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アクセル・ワールド / Accel World Light Novels #8
Accel World, Vol. 08: The Binary Stars of Destiny
Haruyuki's desperate battle with his friend Takumu has taken him to the brink, and he finally activates the Destiny, a purified version of the notorious Armor of Catastrophe. It's light versus dark as their fierce fight continues, and the stakes couldn't be higher. If Haruyuki can't rid his friend of the sinister ISS kit that's infected him, Takumu could be lost to the darkness forever. And he just might take Haruyuki with him...
264 pages, Paperback
First published June 10, 2011
3 people are currently reading
221 people want to read
About the author
Reki Kawahara
284 books913 followersKawahara 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.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 22, 2018
Volume 8 will stand as one of the best Accel World volumes. By turning the tables and focusing on Takumu/Cyan Pile’s inner turmoil and using Haruyuki Arita to work his magic on a male member of Nega Nebulus, we received one of the most heartfelt and heart wrenching battles of the novel series. I was brought to tears and smiles watching them not only duke it out with their attacks, but to also pour out their feelings in such an emotional and intimate manner that I was unable to read the ensuing chapters for a while. It was just so touching and heartfelt with how they were post battle direct linked that I cried my heart out for these fictional teens.
Takumu speaking about all his struggles hidden behind a façade he worked to create yet found harder and harder to keep up due to the goodness of his friends around him was at times almost relatable. Simply seeing how someone we thought had it all could feel jealously and envy at Haru’s tenacity and personality was intense. And couple that with some of the bullying Taku endured during his club days, and we get a very complex character who had very complex issues to work through.
Making this fight even more intense was that we saw Taku struggling to keep it together and still use his analytical skills in the process to dictate to Haru what he planned to do in his suicidal sacrifice to stop the ISS kits from spreading and meanwhile get to the bottom of the issue. I enjoyed how this played out as it was so different than how the Enchanted Armament, the Disaster, affects Haru.
The remainder of the volume was just as intriguing. Not only did we return to the major issue at hand, getting Silver Crow and Ardor Maiden out of the Castle, but we also got to see Haruyuki confront the Armor of Catastrophe, and this time without any of his friends near him. It was a chilling place to end the volume on and one that leaves you thinking. Will Haruyuki finally give in or will some miracle enable the Destiny to reawaken, or perhaps, Ash Roller will wake up and pull him out of it?
Overall this volume is easily the best since the Dusk Taker arc with the game elements on full display (escaping the dungeon, key powerful item lore, and an epic boss fight with Ardor Maiden delivering a hi ougi) and then the phenomenal incarnate system level two fueled battle against Suzaku which was larger than life and kind of unfair (Kawahara really adheres to the limits of the system he created here unlike SAO), to more personal drama.
Fantastic.
Takumu speaking about all his struggles hidden behind a façade he worked to create yet found harder and harder to keep up due to the goodness of his friends around him was at times almost relatable. Simply seeing how someone we thought had it all could feel jealously and envy at Haru’s tenacity and personality was intense. And couple that with some of the bullying Taku endured during his club days, and we get a very complex character who had very complex issues to work through.
Making this fight even more intense was that we saw Taku struggling to keep it together and still use his analytical skills in the process to dictate to Haru what he planned to do in his suicidal sacrifice to stop the ISS kits from spreading and meanwhile get to the bottom of the issue. I enjoyed how this played out as it was so different than how the Enchanted Armament, the Disaster, affects Haru.
The remainder of the volume was just as intriguing. Not only did we return to the major issue at hand, getting Silver Crow and Ardor Maiden out of the Castle, but we also got to see Haruyuki confront the Armor of Catastrophe, and this time without any of his friends near him. It was a chilling place to end the volume on and one that leaves you thinking. Will Haruyuki finally give in or will some miracle enable the Destiny to reawaken, or perhaps, Ash Roller will wake up and pull him out of it?
Overall this volume is easily the best since the Dusk Taker arc with the game elements on full display (escaping the dungeon, key powerful item lore, and an epic boss fight with Ardor Maiden delivering a hi ougi) and then the phenomenal incarnate system level two fueled battle against Suzaku which was larger than life and kind of unfair (Kawahara really adheres to the limits of the system he created here unlike SAO), to more personal drama.
Fantastic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 17, 2018
First third of the book was quite good, second third was boring and the last third was a cool boss fight.
Reki Kawahara seems to be writing himself into events he can't explain or make any sense of and it really hinders the series. He should have prepared better what was to follow and I'm sure he could have come up with a better explanation than the image system.
The afterword is filled with "lol" and a really poor attempt at better explaining the book... if the author feels that he needs to explain basic concepts of the book in the afterword, then imho he has failed big time.
End on a cliffhanger, will be picking up volume 9 to see how the arc concludes!
Reki Kawahara seems to be writing himself into events he can't explain or make any sense of and it really hinders the series. He should have prepared better what was to follow and I'm sure he could have come up with a better explanation than the image system.
The afterword is filled with "lol" and a really poor attempt at better explaining the book... if the author feels that he needs to explain basic concepts of the book in the afterword, then imho he has failed big time.
End on a cliffhanger, will be picking up volume 9 to see how the arc concludes!
January 6, 2017
once again, a thoroughly enjoyable experience from Reki Kawahara. While perhaps not enough character development in this volume, the story was solid. one complaint is the translation - is it Azure Air or Azure Heir?
March 29, 2017
This arc is really long, but it is still really interesting!!!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews