「Revolution; 変遷」 (Hensen)

I’m a little conflicted about how I feel about this week’s episode. For one – I was expecting a bit more back-story to Sulfur Pot (Hiyama Nobuyuki). And for another, I’m glad that we got to see new characters in action, even if it was a brief meeting. At least next week, we’ll finally get back to the main storyline.

From my understanding, it seems that Sulfur Pot is a hacker (of some sort) that used a back door program to connect to the Okinawa network. All to farm for low level Burst Linkers? I guess that’d be a very smart idea to quickly gain points since Sulfur Pot has tamed Nick (his “high level monster“) using what seems to be reins to control him. My only question would be why hasn’t anyone else thought of this? This seems like a fairly easy strategy to me so I’m not too surprised if more players wanted to quickly level up by cheating. I’m still not sure how Unlimited Burst works either; a lot of the technical points are lost to me. Why do Mana and Ruka have to connect to Kuroyukihime (and Megumi), if Crikin and Sulfur Pot have alternatives to accessing the same dimension? They’re all over Level 4 or over, so why do they have to be connected by a cable?

I guess this was also a way for Megumi to quickly link in and “save the day“. I won’t lie; her appearance was quite random to me. Her character had no explanations and Kuroyukihime seemed to quickly know, “Hey! This is my friend!“. I wish they explored her background further, I’m sure her story of how she came across and lost Brain Burst is an interesting one. For the reader who guessed it and realized that the “word” she forgot was linked to Accel World, I give you props for being able to link all these facts together! To me, it seems odd that she would just “magically” reappear to change the battle scene… a little too perfectly timed since it was always implied that you could never return to Accel World after losing it.

As for how the fighting actually went down… it was anticlimactic. The ending also hit a dead end when Crikin reported that nothing was discovered at the Internet Cafe. In the end, Sulfur Pot’s appearance only proved that another “organization” does exist that tries to overwrite the rules of Accel World and the original Burst Linkers. I’m sure that this is somehow linked to Noumi, but we’ll have to wait for further episodes until that is fully explained. I actually think one of my favorite scenes in this episode was how they briefly showed Crikin in real life. He’s a pretty “cool” guy; I would not expect anything less of Crimson Kingbolt though.

The resolution between Megumi and Kuroyukihime was also a sweet one. The quick scene of their presents shows how tight they are and how well they know one another. I wouldn’t have asked for a better way to end the quick detour of Kuroyukihime’s trip in Okinawa.

Full-length images: 03, 11, 15, 30.

 

Preview

55 Comments

    1. I think Kawahara (the author of SAO and AW) wrote SAO for his sick son back in 2002… and he tried to submit the script but was turned down several time… until 2008 he wrote AW and instantly won a big award, then he was asked to publish SAO as well.

      so as far as writing goes, AW is more polished than SAO due to the years in practice, but both LNs are good to read if you can read them

      jrj
    2. Thanks Tendo and Jrj.

      Yea I’ve read the first volume of SAO and I knew it AC is written by the same guy.

      Guess i’ll go search for the AC volumes to shove on my iPad for when I’m done with the 2nd volume of SAO.

      Kurisu Vi Britannia
  1. I think megumi is the other healer who quit the game, she looks like a healer and healers in other games usually get status/area effects like that. If you can get so mature in the game because of the time lapse then she probably could have found a way to make herself forget the game without uninstalling it.

    Caden
      1. It’s true that Burst Linkers who lose ‘Brain Burst 2039’ loses their memories as well, but the part regarding the chance to return is unconfirmed. So far none of the light novels have shed light upon this question.

        Mixed Milkshake
  2. Megumi and maybe others that where disconnected from AW may have left an imprint on the world despite their memories being rewritten. It seems Megumi “ghost in the machine” called out to her and those memories are what we save in AW as a sort of summons.

    Ani_BEE
  3. Great episode! And no raging because its KUROYUKIHIME!!! But the next episode looks promising….and disappointing. Reason I say disappointing? Because Noumi and his bitch-ass greedy smile is in the preview -_-

    I can’t wait for Ep 20. Because we see Taku, Chiyu, Haru, and KYH. HELL I’d even rather see the PIG more than Noumi right now. He just drives too much hate outta me

    Swordhack4
  4. Crikin is a pretty cool character. He’s the only one who I wouldn’t mind seeing again. With his defensive build he could be an useful addition to the team.
    Other than that I am glad that this mini arc is over. I’d rather seen it as additional OVA eps. AFTER the Noumi arc.

    boingman
    1. This mini arc is informative, but I don’t think they explained why their identities did not shown as Burst Linker. Does it have anything to do w/ their bodies combination, as in the final “product” is not one Burst Linker but multi, thus no name? I don’t mind spoilers…..

      zleihsh
      1. Show Spoiler ▼

        Mixed Milkshake
  5. the LN didn’t explain Megumi either (as of vol.11), so we are left with that myth and can’t fault anime for that, and any problem with her timing can be explained by Mana’s cyber shaman power 🙂 but I have to say, her ability is so powerful!

    sulfur pot is just a pawn in my opinion, his sole purpose is to formally introduce the “organization” to KYH, although it has been implied elsewhere before… As to the rein thing, except the rare “tamers” in AW (I don’t recall that avatar with this ability ever existed), one must have item to control enemies, and especially legendary, so without that mystic rein item, Nick can’t be controlled at all…

    I think this episode did a fairly good job at lying the hints for what is to come, I will give some key words here: Okinawa, flying horse, mystic rein, and organization… these keywords are the links between this side story and the main story 🙂

    the battle is really good though, especially we get to see KYH’s incarnate ability Over Drive 🙂

    jrj
    1. It’s not confirmed but from the existing evidence, it is believed that ‘The Luminary’ is also an Enhanced Armament that allows the user to fully control of Enemies up to the Legend rank but without the set-back of ‘Mystical Reins’ of constant contact.

      Just to expand on the concept of Over Driver. This is a technique developed by Kuroyukihime to make up for her Duel Avatar’s shortcomings. Black Lotus is a light-weight close-combat type Avatar. The Avatar itself has relatively low defense and range. Over Drive is close to but not quite an Incarnate System Ability, it uses self-suggestion to mentally enhance Black Lotus’ 3 parameters. Mode Green for higher defense and body rigidity, Mode Red for increase in attack range and Mode Blue for added destructive power.

      Mixed Milkshake
    2. Kuroyukihime only has two Incarnate System Abilities:

      Show Spoiler ▼

      Mixed Milkshake
      1. I guess you forget that KYH is working on the next incarnate ability with her hand? Not all incarnate abilities are offensive… Sky Raker’s ability is one example. Also for some reason I believe Luminary is connected to white king.

        Raine, you are right, KYH’s offensive incarnate abilities have exactly the same name as Kirito’s sword skills. Whether is is author being cheap with his imagination or it implies something about graphite edge is still questionable.

        jrj
    3. I actually wished they explained Mana’s powers as well o_o But I’m not going to ask for too much since it seems like the LN readers don’t even know everything yet…
      Although it does bother me how Megumi is able to magically appear back in AW when she clearly shouldn’t be able to… I’ll just accept it as a very strong desire to help KYH out =)

      Cherrie
  6. Nice episode. Though I do agree that the fight ended up being anticlimactic after Megumi shows up. Atleast it was nice to Crikin’s Super Robot transfromation. I kid you not when my mind was singing “MAXON” when that scene started.

    Terrorhunt
  7. Cherrie-sama thank you very much for another great publication.
    This was a great episode: A Voltron, Godzilla, a magical princess, two sirens in his element. Everything was tops.
    I would like to see the next episode and see if the Kuroyuki we saw is real or just a trick.

    Shadow74
  8. Another entertaining episode of Accel World.

    From my understanding, a lot was actually cut from this episode. In the novel Megumi received a message telling her she could only enter Brain Burst one more time, implying she was previously a player and the program was forcibly uninstalled. Also not mentioned was that Crikin was in the Purple Legion, which I think makes things just as awkward as if he had been in the Red Legion. After all, no one probably hates Black Lotus more than Purple Thorn after what Lotus did to Red Rider. Personally, I think the episode would’ve benefited had they kept stuff like this in but I guess they probably didn’t want to stretch a side story to three episodes.

    But I think the action was good enough to make up for it. We got to see Black Lotus demonstrate a new ability, the mermaid girls getting a time to shine, and a giant mecha. It doesn’t get any better than that. Black Lotus hasn’t had much of a chance to show off since the Chrome Disaster arc, so I praise this arc for giving her some awesome moments amidst the rest of Nega Nebulous dealing with Noumi.

    Megumi certainly is an interesting character. Count me in with those who believe she was one of the healers Kuryoukhime mentioned. Of course, she didn’t do very much so it’s all still conjecture until the show gives us something concrete. Her Avatar design screams healer, yet I wouldn’t call changing the field a healing ability. And there is still the matter of whether she had any ulterior motives in becoming Kuryoukhime’s friend, as hinted in the last episode. I’d be very disappointed if this plotline gets dropped, though with Accel World looking good for a second season, there’s no need to rush it.

    But forgetting that for a moment, I think Megumi as a character makes a nice contrast to Kuryoukhime in the same way Asuna does to Kirito in Sword Art Online (ah, casting gags…). Bubbly, fun, and seemingly honest, I can see why she would be the first person Kuryoukhime would really open up to. If Kuryoukhime wasn’t Haruyuki-sexual, I’d think the two would make a nice Yuri couple. And it’s nice to see another person Kuryoukhime holds dear to her, adding another aspect to the life of our favorite heroine.

    There’s definitely something going on in the Accelerated World, consisting of those abusing the system of the game for their own ends. Noumi did say “we”, and I assume Sulfur Pot is only a small part of some conspiracy with the newer generation of Burst Linkers. I hope more gets revealed in the coming episodes, and maybe some hints as to what we can expect next season.

    All in all, this arc was a nice a break, and I certainly can’t complain about the focus returning to Kuryoukhime. Though I am eagerly awaiting the next episode, just so we can find out about what’s happened with Chiyu and Haruyuki.

    Frontier
  9. Show Spoiler ▼

    Benz
    1. as I said in earlier comment, this story does tie into the main arc… all the dots are there, you just need to connect them 🙂 hints are all there in my comments, but speculating is also part of the fun xD

      jrj
  10. The bad part about Crikin is he need a lot of metal then can become giant robot… If he is not in a place with a lot of metal, he cannot become giant robot… but still, the giant robot is so damn cool, cooler than Scarlet Rain.

    Tingster013
  11. Seeing Crikin build up and combine his robotic parts brings back memories of my watching super robot series like Voltron when I was a brat.

    So it was a pity to see him end up sinking in the bottom of the ocean. lol

    I’m pretty sure the conclusion for this side-story would be further explained in the Noumi arc, as the OP did feature Sulfur Pot and another red avatar behind Dust Taker. That goes for Megumi’s connection with the AW as well.

    Oh and KYH’s moaning is always music to the ears. “Nyaaaaa~~~~!” <3
    (Good job Megumi. 😀 )

    Kinny Riddle
  12. Cool, there’s a bug in the system: even if you loose your first installation and all your memories, it looks like the system retains your avatar and records. Meaning that if you have someone who will install the game to you again you can get your old avatar back. 🙂

    Megumi seems like a lvl9… and what godly power at that: force change of the stage! Very advantageous in tight situations when the stage is creating an unfavorable environment for you.

    The Moondoggie
    1. It’s actually not possible for another copy of ‘Brain Burst 2039’ to be installed on a person who already had it uninstalled. The program distinguishes people via each person’s unique brainwaves. If someone attempts a re-install, the program will be copied successfully but the flames from the very start won’t appear and installation will fail. It’s still unsure how Megumi was able to reenter the Accelerated World.

      Megumi is not a level 9, her powers might seem powerful, but it would come at a cost. It’s just like how Silver Crow has no powerful Special Attacks as that was the sacrifice for his flight ability. Beside, a Special Attack such as ‘Paradigm Revolution’ requires the Special Attacks Gauge to use, it’s not possible to use it right from the start of a battle since the gauge is empty. Not much help against close-combat types such as Black Lotus.

      Mixed Milkshake
      1. Megumi power is alot more useful than one can imagine, sure 1 on 1 might be useless but can you imagine fighting a fire type enemy, or metal type like critin, by changing the field to something they are totally weak against. Yea 1 vs 1 is not useful but in a team vs team then is almost godly. And like I mention in spoiler right now all the king are at a stand still against an enemy and what they are totally lack against is the field requirement, which they can all do nothing but waiting for the right fieldto happen god knows when, so her field changing ability is totally most desire for the kings right now.

        anri
  13. To clarify everything for Cherrie-sama:

    My only question would be why hasn’t anyone else thought of this?

    Firstly, Sulfur Pot is in Okinawa to hunt Enemies not low level Linkers. Secondly, not all Linkers own their personal Legend ranked Enemy.

    I’m still not sure how Unlimited Burst works either; a lot of the technical points are lost to me.Why do Mana and Ruka have to connect to Kuroyukihime (and Megumi), if Crikin and Sulfur Pot have alternatives to accessing the same dimension? They’re all over Level 4 or over, so why do they have to be connected by a cable?

    Mana and Ruka are hooked up with Kuroyukihime as their level is considered low in the Unlimited Neutral Field. If they cross paths with an Enemy, it would be very likely that they won’t be able to escape in time, have all their points deducted by getting killed again and again and thus lose ‘Brain Burst 2039’. The wires in the hotel have timers built within them so that if they can’t reach the Log-out Gate, the timer would just expire and forcibly disconnect them, saving their points.

    Crikin is a level 7 so he is strong enough to hold his own in the Unlimited Neutral Field, or at least be able to take a few hits from an Enemy and still be able to get away in time.

    Mixed Milkshake
    1. Thanks for all the explanations! And all the comments you left up above… It gets hard to blog when I’ve already read so many spoilers >_< It's a lot of info all at once and I start to forget terminology and what's allowed vs. not allowed… =X

      Cherrie
      1. Try this. Your an “Game master” of an Tabletop/Handbook RPG. You Know the full Story (of course, your the God of this World). But just Tell your “Group” that what they need to know at that Time.

        Germanguy
  14. Has Megumi, her little Sister inside her memories? And the Sisters was an Burst Linker. Perhaps some sort of “data mind Upload” hidden in a dark Corner, or inside her Comm Link.

    and She is the reason while Megumi retired from AW that long. Megumi an First Generation Burst Linker…

    Lets see, how they explain her in the Future..

    Germanguy

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