Accel World - Episode 11

That's definitely not a good way to go...

I'm usually not one who uses TV Tropes in my reviews but the sheer amount of facepalm-inducing moments in this episode has almost made me want to call this anime "Trope World". The biggest problem I had with this episode was the use of these two tropes during the fight scene, which took up the entire episode. Now, you might be asking, "Why are you trying to logically analyze this particular battle out of all the ones that have previously occurred?" While I'm not positively sure why, I think it's partially due to the fact that the pitfalls this time around are so obvious and so abundant that it's hard to ignore them. I mean, seriously, you're being attacked by, not a few, but a horde of Burst Linkers, most of whom are wielding long-ranged weapons, and manage to not get hit while standing there and talking? Give me a break.

Putting that aside, another thing that bothered me was the overused speeches of self-depreciation that Haruyuki, and even Taku, seem to spew every single episode. Taku's "sacrifice", which was supposed to be "heroic", in a sense, did nothing but make me shake my head in disappointment. It failed to succeed in its task—that is, to make one feel for him—as the idea of him constantly feeling guilty about what he had done is getting old now. The third event that irked me was how Yellow Radio managed to not even get scratched by Scarlet Rain's hail of missiles that eliminated nearly everyone on the opposing side. He's not seen running away or taking cover so I assume he was just standing there. If that's so, there's no way he wouldn't get hit. The final qualm I had was regarding Haruyuki's speech while he was being electrocuted. Even if his HP bar did not run out after being shocked for such a long period of time, wouldn't it be logical to think that he'd be too weak to coherently speak? I guess that wasn't the case.

Despite all the negative remarks I have for this episode, I did enjoy the fight between Yellow Radio and Black Lotus. However, this was the first time that two Level 9s have faced off so it may just be a case of me being fascinated by something new. It's unfortunate that the two weren't able to show off their special moves. But on the flip side, the appearance of Chrome Disaster made for a great twist and cliffhanger. I don't expect Yellow Radio to go down that easily but it'll be interesting to see if he'll end up cooperating with Haruyuki and co. in order to take down his attacker. However, judging by the preview, things don't look good for the protagonists as Chrome Disaster seems to prove that it's a force to be reckoned with.