Accel World Episode 5: Taking Flight

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Summary

Haruyuki begins his fight with Taku, a Level 4 Burst Linker that has slower speed than Haruyuki, but quickly gains the advantage due to his special techniques and advanced capabilities. With only a shred of HP left, Haruyuki finds himself beaten down into the lower floors of the hospital into Kuroyukihime’s room, where he gains the motivation to carry on, unlocking a pair of wings and becoming the first Burst Linker to be capable of flight.

Impression

Taku has some serious inner rage for Haruyuki and the world. To an extent, I can understand why he’d be jealous that his girlfriend is paying more attention to his other friend compared to him, but he still has a strong superiority complex over Haru just because Accel World is a place that crosses over virtual reality with the real world. Even so, his strengths pretty much came from accelerating, so other than his…normal stature all the good grades and athletics aren’t too real. Don’t these people have any sense of morality?

The actual fight between Cyan Pile and Silver Crow was fluid and well animated. I’m glad neither Taku nor Haru got a significant advantage straight off, but it pretty much became a massacre after Taku started bringing out his heavy special moves that really beat Haru up. I know he’s Level 4 and all, but isn’t there too big a gap between a Spiral Gravity Driver and a headbutt? At least Haru pulled out his nice set of wings when it mattered most xD They probably came about from his inner conflict and desire to take flight, breaking free from the real world to a place where there are no limits – going back to how people’s avatars reflect on what they desire deep inside.

I think Haruyuki made the right choice by inviting Taku to join Kuroyukihime’s Nega Nebulas, as to be honest it seemed futile for Taku to keep trying to convince his fellow Burst Linkers that he “was still useful”. Wow, what kind of command do they have in these legions? I couldn’t help but notice that the Accel World version of the hospital looked like a toned down version of Fuminori’s world in Saya no Uta – if I hadn’t known about that grassy field, I would have presumed all of Accel World looks like some kind of post-apocalyptic world. It was amazingly drawn though, so no complaints here xD

I guess we could consider this to be the end of an arc and the start of another, with Kuroyukihime discarding her shell and coming out into the open again as Black Lotus. Wow, I bet Haru would have been terrified if that was the avatar he first came in contact with. In terms of what her real name actually is, I wouldn’t be surprised if they just left it hanging like that and continued with the story – but from searching around, as well as various rumours from both Sword Art Online and nicknames other people call her, I have a pretty good idea of what it is, but won’t speculate.

More importantly, I approve of Kuroyukihime’s twintails xD

• Random Note: Yessssss, some Aqua Current next week.