アクセル・ワールド 04 蒼空への飛翔 [Akuseru Wārudo 4: Aozora e no Hisyō]

アクセル・ワールド / Accel World Light Novels #4

by Reki Kawahara, Reki Kawahara, HiMA (Illustrator)

日常で“ブレイン・バースト”を巧みに使いこなし、中学内格差の頂点に君臨する謎の新入生・能美征二。ハルユキは、能美の狡猾な策略によって自身の“翼”を奪われ、完全敗北を喫した。―しかし、ハルユキは、再び立ち上がる…。

Genres: Light Novel, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Manga, Japanese Literature, Action, Anime

363 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 2010

About the author

Kawahara Reki (川原礫) is the writer of Sword Art Online and Accel World. He also uses the pen name Kunori Fumio. His hobby is cycling.

Reviews

[Ray Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is where the fight against Dust Taker ends, so we finally see Nomi get his ass kicked! This arc was the last one animated (2012), which is a shame because it’s only the tip of the iceberg compared of how much these series has grown over the years.

There are a lot of action scenes but what I really liked about this volume was the fact that Haruyuki/Silver Crow convinced Niko/Scarlet Rain/The Red King so she could help Taku/Cyan Pile learn the Incarnated System. Niko explains that using the Incarnated System is a powerful weapon, but it also means you're opening a door that is meant to be closed because it digs right in the core of your traumas. Either way, it is the only way to fight against Dust Taker, because unfortunately Chiyu/Lime Bell is helping that asshole. So he’s become this indestructible Burts Linker that takes especial attacks from others with a range of 100% wins.

Also, knowing about Taku’s past trauma reminded me that they’re a bunch of kids playing a game that eventually affects their lives. They make good friends and relationships in the Accel World, yes, but they’re also get threatened IRL, which is something that makes a great balance between a plot-driven story and character development.

Something I always found mesmerizing was that in this game, all your fears and traumas give shape to the image of your avatar. The things you’re struggling with become your weapons or your special attacks. And I mean, how great would that be? IRL it's hard to overcome the things that haunts us, that make us weak, but if somehow we got power over them, we would be stronger.

And OMG! I absolutely adore the soft scenes with Haru and Kuroyukihime. Their relationship reminds me a lot to what I was with my loved one, and even though that’s probably not the best, since she’s gone, I get so emotional from time to time. What I love the most about them is that Haru truly loves, admires and respects Kuroyukihime. And she loves him too, despite all his flaws. Haru becomes a hero thanks to the love she feels for her, and that’s beautiful.

On the other hand, I kind of understand where Nomi was coming from –I mean, the guy was bullied by his own brother, but c’mon! Being in the Accel World was an opportunity to leave all behind and find his own family. Still, he decided to go to the dark side and look where that got him. Actually, the way he completely forgot all his memories from the game, left me in a weird note. He should not have been forgiven and he deserved a punishment equal to what he did to others, but what can we do?

The same happened with Chiyu. I still don’t understand the reasons why she helped him hurt others. Is she jealous of Kuroyukihime? Does she want Taku and Haru for herself? I truly don’t know. She’s a character that doesn’t make any sense to me.

Last but not least, I really fucking love these series. The Accel World is a story that is so important to me that I don’t have the words to explain how much it brings me hope, and the will to stand up and fight every single day. I’ve said it in my previous reviews, but there’s nothing like rooting for an underdog that grows into a powerful yet humble hero.

PREVIOUS REVIEWS:
Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3

[Hidekisohma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad i finally got around to reading volume 4, because volume 3 REALLY left a bad taste in my mouth. it was kind of the "Empire strikes back" so far, where the volume ends on a dark cliff hanger and you have immediately read the next one to find out what happened.

The villain in this book is still Nomi, carried over from the last one and it has a lot to do with Takumu and haruyuki trying to defeat him without the aid of Kuro as she's still on her school vacation. This one doesn't have as much of a training montage in it, which is nice considering it definitely dragged the previous volume out a bit.

There's a lot of internal dialogue in this one where Haru has to find the will to fight, save his friends, etc all while not relying on Kuro. This, while it can be annoying, because if he just asked her for help they could have resolved it pretty quickly, but i guess i can see the desire to solve the problem on your own without having to ask for help from your superior.

Nomi is still annoying as ever, but thankfully, since this is part 2 of the 2 parter, his villainous story gets wrapped up in a nice little bow. I'm also thankful that Kuro is back and hopefully won't go on any more school trips moving forward. (also seeing Chiyu being fully back in the group)

This one, once you get into it, reads pretty fast and i read the second half pretty much in one day.

Besides Nomi, i have to say i really did enjoy the characters they added in these recent volumes. all the characters added bring their own charm to the story and i haven't strongly DISLIKED anyone besides nomi so far, so that's a good sign moving forward.

That being said, 3.5 out of 5 but...rounded down to a 3. (mainly due to Haru just not ASKING kuro for help like a normal person would and dragging the problem out and also Haru being accused of putting a camera in the girls' changing room for an awkward amount of time)

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

So it's been 20 something months since I read volume 3. Why the delay? Well, one, the ending of volume 2 was both good and bad. I wasn't sure I was ready for the next gut punch. Two, new and exciting series just kept appearing on the library shelves... and getting distracted by them and finding some favorites left Accel World just kind of in limbo.

So why now? Well, I'd caught up on a lot of those favorites, and it has been a long time so I figured I'd see if our previous cliff hanger was going to be resolved. And was it!

A bit of a spoiler here -- I though Nomi might be the villain for a couple more books but no, his arc was resolved in this one. That being said, I shall say nothing of the whys, hows and wheretofores of his defeat because that's the meat of the book. And frankly it delivered pretty well.

So when's the next one? Well, there are a number of series that had been shunted aside over the last two years so I'm reading around in them to slowly catch up... and the library just got Weird Al: Seriously which I've been wanting to read for ages so ....

Anyhow, Verdict is -- if you're interested in Accel World, this one's worth a read -- and grab it at the same time as vol 3, cause the wait ... ouch.

[Kevin Hozak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great continuation of the previous book. Very exciting the whole way through. Now I wonder where the series is heading.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice read, I personally only bought volume 1 till 4 years ago, so I'm glad the story ended. Otherwise, I would've been left hanging... haha xD

[Jun · Rating 4 out of 5]

And that the end of the anime chapter

Love reading the end of the drama with dusk taker and how lime bell plan. Solo much I had forgotten from the anime and this book was great

[Ricardo Matos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fitting end to book 3. Read in 1 day. The best of the books so far. It wasn't mind blowing, but it did build up the story. This covers the last of the anime episodes! Looking forward to book 5 :)

[Camy · Rating 5 out of 5]

How interesting that the shock of Chiyu’s betrayal caused Haru’s anger to surface and allow the Chrome Disaster inside himself. And apparently the Armor of Catastrophe itself is an Incarnate attack. That means the armor must have some intelligence in order to maintain the Incarnate power?

It’s nice that they turn to Niko and she appears in the story again. It’s also such great writing how the Incarnate System exposes her own weaknesses and fears, which is why she can’t use two of the four basic techniques.

In the same way, what a heartbreaking reason why Taku has his long-range pile driver. It explains why he has a piercing weapon rather than a sword when he does kendo.

I absolutely love how Chiyu’s actions were so well explained and also that she was the one who told Kuroyukihime.

Kuroyukihime’s theory about the Incarnate system is very interesting, how the Incarnate system’s purpose is to lure Burst Linkers to another dimension. It reminds me of how when Haru was learning the Incarnate System and he saw a golden figure. Maybe he was crossing to another dimension?

I’m also glad the author explained how Brain Burst remained a secret for seven years, by deleting memories. Although the fact the program can even do that is rather troubling.

The ending scene with Fuko was rather sweet. I teared up in spite of myself.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Accel World's fourth volume isn't necessarily bad, but as the second half of the story started in the third volume, it's so fight-heavy that I didn't find it very engaging. There's some decent character development in certain spots of the book, and the plot makes a major leap forward, so I can't recommend skipping this book. I just felt weighed down by all of the within Brain Burst action in this volume.

That being said, I loved the trip to the arcade in the middle of the book. That was some fairly hardcore cyberpunk nonsense, especially for this series, and it felt really imaginative and fun. I liked the depiction of the future's retro fascinations, and it really picked things up for a while. Like all of my other favorite parts of this series, though, the best parts of that section were interpersonal, not action-based.

I'm still looking forward to the next volume of Accel World, and I hope that it keeps a better balance of the two parts of this story than this and volume 3 did. I loved the last one, but the dense character development and interaction there came at the cost of sucking all of the life out of large portions of this volume.

[Tuna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flight Toward A Blue Sky (Accel World 4) is the thrilling conclusion to the best Accel World arc that was animated. Reading it in print was a blast as Mr. Kawahara continues to show that he has developed greatly as a writer. While SAO at this point still felt like a "my first story" this feels very refined in the depth to the plot development, numerous world building details (such as more about the neurolinker, development of how it became the around the neck version, details about the Incarnation System, and tidbits about what it could suggest about the true intentions of the Accelerated World), and lastly a better designed antagonist that has something that makes you care about him.

All in all it was a great volume to read and gives me hope to see whatever the next arc maybe. My favorite part was the Haru x Taku teases in this volume. Best friends forever.

[Toma Nishikido · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fourth is better than the third, story-wise, but it has so much action in it, starting with the third book, that it just made my mind feel exhausted. I liked the new character and the bonds between the characters strengthening. I really liked the ending, where Black Lotus comes to save the day. I can't really say much about the fourth. It was so action-heavy that there was less story to review on.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a definite improvement over the previous book, with Haruyuki actually developing as a character. I must admit that the lack of Kuroyukihime was a plus for me, but most important here is the way Kawahara really commits to explaining the story's world and technology. You win, Accel World - I'll keep reading.

[Brandon Varnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, I don't have an actual review for this yet. I'll write one up when my schedule isn't so busy. For now, please enjoy listening to my high-pitched squeak as I ramble on about why I loved Accel World Vol. 4.