Heard about the series a while back when the anime first showed up. Greatly enjoyed it so far, though I can only follow the anime...

Honestly annoyed that everyone has such hate for Haru. Seriously, people? Yes his appearance is cartoonish. Get over yourselves. Seriously.
Real people have that level of self-confidence issue. I certainly don't deal with the same exact stuff, nor am I that "far gone", but it isn't "overdone".

I enjoy the character. Appearance? I'm not that petty to be bothered by it if it isn't intentionally horrible, derogatory, or whatever.

tl;dr: I enjoy the series, relate to Haru, and think people should get over themselves concerning his appearance and self-esteem issue(s).

Did you read the episode 15 thread? It certainly was annoying for people to make out a borderline saint like Haru to be a total piece of crap.

It is probably some viewers want to see themselves as a handsome/ macho protagonist. So, Haruyuki is thorwing them off. :)

The only real problem I have with his appearance is his height, see picture for reason.

Couldn't they made him a little bit taller?

Well, his head is kinda big, like twice the size of other characters, but it fits with the rest of his body...

Hmmm... To say that when this is an even more blatant fulfillment series... Sounds a bit weird don't you think :p ?

Oh, the irony. I guess that fandom doesn't want to be reminded about their real physical appearance and having trouble accepting Haru doing incredible things despite his appearance.

He’s breathing in the navel of KYH. ;-D Do they have future?! lol.

The Demon Pig attacks next week!

Haru goes Ganon on Noumi. Noumi isn't awesome enough to be Link or Zelda, so he automatically loses.

Porcine Punched out of the ring?:D

Or just flat-out mauled, SSB Brawl style. :D

After this week, I'm just looking forward to Haru

MANLY CHEWING

Noumi. :D

This is going to be a meme, isn't it? XD

...just read through the thread. Resisting urge to start cussing up a storm in RAGE.

As a person with serious self-confidence issues, I have to say: regressing back to your lowest point happens. It is not contrived. It is not out of character. It is not unrealistic.

Honestly, I just feel so...pissed off about the reactions I saw there.
Seriously.

Now, now. It's also understandable. Not all people can empathize with Haru's situation but it is also worrisome at the time.

Still pisses me off, though. I'm holding back a lot on that end.

Episode 20, though, did show very well that he can be determined and focus on a goal, which I believe people down-play horribly.

The problem, at least to me, is not is lack of self confidence. Thats pretty much the reality of many kids these days that dont look like a magazine suggest they should.

Its ok for him to be fat also, his shape relates to his state of mind and that´s is part of his character design. The real issue is his lack of human proportions, He could have been all the above and have a human proportion and it would have been alright. But how do you relate his design to the rest of the cast? its strange and hard to relate to as a viewer, because the viewer is human and even if fat, his head, arms, legs are proportioned in a human way... Sometimes he does not seem human. But his personality compensates for it and it prevents him to look, or be too alien.

Someone said that maybe the story is viewed from his distorted point of view, thus he sees himself like that. I would like to think like that, but as a supposition is a big "if"... Hope the author address this in one or another, being he is like that, or is just his projection of self.

Either way, this is only my opinion.

I got a better one!

Because he's the hero Accel World deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So, we'll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A Sliver Crow.

...you do realize that anime/manga doesn't do actual human proportions?

That's not original at all. :heh:

Say, am I the only one worried about Haru becoming the new Chrome Disaster like Spider-Man's Venom?

I'm seeing this:

Silver Crow,

FINISH HIM!

Seriously, Nomi reminded me Accelerator at first, but then I realized he's nowhere near as awesome as Accel.