Accel World - Overall Series Impressions & Total Series Rating
 

This thread is to be used for discussing the entire episodes of Accel World ... your thoughts about the show, overall impressions, expectations and hopes about Blu-Ray/DVD-exclusive footage etc.

A few subjects you might want to ramble on about:

• General impression of the series.
• Opinions on the overall story, writing & plot devices.
• Thoughts about the animation quality.
• Characters/Character Design
• Voice Acting
• Which kind of footage (Blu-Ray/DVD-exclusive) you feel you'd really like to see.
• What the show meant to you.
• What could the creators/animators/writers have done better.

And so on.

The poll represents your total series rating. In other words, how you would rate all the episodes combined (1-10)? If you'd rather rate the whole series by technical/artistic merits, you can do so. An example:

Animation Quality: 1-10
Voice Actors: 1-10
Script: 1-10
Soundtrack: 1-10
Editing: 1-10
Enjoyment: 1-10
Emotional Involvement: 1-10

Average = Total Series Rating

Or a combination of the two. Or your general gut feeling.

Feel free to discuss and more importantly, have fun :)

Overall:
7/10

The show started pretty weak, with Haru being a complete and utter wuss with countless flaws. The extremely messed-up decision of having Haru super-deformed all the time only added insult to injury.

The story around him was nice, but also had its flaws. Like Haru, it also only slowly improved over time. I found that especially Chiyu was quite under-developed (characterwise, not oppai-wise :D).
Just now towards the end, when it finally started to become good, it ends. They should've compressed the early stories more to get to the good stuff faster.

Now that the lame stuff is well past us and the good stuff is beginning, a second season should be more interesting :D

* Huh, I never would have expected a show starring a fat, short, whiny main character would be good. To be honest I didn't even think anybody would even dare write such a story. Haruyuki himself was not as bad as I first expected, since he continually tries to improve and gains confidence as the show goes on. He's even badass at times, though he's completely hopeless at others.
* Kuroyukihime is a very interesting character (and I know some people would have preferred her as the true main character), with a dark past, and ambitious and manipulative attitude.
* Heck, I didn't think battles inside a virtual world would be this intense. Even if death is not involved, there's the matter of pride, and the advantages of being able to accelerate. Good to see that battles are won not through constant hot blood, but also require planning.
* Nice theme of power and corruption, and surpassing weakness. It's also nice to see that despite the increased social control via the Big Brother-esque social cameras, conflict and bullying still exist.
* The Dusk Taker arc seemed to stretch out a bit too long. Personally, I think sacrificing one episode of it to extend the Okinawa arc would smooth out the second half of the show. The constant stupidity of talking instead of wiping out Noumi was also annoying.

9/10. Yeah, this one's going in my permanent collection, as will its sister series once that's over. Will be waiting for the second season.

Plus:

*The adaptation omitted some details that would provide clarity to certain situations.
*Pretty much faithful to the LN's but I wish they continue a bit more.

Overall, 9/10 as well

Overall: 9/10

*Bit of a slow start, but once it got going it didn't stop.
*They could have expanded Chiyu's character a bit more, felt like she got the least amount of character growth (maybe cause she didn't get much screen time during the first half?)
*Haru was extremely short compared to others, he doesn't have to be a tall lanky guy, but at least a little bit taller.

Yes, the Noumi arc was quite long... making it one episode shorter and instead extending the Okinawa arc one more episode would have been nice.

8/10

Will it started out weak and Haruyuki was rather annoying but the amount of episodes made some one you would root for. But there wasnt enough of Yuniko

Good. It shows a daily underdog finds his confidence in online game. It's more than that, else it would be boring. I saw a lot of comments like, "whey does she like him"? So, it picked up my interest. The end is like a new beginning. Haruyuki is growing strong with Kuroyukihime's careful guidance. Isn't it about time to move forward. They are still few in number, but they are not overuned yet. The return of Raker(a former super star) can secure their homeland. The new member Chiyuri can provide the tactical support. So Sachan can execute more sinister plot. :) Since the game has 1000 players, there are more things to be discovered. What is it like to be freelanced? How to lead (or fit into) a legion if the membership is 200 people strong.

Animation Quality: 9

I usually didn't download the best version for this anime... but honestly, I admit that they put on many efforts in making a good animation quality...
I like how they pictured the battle.... it's realistic...

Voice Actors: 8

Only three actors that I like from Accel World : Black Lotus, Sky Raker, and Ash Roller
I'm little dislike Haruyuki's actors... his voice is sounds little childish to me...

Script: 10

yeah! I like the story... I only read the manga before I watch the anime and anime is truly has a good adaptation... so many psychological themes with Nomi's arc in top of it... this anime can play out watchers' feeling very well
although I really hate a weak character who only can cry if he was in bad position... not manly at all :heh:

Soundtrack: 9

I like the opening and ending theme... Kotoko, May'n, Altima, and Sachika ^^
about the OST, it's so-so... but okay!

Enjoyment: 10

yup! enjoyable... no useless fillers... great character development.... and I really love Nega Nebulus members' interaction.... especially in last episode when Raker and Lime Bell joined... it's obviously the best feeling I ever had since I watch this anime

Emotional Involvement: 10

RAGE arc..... involving lots of emotion... I want to hit Haruyuki because of his weakness... and torture Nomi before killing him because of his arrogance
I truly love Nomi's breaking-down face and when he asking for life-sparing while crawling on floor like worm... :heh:

overall : 10/10... great anime and waiting for next season! that's all

A setting with potential, but it disappointed.
A lackluster cast of characters, but it was entertaining (at least compared to the story).

Story-
Not exactly interesting, but the fact it continued to add settings for the sake of moving the plot only hurt it more. And it continued to add settings in the last episode. Plenty of anime do it, unfortunately, but at least it doesn't seem to happen every arc and if it was interesting, then it would be forgivable. But settings like "Oh yeah, we never told you, but there is a type of battle that requires you to wager all of your points" just to rid Noumi forever only causes a "...Heh~?".
There wasn't even an explanation about that girl that suddenly appeared in the battlefield and turned everything to ocean.


Characters-
I guess the protagonist is supposed to be a pig, some fat kid, but to be honest, he feels deformed even for just a fat kid. Yeah, if you search the entire world, you'll find someone that looks like this, but I don't know it. Because of this deformation, it is oh-so-distracting-and-entertaining whenever..... anything happens with him, whether he pushes someone on the bed or we see him naked.

Heroine........... Well, aside from the fact she didn't appear much in the end and another girl came along that was more attractive, the main thing I noticed was her lackluster voice actor. Because the character herself doesn't speak loudly, it isn't quite noticeable, but then she shouts and it comes out flat. Then you are reminded.

Speaking of lackluster voice-acting, if you can't act, then please don't volunteer to speak during an important scene, Mr. Author.
Take a look at Hidamari Sketch? One line. Inserted in breaks.

And the rest of the characters didn't really matter, so forget them (Taku, Chiyu, Niko-channel)


But in the midst of all this mediocre-ism, came Noumi's arc.
Hey, it was bad. The foundation for the arc itself wasn't steady, with a flawed threat treated as if it perfect and Noumi's character wasn't that interesting itself, it was entertaining. Why wouldn't it be? NTR (unfortunately just a dream), facial distortions, all of that silly stuff.
Wasn't good, but I had fun watching Noumi be a jerk. Helped that I didn't care about his victims.
Not good enough of a character to make me want to avatar him though. Ew.

OP/ED didn't leave much impression. I think the first ED was good though.


So in general, I'd say 6/10.
Definitely not a good series, but an interesting setting kept it from getting dead boring. And it was pretty much one of those mangas in the shonen magazine, flaws and development of battles.
Anyways, the setting at least was good.

For me, Accel World adequately filled a void that had been left with the conclusion of the Shakugan no Shana series.

Basically, I like these action-packed, vaguely adventure-esque two cour shows with some solid romance on the side. That's much of what I liked about Shana, and I was glad to see Accel World provide me a Shana-esque experience.

It's not quite as good as Shana itself because Shana had a slightly stronger story and better antagonists, imo, but Accel World does have a nice blend of protagonists and a real sense of style and finesse.


8/10, imo

It's been a trend for me lately, but I'm really glad that LN story's get anime adaptions as that is how I'm exposed to them.

I really really like Accel World. Haruyuki as a protagonist, is very refreshing and whether you like him or not, he will no doubt give you lasting impression. And I'm glad I enjoy Haruyuki's little (no pun intended) adventures with his interaction with the cast, the settings as well as finding out more about the Accelerated World. The battle's are also definitely great (it is a Sunrise production, it's expected =D).

I really would like Season 2, but alas, time will time. Overall, a great anime adaptation.

Haru got a lot of hate for his character design, but I thought it worked wonderfully. I don't think I could have felt as much emotion for someone more "normal looking", and personally I think much of the hate toward his looks is rooted in the social taboo regarding overweight people (and how 99% of media is nothing but attractive people). Either way people will rationalize whatever they want, so for me, I thought it was fine.

On the other hand, I thought the Dusk Taker arc was too emotionally drawn out. I was hoping less time would be spent on characters going through emotions, but in the end I guess the payoff was a very happy final episode....so....it was worth it.

Overall, I liked the character development. I just wish that it wasn't almost entirely Haru. You get fed small bits here and there about the other characters, but that's about it. The cast of side characters was quite large, and most of them are footnotes that "could" be important, but mainly serve to help the story along. I loved every scene with Scarlet Rain, so much energy. And Ash Roller, giga-awesome.

Loved the art and sound. The voice acting was solid too. And ultimately I found myself hanging on every episode. It wasn't perfect, it certainly wasn't life changing, but I wish more anime put in the effort that this one did. We could use more of this and less of the usual fanservice stuff. Although Blood Leopard....mmmmm.

*cough*

9/10

Animation Quality: 8/10
So far so good, I've nothing to leave any further comment about this :)

Voice Actors: 7/10
Sachika Misawa is the Seiyuu for KYH... All of the voices suit well the characters' design but I think Noumi/Dusk Taker needs a little bit improvement, perhaps..

Script: 8/10
Pretty good script and I was amused by Haru during his first battle with Niko/Red King when he said that huge monster/boss/mech (whichever it was... short term memory loss. Sorry) will eventually lose against small player as it always happen in any games.

Enjoyment: 8/10
Enjoyed watching this anime after all. One of the good anime for Summer 2012. I'm looking forward for 2nd season if it is available soon :)

Emotional Involvement: 7/10
The moment when KYH said "I'm pretty sure that I said you're my first", I was like... emotionally shocked by her sincerity toward Haru. But, it is a little bit awkward for a top-notch player and a famous student to get romatically involved with short little student. I've lost my faith in humanity when it comes to this kind of love... haha

meh I give this show about 6/10

the premise was pretty good and interesting. I got taken a bit back by haru's appearance including the fact that he even chose a pig as his avatar but I could go with that.
the plot twists were also pretty good along with the action and fights.

now my problem comes from how I find it hard to empathize with the characters sometimes. I can get haru's problem of having an inferior complex since I have one myself IRL.
but the problem I see here, is that he seems to have quite the intelligence and knowledge plus the experience when dealing with either battles or people. yet a lot of instances are thrown that makes him look like a fool who acts before he thinks.
ex. immediately and directly accusing a girl that she's the red king. well he's got enough reason and evidence but... you'd think he'd know that its not wise to antagonize a potential enemy especially very quickly AND being inside the bathroom.
then there's how they make the comedy scenes(and some dramatic ones)... they really fall flat for me. like the scene where nico and KYH "seem" to be fighting for haru and then haru tries to calm it down which results in them telling him off and him being scared. I saw what you were trying to do but it didnt work.
this also includes the fanservice stuff, which seems to me like an attempt to make things go longer while being pretty bland.

also w/ what serenade beta has said concerning the characters. the only character in here that I can say I like is chiyu, pretty ironic considering how a lot of hate was already growing on her early in the series. and then there's nomi, who I applaud as a villain who can really make your blood boil. :heh:

I think thats enough. the series is still good itself, just has several flaws during some moments and the character fazing in and out...
oh and the OP and ED songs are pretty good, but why is there quite a pause whenever we transition to the ED song? :confused: disrupts the flow of each episode imo.

Not sure what you mean by a "pause", but this is one of those shows where the ED has a lead-in that plays in the last few seconds and segues directly to the ED reel. So the ED appears right on the appropriate beat of the music, after that lead-in (which is a way to build anticipation). Personally, this is one of my favourite editing techniques, and I really liked the way it was used in this show.

That's something of a studio 8 tradition. I'm pretty sure all of their TV shows do this. At least all the ones I have seen do. It's definitely not a pause though for sure...I don't think it could be any more the opposite if they tried really. :heh:

8/10, Though I would have given it higher if I didn't hate Haruyuki's character design so much. I love the story and his relationship with Kuroyuki-hime, but I swear that his physical appearance is way out of alignment with the overall art design.

That being said, I enjoyed this show immensely, and I hope for a sequel.

And one day, I want the author to do a true crossover with SAO and Accel World. That would be awesome.

Animation Quality: 10
Pretty good, I know it's not the best there is, but I'm fully satisfied :)

Voice Actors: 8
can't name the specific instances, but there are times where it's a bit flat

Script: 9
Well, coming from an award winning LN series, the script's does what it needed to do to cover the story. other than that, I suppose budget and season episode limit has a lot to do with how some things turned out. like most people, I agree that the Naomi arc could be cut 1ep shorter

Soundtrack: 9
not much to say here. very good, not the best i've heard

Enjoyment: 8
It was one of the shows I got really excited about every week, but it's hard to say that I ENJOYED every moment of the show... Naomi's rage arc was more torture than enjoyment XD

Emotional Involvement: 10 BUT Emtional Satisfaction gets an 8
I find myself VERY emotionally involved, especially with Naomi's rage arc at the end. but truly, I'm not emotionally satisfied. after so much build up of rage and hate against Naomi, I feel like he got off easy with a memory wipe and essentially a life reset. aside from that, Chiyu felt like a much flatter character than she could have been (see the LN)

Average = 8

While the show is thoroughly enjoyable, I find there to a few too many issues to be called perfect. Solace, while I agree with your view of society's biases toward overweight people and influence of the Media, my problem with Haru isn't necessarily that he's an overweight character, but his physical deformity. No, I don't need a male MC to always be tall and strong, but can he at least be chest or shoulder height? it's weird to watch every character have to literally kneel in order to talk to him at eye level.

Also, his ability to build his harem is downright abnormal, especially given his overweight body type and his history of being looked down upon and bullied. No, I absolutely do not endorse or encourage any of these behaviors, but the way things are in AW are just too unrealistic even within the fantasy world. Sure, Kuroyukihime finds him special for her own reasons and falls in love with him because she's a special girl with a unique personality. I can definitely buy that. Chiyu kinda likes him to despite dating Taku because they were all childhood friends and she really doesn't know who she loves more, that's fine too. but what about all the other female characters? It seems almost as if they think he looks cute and attractive in a weird way. because they're all at least friendly to him upon first meeting him. I mean, cmon, at least tease him a little in a friendly way? Sky Raker definitely could've done that lol, and I"m shocked Nico HASN"T done so, all she's ever done is call him a pervert...

Well, between these problems and the Naomi arc, I can't give this show a 9 or a 10, but I honestly don't have it in me to give it anything below an 8 either because at the end of the day, it did keep me at the edge of my seat and left me wanting more (2nd season anyone?).

I think that you can maybe justify Haru's popularity with the ladies by logical extension of his Silver Crow persona.

In other words, I can see somebody like Pard, say, taking a liking to Silver Crow just because he's a very good burst linker with a big (and largely good) reputation. Silver Crow might not be on the level of one of the color Kings, but he has become a pretty big deal in the Accelerated World. The anime makes this clear a couple times.

Once somebody becomes a bit of a "rock star", the importance of their physical appearance can drop dramatically.

So it's not necessarily that these girls are all into Haru. Many are probably just into Silver Crow, which benefits Haru by extension. Imagine a girl who thinks that Spiderman is really cool - If she finds out that he's Peter Parker, she's probably going to like Parker even if he's not her type physically.