female lead, after all – involved in the story again, a story from which she’s been basically absent for the last month.  Whether it’s the best choice to insert this side story in the middle of an ongoing arc is debatable, but Snow Black’s lack of screen time was no doubt a factor.  And really, the Dusk Taker arc isn’t going to be mourned much if it’s away for a couple of weeks.

[Hadena] Accel World - 18 [720p][C543F1D1].mkv_snapshot_01.03_[2012.08.10_20.46.04]This arc also has the distinction of giving the always charming Tomatsu Haruka her most extended work of the series as Wakamiya Megumi, Kuroyukihime’s BFF who seems to want to be more than that.  Megumi – though she’s obviously hiding a connection to Burst Link that she was about to apologize for – seems to be about as generic a character as you could imagine, but fortunately Haruka-san doesn’t do generic, and manages to imbue her with a good deal of humor and sincerity.  We also meet two middle-school chibis from Okinawa, genki Luka Asato (Nakanishi Tamaki) – known in the AW as Lagoon Dolphin – and demure Mana Itousu (Gibu Yuuko) who’s apparently some sort of Yuta (Okinawan mystic).

[Hadena] Accel World - 18 [720p][C543F1D1].mkv_snapshot_02.49_[2012.08.10_20.47.50]There is a conflict-driven plot here – the chibis are Tokyo transplants trying to get an Okinawan Burst Linker community started under the leadership of their master (Shingaki Tarusuke), whom Snow Black knows as “Crikin”.  He’s a Level 7 Burst Linker who’s depressed about a “monster” giving everyone a hard time, and Luka and Mana recruit Snow Black to help – but in the main, it’s mostly about using the Okinawan sand and sun to showcase cute girls being cute and Hime looking impossibly mature in her black two-piece.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course – and in the end, I think it comes down to this: whatever you thought about Accel World going in, this arc isn’t too likely to change your mind either way.

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[Hadena] Accel World - 18 [720p][C543F1D1].mkv_snapshot_18.05_[2012.08.10_21.02.30] [Hadena] Accel World - 18 [720p][C543F1D1].mkv_snapshot_19.19_[2012.08.10_21.03.44] [Hadena] Accel World - 18 [720p][C543F1D1].mkv_snapshot_19.19_[2012.08.10_21.03.55]
[Hadena] Accel World - 18 [720p][C543F1D1].mkv_snapshot_19.46_[2012.08.10_21.04.22] [Hadena] Accel World - 18 [720p][C543F1D1].mkv_snapshot_20.18_[2012.08.10_21.04.54] [Hadena] Accel World - 18 [720p][C543F1D1].mkv_snapshot_20.48_[2012.08.10_21.05.24]
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Guardian Enzo

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9 comments

  1. C
    Click
    August 11, 2012 at 6:00 am
    Reply

    Even though this substory is really just a slight distraction, I actually welcome it. The last three episodes for me have been excruciatingly painful, not because they were shocking(?), but because without Kuroyukihime the character dynamic isn't interesting enough hold up the show. Hell, if we're being honest here, most of the remaining individuals are oftentimes downright irritating and even vomit inducing (Haru, Taku, Noumi).

    While the exposition we got on Kuroyukihime this episode wasn't very subtle (she's pretty much talking to us during her scene with Megumi), she's interesting at the very least. And as long as the fanservice and chibi implants aren't cringe-worthy (they weren't) it can't really hurt. TL;DR Moe saved this anime for me.

  2. M
    Mentar
    August 11, 2012 at 6:44 am
    Reply

    Give me KYH over prolonged Haru/Taku/Chiyu stupidity any day. And after all the angst and anguish, this episode was a well-earned vacation for us, too.

    In a nutshell, I'm watching this show primarily for the mystery around KYH – I want to know what's making her tick, and what else we don't know about her. And that she's not only easy on the eyes, but also with an extremely likable and intriguing personality helps alot.

  3. r
    reason
    August 11, 2012 at 6:56 am
    Reply

    I'm almost 100% sure I know what Megumi's connection to Brain Burst is, but I'll hold off on saying anything about it because my prediction is based off of a spoiler I read regarding the nature of the game.

    Other than that, I thought the two little kids were kinda annoying. Wonder what the deal was with the extra cord, though.

  4. H
    Helen
    August 11, 2012 at 1:46 pm
    Reply

    I suspect that Megumi is gonna connect in with that cord, the OP is hinting pretty heavily (well, more like shoving it in the viewers' faces than hinting) that she's a burst linker as well.

  5. H
    Helen
    August 11, 2012 at 1:45 pm
    Reply

    I think they said Mana is a yuta, just like Naru is in E7 AO and I think the girls said that their master was a transplant from Tokyo but they're Okinawa natives, their accents sounded a bit different in any case.

  6. b
    belatkuro
    August 11, 2012 at 5:29 pm
    Reply

    Chronologically, this side story from volume 10 goes after the last episode but for the timing of the placement of these episodes, it's really debatable. But it's not like it's detached from the main plot. It will tie in to it. Next episode will explain stuff. Plus we get some development and screentime for KYH. Plus some fanservice in the beginning so it's not like a lot was lost from last episode. It's better to take a bit of a breather from the rage that the last episode brought. So yeah.

  7. F
    FlameStrike
    August 11, 2012 at 11:57 pm
    Reply

    Woot moe-moe vacation FTW! Good character development combined with actually likeable characters equals an enjoyable episode! Well, aside from the ending the last episode was pretty good too. And the episode before that was pretty much Sky Raker fanservice XD. The only really annoying episode in the Noumi arc was 15 where Haru cried like a dumb baby and QQ'd all over himself, but he's working to fix that.

  8. H
    Highway
    August 12, 2012 at 7:03 am
    Reply

    I'm actually somewhat disappointed this is a side story. If they hadn't had Haru's voiceover in the beginning saying it was, I would have believed it was a way to create a link to another community of Burst Linkers for the future of the Nega Nebulus.

  9. n
    noodles
    March 29, 2014 at 8:31 am
    Reply

    still marathoning but my opinion of AW has dropped with each crappy fan service and crappy villain.

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