idouglas - 2013-08-27 15:45:01

People say this Series is underrated DON'T LISTEN TO THEM!!! series that I struggled to finish, I got so bored when watching the series that I had to take many long breaks while watching it. the visuals are just gorgeous I can tell you that and the sound ain't half bad. This series had so much going for it, the story had so much potential that it strikes you right in the feels man. this is sword art online all over again, wait... WORSE. SAO had more Immersion and had even better sound and story. but that is not my point the series both did have cardboard characters accel world had the exception of Haru who is my main issue but I will get to that later. the series both had a problem with the characters BUT... Sword Art Online Had a something called "enjoyment" which accel world didn't have ... at all. you might wonder why I have compared these series so much, it is because they were both written by the same mind and are very alike in the way characters act and react.

but as I mentioned earlier. Most people have told me it has a gripping story, but for me I just couldn't take it serious that little fat beta Haru was something that could have been drawn by a 6 year old child. and not to mention the fact that he'd start crying over spilt milk. The whole show had great visuals and looked amazing the you take a quick look over at the main character and he look more graphical bad then Cartman from south park, and comparing cartoon and Anime is blasphemy right? but for me at times like this it's hard not to. this character is very beta but that is not what makes him bad. what makes him horrible is that he accomplishes nothing trough the whole series but still gets all the pride he never would deserve. he gets his ass kicked by some skinny white dude who does nothing but stop time and always cries for his so called "girlfriend" seriously he called got saved by a girl I like to call her "the rubber cardboard girl" since she always act like if she was a glitchy robot because nothing she does makes sense at all while she does nothing but being a pretty face and beats up people left and right with a notorious reputation, her character was Identical to a female Kirito just way OP and... thats pretty much it, thats it, no character at all, how can they do that. another story placed in the world created by Reki Kawahara, completely ruined by bagatels.

ashtyn.brown - 2013-08-26 02:01:19

Here is my Review of Accel World on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5juUcULUeAw
I tried to make The ratings as similar as possible. Hope you enjoy!~

leora.hills - 2013-08-16 09:25:58

Title: Accel World

Manga: Accel World
Genres: Action, Romance, School, Sci-Fi, Shounen

Episodes: 24

Summary:

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.

Story: 6/10
I'm going to start by saying that I have not read the manga for this or played the VN if there was one.
The plot line for Accel World was a bumpy road for me. It was really all over the place. The first episode was nice because it really pulled me in, but then from there to about episode 5 there was really no action and it was all talk. It bore me up to the point where I actually dropped this series while it was airing. I only decided to pick it up because I'm on holidays and wanted something recent to watch. Anyways getting back to the story, I'm just going to be honest and say that I didn't like it. While watching I felt bored and felt like I was just watching it because I wanted to finish it, not because it was amazing. Usually the first season is the one that attracts all the viewers, but if Accel World ever gets another season, I have a feeling that I'll enjoy it more. If there's anything that this story lacked, it was action. For an anime called Accel World and which is all about accelerating, you'd think there would be more action. I'd say it was 90% talking, 10% fights. The fights weren't anything inspiring either.. I found myself predicting what would happen numerous times.

Characters: 6/10
Being an anime about a whole virtual world, there were tons of characters introduced. There still remains several unrevealed back stories especially for one of the main characters, so at the end of it all you're still left with tons of questions. There certainly were a ton of characters that just disappeared throughout the story and could have used some more screen time. I don't really know what to say, I just feel like everything was poorly planned out. There's so much darkness.
Even though it was 24 episodes I felt like I only watched 5.
The girls were OP and the guys were wimps. In the future I predict it'll be the opposite though. But for this particular season it was saddening.

Music: 6/10
I didn't particularly grow found to either of the two opening or ending songs for Accel World. I feel like music didn't suit the videos or the anime. The background music was also sub-par, I can't even remember a single tune even though I just finished watching all 24 episodes in a row. It was plain and random.

Art: 8/10
The art was nice, and the girls were cute ^.^
That's pretty much what got all the points.
The boys however.. tsk tsk tsk..
I can't say that there were any "cool" male characters that aired in this anime.
It was complete female dominance. Not that I have a problem with that but..
Seriously, all the girls were OP and the guys were helpless wimps. Of course they're going to become stronger in the long-run but for this particular season it was unfortunate. The background art was okay, nothing really unusual or striking/notable.

Overall Enjoyment: 7/10

My overall feeling at the end of Accel World was, "meh". It was good, but nothing amazing. There wasn't a single time where I had that feeling like, "OMG I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE NEXT EPISODE" it was all.. meh. Whenever suspense would build up, it would always end in a mediocre way. I should have just continued watching it weekly because I kind of feel like I wasted my time with this. At the moment I wouldn't recommend this anime to anyone, but I have a small hope for a second season that will be much better. There was so much juicy stuff that was left out and waiting to be revealed and I can't wait to see that.

FINAL RATE: 33/50 (7/10 on MAL)

"Meh" anime. Wasn't amazing. Felt like a waste of time, especially being 24 episodes.
I dropped it while it was airing for a good reason I suppose.
In my opinion, all the good stuff that I wanted to see was left out and unmentioned for now...
HOWEVER!
Tons of potential left for a sequel that could make all of this worthwhile.
Hopefully the manga-readers are enjoying it, because the rest of the story is what I'm interested in.

Reccomendations: If you liked Accel World, or even if you didn't, I recommend the following anime...

- Sword Art Online -

It's pretty much the exact same thing.. but better. And the music is waaaay better.
Accel World is in the future of SAO... So this is kind of like the prequel.

- [C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control -

This is a 11 ep anime but it has everything. A great story, characters, and a very nice ending.
It's also about a guy who fights in "another world"

- Guilty Crown -

Futuristic? Check, Awesome? Check, Derpy protagonists? Check, Awesome female protagonists? Check, Rival childhood friends? Check, Awesome seiyuu? Check!! What else is there to list?

Most of the seiyyuu are the same as well~

skiles.eloisa - 2013-08-04 20:12:23

jerde.haley - 2013-07-27 09:31:58

I think Accel is a very enjoyable anime the animation is so fluid every episode, the soundtrack is also good too. The characters are well developed especially haruyuki maybe people don't like accel world because of haru but for me the design of him being fat is genius because it's different from the other stereotypical male hot protagonist. And in accel world we get to see how will haruyuiki overcome his problems,insecurities and such and the power of him and silver crow is also very well explained and it has connections. The female lead is kurukyuhime one of my favorites because she's pretty,elegant and yet strong and also the other characters are also well developed. The only problem that I think is the ending which is very plain and cliche and the romance between haru and kurukyuhime is also too much ?? and also not believable but all in all it's a great anime with good anime and great animation to watch.

stone80 - 2013-06-26 02:20:00

Accel World certainly has good quality visuals, dynamic battles and an interesting setting, however past that I cannot think of anything that the show does well. You may disagree with this and my scoring, but please, allow me to justify myself because I intend to do so in full.Let's cover a good point first though, the art and animation. The art is very consistent, and it does a great job of displaying the interactive world in its diverse and grand state. The animation for the battles is well done, I certainly didn't have any complaints, there is plenty of movement and excitement, and the battles enough time to satisfy fans of action. The character designs are on the whole attractive albeit generic, but here we come to our first problem, the protagonist Haruyuki.I get it, Haru is supposed to be a character with low self esteem, otherwise they wouldn't have brought in Yuki Kaiji to voice him, but the character design they chose to demonstrate this was insulting to the viewers. Looking at him, it shows the designers attempt to force down our throats the fact that this guy is vulnerable and a "loser", but at the same time still not be ugly enough to put us off, which is why he is chibi, rendering him completely different from every other character in the show. Why did they feel the need to do this? I get the feeling they think the audience is stupid, and need constant reminders of why this guys has no confidence, they even made his avatar a small pig, just to reiterate this further, because you are that stupid.This leads me onto Haru himself and the rest of the characters. His best friend Taku is generic, seems to have no romantic chemistry with his girlfriend Chiyu (indeed Haru has more), doesn't add much to the series, but is at least likable. Although her relationship with Haru was odd (i.e. romantic), Chiyu was likable initially, but later in the series she becomes incredibly annoying. Kuroyukihime is the most likable character, partly because of her pleasant disposition and good design, and also because she managed to be absent from most of the second half of the series. The side characters lack depth but are likable, the enemies are infuriating (and not for the reasons they should be), and then there is Haru. The wimpy protagonist is not going to be liked by everyone, I didn't even like him much in the first half, and then the second half of the series happened.Now obviously I won't spoil anything, but let me just say, the second half of Accel World has some of the most rage inducing episodes you'll come across. Why? The characters start acting in completely illogical and infuriating ways, I had just forgiven Haru for the first half of the series when he just goes downhill in a spectacular fashion, the show starts introducing plot devices that either make little sense or break the setting Accel World itself, and the plot degrades terribly. Indeed, this half was so poor they had to introduce a few episodes of filler in the middle to give you time to calm down. The antagonist has at his disposal seemingly every plot contrivance possibly, and an ability that would never be allowed in any game of that sort.In fact, a major factor in why I ended up being so angry is due to the blatantly poor plot devices and elements that were poorly thought out and look like ass pulls. It shows laziness in the writing, or a simple lack of ability. I was shocked often throughout the second half at how stupid these things were, and this did not help the infuriating exchanges at all.So, in all, the second half was terrible, indeed I'd give it a 3 overall. It did have some nice battles, some fan service and some really spectacular background settings, but on the whole, whenever you had an episode with the antagonist on screen, chances are you were going to hate it. The first half was better, and many will have or will enjoy the first half, but I didn't really like it either. For someone who is the protagonist because they are good at games, Haru really sucks at games, he makes rookie errors and shows a lack of judgement that makes you wonder about his ability. To be fair to him this is simply more usage of plot devices, so I'll forgive him for that, however he does spend too many of the first episodes being a whiny loser who seems to make you want to hate him.Accel World is certainly not all bad, it has some decent episodes which always include exciting fighting, some of the side characters are likable, and the world setting was fantastic in terms of aesthetics, however these happy instances were always in between long durations of anger, misery and frustration. Many may enjoy it, I certainly don't speak for all opinions, but for me watching Accel World was an experience devoid of enjoyment or fun, I don't believe it is inherently terrible and hope that if there is a next season it does not repeat the same myriad of mistakes.

carey.macejkovic - 2013-06-16 08:40:59

Hmmm I can't claim that I hardly rate anime a 10 since it looks like I have at least 5. But my initial reaction after having just finished the episode is that this anime, like all the anime I rate as a 10, does one thing, and one thing well: Tell a great story. Something that sucks you into a world, immerses you, losing all thoughts other than the characters and the plot. Accel World brought all the elements to tell a great story: the art, the music, the animation itself. The animation itself was really pretty as well as the character designs. Coming from a person that has not read the LN, and didn't know the events beforehand, watching this anime was an emotional roller coaster for me. The unique thing I found with this anime was that I found the guy characters cute and funny as well. They often times brought a comedic effect that often times helped lighten the very dark and depressing themes in the story. Although sometimes those same character made me wanna slap them a couple times myself from the view of their own self-worth and hurting others from that. I found myself laughing with them and crying with them, and being happy with them.From the cliptime spent with each character you could tell it was important to the staff to spend just enough time to get the emotions across. I could feel the TLC. Noting seemed rushed. The music did a very good job of supporting the story and suggesting the desired tone at the moment. The art and fight was very well done. Most of all though, I loved how they developed the characters and the time they spent with each. I'm sure to someone who has watched the LN it might feel rushed or maybe even totally skipping out on relevant backstory or arcs but for me I felt they spent just enough time on the character and back-story to really observe these characters as all struggling with their own hopes and dreams and sadness. Time was spent when they cried, when they were happy, when they laughing. I really felt that they spent just enough time for someone watching to really start to empathize with these characters.The only downside, I would say is the distaste with all the characters having dark pasts and insecure but I think it'd be unfair to say they were one-dimensional characters. The other reason I rate something a 10 is because whether you end up not liking the anime or not...it definitely is something worth watching to see for yourself. Hands down.

itzel.mann - 2013-06-15 20:55:42

Premise

Accel World is an action anime written by Reki Kawahara, who also wrote Sword Art Online. Accel World is based in a near future where implantable computers called Neurolinkers have become common and virtually all humans possess one. This allows people to connect to the web, social networks, and online games using there minds, as well as providing enhanced reality functions akin to Google Glass. The story centers on a young boy named Haruyuki Arita, a cowardly nerd who is constantly bullied because he is short and fat, who plays online games heavily to retreat from real life. Due to his considerable skill at online games, he attracts the attention of the female lead and main love interest in the anime, Kuroyukihime, who introduces him to a secret virtual reality fighting game called Brain Burst. Brain Burst is a program that allows the user to accelerate his cognitive processes by one thousand times using the processer of his neurolinker, affectively granting the user the ability to enter bullet time in real life, providing significant advantages for fights, test taking, etc. However, each use of bullet time requires a burst point, a limited currency that the player earns or loses by fighting other players in an online arena. If a player uses his last point, or loses it in an arena fight, the Brain Burst program uninstalls itself and can never again be installed by that player, providing some real world consequences to failure in the game.

Story

The first half of the show is where the story really shines. The first couple episodes of the series are a bit slow, but do a fairly good job of world building and setting up the premise of the show. It also quickly establishes the benefits of the Brain Burst program and the lengths people will go to in the real world to establish an advantage in the game and securing a steady supply of burst points. The episodes maintain the viewers interest with the introduction of new characters and the focus on the relationship between Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime. Things really picking up around the eighth episode with the introduction Chrome Disaster arc, but sadly, after the first half, the show shifts focus pretty heavily with the introduction of Dusk Taker, who is the main villain for the second half and dominates the rest of the series. The story really begins to unravel for the Dusk Taker arc, relying on characters to make really dumb or odd decisions to maintain the tension. It also practically removes Kuroyukihime, by far the most interesting character, from the show, inhibiting any further exploration of her relationship with Haruyuki.

The major fight scenes in the anime are quite interesting, but are relatively few and far between. Sadly, very little effort is given to the more routine fights to make them remotely interesting. They are presented to be analogous to quest grinding in standard MMO's and provide about the same level of enjoyment to the viewer.

Of major note, the show is certainly designed for multiple seasons, so many major plot points are left unresolved by the end of the 24th episode. There has been no news yet of a second season being green lit, and the story has been largely ignored for the OVA's released so far, but one must assume based upon the success Reki Kawahara has had recently that another season will surely happen. If for some reason a second season doesn't materialize, the story will leave you significantly unfulfilled.

Animation

Sunrise provided the animation for Accel World, and they do a pretty good job throughout the series of keeping the animation quality good. No episode stands out as being particularly lacking in the animation budget. There is some level of CG mixed in with the hand drawn, but it blends in fairly well and doesn't take away from the series like it would in some other shows. Overall, the animation is quite good.

Sound

The music for the series is largely fitting for the scenes, but nothing particularly stands out and being worthy of listening to on their own on your phone or mp3 player. The opening and ending credits are both uptempo pop with female vocalists that is fairly typical with anime.

Characters

The real flaw with this show is the characters. Most are fairly one dimensional stereotypes you'd see from other shows. You get glimpses of character development here and there, and every so often a character will break the mold and give you hope, but soon the show forgets and things are back to business as usual.

Haruyuki is the biggest offender in this regard. He begins the show as the fat, cowardly nerd. Through meeting Kuroyukihime and playing Brain Burst, you see him begin to develop confidence and take control. However, with the introduction of the second half of the show, he returns to his fearful ways. Largely, he is reminiscent of Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion, although he does have his moments when the story requires and overall comes out a bit more likeable. His relationship with Kuroyukihime is both a strong and weak point for his character. It is the main driver for the story and source of much of his confidence (when it shows up), but you never see him begin to take control of things. He treats the relationship as if he is her slave, while she wishes he'd just man up and take her. Hopefully, the second season shows a bit more character development.

Kuroyukihime is by far the most interesting character in the show. She is initially presented as the aloof princess of the high school, adored by all, but you soon come to realize that she hides a dark past (well, a dark virtual past) that has left her emotionally scarred. You start to get glimpses of her character and he past around the midpoint of the show, but then she is largely removed for the last 13 episodes in order to keep the tension in the Dusk Taker arc. Had she been able to stick around for the whole show and the focus placed more on her past and her relationship with Haruyuki (and the overarching goals established in the first couple episodes that remain unresolved at the end of the first season), the season would have held up better on it's own. Again, this is a case where it's all up to the second season to really make things shine.

The show has a large stable of supporting characters, but most don't show up for more than an episode or two, so there is little chance to get to know them. Scarlet Rain and Aqua Current are two characters that don't receive as much showtime as they should.

The main male support, Takumi,  is one of Haruyuki's best friend and one of the more likeable and fleshed out characters in the show, although his complete reversal in character during the first arc is a bit abrupt and Haruyuki's forgiveness and acceptance of him rivals biblical proportions. However, his character plays the support role to Haruyuki fairly well.

The main female support, Chiyuri, is Haruyuki's other best friend and Takumi's girlfriend, and with Takumi, the three form a trifecta of friends that goes way back into their childhood. However, little is said of this relationship and the overall role she plays in the series isn't well defined. For most of the show, she appears to be the on again, off again secondary love interest for Haruyuki and main source of contention between Haruyuki and Takumi. This ambiguous status leads her to be more of an annoyance that contributor to the anime, and her actions during the second arc of the story seem arbitrary in order to move along the story.

The first half of the show lacks an overall villain, but Yellow Radio stands out if I had to choose. He is the leader of one of the factions in Brain Burst and is shown to be the type to use guile and cunning to his advantage. He is probably the most interesting character aside from the mains, but he only shows up in two episodes and then is never seen again. The assumption is that he will play a heavy role in the second season.

Dusk Taker is the primary villain for the second half of the show. He is the direct foil for Haruyuki. Haruyuki was bullied and used Brain Burst to build confidence while still enjoying it as a game with his friends and building relationships. Dusk Taker was bullied, but utilized the game to take revenge. Instead of building bonds, he uses the game as a means to an end and accumulates power which he uses to crush or manipulate those around him. He probably ties with Haruyuki for most screentime in the second half, and sadly it is largely wasted. You very quickly get the idea of what sort of person he is, and he remains that way until the end. For those who watch Game of Thrones, he's very much the Joffrey of the show.

Overall

Despite the flaws, the show was quite enjoyable to watch and I anticipate watching the second season when it arrives. It's not in my top 10, but I'd recommend it to fans of action anime, in particular ones revolving around gaming, as I found it more enjoyable than most (looking at you .Hack). However, for the genre, Sword Art Online is similar, but better overall.

VERDICT: Recommend

pasquale08 - 2013-05-22 09:19:55

Hey you! Yeah you, the humongous loser. Are you a humongous loser? Are you convinced your lack of physical attractiveness is the sole factor preventing you from attracting members of the opposite sex? Is your only skill in life that you're really good at a computer game? Well now there's an anime just for you!Our male lead is a chubby little kid who gets bullied by spikey haired shounen protagonists. He spends the vast majority of the episode whining about his condition, wishing he could just disappear into this video game world. We're clearly supposed to feel sorry for him, so forgive me if that comes off as false when he already has two friends, one of whom is a cute girl who makes him lunch. Oh dear nobody loves me, except for my two friends who are trying to care for me, aren't I just the most sympathetic character ever. Also sorry for not feeling particularly sympathetic for fat people when they spend their time running around a virtual sporting environment and then lament the state of the body.I called Accel World a Shana Clone pre-season, but that isn't strictly true. For my personal definition of the Shana Clone, the main character needs to be a personality-less everylead who has no defining features beyond the fact that they're kind of nice. Being a humongous loser is an improvement on that, albeit only if played correctly. A wimpy character has to develop so nice things can happen to them. The alternative is something like Future Diary or Evangelion, where the main character has something great fall into their lap, but their inability to mature means it actively worsens their lives. There has to be a pull/push to this. Something falling into a characters lap and instantly improving their life at no cost is not good storytelling. It's just wish-fulfillment of the laziest order.Now with that in mind, let's take a look at what Accel World does. Main character's ability at this obscure computer game results in the prettiest girl in the school dragging him over, caressing the inside of his leg and giving him magical powers. He now has to compete in games where the if he wins, he gains extra points in tests and a whole bunch of other stuff. But ooh, does it come at a cost? Why yes, if he loses, he's no longer part of the game! So, does he get disconnected from the entire network? Err, no. Does he get damaged in the real world, .Hack style? Err, no. Absolutely nothing happens to him whatsoever. The extent of what happens to him is he no longer has bullies after him, he keeps his old friends, and he had a short romantic skirmish with the prettiest girl in school. Oh dear. I feel so sorry for your predicament. Let me play you the worlds smallest violin.Another thing Accel World appears to struggle with is that it's a story, not a video game. Yes, I'm aware they are playing a video game inside the world. Thanks, the health bars and attack sheets gave that away. You don't need to give me a fucking tutorial for every single part of the fucking match. I'm not playing the game, I don't need to see that sort of stuff. Yet still, for large portions of the episode, our token pretty lady cycled through the rules and regulations on how to attack. Not important stuff that would affect the story. Basic video game rules that we could have figured out for ourselves based on the simplest of visual cues that it gave us anyway. You don't need to adapt a light novel verse by verse. Use the animated medium to show that stuff a book needs to spell out for you to understand.Character designs are the same generic noseless shiny people you see all over the place, with the exception of chubby-san. The animation, apart from some neat CG effects in the fight scenes, is bland and forgettable. Heck, if you're going to be this shockingly blatant about wish-fulfillment, you might as well drop in some service, but there's not even any of that. It's an imaginary world for loser males in the real world to drop themselves into, wishing they too had a cute girl come caress their leg because they're really good at a video game. Blergh.

jenkins.kaelyn - 2013-05-19 03:17:24

Accel World: Fight for your love in a Virtual World

Accel World is "New", It tries to be a lot of things at once but at the same time doesn't take on too much. Many despise the show and drop it from the start solely because the main character is a different type then most of the classic bad-ass/fit/cool-kid type that are normally portrayed in this kind of anime. I beg of you give this anime a shot and actually get sucked into the plot, It follows what it was meant to be quite well and spins a nice twist onto a nice genre. If you liked SAO then you may like this as it has the same sort of overall feeling to it that SAO gives off although in a different manner, originally Kawahara Reki wrote Accel world and then wrote SAO off of the same basis of a being put in a virtual game world and fighting for what you care about. 

If you are looking for a cool Sci-Fi action-style anime with a bit of drama and a different kind of main character then this is perfect for you, Give it a shot and you may just enjoy it!

- Alf

(P.S. Sorry for the cluttered style of this review, its the first time I have reviewed something but I would like to continue to do so and I will improve my style as much as I can!)