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「蛭魅(フレンド)」 (Furendo)
“Friend”
With summer breathing its last gasps (or having already given up and died if your name is Western Canada) it seems a little strange for flashbacks to be making their appearance, but this is Accelerator and we were overdue for one anyway. It may have been a week sparse on action and the glory of cackling chaos, but the setup for this show’s endgame couldn’t have been made clearer.
While Accelerator is largely an Index-verse paint by numbers story (Level 6 here we come—again!), it’s still nice seeing some confirmation of things largely passed over and events to come. Case in point this week was Hirumi of course, who while likely lifting a few eyebrows in terms of current status certainly checks off all the boxes when it comes to tragic backstory. Little sister? Fatal illness? Deep desire to please onii-chan? Darling we got it all—and then some. I should’ve probably guessed something was up with the girl from the start considering Esther’s necromancy being front and centre to this arc and Hirumi’s living status (not to mention her, erm, aggressive attitude), but colour me surprised when she’s technically dead and not even likely Hirumi anymore. Well, at least at face value. Although I seriously doubt Accelerator will go the route of having Hirumi being actually dead in body and soul and replaced by a pseudo spirit imposter (because there won’t be as much tragedy to eke out later if the girl is already gone), it’s nice seeing the show willing to inject some mystery and suspense into the overall story. The Index-verse was never that big on broadening its narrative horizons all too often, so any effort on that front deserves a little praise.
The interesting thing from here though is just how Accelerator plans on wrapping this arc up. It’s pretty damn obvious for example that our white haired albino boy is going to thoroughly trash mad scientist, Schrodinger girl, and robotic trio combined (because cackle), but how he does it and who winds up being left over—and in what form—definitely is up in the air. Then there’s the matter of Esther and her serious desire for redemption and atonement, which implies a suicide mission (because touchy feelies demand it) but may turn out differently depending on how Accelerator winds up resolving things through force. For a show with only four episodes remaining there’s surprising amount of material left to wade through (doubly so considering next episode looks set to explore the Sister memory angle), and with everything to play for, several ways it could all pan out.
We may know how this story is going to end, but getting to that point is going to be one hell of a ride.
Preview
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https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Accelerator/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Accelerator%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2012.jpg
If you got something to say just say it.
loved how there was continuity nod in the form of “disrobing woman” urban legend being mentioned…
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Accelerator/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Accelerator%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2011.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Accelerator/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Accelerator%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2012.jpg
These three must have thought Esther was Kiyama Harumi. Speaking of Harumi–or rather, her “Level Upper” project, I wonder why Mikihito didn’t consider using that project as a reference? (Or get his hands on Level Upper research data and use that instead on his sister Hirumi.)
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Accelerator/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Accelerator%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2018.jpg
So that explains Esther’s fashion sense (or lack thereof). Turns out it was also part of a ruse for Hirumi to steal one of Esther’s pseudo-soul talismans, but still.
Other thoughts:
– Well, this answers the question I had back in episode 04 (“[Is] demonic possession also a thing in the AcceleRailDex ‘verse?”). Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Turns out that one of Esther’s pseudo-souls might be malevolent and using Hirumi to manipulate Mikihito. (Or at least, that’s how I interpret it.)
– Jeez, and I thought Naru’s ahegao-like face from episode 06 was bad… Turns out the girls blackmailed by Kimihito into becoming human guinea pigs for his experiments had it much worse.
If I’m remembering the timeline right, the Necromancer arc is happening in very early September, whereas the Level Upper arc from Railgun happened in late July. As such there’s only a month and a half or so between the two, and as this episode’s events are a flashback, it may well be that Hirumi’s death and Hishigata’s slippery slope breakdown had already happened by the time the Level Upper arc wrapped up.
Don’t remember how long Esther was working for them in captivity before she escaped just prior to the start of the arc…
You do not know how hard I had to fight to keep my mouth shut on that one… :p