Accel World Episode 7: Periodic Table of the Elements

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Summary

Kuroyukihime battles Taku, revealing to him that she used to have the same feelings of guilt and regret that he did, and that his desire to uninstall Brain Burst to make up for it is wrong. Meanwhile, Haruyuki and Aqua Current initiate a tag match together and are paired up against Nickel Doll and Sand Duct, two Level 3-4 Burst Linkers who fully exploit the terrain and elements to their advantage. After the match, Haruyuki is surprised when Current immediately starts a one-on-one fight straight after, claiming that a bonus payment will need to be made.

Impression

Haruyuki’s battles in Accel World just seem to get more impressive each time. From that brief stint with Ash Roller’s bike to beating the crap out of Taku, this time the battle with Sand Duct and Nickel Doll was fantastic, though if I had to nitpick a minor point would be that the screen moved too much whenever Nickel Doll used her electricity, meaning it was hard to take screenshots xD

It was a very chemistry-based battle, which relates to the fact that as schoolchildren, they should have some knowledge on their element and what it can do. The way it was implemented was kinda clever actually – the fact that silver is less corrosive compared to nickel means that in Accel World, Silver Crow will take less HP damage than Nickel Doll. I’m assuming its due to the fact that silver is lower in the reactivity series, but it could be some other property that I’m not aware of. Anode + Cathode I recognized from the electrolysis process, and the reason Doll paired up with Duct was probably so that they could bypass Doll having to touch the opponent to damage them by using Duct’s Turbo Molecular.

Then Aqua Current just had to be so badass and shield Haruyuki, destroying everything I’ve learnt about water up till now. Normally, stepping in front of electricity would be the worst thing you can do, given that water’s polar and its impurities will conduct, but in pure water, if you take away the ions there’s nothing left to carry the charge, meaning that its an insulator. stands up and claps Haruyuki’s been taking a few lessons from Captain Falcon too it seems, from that oddly familiar kick.

Speaking of Aqua Current actually, I think we’ve been saved by the adaptation. They made it clear that she was gender-ambiguous in the manga, but here she even acknowledged that she had boobs, so I think it’s safe to call her a girl, for the sake of everyone’s minds. She’s got a very feminine ferret and duel avatar anyway, though believe me when I say that duel avatar looks can be very misleading. The fact that she’s not supposed to meet Haruyuki yet does hint that she has something to do with Black Lotus (or maybe the late Red King) given that she expects their paths to cross in the future, especially when she says that there was an incident that occurred with her master some time back.

Though it wasn’t that significant, it’s good that Taku’s finally come out of wallowing in self-pity with thoughts of uninstalling Brain Burst,  since there’s only so much guilt one person can take. On the other hand, it does prove that his feelings of regret are genuine, and that he won’t be backstabbing people anytime soon.

That’s the end of the current arc I guess – and we’re wasting no time in moving swiftly on to the next main plot. Be prepared for the entrance of a loli that ends up living in Haruyuki’s house, from what the preview’s suggesting? o.O Her arrival’s quite timely, isn’t it? The possibility that she just might be a Burst Linker…what are the chances? /sarcasm