Accel World Set 1

How could people review this months before it's released? I pre-ordered this and just received it the day after Thanksgiving.Finally, Accel World sees official US blu-ray release. Viz sure did take their sweet time in releasing this. Volume one of the Japanese blu-ray was released back in July 2012, and the final volume, volume 8, was released at the end of February 2013. The joke is, the Japanese release already contain English subtitle. Viz actually subbed the show and simulcasted it during the original Japanese TV broadcast. Instead of releasing the blu-ray quickly to ride on the popularity of the show and Sword Art Online, they decided to wait this long.Anyway, to the set itself. This is set number one, containing episode 1 through 12 spanning 2 discs. English dub is included. In comparison, the same 12 episodes spanned 4 blu-ray volumes in Japan. So what's missing? The parody specials Akucheru waarudo are missing. Also missing are the commentaries by the original Japanese voice actors. I guess Viz think they are not important. Also, the Japanese blu-rays include bonuses like soundtrack and short stories from the author. Obviously none of these made it. Having only one set also means we are missing the great box arts of the different volumes from the original.The upside, we don't have to buy 4 different volumes.You can read synopsis about Accel World in many places, including here, so I won't belabor too much about the story. It is based on a light novel by the same name. I think Accel World is great, having a refreshingly non-traditional protagonist. In turn, it allows great character development in the story. The anime follows the novel pretty closely, but it is unfortunate that there are some of the character backgrounds and details skipped in the anime. It is still a great adaptation and I am grateful that Sunrise did it.Before we go further, the episodes in this blu-ray are uncensored. I don't know if the dub in Neon Alley are uncensored, but Viz' simulcast of the anime was censored as they used the censored Japanese TV broadcast.Voice actor wise, Accel World has many well known ones. Haruyuki is voiced by Yuuki Kaji. He is an excellent voice actor, voicing many great characters, including Hope in FF13 and Eren Yeager in Attack on Titan. His performance here is excellent too. Kuroyukihime is voiced by Sachika Misawa. She is a fairly new voice actress. One of her most recent work is Arisa in Toaru Majutsu no Index: Endymion no Kiseki. She also sings the second ending, and many image songs of Kuroyukihime. Takumu is voiced by Shintarou Asanuma. I'm mostly familiar with him as Kaito Daimon in Phi Brain. Chiyuri is voiced by Aki Toyosaki. I was surprised since she also voiced Medaka in Medaka Box. Niko is voiced by RIna Hidaka, the same voice actress as Silica from SAO. Again, it is extremely unfortunate that Viz decided to ditch their commentaries as they are very entertaining.I had doubts on the English dub. Anime English dubs nowadays usually have decent voice actors too. However, they are usually hampered by the director, script, and the highly annoying thing called localization. Accel World fell halfway into the same trap. It's one thing to translate the dialogues with some minor adjustment to fit the mouth movements, but I find it insulting for a dub to change the original dialogues and details for no reason, and/or remove/minimize the culture of the original language.So what has Viz done? Eliminating honorifics. Honorifics are part of the Japanese culture, and their use is personafied in Accel World to illustrate Haru's character and his behavior towards Kuroyukihime. I'm talking about the word "senpai," which is what Haru uses to call Kuroyukihime. Now, in other anime, the dub can usually get away with this by using the characters' names since the names of the characters are known. Problem is, nobody knows Kuroyukihime's real name other than the original author. So by eliminating the honorific senpai, the dialogues in Accel World can feel weird and awkward. Luckily, looks like Viz realized that it didn't work so they allowed Haru to say senpai in later episodes. There are other minor annoyances, like the elimination of -kun, and -chan (Taku calling Chiyu as "Chi" instead of "Chi-chan" felt extremely awkward). The few early episodes of the dubbed Accel World were very painful to watch, but the pain subsides along the way. In the end, with Viz allowing the use of "senpai," the dub becomes increasingly acceptable, even more than the subtitle itself as the subtitle is completely void of honorifics.Another thing I dislike is changing the details of the original work. Viz had the Neuro Linker and other devices (like Aqua Current's tablet) voiced. Why? They are not voiced in the original. Sunrise did such a great job on the UI design, with many dialog boxes having English on them so they are self explanatory. But no, I guess Viz thought the audience are not that bright so they have to put voice in to explain what's going on. Problem is, this created inconsistencies. One can start wondering why the neuro linker has voice in this situation but not the other. It's a mess, and betrayed the original work.Don't get me started on the changes in some of the dialogues. They are few, but I still don't understand the reasoning behind those changesThe English voice actors themselves are generally okay. I like Taku's voice when he's evil. Yellow Radio is okay too. Kuroyukihime's voice feels too artificial. Haruyuki is okay in some situations, but feels too overdone in others. I don't like Niko's though. Of course, I can argue that the script and the direction are more of the issue. The VAs can only do so much.I like Viz effort on the OP, making the credits appear pretty much the same as the original. They also did not reuse the same OP for all episodes as Takumu is seen wearing his glasses in the OP after the first arc (a neat thing that Sunrise did). However, they got lazy on the ED by just doing a scrolling credit.For extras, there are only character gallery, clean OP and ED, the English dub trailer, and other anime trailers. Pretty poor. Clearly Viz did not put too much effort here, ditching the Japanese commentaries and the specials. The least they could've done was put the original Japanese trailers, or put some info about the light novel and/or the original author, Reki Kawahara.5 stars for the anime, but 3 stars for this blu-ray release. The exclusions of the specials and commentaries are just lazy on Viz' part, considering they have waited this long to release this.Considering the unlikelihood of a second season, I guess I should just be grateful that we finally have an official release of Accel World. Accel World has 24 episodes total. There is no release date yet for the second set. I hope that Aniplex' release of SAO will boost interest again on the franchise, and in the extremely slim likelihood, encourage Sunrise to do season 2.

I am watching it

A lot to say here, compressed into whatever comes to mind at the moment. I decided pretty suddenly and randomly to try this. A long time ago I thought I remembered some things being said about this show I could barely remember now. My early impression going to episodes instead of trailers and comment was something like "This guy turns into a pig, surrounded by other strange and tiny creatures. Is this some chibi creature show like Pokemon?" That was early on, and right up to the moment of a smashed lunch and the pig playing sports, the first 12 or so minutes will give you a very different idea of what this show is. If you take a last step and go beyond the 12 minutes, you are introduced to the real point of the series. So I was very impressed with everything that followed. As of this writing I completed the series once to see if I liked it, bought the DVD, and now as far as the discs are concerned, I have finished disc 1. What this show really is is an action show with events that take place in different states of reality. The main character, who does have a "pig form" actually only uses this in a kind of casual online game play avatar. Something very typical, but here in the online world even a tiny body can be the fastest, strongest, and the best in games. He created this form for himself, but when he gets to try a little known fighting game, his inner personality and wishes create a body that is his ideal self in the fighting world. He becomes the Silver Crow, a metallic hero styled fighter with a lot of potential.If I haven't made the point, after my early impressions of the show, this is very, very good! I got to thinking quickly I was wrong about the show, and it was actually great! I went through the series so fast the first time, Hoping that it would not drop in quality at some point later, But it is great! When I finished it I ordered DVDs on the spot! One catch for me, a language learner only comes from subtitles locked on if you buy the blu ray edition. So to cover my need for the show with the subtitle off option I bought the DVD version. I needed that, I wanted that, it would have been nice with the quality of blu ray, but I grabbed the DVDs for that. All around good show. Try it!

I caught onto Accel World one day as I was browsing Newgrounds, and looked into a few episodes.One thing I can say right up front, is as with it's cousin series, Sword Art Online, much of the series is devoted into building the Universe that the series is housed in. I did not notice it until my second viewing, but the first 4 episodes are almost pure exposition and background information on the world that Haru and Princess Snow Black Inhabit. (Sorry, but I am not going to try and spell the Japanese names)One of the standouts I have to pint out, that drew me to the series, were the ways in which it differed form the vast majority of other Anime I have seen (mirrored in some ways in SAO).Firstly, is the main character. This was the first time I have ever seen a little fat kid in the staring roll. It was great, as the seeing him jump from awkward and shy in most situations, to how confident he becomes when dealing with the Virtual World is a great dynamic, and is very rarely used as an easy joke, and when it is, it feels honest.The Second, is the Female lead, who, at the time, was the first actual strong female lead I had ever seen in an Anime. Unlike so many others, it isn't good until the male shows up, and then is suddenly weak and in need. Her motivations and scars are always evident, and while interacting with the male lead does change her, it is a smooth personal growth curve, rather then a complete personality shift. (I would harken it to Remy's growth in Black Lagoon)If you like techy type jargon, fun, mostly interesting characters, some good jokes, and genuinely funny moments, along with a feel heartwarming moments, this is a fairly well rounded offering.

I really enjoyed watching this series after reading novels 1 and 2. The novels are a great read, and the anime does a wonderful job of complimenting the novels, especially when it comes to illustrating the various fight scenes in the Accel world. But the anime also does a wonderful job of conveying the relationship between Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime, showing the quiet moments that express so much of how they relate to one another and their struggles.Great work!

I really enjoyed this, one of my favorites.

Very good anime.

Bueno. 5* al anime pero no es correcto decir que es de Reino Unido. Indispensable usar un dvd multiregion o liberado o usar un ordenador.

It was an amazing watch.