「Invitation; 挑戦」 (Chousen)

Finally! Kuroyukihime is in the spotlight again and it was such a great way to introduce new characters. Not to mention a breather from Noumi and his attitude. Is it just me, or is this arc longer than usual? I feel like it’s a massive story joined together by tangents focused on different sets of characters.

This episode focused on a whole new setup for Kuroyukihime and her time spent in Okinawa. I was surprised by the amount of time focused on Wakamiya Megumi (Tomatsu Haruka) actually. I never put too much thought into her character until this episode and the emphasis on “another world” that Kuroyukihime escapes to. When you’ve been friends for so long, it’s only within time which you realize something’s wrong… but her development seemed to take a turn when Kuroyukihime never brought a gift. In all seriousness, Megumi’s character probably plays a more impactful role but my predictions run dry when I try and comprehend what it is. I doubt she’s a Burst Linker… or she might be similar to Noumi; she doesn’t show up on the list of challengers.

Two new Burst Linkers are brought in this week… I was not expecting them to be as adorable as they are! At first, I thought they were young obnoxious children, but all skeptical behavior disappeared as soon as I saw them in real life. They’re simply lost children who haven’t been taught properly by their master. Asato Ruka (Nakanishi Tamaki) is the guardian of Itosu Mana (Gibu Yuko), and both are students of “Crikin” (Shingaki Tarusuke). Nothing else seems to be revealed about Crikin other than being an old friend of Kuroyukihime’s and a level 7 Burst Linker. I’m anxious to hear his history… drunk old men always have the best stories to be heard and we’ll probably get to hear that next week. Except he’s not old and… I’m sure he can’t really get drunk.

There appears to be another monster on the loose, and I’m beginning to think that this Brain Burst program has a lot of glitches and problems that allow all these “monsters” to appear. We know that the Chrome Disaster is within Haruyuki, so I can’t imagine what’s out there in Okinawa. We’ll find out soon enough next week! Any episode that doesn’t feature Noumi is a good one in my eyes. I’m not sure how this will all tie together later… perhaps the “monster” is somehow related to or born from Noumi… we’ll have to see. All I can say is that there are only several episodes left of Accel World and there seems to be a bigger picture that we’re still not seeing. I hope we don’t end things off with a cliffhanger because that would kill me as a season finale.

Quick Note: Sorry once again for the delayed post. AW was initially going to be posted before KC but I had issues with my raw. I’ll be timely from now on so expect AW and KC to be up this weekend =)

Full-length images: 01, 11, 12, 16, 36.

 

Preview

49 Comments

  1. Although we had a good amount of gorgeous Kuroyukihime here, I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would, probably because of the delay it caused for the resolution of the conflict with Noumi.

    Sinan Çevik
  2. Noumi Who? Who the hell’s that anyway? I’m here solely for Kuroyukihime. 😀

    Hearing KYH making cute moans as Megumi “toys” with her was simply a joy to watch.
    https://randomc.net/image/Accel%20World/Accel%20World%20-%2018%20-%20Large%2003.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/Accel%20World/Accel%20World%20-%2018%20-%20Large%2005.jpg

    No disrespect to Haru, but Megumi x KYH yuri is fine with me as well.

    Hearing Megumi’s talk of “another world” does seem to suggest she may be a BL, after all, doesn’t the OP sort of spoiled that already? There must be a reason why she isn’t seen in the player list.

    Kinny Riddle
  3. Somethings that pop into my mind:
    It’s so obvious when Kuroyukihime decided to put the “extra wire” on the desk while they went to the Unlimited Burst Field that the Hidden girl will somehow get hold of the wire and join them on the Burst. Virus maybe…? Chekhov’s Gun ftw!

    Megumi’s story of how she “forgot the magic key/word” to the story book in the past seems to foreshadow she is related to Brain Burst in some way…. I don’t know, she doesn’t look like a Burst Linker after how she cried because Kuroyukihime forgot (30 Minutes is too short, seriously) to buy her a present.

    I am glad they included Kuroyukihime into this arc (I don’t know how it’ll tie into the Noumi part, though), but I prefer if they put this episode before when Haru/Taku challenged Noumi so everyone won’t be hanging at the “What is Chiyuri doing healing Noumi” Cliffhanger. I guess it’s important how they started this episode as an extension to last’s week’s Direct Link between KYH and Haru, but still, maybe they should shuffle the scenes around to make it flow better.
    (sry if I got the details wrong since it’s been a week since I watched this episode)

    RainbowIslands
    1. can’t blame Sunrise to do it in this order as they did it, because in LN, these happened in a chronological order… well, to be precise, Haru + Taku vs. Noumi happened concurrently with KYH’s encounter with the two girls… and that mega cliffhanger is darn effective…

      jrj
  4. It’s nice to see an episode dedicated for our beloved Kuroyukihime. I really can’t wait to know more about her relationship with Crikin. But Sunrise, please, PLEASE make sure that the next episode is THE last Okinawa school trip arc ‘cos I am dying to see what gonna happen between Haru/Taku and Nomi.

    Terrorhunt
  5. “Is it just me, or is this arc longer than usual?” – Noumi arc is two volumes worth, and this side story is 1/3 of a volume worth, so this “arc” is about 2 and 1/3 of LN volumes long compare to the first and second arc which are one volume in length each. so yeah, it is longer than the previous arcs.

    I LOLed pretty hard at the beginning where Haru is talking about everyone has a story to tell… even his mom has a story to tell?! (I would love to read her story lol), jokes aside, it is refreshing to see an episode without Haru for once… xD

    The battle this week is nice, BGM did a great job, but just a bit too short… well, if preview is any indication, next week will be awesome! Things will be explained, and we get to see some good action 🙂 As to Megumi, all I can say is look at the OP and the preview… (not much is revealed about her in the LN at the point this side story is out, but vol.12 does shed some more light on her)

    One last note, Sunrise, I know this is not a main episode, but you can’t be this cheap with no background people moves at all… (are they all under the effects of burst link?)

    jrj
    1. As far as tell of Megumi, her avatar is amazing. In the advance, her avatar shows full, seems like a fairytale princess or a magical girl, or a mixture of both.
      And also want to see “Crimson kingbolt” in action, this character seems to really it came out screw, lol XD.
      Small sirens avatars are also great.
      But also like to see the return of “Chrome disaster”, how much we have to wait? 🙁

      Shadow74
      1. well, even in the LN, not much detail about Megumi and that avatar are revealed, and rumor has it more about them is coming in vol.12… so I don’t know much about that avatar…

        I hope they talk about kingbolt more though, the jokes about him and all…

        as to the last piece… I have been waiting for that since I read the whole arc… hope the DVD/BD sell well xD

        jrj
    2. Yes, I noticed that as well concerning how incredibly static the people of Okinawa were depicted in this episode compared to our heroines.

      I know Okinawa is an idyllic tourist destination, but surely their inhabitants aren’t that static.

      Kinny Riddle
  6. About Megumi’s forgotten keyword. Could it be she used to be a BL but lost all her points or something. At least the BL program was uninstalled and her memory of it was erased? We’ve never met an ex-BL before in this story.

    MakuMaku
  7. Another enjoyable episode of Accel World.

    I can see where people would be annoyed getting a side story after the major cliffhanger of last episode. But it’s nice to get a breather episode after all the depression and seriousness surrounding the Noumi arc, and it gives those feeling immense rage towards the arc a chance to relax and enjoy Kuryoukhime’s beach antics. Speaking of, it’s also nice that the show is giving its heroine some time to shine after she’s been absent for so long. And boy did I miss her!

    One of the major things I took out of the episode is the small glimpse we’re given into what Kuryoukhime was like before the show began. Stuck between the real world and the Accelerated world, and locked in a state of insecurity as to who is the “real” Kuryoukhime. And if the period was after she had killed Red Rider and fled from Brain Burst, she was probably an emotional wreck mentally from both the guilt of killing Rider and the loss of what she saw as her “real” world. I’d say it took Megumi and Haruyuki, her first friend and love respectively, to bring her out of her shell and to get her to care about the real world. While Megumi brought her out of her emotional shell, Haruyuki gave her a reason to press forward in both real life and the Accelerated World.

    But moving on from philosophical musings on our main heroine, this episode was quite entertaining. From Kuryoukhime acting the straight man to the Okinawan Burst Linkers, some nice beach scenes, to a decent fight between Black Lotus and Lagoon Dolphin, there was a lot to like in this episode. I also found it hilarious how Kuryoukhime kept trying to keep things professional but the kids just wouldn’t let her.

    Crikin, who I assume pilots that cool looking mech in the opening and next episode preview, was probably in the Red Legion going by his color. That would mean he knew Red Rider… and if so, I can understand why Kuryoukhime turned her head away after greeting him.

    Megumi, voiced by the lovely Haruka Tomatsu (and ironically enough, the voice of Asuna from Sword Art Online), is certainly an enigma. From her vague references to “another world” and that her befriending Kuryoukhime wasn’t for completely genuine reasons, it looks like she’ll be a major mystery in this arc.

    I hope that Kuryoukhime got Haruyuki something nice while in Okinawa, which I’m sure she intended to do at first when she suggested she and Megumi split up, because boy does he need it.

    Frontier
  8. when they say monster, i think they mean a monster like nomi, or like hitler. just a powerful burst linker who likes to kill things.
    (yes, hitler was a burst linker. read the light novels n00b)
    also, megumi is going to become a burst linker in this arc. look closely at the preview, she hooks up to the youngest girl.

    davgol1115
  9. “Crikin” sounds like an old man…like an old lolicon…look at those 2 cute innocent children he is “mentoring.” Of course, Megumi would be jealous too!

    This little sidestory is just horribly timed. A cliffhanger between episodes is normal, but extending an angsty storyline by interjecting a frivolous, tension-breaking beach episode from Volume 10 is just illogical.

    I can see that they are trying to follow the chronological order like in SAO, but I think this was a stupid decision.

    1. I think this is meant to be concurrent with the Noumi story going on so… it’s not that badly timed because I don’t think it would make much sense then if they aired it afterwards.

      Cherrie
      1. Yes, it is during the same time, but that doesn’t mean they have to insert it directly into the middle of an ongoing story. They could have shifted it to after the Noumi arc was finished without much trouble. Just finish the arc up to before KYH-senpai reappears, insert this episode, then transition into next arc with KYH coming back from the trip. The LN is not translated, so I don’t know the actual ending of this arc and maybe this would not work if BlackLotus gets involved at the end.

        My main qualm is that it totally breaks the tension. Also, it spans more than one episode which makes the cliffhanger sooooooo torturous!

      2. as a LN reader, I can assure you that this side story event and the main arc not only happened concurrently, but also this play right into how the main story proceeds… you will see later how they all tie together…

        and I know the rage over the big cliffhanger if you haven’t been spoiled… I think Sunrise and Kawahara wants to do that because LN readers had to wait for 4 months for that same cliffhanger that anime viewers saw last week… it will pay off eventually 🙂

        jrj
  10. Accel World Vol. 12 has just made Silver Crow way too overpowered.

    There’s plenty of action and we witness the return of a cool character.

    But the best revelation must be the full name of the last Pure Colored King.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Mixed Milkshake
    1. I only saw the illustration of vol.12… so did it explain the power of green and blue king aside from the name of their abilities?

      also is it true that it ended on yet another cliffhanger?

      jrj
      1. Show Spoiler ▼

        Mixed Milkshake
  11. Surprisingly entertaining, I thought that straying away from the ‘main plot’ with the battle against Noumi would bother me a lot more than that, but I ended up pretty much enjoying this episode and even waiting for what comes next ^^

    sherry
  12. BTW, the new ED by Misawa Sachika (KYH’s VA) has been out for some time.

    http://youtu.be/jLV8dqPsCYE
    Much like KYH, being only 19 years old, Misawa is just as adorable as her character. She even wears something resembling a Neural Link at the end of the song PV, thus making her resemblance to KYH even more uncanny.

    Kinny Riddle
  13. In a way I am kind of wonder if we get either more than 24 episodes or we gonna have a 2nd season, cause clearly during the chrome disaster arc in the end it hinted about it being not over yet, but chrome disaster arc doesn’t really finish till vol.9 of novel but if they anime till vol.9 LN then they gonna introduce the real enemies of BB which means more episode needed, hmmm guess we should see.

    Andy
    1. because all BB player are under age… (Japan legal drinking age is 20), and the oldest BB player should be 16 or 17 (because of the first condition of being able to install BB is to wear neurolink since birth, and first gen neurolink first came out around 15-17 years ago in the time frame)

      jrj
      1. Yes, I’m aware of that. But provided that adults don’t know about this, and seem never will know, it’s probable it’s up to the kids to screw around the way they want in Accel World 🙂

        vladrin
  14. Wow recently there a surge in comment on AW (Not to SAO lvl though)

    I think we should thk Smug@$$, emo Haru, NTR Chiyu and OFC K-Y-H and her yuri harem 4 tis.

    DO YOU WANT TO ENTER THE YURILATED WORLD?

    D-LaN

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