Accel World EX OVA 1: Accel Assault

Summary

Investigating a strange phenomenon occurring in local networks where avatars are getting their clothes stolen, Nega Nebulous set out to confront this mysterious person and come across a pumpkin-headed avatar named Dushka who takes them into the precursor of Brain Burst, a game named Accel Assault.

Impression

Well, that was…weird, and slightly out of the loop in terms of where I thought Accel World was at the moment, Kuroyukihime mentioned that this occurred after the Nomi incident, so seeing the first OP and ED play was a bit unexpected, as was Haru grovelling and falling over his feet every time KYH walked into the room. I thought he’d gained his own-self confidence after the Chrome Disaster incident let alone Nomi Seiji, so his behaviour was really unsettling. Haru nearly called KYH by her real name though, be it Kirigaya Sachika, Satsuki or whatever other name you can make from Sacchan.

Putting that aside, I’d missed their usual avatar outfits! Looking back at the end of the series, it makes so much sense with Taku as the Tin Man and Chiyu as a neko-cat-thing, it does describe their personalities well. The whole setup of the OVA was really dodgy however, with some pumpkin avatar stealing everybody’s clothes and using a weapon that can do things not part of the system. I have no idea what they wanted with the clothes nor what they ended up doing with them, but it’s not a good way to attract attention so soon after the peeping camera incident in Umesato. The girl, Dushka must have been really searching for a duel opponent if she went as far to attack Niko’s junior school though. Aren’t they all like…little kids?

What was most interesting was the VR fighting game that was obviously the precursor to Brain Burst – Accel Assault. That system of 3D cubes with A.A. on them must have stood for Accel Assault, and everyone either diverted to Brain Burst (probably B.B.) or lost all their Assault Points, resulting in them losing memories of the game. There’s nothing more boring than playing a fighting game by yourself with no opponents, especially one that is past the times and has been surpassed by a superior game. It’s most likely based on the same system as Brain Burst, thus the similar voice commands and the ability for Nega Nebulous to equip their duel avatars in that space. Avatars are clearly more advanced with Brain Burst, where Dushka’s avatar was all bulky and slow. You do have those types of long-range stationary avatars who use missiles in Accel World though, like Scarlet Rain or Crikin.

Of course no OVA is without crazy antics that separates them from the normal show, and here we had the bastardized versions of Black Lotus and Lime Bell, as well as various…parts of Cyan Pile and Silver Crow. It was hilarious to see Chiyu so seriously shout “Lightning Cyan Spike!!!” and “Splash Stinger!!!” all while holding Taku’s head like that ^^ The best was the Black Lotus winged fusion with Silver Crow, which should totally get its own figure – it’s beautiful xD I’ve only just realized but it seems like Haru’s wings change depending on the person wielding it – with Kuroyukihime they turned a grey metallic, while on Nomi they were ripped and very clearly evil. Overall it was just a small side-story, nothing too deep to be taken from it at all.