“Long time no see, Haruyuki onii-chan. You’re as fat as ever!”
Summary
With Haru mentioning incarnation straight away at their meeting, Niko takes Haru and Taku to a back room, revealing that the cake shop is actually a base of operations for the Red Legion, Prominence. She agrees to teach them what she knows, and brings them to the Unlimited Field, deciding to train Taku to unlock his incarnate abilities by overcoming his own mental weaknesses. Meanwhile, Haru takes a trip with Prominence’s Blood Leopard to Akihabara, where he catches wind of a Burst Linker whose name doesn’t appear on the matching list – a guy called Rust Jigsaw.
Impression
Look, the anti-Nomi! Look how happy she is ^^ For some reason, I found myself really glad to see Niko again today. It was probably the need for something reassuring in the wake of everyone’s recent Nomi NTR rage session, but I’ve definitely missed that scary yandere loli that goes from happily eating cake one moment to insulting you mercilessly the next. The last time she appeared, her relationship to Haru (and Nega Nebulous in general) was just something that was convenient to both parties, but now you can really tell that they’re friends, just from small antics here and there that I’m sure the Red King would never do with random people. Also, the foot fetish thing made a return here xD
From Haru mentioning something taboo in the cake shop that wasn’t really a cake shop, I picked up on the handy implication that the Incarnate System is definitely a fiercely kept secret that Haru should not have known about at all, which makes it even more suspicious that Nomi managed to learn and use it in battle, albeit his incarnation claws not being as powerful as they could be. That Nomi is linked to this other guy, Rust Jigsaw is almost certain at this point, as is the fact that there is some group doing shady backdoor deals out there – the one Sulfur Pot from the KYH beach stint is probably a part of. Anyway, we got a bit more detail on incarnation than Sky Raker ever gave (or could have given) Haru, which is that it affects weapon range, movement, attack and defence. The way Niko put it made a lot of sense – willpower is used to overcome weaknesses, which were the very limits set onto your avatar by your own inner desires. By overriding the system you get stronger, both in Accel World and mentally as a person.
In Taku’s case…yeah, I really feel sorry for him. It seems like he’s gotten the short end of the stick even in the past, and my respect for him continues to grow each week, what with all the noble trials he has to overcome. Getting spiked repeatedly with the end of a shinai is something no child should ever have to go through (isn’t hurting kids to that extent some kind of crime?) and it must be horrible to have to recall such a sad few years of your life every time you fight, imagining your former tormentors speared on the end of your Lightning Cyan Spike. Taku will get through it, I’m sure. He’ll achieve something at least after being missile-bombed by a little girl.
Meanwhile, Haru is off motorcycling through the streets of Akiba with an onee-san type maid, that just happens to be Prominence’s second-in-command, Blood Leopard. Man, the Red Legion sure has it all, huh? I don’t know if it was the maid cosplay, or the slight resemblance to Kuroyukihime, but I found that ever stoic expression hilarious for someone dressed up in that kind of outfit. Certainly true that they actually stand out less in a place like Akiba rather than going in school clothes, with the kind of otaku paradise it is. And they mentioned it was the Yellow Legion’s territory? Ahahaha, now I’m imagining Yellow Radio as a teenage otaku huddled around all his figures and dakimakura. It’d fit his creepy clown avatar for sure…
- Shit, Nomi’s face appears again the preview. We were all doing fine without that bastard.
