Accel World

[Ryllharu]

My bet originally was that Taku was the red king who got beheaded and lost all his points. Chiyu's development suggests otherwise though. I don't know if Taku saved her from something in real life, had sex with her, or simply introduced her to the Accelerated World 2 years ago.

The final idea at this point (and the one that makes the most sense at the moment anyway) is that someone hacked Chiyu to challenge Kuroyuki. It explains why a challenge from Kuroyuki doesn't work neither. Cyan Pile isn't available unless he's proxying through Chiyu.

edit: So.. given all this, it puts my idea of Taku being the beheaded Red King in the backseat a bit. His prowess at Kendo could be contributed to his increased physical training the virtual gaming world OR to his Burst Link abilities. He doesn't seem that confident, so that's why I thought the former.. but still. Or... his lack of confidence may be because he's low on Burst Points?

I would think that it was pretty obvious that Cyan Pile is Taku now, given both what you went over in your post and his dialogue this episode that Haruyuki, "shouldn't make [kendo] sound so easy," with a hurt/distant expression on his face.
(By the way, it looked like Haru was drinking from a bottle of steak sauce or ketchup in that scene.)

He's been challenging Kuroyuki by proxying into their school through Chiyu from the global net, and all this time he's been using Burst Points to stop time against his kendo opponents, read their moves, and then strike appropriately. Now he's running low, and is really desperate.

If this is the case, then it makes Taku a much more interesting character than I had thought. He was impressing Chiyu and others by abusing the points system, and now it's biting him in the ass. He isn't everything that Haruyuki has felt inferior to all this time. All three friends have their own weaknesses and insecurities.

She's upset that he didn't want to hang out with them anymore. I can see that being the case and I don't see any problems with her feeling that way. Haru felt he'd get in the way and left, but she never thought he was getting in the way. More than anything, she didn't want to lose a friend just because she was dating one of them.

She's kind of naive. Haruyuki was trying not to impose on their relationship, whereas Chiyu didn't want to choose, even after she already had. He was being courteous, Chiyu was being selfish without realizing it. You can further see this with how upset and jealous she gets when Kuroyuki takes him, or pays attention to him. She wants to monopolize her male friends. True, Kuroyuki is using him out of revenge or fear, but she does seem to genuinely like him, she just hasn't expressed her own reasons for doing so.

The bed scene was great. If anything proves Chiyu's defenseless naiveté, it was flopping on the bed with one leg propped up, and then suggesting that he should get on top of her, rather than the two of them sitting against the bed on the floor. She either really trusts him, doesn't think of him as a man, or simply doesn't even realize (the most likely).

[Buffalobiian]

I'm not sure I share the "negativity" (for lack of a better word) surrounding Chiyu's actions.. but I can't disagree if you said she didn't consider (or rather, understand) Haru's feelings. But that goes for Haru as well... so they're even?

I'm actually a little confused about the continuity from Kuroyuki's words thus far. She's stated that winning battles isn't all there is to being strong, but then gave us this story about her upsetting the balance of the Accelerated World. She says that her goal for challenging the others was to reach level 10 in order to reach enlightenment, and to me that isn't the same as "winning battles to be strong". Furthermore, she still wants to bring that plan to fruition, so she hasn't exactly changed in that regard.

Did the "change" she mentioned occur before she became the lvl9 Black King, or was there some hiccups in translating/adapting the beheading event?

[Buffalobiian]

UTW - Episode 04

[NeoCybercoin]

Just as I thought. It's that guy.

[Ryllharu]

Yeah, it was obvious it was him once Chiyu was brought up as a suspect.

Kuroyuki was damn cute with all her flustered, jealous behavior, even going so far as to intentionally get a shorter cable. The key scene was how shocked and upset she was getting because Haruyuki kept saying he should only be used as her slave and cast aside.

With the car crash (and all the very odd censorship...why censor the driver's face even after identifying him verbally?) I figured that she was going to die in a cliche way or be in the hospital for months in a coma, but thankfully, medicine has advanced to the point where even an accident like that and the large amount of blood she lost isn't fatal. She'll only be in trouble for a few days at the most by the sound of it. I'd still be worried about brain damage, but the author either forgot about that, or it's covered by the same medical advances.

[Buffalobiian]

With the car crash (and all the very odd censorship...why censor the driver's face even after identifying him verbally?) I figured that she was going to die in a cliche way or be in the hospital for months in a coma, but thankfully, medicine has advanced to the point where even an accident like that and the large amount of blood she lost isn't fatal. She'll only be in trouble for a few days at the most by the sound of it. I'd still be worried about brain damage, but the author either forgot about that, or it's covered by the same medical advances.

I thought at one point that Kuroyuki might die physically but might have her soul running around in the Accelerated World or something due to some lvl9 hax. Luckily that wasn't the case.

Kuroyuki didn't seem to bleed from the head, so head trauma didn't look likely from the start. I was actually worried more about her neuro-linker being damaged, since the requirement to have it on since birth also made me wonder about your eligibility as a Brain Burster if you took it off for some reason. They also said she could go into shock anytime due to her blood loss and organ damage, so I take it that it means she isn't in it yet (or at least is still in stage 1 or 2), so brain circulation should still be satisfactory.

Nothing to be ashamed of Harayuki. Treasure them while you can. I miss those adolescent dreams. :S

[Buffalobiian]

UTW - Episode 05

[animus]

Oh come on, a cliffhanger on a name?

[Buffalobiian]

Oh come on, a cliffhanger on a name?

That wasn't the only thing that happened. We also didn't know what the result was for that match. Cyan Pile was in the preview, and I don't think it's a flashback but it's possible. I'm going with Haru forfeiting the battle and letting Taku have some points. Yuki's battle-ready now anyway, and he can kick Cyan Pile's ass any time now. (lol at the pile forming a rail for Haru's punch.)

I don't really like how the health gauge doesn't really reflect the amount of damage each person receives consistently. Those special attacks don't do terribly much when you remember how easily the bike shaved off Haru's health from last time. Debris took more health than Haru's punches did. Granted, it was a lvl2 vs Haru's lvl1 compared to Haru trying to take down the lvl4 Cyan Pile... but still... it's bloody rocks off some tires.

The way the game works is also a bit funny. Ark mentioned that there might be a spectator mode that allows you to view matches without losing burst points, but what's stopping you from participating? Yuki just walked in and wreaked some shit, so what's stopping her from wrecking Cyan Pile while she was at it? What's stopping everybody from joining in and turning it into a brawl?

-If we remember back to Haru having a rematch against the Biker dude, he totally ambushed Biker with a kick to the face. If the world was challenge only, it's funny that Biker would just be having a tour when he knows someone's out for a match. But the very fact that he's touring means that the place was more of a "game world" and less of being a simple arena. The big question is: if accessing the game world uses up points, who the hell wastes it on riding bikes? I don't believe that there is specifically a "fun mode" where you can access the world without burning points with the trade-off being the inability to challenge (and thereby gain points). The reasoning there is that when Silver Crow kicked Biker, he took a chunk of health off him.

There's also the curious happening where Yuki killed Red without being in battle, but didn't reach lvl10 as a result. If you can't refuse a challenge, what stopped Yuki from just picking a fight with another King on her own?

A figure for Silver Crow and Black Lotus came out earlier in the week so I already knew of the design (it's in the OPs and stuff anyway), but I had my doubts since Kuroyuki called it ugly (and she's got an eye for design..) so I still thought it might have been the chunky black mofo towards the end of the OP. (/me puts money on her name being Kurokami Yuki).

Taku was insecure after all. Not sure if I'm expecting Chiyu to go into jealous fits for Haru later on or not. He said they may have to start from a clean slate again, and that could even mean Chiyu breaks up with Taku and starts over from the group-of-three-friends again. It could explain why Taku's assaulting Haru in the PV (even though they're in different schools?)

[Ryllharu]

You're mixing up a few facts Buff.

1. Biker dude wasn't just cruising around for fun only to get kicked in the face unsportsmanlike. Haruyuki challenged him to a match the second he and Kuroyuki stepped out out the school gates. This was to ensure that no one else would think he is easy pickings for points based on how badly he lost the first time, and to make sure he got his rematch. They were in a match already. Biker dude just cruises around as his method of movement. Haruyuki hid and waited to ambush him while Biker dude casually cruised around looking for him.

2. Black Lotus didn't get to level 10 from killing the red king because you need to kill five level 9s.

3. She can wreck all the shit she wants, but it doesn't appear to impact anyone's life bar. I'm willing to let any inconsistencies in that scene go, because it was pretty obvious they were ignoring certain rules to make it look super cool.

---------------

I smiled when she said her battle form doesn't even have any hands to hold. Kuroyuki's so cute when she's in love mode. She's a big fan of petting too. She rubs and squeezes his piggy form, and she gently strokes his wings.

Taku was a total douche in the first half of this episode. Insecurity indeed. As much as I would have liked to see Haruyuki smash him totally, then tell him to live proudly in the real world instead of cheating, that would have come off callous and hypocritical, especially for Haru. I'm glad that he forced him to concede without making him lose (pretty convenient that Haru's super punch gave them both exactly the same remaining HP...) but if the library scene is any indication, it's not quite over between the two of them, that part isn't resolved yet.

I'm with animus. Cliffhanger on a name? Lame.

[Buffalobiian]

You're mixing up a few facts Buff.

1. Biker dude wasn't just cruising around for fun only to get kicked in the face unsportsmanlike. Haruyuki challenged him to a match the second he and Kuroyuki stepped out out the school gates. This was to ensure that no one else would think he is easy pickings for points based on how badly he lost the first time, and to make sure he got his rematch. They were in a match already. Biker dude just cruises around as his method of movement. Haruyuki hid and waited to ambush him while Biker dude casually cruised around looking for him.

Hmm, that explains it then. I was assuming that "finding" Ash Roller resulted in the kick in his face, not finding him on the challenge list.

2. Black Lotus didn't get to level 10 from killing the red king because you need to kill five level 9s.

That part.. I'm still not too sure about. Haru asked if they needed to win 10 000 games in order to get to level 10 (ep3, ~5mins in), and Yuki said you only needed 5 wins. "However, you must beat another level 9 linker, and a single loss will strip you of all your points". The phrasing of that sounded like you needed to fight just one. I'm on the fence though, since your explanation does explain why Yuki didn't gain level 10 status.

3. She can wreck all the shit she wants, but it doesn't appear to impact anyone's life bar. I'm willing to let any inconsistencies in that scene go, because it was pretty obvious they were ignoring certain rules to make it look super cool.

Yeah, I'm not surprised that she didn't take out Cyan Pile, since that wasn't her objective anyway. What I was wondering about was what's stopping her from killing him.. or Haru... or anybody else standing around.

---------------

I smiled when she said her battle form doesn't even have any hands to hold. Kuroyuki's so cute when she's in love mode. She's a big fan of petting too. She rubs and squeezes his piggy form, and she gently strokes his wings.

On the other hand, I smiled when Haru had the guts to snuggle up to that DFC. I don't foresee it happening again though, especially not in the real world.

Oh, and Taku probably never got to Cable at 30cm before. Suck on it. xD

The biggest problem with the whole Taku thing is that nothing really got resolved IMO. Taku was an ass, and Haru was disliked because he seemed closer to Chiyu than Taku was...

[Archangel]

So i'm the only one who sees Taku's point? I'm gonna go ahead and hate on Chiyu, indecisive bitches are annoying.

[Ryllharu]

I'm not saying Chiyu is any better, I wasn't exactly complimentary toward her in the last episode. She's really selfish for wanting both of them in the first place. She wants to protect Haru, and not have Kuroyuki "use" him, all the while that she is officially Taku's girlfriend. In a way, you could say that Chiyu wants the be the center of attention for both her friends, Taku as her boyfriend and Haru as the excessively grateful pet she cares after.

Taku has a point, but the way he stated all that stuff during the fight makes him look like a total douchebag, who deserves all these things without putting any effort for them....because he's "better" than Haruyuki.

[shinta|hikari]

Taku has no point. Going on about deserving someone's affections? That is typical high school, which I don't blame him for because he is in high school, but it does not serve as any positive aspect of him either.

@Buff - Kuroyukihime is not just about winning. She has a bigger goal in mind, which is discovering what lies ahead of accel world. It just so happens that winning is the path for that, but her sacrifice in saving Haru showed that she is much more interested in the goal than the method. If they could achieve that end by being all happy and roasting marshmallows in the accel world I bet she would opt for that.

Damage is not too far off from actual fighting games. Damage done is always based on the enemies specialty, so debris flying off from riding would significant damage if the enemy is all about riding. Even special moves don't always take away too much life bar. Those who regularly play a lot of fighting games would know this. There is always the issue of usefulness, speed, and hit rate when deciding the damage of a move. Just because it looks awesome does not mean it kills you off immediately.

[Buffalobiian]

@Buff - Kuroyukihime is not just about winning. She has a bigger goal in mind, which is discovering what lies ahead of accel world. It just so happens that winning is the path for that, but her sacrifice in saving Haru showed that she is much more interested in the goal than the method. If they could achieve that end by being all happy and roasting marshmallows in the accel world I bet she would opt for that.

Is this in response to this?

Yeah, I'm not surprised that she didn't take out Cyan Pile, since that wasn't her objective anyway. What I was wondering about was what's stopping her from killing him.. or Haru... or anybody else standing around.

If so, the comment wasn't so much talking about Kuroyuki's destructiveness. She just happened to be the one demonstrating my point, which was:

If someone not in the match can jump in and destroy the surroundings, what's stopping them from hitting one of the duelers and interfering with the otherwise 1v1 DUEL? As an extention, what's stopping anyone else from jumping in from the side-lines?

I got the whole "she wants to see what lies ahead thing", I just don't see what's stopping her right now since people are forced to accept challenges.

edit:

Damage is not too far off from actual fighting games. Damage done is always based on the enemies specialty, so debris flying off from riding would significant damage if the enemy is all about riding. Even special moves don't always take away too much life bar. Those who regularly play a lot of fighting games would know this. There is always the issue of usefulness, speed, and hit rate when deciding the damage of a move. Just because it looks awesome does not mean it kills you off immediately.

The SP attacks, sure. Not all SP attacks are end all, but the way one normal attack (1 hit) can do like 1/5th of that damage already is pretty weird.

Other weird examples include how Silver Crow lost health when he fly-kicked Ash Roller off his bike. It was more than half of what Ash Roller himself took.

Then you have the Gravity Pile Driver not killing Haru fully, but a single pike thrust from earlier was enough to take off an arm.. not to mention Haru's flying punch (despite being not an SP attack) took down as much health as the Gravity Pile Driver. Then let's remind ourselves that this is lvl1 vs lvl4 (and there are only supposed to be a handful of lvl4s)

Going back to Ash Roller, do you guys remember how fast Haru's health drained when he was latching on to the back of his bike? The rate would have meant that he'd die within 5 seconds easily. What actually happened was as if that bar stopped going down (or was significantly slowed down) as soon as they stopped showing it on screen.

I'm not expecting this to be 100% accurate since we're not watching a fighting-game replay, but the health bar and damages don't have that much correlation at all. It seems to be "for effects only".

[shinta|hikari]

Then you have the Gravity Pile Driver not killing Haru fully, but a single pike thrust from earlier was enough to take off an arm.. not to mention Haru's flying punch (despite being not an SP attack) took down as much health as the Gravity Pile Driver.

The pile driver attack hit the arm only so it took it off. The SP move hit the chest so it just reduced the life bar. This happens in K1 fighting games. There are a ton of normal moves that do similar if not more damage than SP ones in fighting games. And how do you know that the flying punch is not an SP attack? They never showed Haru's SP bar after it.

I'm not expecting this to be 100% accurate since we're not watching a fighting-game replay, but the health bar and damages don't have that much correlation at all. It seems to be "for effects only".

My point is that the bold part is true for fighting games in general. A shoulder throw slamming to concrete will do several times more damage than a jumping uppercut, but Ryu still enjoys that inconsistency.

[Buffalobiian]

And how do you know that the flying punch is not an SP attack?

Because the Laws of Anime dictate that you must shout the name of your SP attack as you execute it.

Jokes aside, you've got a point there. I checked back to the end of episode 02, where Haru was obviously going for his headbutt attack. He didn't yell it out, but his back-thrusters engaged and his faceplate glowed blue-white in the same manner that his wings and fist did this episode, so I'm convinced it's an SP attack now.

edit: okay, not "convinced", but I'll be putting a lot of weight on it, since the only conclusive finding from that is that Thruster and Glowing Impact Point seem to coincide.

[Archangel]

[recollections from manga source]I think the manga said the punching and kicking used SP as well when he was in bird mode.[/spoiler]

Take care not to spoil people.

[animus]

I was expecting Haru's special to be a flying headbutt from the sky.

[Buffalobiian]

[ASL]_May'n_-_Accel_World_OP_-_Chase_the_world_[MP3].rar
[ASL]_May'n_-_Accel_World_OP_-_Chase_the_world_[FLAC].rar