Accel World - Episode 24

Finally...

And the power of "friendship" prevails yet again as Haruyuki manages to take down Nōmi as expected. Loose ends were also finally tied up—notably the reason why Chiyu sided with Nōmi and the relationship between Sky Raker (Fūko) and Kuroyukihime (Sacchan). Yes, after 24 episodes, we finally know what Kuroyukihime's nickname (I assume) is. I also take back some of my criticism towards Chiyu. I admit that she really thought this whole thing through and it must have certainly been difficult to go through with. Still, if she gave the plan this much thought, why didn't she try to think of a way to communicate this to Haruyuki and Taku without letting Nōmi find out? I'm sure there must have been a flaw somewhere in his surveillance.

Looking at the fight itself, I have to honestly say that it was underwhelming and ended way faster than I had expected. Nōmi barely put up a fight, and after losing his wings, didn't even seem like a shadow of his usually confident self; a helpless and scared Nōmi Seiji is not the cruel antagonist that we are used to seeing. And at the end, I feared that Haruyuki would let his emotions get the better of him as he witnessed the pitiful remains of Dusk Taker screaming and crawling away in fear, but luckily, he got the job done. However, the result? An extremely creepy, goody two-shoes Nōmi—a far cry from his former self with Brain Burst installed.

In a sense, the finale provided an arguable ending (between open and closed) depending on how you look at it. Haruyuki's short soliloquy at the end imitates those of movie endings where the overall moral of the story is summarized. That said, there's still a lot of potential for more content. In terms of the Accelerated World, some of the other Kings haven't even appeared yet, and I assume there's more about it that has not been revealed. Also, character relationships (aside from the Haruyuki x Taku bromance) haven't been fleshed out enough, in my opinion. Thus, I'd like to see a season two so that these points can be further expanded on.