「Aviation: 飛翔」 (Hishou)

If I had any supernatural power in the world… it would definitely be the ability to fly. Oh! And pretty wings to go along with it =) I know a lot of people rather time travel or have the ability to steal/replicate other people’s powers, but I’m not selfish like that. If I could grow wings and fly that would seriously be enough for me.

Moving along… I can’t say I was surprised when Haruyuki’s avatar suddenly went from being amputated to the first and only avatar to fly. He is the main protagonist after all and he needs something to make him special. I’m not bashing on him in any way though; I think they hinted at his ability heavily from his name (which makes SO much sense now) to his dream of soaring. I thought this episode was a great introduction to what makes this kid so unique and worthy of being a Burst Linker. The audience seemed to be thoroughly impressed (or threatened) and I enjoyed the author’s narration. On a side note: a reader brought up the point that Reki Kawahara uses this character (far right) to represent himself. That’s such an ingenious way to give yourself a cameo appearance! He voices himself as well.

There were a few moments that felt too unrealistic though and that’s not just because this is an anime. This goes for movies and any type of TV show in general. When Cyan Pile/Takumu used his special attack on Haruyuki, I thought that this would be the end of the battle (total gg by the way). I was hoping that Takumu would come out victorious because that proves that Haruyuki can’t always win – then later on, come back and kick some ass. That wasn’t the case though and Haruyuki was able to gain all his respect back within one episode. A little disappointed in the rapid character development there, but at least this speeds up the story and the heartfelt confrontation in the air really gave me a different perspective on Takumu. The cliffhanger from last week and the beginning of this episode really played off his character as an antagonist, but I’m glad that misunderstanding was sorted out and resolved. I can’t dislike Takumu for long; you can’t blame the man for being jealous if his girlfriend thinks about someone else. If anything, Haruyuki is equally to blame for being ignorant and assuming that everything is just peachy for everyone else around him.

I think the biggest surprise for me this week was definitely Kuroyukihime’s appearance on the stage. How did she recover so fast? I thought she was unconscious and couldn’t defend herself while linked up to the network (which is why Haruyuki had to defend her in the first place). Ignoring that miraculous recovery though, we finally get to see her avatar – which is pretty awesome. I just laughed when she said it was “ugly” due to the lack of hands, which is true… but I just don’t see why that would bother her so much (holding hands should be done in the real world, not virtually!). She looked so adorable when she was in the hospital waiting for Haruyuki. I was half-expecting another confession during the ending credits however, asking someone to call you by your first name seems a bit more personal. I don’t think the audience ever learns Kuroyukihime’s real name… but as long as she gets a nickname instead, I think that’d be a sign of how close the main couple is getting (plus her name is a handful to type!).

Note: Apologies for the late post! Real life is a handful sometimes and I’m glad that everyone’s been so patient and understanding. As a forewarning, my next 2 weekends might continue to be hectic but I’ll try and be timely. Thank you Verdant for doing my screen caps and full-length images this week! I seriously appreciate it.

 

Preview

61 Comments

    1. Dude, they are already friends. It’s just after that big fight, they became better friends.

      Don’t you know all men show their friendship with their fists?

      Mixed Milkshake
  1. I think the fear was that Kuroyukihime would enter shock. If she’s able to support her consciousness in the Accel World, I guess that means she’s safe.

    Also, I think she’s become my favourite heronie of all time. Strong, beautiful, confident, brave, smart, talented, and then epic moe with pigtails.

    foo
  2. I couldn’t wait for this episode after reading this scene in the manga, and it did not disappoint. Black Lotus is bad-assed! I agree completely with Haruyuki, Black Lotus is a beauty.

    I wish we’d heard what her real name is, then I could write “xxxxxx was so cute in the hospital!”

    Thank you, Verdant for helping Cherrie out this week! Hope things calm down on your end, Cherrie.

  3. I actually find Reki Kawahara appearance and VA extremely distracting, is one thing if is a total stranger but when I learn is the author himself, I kind of laugh but also distracting me from the seriousness of the actual scene.

    Benz
  4. I hope this marks the end of the self-pity from Haruyuki. It’s really
    getting to me.

    The wings are unexplained, IMHO – he didn’t really do
    anything special
    to bring them about; he was about to give up.

    I like the potential – I pray it doesn’t do a GC on us…

    Thank you CHERRIE and verdant!

    mac65
    1. I don’t think it was made blatantly clear in the anime, but all Special Moves in the the game “Brain Burst” are born out of their own insecurities and fears. In this episode, he realizes his own insecurity by his whole speech of “I wish I could soar and fly next to you” revealing his own Special Move. He had the ability of flight all along the instant his character “Silver Crow” was made. He just never realized it.

      Pandafrag
    2. What do you expect? It was a built in ability of a game character. Sort of like a job/class skill in rpgs. And a basic one at that (for his avatar, which is equal to job/class)You are not supposed to anything special to get those except level up.

      In fact if I am to be pedantic, I’ll say it was the contrary here. The Silver Crow avatar should have flying ability from the beginning, especially since other avatars can get unique ability from the get go, but because this is a story not a game, there is a dramatic need for something special to happen before he can get it.

      Salbazier
  5. I swear when Kuroyukihime was in her avatar and Haruyuki lifted her, the music along with it made the scene so badass but it also made Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime appear like the evil ones. That’s what badass music brings out i guess

    voidhack4
    1. Kuroyukihime just declared to restart her ambitions to take over Accel World and kill all the kings. That stuff is usually only reserved for big bads if my memory is not failing me.

      KoroshiyaKi
    2. HEIL Shuuher NEGA NEBULOUS!!!!

      Yeah, its like we are rooting for the bad guys as protag…. and the “good guys” seems like the sane one. Or why do I care, since ppl r not dying *ahem*Kiritsugu*ahem*.

      Sooooo,let celebrate the beginning of Nebulocaust.

      D-LaN
  6. Honestly, this got way to shounen-ny for me. Haru was built up to be an amazing gamer and someone with amazingly fast “Link Speed,” but we saw none of these talents. There wasn’t much use of tactics either, just wing growing ._.

    Click
    1. You say that like its a bad thing. I like the shonen aspect of the show because it plays it very straight without taking it to ridiculous levels. Wimpy hero finding his resolve, powers-up that gives him an advantage and hot-blood screaming. The show is very honest about what it is and that’s what I should expect from Sunrise.

      fragb85
  7. I don’t really see this as a spoiler so I’m going to go ahead and say that this seems to be going off the mangas storyline already as far as I can see.

    Kurisu Vi Britannia
  8. That battle between Cyan Pile and Silver Crow was awesome but when Haru took off into the sky… epic! I’ve re-watched this episode like five times already and I nearly died(being that cute has to be illegal somewhere)when I saw Hime towards the end O.O!

    Oh and at the end of the episode…

    Hime: Can you call me by my first name?

    Haru: Ok… but I don’t know your real name.

    Me: Oh yeah, they haven’t told us that yet! (super excited)

    Hime: My real name is… END OF EPISODE

    Me: fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!

    On a side note, Silver Crow’s(lvl1) special attacks are crazy powerful! I mean, he nearly took out Cyan Pile(lvl?) with that last hit and he was close to full health! OP much? I guess it balances out with his weak normals though huh?

    Justa_Dream
    1. cyan pile was lv.4 at that point, but the reason SC can take away so much health from him is because of the realism of brain burst. Given SC’s speed (it was darn fast), that hit has great power, and it is rather convenient that SC didn’t end up finishing off pile there… 🙂

      well, he actually didn’t use his special there. Punch is actually his normal attack… Show Spoiler ▼

      jrj
  9. In regards to Kuroyukihime saying her avatar is ugly, remember ALL the Brain Burst avatars (except for ones made separately, like her butterfly form) are created from the things a person dislikes and fears about themselves. However cool they may look to us, NO ONE is going to like their avatar. It embodies their dislikes, after all.

    Wanderer
    1. Right, so this is where Haruyuki steps in and tells Kuroyukihime that he finds her self-perceived ugliness cool (i.e. attractive), thus beginning a long and happy relationship. (At least, that’s the scenario I imagine.)

  10. “the ability to steal/replicate other people’s powers”

    That would be terrible choice because nobody has magic powers, so you can’t steal them. If you could only steal other people’s powers in real life, you might get the ability to play guitar or do calculus, but nothing really good, like flying or time travel.

    1. Nah, that’s a good ability. If there’s no magic power in the world than you don’t need it to be awesome and success in the world. And there is a lot of awesome mundane people. Copying their abilities and became modern Renaissance Man is quite amazing too.

      If there’s actually people with magic power, well you can have that as well.

      Salbazier
  11. I rewatched this episode, especially Haru’s one-sided conversation with Kuroyukihime and all the way up to Taku and him in air, rewatched it over 20 times, literally.

    And somehow the music was so powerful and the emotions were so real in this episode that I felt like breaking down inside, and I haven’t felt anything this powerful since Steins;Gate with Okarin and Kurisu-tina. I give 70% credits to the music and 30% to the brilliant dialogue and character set-up that chubby low self-esteem otaku can relate to.

    thenewhorde
  12. “have the ability to steal/replicate other people’s powers” – I start to wonder if you have read the LN or not, Cherrie… a bit of spoiler if they do animate that part Show Spoiler ▼

    as far as kuro hime’s real name, it was never even mentioned in the LN, and she even had the power to change her name on her official ID… so I guess either the author never thought of one or it is just intentional…

    the battle was overall awesome, although I feel like the declaration of the legion revival is not as great as it could have been… crow’s wings are definitely cool to see 🙂

    the name of the BB avatar, for the most part, represents their property and ability… SC certainly has wings (fly), black lotus sort of looks like that with her swords, cyan pile has his pile weapon, ash roller has a motorcycle, and all the others 🙂

    seems like next episode will be volume 10 short story + anime original…

    as always, thanks for the post, and good luck with RL

    jrj
    1. Haha! I actually haven’t read the LN =X Everything is pure speculation on my part and I tend to ramble… but I find it amusing how I stumbled onto future events without knowing 😉 and thanks for the GL! I’ll need it…

      Cherrie
  13. As I was saying in Stilts’ twintails fetish post, seeing Kuroyukihime in twin braids made my day.
    https://randomc.net/image/Accel%20World/Accel%20World%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2033.jpg

    But then she had to blush
    https://randomc.net/image/Accel%20World/Accel%20World%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2035.jpg

    And a massive amount of braincells bursted from moe overkill all at once. lol

    Much like C.C. in Code Geass, perhaps part of her charm is not knowing her real name. Hell, we never knew C.C.’s at all.

    Kinny Riddle
  14. For some reason, I feel that the expression they wanted to convey to each other during the fight was a bit weaker than in the manga. Maybe I’m embellishing what was going on, but I didn’t feel the desperation from Taku in the anime as I did in the manga.

    KUs
  15. Don’t get me wrong, I love the show, but I really find the development in their relationship advancing way too fast. They know each other a few days, and she is offering her life to save his, and she ‘only heard his voice’ when she was unconscious. It’s a bit unbelievable.

    Djalaal
  16. Is it me or hime is playing haru for a fool..i dont know kinda feels that way..and shes starting a war..she comes across as the BAD CHIC..it like a reverse in common stories were the MC stops the war NOT start it..lolz..but its interesting..hehehehe

    H-Lover
    1. I think people massively misunderstand what Kuro is doing. This is a fighting game. The ‘truce’ that kuro is breaking is not people sitting around happily and not fighting. Everyone in the game fights, that’s the point. That’s how you get Burst Points. The truce has made the fighting itself endless and taken any possible ‘ending’ to the war out of the equation.

      So the ‘war’ that Kuro is starting isn’t so much a beginning to the war, as it is a declaration of possibly ending the war. She isn’t going to just keep fighting endlessly to earn points so they can all cheat on tests and sports tournaments, she is going to find what this is all for. One way or the other.

      KaleRylan
      1. well, to be frank, there is another way to acquire Burst points, but very difficult… the problem people have with her is that the majority doesn’t want to fight (in order to keep their power)… though I can’t really blame the kings who formed peace (there is more than just losing the power once you are done for)

        plus nobody knows what will happen once the true king (lv.10) finally shows up… it might be the end for everyone… though I still love the black legion and its members 🙂

        jrj
  17. Since episode 2, I’ve started to feel this anime is too childish with a bit of bad writing. I DON’T know whether this is the fault of the original novel or the anime interpretation, but things like Kurohime precocious confession or Haru’s dumb luck (like in this ep) shows either bad writing or the author being childish. I must confess that this disappoints me since the premier episode showed a lot of promise with a cool setting to boot. Could be that I’ve become a little too old for me to ignore the blatant bad writing in these kind of anime.

    Raw
    1. Dumb luck? You mean the wings? Just saying that It was an integral part of his avatar abilites. Can’t see how that is ‘dumb luck’. Now if you’re talking about how he still got a thin slice of health after getting hit by Cyan Pile’s special point blank I kinda agree.

      On the writing, well Reki Kawahara writing style does have a lot of cliche so I can understand if it doesn’t sit well some people. I don’t consider him a bad writer though. He can use it well to make an engaging story despite it.

      I acknowledged that the confession is feel rushed but when I’m reading the original I don’t feel bothered with it. Watching the anime however does makes me think that way a bit. Ihad to wonder if this just because now I already know the story and have some time to ponder about it or it is because Kawahara’s style simply makes allow me to be more engaged/immersed with reading the story and thus easier to forgot about some flaw in the details.

      Salbazier
  18. The Moondoggie
  19. This is more related to a pet peeve of mine, but I was originally interested in this anime due to character. Like someone has pointed out, Haru’s character is not your typical anime main. What upsets me is the relationship development with Kuroyukihime. Had their genders been reversed, I doubt the same feelings would have developed. I just wish that one day there will be an anime with an unattractive female and attractive male, I highly doubt it tho.

    Emu
  20. This resolves all the issues between Haru and Taku, but I have this feeling it won´t so easy to explain all this to Chiyuri, specially the part where both her boyfriend and her best friend violated her privacy by looking into her private files.

    haseo0408

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