アクセル・ワールド 02 紅の暴風姫 [Akuseru Wārudo 2: Kurenai no Bōfūki]

アクセル・ワールド / Accel World Light Novels #2

by Reki Kawahara, Reki Kawahara, HiMA (Illustrator)

黒雪姫との出会いにより、一回り成長したハルユキ。そんな彼のもとに、「お兄ちゃん」と呼ぶ見ず知らずの小学生・トモコが現れる。二人のいちゃいちゃする様子を見た黒雪姫の冷徹な視線がハルユキを貫く中、「加速世界」では、謎の事件が勃発していた。乗っ取られると精神を汚染され、敵味方関係なくデュエルアバターを襲い続けるという呪いの強化外装「災禍の鎧」。殺戮を繰り返す狂気のアバターを捕らえることができるのは、唯一の「飛行アビリティ」をもつデュエルアバター、「シルバー・クロウ」のみ。「鎧」討伐ミッションを課されたハルユキの運命とは!?第15回電撃小説大賞「大賞」受賞作、待望の続編登場。

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

360 pages, Paperback

First published June 10, 2009

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]

[ Re-read in 2020. ]

"It’s for me. I’m fighting because I want to like myself, the menial, weak, thickheaded me I hate so much, just a little more than I did yesterday."

I might be biased but Accel World just keeps getting better and better. We get introduced to new characters, such as the Yellow King and the current Red King. There is a powerful villain too: Chrome Disaster, which apparently was born from the despair of a wicked Burst Linker who was forced to delete the program, so now, this enhanced armament makes the user go berserk and attack others without reason.

Thus, the Red King, Scarlet Rain, has to deal with Cherry Rook, a Burst Linker who once belonged to Prominence, the red legion. She uses her abilities to track down Silver Crow IRL, and the Black King –by proxy, and ask for their help, so she can deal with Cherry before others do.

Now, this second volume is filled with sweet, funny moments but also we get to see important character development and information about the whole virtual game. Despite what other people think, I believe Haru is one hell of a protagonist because we actually see him grow. In the beginning, he loathes himself but little by little, and with the help of new friends, a love interest and shared adventures, he develops a new kind of confidence in himself.

It’s really something to see how a fighting game can affect his life so much. He searches for strength, to stand up for what he believes in and against Black Lotus’ enemies, to be worthy of her, but also to like himself a bit more. I guess that this may come as your typical shonen but I can’t help but to love the story as well as the characters. I care a lot for them and I cannot wait to see what happens next!

Also, can we talk about how wonderful Kuroyukihime is? She’s just one of my fav female characters ever! I love her so damn much!

PREVIOUS REVIEWS:
Volume 1

[Jorge Rosas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Keeping up with the story get introduced to the red king and even more lore and abilities, also there’s some character development for the black king and her past.

[Brandon Varnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you'd like to watch my Youtube review of Accel World Volume 2, then please click on this link Brandon's Ultimate Light Novel Review!

So, what can I say about Accel World Volume 2. Well, for starters, I do not think volume 2 was as good as the first volume. Don't get me wrong, I still highly enjoyed volume 2, but when you compare the personal issues that Haryuki had to overcome in volume 1, volume 2 presents a lackluster personal crises that I feel was less of a crises and more of a plot device to try and mimic the success of the previous volume.



So, the story starts off like any other. Takamu, Haruyuki's friend who got his ass handed to him by Haruyuki himself in the previous volume, has teamed up with Haru and Kuroyukihime. They've begun to expand the influence of their legion. However, Haru seems to be having trouble. Namely, he can't seem to win a single battle anymore.

What I found unbearable about this was that Haruyuki's only strength is in his ability to win at video games. It is literally the one thing he's good at. Now that this has been taken away, I feel like Haru is less than what he was in volume 1—a sort of one step forward two steps back kind of thing, if you will. However, the problem isn't just that Haruyuki suddenly sucks at video games. It's the reason he's become so bad that I take issue with.



Without giving too much away, I can tell you that Haruyuki's issue seems to revolve around his belief that Kuroyukhime will throw him away if he fails. However, this issue was already resolved on volume 1. During the moment where they were about to get run over by a car, Kuroyukihime confessed her love to Haruyuki. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't think a girl who confesses her love to someone would throw that person away. This makes the entire personal turmoil Haru feels seem less like a real problem and more like a plot device.

Saying all that, this volume was still a lot of fun to read, and here's why:



There are two factors that make this volume really shine. First was the introduction of a new character: Niko. Niko is a ten year old burst linker and the Red King. Despite being a little girl in real life, her avatar form can transform into a massive fortress that's capable of demolishing entire buildings. She's crass, kinda rude, and has a major attitude—all the things that make her an interesting character.



What really brings this new character into the fold isn't just her introduction and attitude, but what we learn as the story continues. In the beginning, Niko finds out who Haryuki is in Brain Burst, hacks into his family's server, and then pretends to be his cousin... which is pretty damn impressive, if I do say so myself.

After Niko is revealed to be a fake, we learn that her reason for this was because one of her members has the Armor of Catastrophe, which is this supposedly cursed armor that has a lot of history behind it. Toward the end of the volume, we're given some major plot twists that flip everything I thought I knew about Niko onto its head. It was well-done, and it made her personality make more sense. If I had to deal with half the hardships she's dealt with, I'd probably act just like her.



The other aspect about this story that I loved—loved, loved, loved, loved—is how we learn more about Kuroyukihime's past. I said this in my last review of volume 1, which you can find here, but Koyukihime at first comes across as a teenage boy's wet dream. By the end of volume 1, this illusion is shattered and we learn that she's actually just a normal girl with a past that makes her feel a bit like an anti-hero.



In volume 2, we learn even more about that past. We're given an in depth look into her sordid history with the other Six Kings of Pure Color. This adds even more depth to her character and gives us something to empathize with her. She's not just that hot chick who loves Haruyuki for some unknown reason. She has goals and desires and a past that have nothing to do with him. It makes her feel a lot more real.

I also like how she has her own personal issues that she needs to move past. While we don't see everything because the story is told from Haruyuki's perspective, the fact that she has to overcome the regret she feels for her past actions makes her stand out among other light novel female protagonists.

We're not given too much outside of that. Takumu, Haruyuki's friend, has teamed up with him and Kuroyukihime as the third and last member of Nega Nebulus, which is Kuroyukihime's old legion name. This volume has a good deal more action than the previous one, with the entire last third being dedicated solely to a massive battle. Haruyuki is having confidence issues again, which to me, feel like a forced plot device to give him some kind of personal crises, but there isn't much more to the story.

The writing was enjoyable, as always. While I felt like this story wasn't as good as the previous volume, it had nothing to do with the writing, which remains a joy to read. If you wish to read a light novel that is the very epitome of what a light novel should be, you don't have to look any further than this.

[Shannon Luchies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, tho not as good as the first novel.

Basically a examination of the relationship between senpai and kohai and how it can change over time. Trying not to spoil, obviously. Heh. Decent plotline, interesting character relationships, some forward movement from last book.

The only issue I had was the... rather creepy dating-sim like plot of little sister appearing, who is looked at in a somewhat inappropriate way. Tho interestingly there IS a twist to it.

Will probably look for book three...

[kerrycat · Rating 5 out of 5]

*2021 reread - still in awe of KYH and looking forward to catching up with the entire LN series

my beautiful Kuroyukihime . . .

"It is a game, but it's not just a game." - Haru, shades of SAO. Yes, I've fallen into the black hole of SAO/AW connection theories.

[Hidekisohma · Rating 3 out of 5]

So having finished the first volume of this, i really enjoyed it and wanted to get into the second volume so i bought it and started reading it pretty quickly after the previous one and... eh, this one wasn't nearly as good.

The basic premise is this elementary school girl shows up and tells Haru that he needs his and yuki's help to take down this guy in the accel world that has an armor that drove him crazy. That's essentially the plot.

This one was...weird. Nearly the entire second half of the book was a battle, and it DRAGGED. It also didn't help that there were only 8 chapters in this entire 240 page book so that averaged about 30 pages a chapter.

Haru has a lot of self doubt in this one and there was a lot of "haru froze and couldn't move" situations and that got tedious. The new character introduced "Niku" um... she was fine later on in the book, but the way they introduced her was a little odd. She pretended to be a relative of Haru's and tried buttering him up by staying at his house. and that lead to ..weird suggestive situations. and it's weird because like... she's an elementary school student? so.... yeah japan's weird sometimes.

once you got past that weirdness though, this character was interesting. it's obvious her brain is older than her body (what i mean by that is, in the accel world, time passes 30 minutes for every 1.5 seconds. so in theory you could be in that world for a year in 7 hours. so we're lead to believe that the girl has spent YEARS mentally in this world so she's like a 30 year old mentally. i don't know, the way this world works is weird.) she acts older than she is, which, for once actually makes sense and her desire to help her friend is pretty geniune even though he went crazy in the game.

The biggest issue i had with this volume was the final battle. it took SO LONG. i'm not kidding it was a good 100 pages of the book. it dragged on and on to the point that my brain was doing a lot of skimming.

The first book had action but there were several battles and they were all concise and to the point. this one felt like an endurance test.

The parts where they're not in the accel world were fine and the characters act like they normally do, so that was fine.

I'm hoping book 3 will be better as this one was just an even 3 out of 5. Not great, not terrible, but fine.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. Certainly worth picking up if you liked the first volume. I've seen some people comparing them and I suppose that is inevitable. Alas, the story for vol. 1 was told in vol. 1 so expecting that story to be told in vol. 2 doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

We're introduced to some new characters and a whole new adventure in the Accelerated World. I hate to spoil things so I'll be vague. When someone gets their hands on a devastating Enhanced Armament -- the Armor of Catastrophe -- Kuro, Haru and 'friends' decide for their own reasons they need to stop it.

Some people find that Haru is lacking in this volume. He repeatedly faces an insecurity that he feels Kuro may 'leave him' if he isn't successful. Some people feel this isn't feasible because she is the one that confessed to him. I can related to Haru in this. Maybe these others have never been picked on for years, or been made to feel like nothing for years so that when something good does come along nearly anything can make them fret they might lose it. In this I find Haru totally believable. He's been beat down most of his life, maybe not always physically, but as he's essentially been told via words, actions and reactions that he's worthless -- just because Kuro confesses doesn't mean those years of oppression are going to vanish. Anyhow, that went on longer than expected.

The short version -- I understood and felt Haru's insecurities so it worked in this novel for me.

Will Haru, Kuro, Taku and 'little sister' be able to destroy the Armor of Catastrophe? Tune in this volume to find out.

Verdict -- a fine entry into Accel World. Builds on the previous story in world building and characters. Worth the read.

[Noel Thingvall · Rating 2 out of 5]

The second half is solid, expanding on the world of the game to a more traditional MMO in interesting ways, with its shared world and experience quests, without losing the fighting angle. Does a great job of upping the combat, showing multiple top tier players at the height of their destructive abilities, and challenging the leads to find clever ways to hold their own. The problem is the story that gets us there, the introduction to and execution of the Red Storm Princes, where Kawahara and his ooky art collaborators lean heavily into the lilicon angle the series suffers from as he lustily details a 10-year-old girl seductively trying to manipulate a 13-year-old boy, fetishizing both little sister scenarios and their concept of a child being more emotionally mature because of the time they spend in the world of the game. It's disgusting, and if it keeps pervading the series, I'm not going to make it much farther.

[Kevin Hozak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good continuation of the story

This was a good continuation of the story. It dragged a bit in the second half, but still interesting. I like how the author explores questions about the interplay between the real world and the virtual world.

[Jun · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Red King

Haru has gotten eyes on himself for being the only flying avatar and that bring in another king wanting his power for her own. Can Haru deal with this king while not getting the black king eyes turn green

[Ricardo Matos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book #2 introduces some interesting concepts, but doesn't blow your mind. Still, a pretty good read (translation quality gone down from book #1)

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly describing game combat.

[Rehero · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is totally great.

[Matisse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of the three light novel series I've started since the Yen On publishing license debuted last year, 'Accel World' has proved itself as the one worth following.

'Accel World' is a cyberpunk story about kids who play a virtual fighting game, where players are granted the side-perk of being able to accelerate their thoughts in virtual reality. There are gangs of players and mysteries surrounding the world, and the fighting game itself plays out like Wire Fu on 'roids. It's absurd.

Japanese light novels are like that, though. 'A Certain Magical Index' is about sorcerers and scientifically-modified espers; 'Sword Art Online' is about a guy who gets trapped in a hyper-realistic MMORPG, at least for the first arc. I'm sure the former is an engaging Anime series, and I know for a fact the latter is. As novels, they vary wildly in quality.

What sets 'Accel World' apart, and makes it a worthy series, is its human element. Hiroyuki, the overweight and self-conscious protagonist, spends the first novel learning to respect himself and allow himself a few friends. This sequel teaches him another lesson: while the fighting game did enable Hiroyuki to get friends and a girlfriend, there is more to life outside of games, too. Relationships that were started over the game do not have to be dominated by it, and gamers are allowed to be human beings. There's stuff in this volume about the relationships between parents and children, some insight toward letting go of one's failures, and it's fun. It helps that the Japanese style is slower than western novels, and so these character moments are often intimate.

The previously-mentioned series don't have any of this, and it makes them harder to go back to.

...Of course, no second volume of any light novel series is perfect. 'Accel World vol 2' goes full Michael Bay in the second half and sits the reader through a hundred pages of a sweeping, city-destroying battle. To its credit, the book remembers that it had characterization in the first half, and things are neatly tied up in the final chapters. If the series has an even-better third volume, as most light novel series do, then I'll be in this for the long haul.

Aside: the translator is brilliant. BRILLIANT.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewing Accel World's second book, just as it was with the first one, is a bit difficult. It's fun to read, with some exemplary anime girl butt-kicking, and the futuristic society is tossed together remarkably well with just a few sentences given here or there. I'll buy the third one, too, and happily buzz through that in a couple of days.

My problem with the series at this point is that, despite the fact that the kids playing Burst Link feel like they're in a high risk situation, they really aren't. These are characters who live comfortable lives with good friends treating a video game like it's life or death. I understand that it's a really fantastic video game that they might permanently lose the right to play, but it is still a video game, and these are junior high students. It's nothing that ruins the entertainment value for me, but I'd love to read something about a less idealistic group of Burst Linkers, like the programmer in the short story at the end of volume one.

At any rate, I still think Accel World is interesting sci-fi, and even if the cast occasionally trivializes it, it's an interesting lens through which to view an ultra-technological future society. After all, if this were really how society functioned, the contingent of the population represented here would be far more common than heroes with bigger goals. I'm just interested to see if later volumes decide to raise the stakes at all.

[Camy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The back cover description is completely wrong, but I don't really care since I loved volume 1 and went straight into volume 2 while barely stopping to breathe. I like how the author introduces new characters slowly and thoughtfully, and this introduction of Scarlet Rain is cute. Also, the Legions and Unlimited Neural Field expands on the wonderful world of the Burst Linkers.

I love how Haru is so strong and determined when it comes to protecting those he loves. Despite his low self-esteem, he has incredible positivity when it comes to his image of his friends, which buoys them up. It gives him incredible strength of mind and will when he needs it the most.

The inspirational dialogue would have been a bit more believable if it hadn’t come right in the middle of battle, but it was nice to see the parallels between Haru and the armor. And the ending was super mysterious! Why was he hearing the voice?

[Toma Nishikido · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the whole series in Japanese. Even here, there are some people that hate on this book. Maybe american people don't like this genre or don't get this type of humor, but I certainly do. I liked the appearance of the "little sister" and kuroyukihime's reactions. The battle scenes are descriptive and really help you imagine whats happening, and the plot twist at the end of the fight with the ambushers was great. I would have liked more details on the chrome disaster, but the story overall was good.

[Valentina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. I had to skip pages to finish this. Must be a fan of fighting games to make this stuff interesting.

[Eldon Siemens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Felt like a long read, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now, on to volume 3!