More Kuroyukihime-sama~
With this episode, I'm quite confident that I'll be sticking with Accel World for the remaining 22 episodes. Although I'm not much of a gamer anymore, the Street Fighter-esque battle that was shown brought back some great memories. Similarly, the presence of "avatars" reminded me of the MMORPGs that I used to play. On top of this, having a main protagonist which I could more or less relate to and a physically captivating bishōjo makes each episode all the more entertaining.
The game mechanics of the Burst Link program are similar to that of an MMORPG with PvP (Player vs. Player). Having had experience with these types of games before, it was easy for me to follow everything that was going on, including all the common game terminology like HP, specials, level, etc. that was used. Even though the whole battle between Silver Crow and Ghost Rider was cliché, the fast-paced action was enjoyable. I'm highly looking forward to more of these types of battles, especially since I think that, as he engages in more and more of them, Haruyuki will continue to develop as a character through the lessons learned from gaming (the idea of "learning via games" is slightly amusing, to be honest).
As for Kuroyukihime, she, despite not being involved in the duel, played a big role in Haruyuki's victory. The conversation she had with him in the "Twilight" arena further defined her as a character, as well as gave him the motivation he needed to persevere and obtain victory. Previously, all that was known about her was that she is a high-class girl who's experienced with the Brain Burst program. Now, however, there appears to be a mysterious and dark side to her which remains hidden. I'm almost willing to bet that she's also suffering from some personal problems, while putting up a façade in the public, just like Sanka Rea from Sankarea. The revelation of the troubles she may be facing will unsurprisingly have to wait until the story progresses further. However, placing the foundation for the expansion of her backstory was a good choice to keep viewers interested in her.
This week, the ED makes its debut.
ED: Seriously, what's with the excessive amount of Engrish in Japanese songs this season? It's like the Japanese think their English is good enough to use in songs that people all around the world can listen to. Aside from this, despite this being a KOTOKO song, I didn't really like it. The melody was not catchy enough, unlike in many of her previous songs. The music also felt a bit weak. I definitely prefer the OP over the ED right now. Nonetheless, it is a decent song.
I think I'll stick with Accel World too. It seems amusing to say the least. I'm not exactly too fond of the whole video game-based gimmick that the story seems to surround, since I can't really take the whole thing seriously. I mean, if it's all just a "game", then I end up feeling that the stakes aren't high enough for the characters to be seen in a believable conflict. This also reminds me of the part where Kuroyukihime says something like "If you lose all your points... You will... Never be able to accelerate again". All the drama and build-up for that line felt silly for me, since I was expecting her to say something like "you will die". If the consequence of losing is simply not being able to accelerate, then, like I said, I can't take this risk seriously. The characters lose and they simply have to move on with their lives.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I do believe that both Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime have a lot of potential as characters. I'm expecting Haru to grow in a similar way to Yukiteru from Mirai Nikki. I hope the story will center a lot around his development into a stronger person, as he slowly begins to rely less and less on the virtual world. Likewise, I hope to see more of Kuroyuki, as she seems like an interesting character.
In fact, it's interesting to note how she's the only character whose avatar resembles her real world appearance. And considering that a person's avatar is created based on his/her ambitions and fears... Huh, looks like that chick has more than a few issues.
Yeah, I also thought she was going to say "You will die." That would've made things a lot more serious. Although for Haruyuki, not being able to accelerate is technically worse than dying since he mentioned his life was a "living hell" before Kuroyukihime saved him (i.e. gave him the Brain Burst program and the ability to accelerate). Thus, his desire to win is akin to trying to survive.
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