Accel World Review

Synopsis:
The year is 2046. Haruyuki Arita is a young boy who finds himself on the lowest social rungs of his school. Ashamed of his miserable life, Haruyuki can only cope by indulging in virtual games. But that all changes when Kuroyukihime, the most popular girl in school, introduces him to a mysterious program called Brain Burst and a virtual reality called the Accel World.

Review:

Accel World should be the prime example when it comes to universe and character creation in an anime. In the first five episodes we are treated to an in-depth analyzes of how computers can impact our culture. The world and characters are extremely realistic, which makes watching their plight almost heart-wrenching. The art style is beautiful especially when the landscape pans out and you truly see the scope of everything. Gaming is a huge part of our culture and Accel World's concept is not too farfetched to be unbelievable which is a major selling point to the series. The music creates a nice ambient and then immediately kicks into some amazing rock mix with drum/bass when the action starts. The story arcs are well thought out and do an excellent job of weaving viewers into the world at a rather moderate pace as well.

There aren't too many negatives to this series aside from the last arc. It seemed to drag infinitely on and then was resolved in an instant, which made the buildup seem irrelevant. However there were several important key points that were vital to the series that I believe many overlooked throughout that last stretch.

Overall I was impressed by the depth of this series, and the craftsmanship that went into every aspect. It is not very often that we get a series that goes without some major negative points, and I hope to see more from Accel World in the future. Even the OVA which had no real connection to the series was surprisingly well done considering the average quality for OVAs nowadays. Accel World has a huge list of positives and anyone with a general interest in anime should at least offer it a chance to blow their minds.

5/5

Studio: Sunrise  Genre: Sci-Fi/Action Episodes: 24+OVA

Original Run: Apr 06, 2012 to Sept 21, 2012 Language: Japanese with Subs

Article by: Larry Harris