New Anime Series! Accel World episode 1!

I think I might have said this before but I have the best cat ever. XD Do you want the silly details? Of course not. Besides you might have a cat too and are saying um no Tenchi my cat is clearly more awesome. And since Kira is scared when I move my feet under the covers she is not up for a battle.

Just know my cat is amazing. And bath time came without blood or tears. Just with snuggles afterwards. XD

Wee say the name of the show in the first episode!

But more exciting than Tenchi having a fun day of grocery shopping and bathing her cat…XO New anime time! Not too much has caught my eye this Spring season. Maybe that will change once everyone starts blogging about shows I initially passed up. But for now I have Accel World episode 1 to watch and blog about. Spoilers for super technology taking over the world!

In the future everyone is right handed. My poor brother. :(

Episode Summary: Our slightly round and very short main character Haru is trying to take notes in a very advanced class. Or should I say society. Instead of computers kids can pull up websites and what not in the air. Haru gets a threatening email via the air and tries to spend the rest of class acting like things are okay. Haru goes through with the threat, which was to bring bread to a few bullies in class. Only he doesn’t do a good enough job and is threatened some more. Upset Haru takes off for the bathroom and via the necklace that everyone wears links up to the internets. More specifically a game where you can be anyone you want. But Haru is a tiny little piggy. He runs into a group of people who are basically worshiping a beautiful avatar owned by a girl Kuroyuki. Embarrassed that he was caught staring Haru takes off with his piggy avatar to a game room. There he proceeds to get the high score by being the most agile pig on the face of the planet. He gets his aggressions out and wants this to be his reality instead.

You is coming on a little strong there. Just let him have his crybaby attack and bring him lunch later.

His friend Chiyuri shows up and admonishes him for hiding in this world. She eventually hunts him down in the bathroom and insists they have lunch together. She senses that Haru was being picked on and suggests that Haru tell their friend Takumu about the situation. Haru feels very defensive and swats away the bento box sending it crashing to the ground. He runs off upset but knows he made Chiyuri cry. Upset by this Haru goes back into the virtual reality world only to find his amazing score blown out of the water. He starts crying, as that was the only thing he was good at. Suddenly Kuroyuki and her butterfly avatar self appears. She has gotten the high score but commends Haru on his great one. She tells him to meet her for lunch the next day. There is a bit of confusion in the cafeteria the next day as Haru tries to approach the upperclassman but Kuroyuki clears the way for him. She also direct links with him in a way only couples do which makes everyone X___x. Kuroyuki tells Haru about this interesting download she has and that she wants to give it to him. The program is called Brain Bust and it may or may not work for Haru but she promises it will change his reality forever. Haru decides to download it and it is successful.

So sad but I am sure that is true in his case...

Before Kuroyuki can explain what the program does the bullies from the day before appear and wonder where their bread is. Kuroyuki stirs the pot which causes the head bully to pull back to hit Haru. Kuroyuki tells Haru to say a certain phrase and he does…freezing everything. But as Kuroyuki explains time is not frozen but their minds are moving at an accelerated pace. Kuroyuki explains briefly what this program can do but Haru is focused on the fact he is about to be punched in the face. Kuroyuki explains Haru can avoid the punch with this program or let himself get hurt so the bully will be expelled forever. Haru chooses to get hit and Kuroyuki gets “injured” too to make the situation better for Haru. Haru is amazed but Kuroyuki explains (with her mind as they are linked up) he can’t go on the global network anymore. Haru walks home with his friends Chiyuri and Takumu. He then learns that the lunch he destroyed might have been a pity lunch so he runs home upset. He has nightmares that night and he wishes he could just leave this reality and fly away. On the way out the door Haru links up so his mother can give him lunch money. The second he leaves the house the world gets all distorted, like he is in a video game. Haru is confused but even more so when he realizes that he is no longer a cute piggy when he logs in but a knight? THE END!

XO A brand new series for me to blog about? Lets jump right in folks!

Although it might be hard to block out Shu from my thoughts (Shu from Guilty Crown). His voice actor is doing the main character Haruyuki’s voice. Maybe I can block out those horrible memories by just thinking about Shion from No. 6. XD The voice acting pool really is small right? Ah the days where everyone sounds like Tamahome.

OKAY! Back to the episode 1 of Accel World. That had no opening or closing song. X__X I think episode 2 is up and subbed now but I am just blogging episode 1. It was weird having no opening or closing songs to rate in my head. It looks like this show would have a very fast pace opening doesn’t it?

What he needs is a baseball bat to beat up those bullies.

The show opens up with a young man being bullied. Oh snap gotta start making up workable nicknames for these people. I think I will just go with Haru even if my inner Fruits Basket self cries. Anyway Haru is being bullied by some much bigger classmates. I am not sure how things are for kids in high school in Japan but here in America bullying is a hot topic. Well at least on the news. I am sure there are jerk students everywhere in the world but from my perspective this show is pretty relevant to what is going on in many high schools across the country. I wonder if it has the same relevance in Japan.

If you are short and overweight your eyes look different. Obviously.

I say that because Haru has been drawn so different than the other characters I wonder if he is going to be popular in Japan or will he once again be made fun of. I am all for WOOHOO different types of characters and not everyone is model size…but maybe he could have been drawn SLIGHTLY similar to the other characters. He seems to be three feet tall while everyone else is model size. I don’t get the feeling that he is a little person, just drawn SO SHORT he has to stand out. So while I am happy that the “average boy who gets the girl” is actually an average looking person I think they could have done a slightly better job making Haru look like a high school teenager instead of 8th’s long lost son.

Psht yeah. Of course he knew that. I did.

There was a lot going on technology wise in this episode. I am not the most suave person when it comes to computers and what not. As you can see with the never changing blog banner. I think the only person who thinks I am amazing at computers is my mom…..and then she gets mad when she asks for things that aren’t possible or are beyond my capability. So with all of that said…X__X I am glad I live in the here and now and not in this show…or the future. Well hopefully I live in the future. X___X Just I am going to be one of old people asking my nieces and nephews how to program my inner TV in my head.

I can see this being SUPER abused right now. XD Yay Facebook! Wait is Facebook dead now?

There also wasn’t a lot of explaining with said new technologies. In the future people only type with one hand, chalk is a thing of the past, and there are no more computers. :( Poor computers. Instead everyone is linked up directly to the internets (if it is still called that officially) and they can pull up sites and basically do whatever they want in the air. Want to check out what movies are playing in the theater (well if there are still theaters…)? Just click in the air a few times and there you go. Mom needs to give you some money? Just link up globally and she can give you money in your account. So trees, if you are still around in the future, people might be leaving you alone. XD

HE NEEDS A HUG!!!

So if the basic parts of the new technology aren’t explained we can just assume….the other parts, the more complicated parts aren’t. The virtual world seems easy enough to understand though. A place to play games and make a cool avatar. Like Maple Story or something similar. I do wonder what Haru is thinking though….if I was less than popular and pretty average looking I would pick the coolest avatar ever. Like look at me taking over the virtual world. I would not be a pig. Maybe the pig has some special stats though….

Of course, can't everyone?! Gosh people. XD

The other part of the new technology seems to be a little more complicated. Haru didn’t really ask the School Beauty many questions about the Accelerate World. This usually will spell disaster for the hero/heroine. Like oh wow something cool that will benefit me in life? Surely there will be no downside to this at all!

And you picked Haru because.....?

Ms School Beauty Kuroyuki has picked Haru to become a part of the Accel World. It is unclear why she has picked him though. He had top score in one game in this virtual world. There is no saying how else he stacked up in that place. There must be something more to him that hasn’t been revealed yet. Maybe he has the potential for greatness, a brain that can handle the accelerated rate or something. Seems like a very powerful tool to hand to someone just because they are being bullied. Add in the fact that Kuroyuki wants Haru to protect her and this all could be very interesting.

I am here to save you piggy. Maybe.

While Kuroyuki might have ulterior motives for giving Haru this amazing program she seems like a nice person. Hopefully anyway. I remember the last popular girl who looked over the kid being picked on in school (I see you Arisa!) so I am just going to wait and see. Especially if Kuroyuki is just going to use Haru. But she seems rather intelligent. Haru could have gotten his revenge in the now but solve his problem for life. Plus she was willing to get “hurt” to make his troubles go away. Again this could have just been Kuroyuki working Haru to her side but maybe she is a nice person. Who knows. XD

:( A sad misunderstanding indeed. Hopefully they all will remain friends.

The rest of the episode was just highlighting how sad Haru’s life is. It looks like he might have a lonely home life. Or at least a non-attentive mother. It appears that Haru has two friends, the bento making Chiyuri and the cool looking Takumu. Now one would assume and so does Haru that Chiyuri likes Takumu and she just feels bad for Haru. That might not be the case though. She was crying pretty hard over the bento being murdered. It is unclear what Takumu thinks about either character but obviously Chiyuri is going to lose out to the cool Kuroyuki. Which is sad, if that is the case of Chiyuri liking Haru. I can see both sides of the coin, Haru thinking it is pity and Chiyuri loving who Haru is but being misunderstood.

Overall the concept of the show seems pretty neat. I like the art style, the main character is not the typical hottie, and the piggy was cute! Of course the episode ends in a rather abrupt fashion. Haru is told by Kuroyuki not to log on Globally and without thinking he does the next morning to get his lunch money. I think that was a hard rule to follow anyway but I am sure Kuroyuki will yell at him anyway. Plus it looks like the piggy might be gone.

Seems to me that this will be a good show to blog. Unless it becomes a hot mess. Then I will have fun snarking it YAY!