is a Japanese light novel series written by

Reki Kawahara is a Japanese light novel author. He is best known as the creator of ''Sword Art Online'' and '' Accel World'', both of which have been adapted into anime. He has also written '' The Isolator''. Career Kawahara wrote the first volume of ''Swo ...

and illustrated by HiMA. The series began publication in

ASCII Media Works ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of ...

' '' Dengeki Bunko'' imprint from February 2009 and is licensed in North America by Yen Press. Two

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series began serialization in '' Dengeki Bunko Magazine'' from May 2010, with another series beginning serialization in ''

Dengeki Daioh is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) under the ''Dengeki'' brand. Many manga serialized in ''Dengeki Daioh'' were later published in ''tankōbon'' volumes under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Co ...

'' in January 2013. An anime adaptation by Sunrise aired in Japan between April and September 2012. An English-language version began streaming on Viz Media's Neon Alley service from April 2013. Two video games were released for the

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

and PlayStation 3 in September 2012, and January 2013, each containing an

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

episode. An anime film titled '' Accel World: Infinite Burst'' featuring an original story by Kawahara premiered in Japan in July 2016.

Plot

Haruyuki "Haru" Arita is a short, overweight boy who is frequently ridiculed by delinquents at the Umesato Junior High School. Using his Neuro Linker to escape the torment of real life, he logs onto the school's local network cyberspace where he always plays virtual squash alone, and his innate video game skills bring him to the attention of Kuroyukihime (literally meaning "Black Snow Princess"), the school's popular, highly intellectual and attractive female student council vice-president. After helping him against the delinquents, Kuroyukihime introduces Haruyuki to Brain Burst, a secret program that is able to accelerate the human cognitive process to the point at which time appears to stop. Haruyuki soon learns that Brain Burst is more than just a program, but an

augmented-reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be def ...

massively-multiplayer online (ARMMO)

fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...

where people fight each other in fierce duels in order to obtain burst points, which can be spent for acceleration abilities in the real world. Kuroyukihime then enlists Haruyuki's help in reaching level 10 within Brain Burst by defeating the "Six Kings of Pure Colour" and ultimately meet the creator of Brain Burst to learn its true purpose. With every challenge they face in the accelerated world, Haru and Kuroyukihime, under their aliases "Silver Crow" and "Black Lotus", gather trusted allies and confront treacherous enemies. Their bond grows stronger while working to attain their ultimate objective: to reach the highest in-game level and meet the game's creator, who will reveal why the game was created and the true purpose of it.

Media

Light novels

''Accel World'' began as a light novel series written by

and illustrated by HiMA. Originally, Kawahara entered the first novel in the series into

' 15th Dengeki Novel Prize in 2008 and the novel won the Grand Prize. The first novel was published by ASCII Media Works on February 10, 2009, under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. As of March 2022, 26 volumes have been published. At their

Japan Expo USA Japan Expo USA was a three-day anime convention held in August at the San Mateo Event Center in San Mateo, California, United States. The convention is organized by SEFA Entertainment, based in San Francisco, San Francisco, California. It is the ...

panel, Yen Press announced the rights to publish the light novels in English. The English version is translated by Jocelyne Allen. The first volume was released on July 22, 2014.

Manga

adaptation titled ''Accel World'' illustrated by Hiroyuki Aigamo was serialized between April 10, 2010 and June 9, 2017 in ASCII Media Works' '' Dengeki Bunko Magazine''. The series has been collected in eight '' tankōbon'' volumes, released between July 27, 2011, and July 27, 2017. A four-panel

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

manga titled illustrated by Ryuryū Akari was serialized between April 10, 2010 and June 10, 2016 in ''Dengeki Bunko Magazine''. Five ''tankōbon'' volumes were released between July 27, 2011, and October 26, 2013. In February 2014, Yen Press announced they had licensed ''Accel World'' for an English release in North America. The English translation is by Jocelyne Allen. They released the volumes between September 23, 2014 and December 11, 2018. A spin-off manga, ''Accel World / Dural: Magisa Garden'', written by Reki Kawahara and drawn by Ayato Sasakura was serialized in ''

Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks (publisher), MediaWorks) under the ''Dengeki'' brand. Many manga serialized in ''Dengeki Daioh'' were later published in ''tankōbon'' volumes under ASCII Me ...

'' (published by ASCII Media Works) from March 2012 to August 2017 and collected in eight volumes. It spotlights female burst linkers who attend a private school, Kiyomi Gakuin, in Nakano, Tokyo. Some of the characters from the main story also appear. ;''Accel World'' ;''Axel World'' ;''Accel World / Dural: Magisa Garden''

Anime

An anime television series adaptation aired in Japan between April 7, 2012 and September 22, 2012. The opening theme until episode 13 is "Chase the world" by May'n and the ending theme is "→unfinished→" by Kotoko. From episode 14 onwards the opening theme is "Burst the Gravity" by Altima and the ending theme is "unite." by Sachika Misawa. Warner Home Video,

Namco Bandai Games is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...

, Sunrise and Genco were involved in the production of this adaptation. Viz Media announced the streaming of the anime on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

as of April 6, 2012. An English-dubbed version premiered on Viz Media's online streaming service, Neon Alley, on April 19, 2013. An anime film titled '' Accel World: Infinite Burst'' featuring an original story by Kawahara was released on July 23, 2016. Hanabee Entertainment has licensed the series alongside

Little Busters! is a Japanese visual novel developed by Key. It was released on July 27, 2007 for Windows PCs and is rated for all ages. ''Little Busters!'' is Key's sixth game, along with other titles such as '' Kanon'', ''Air'', and ''Clannad''. An adult ve ...

, and previously From the New World, Campione! and The Familiar of Zero in May 2014. Muse Communication has licensed the series in Asia-Pacific and is streaming on Muse Asia YouTube channel.

Video games

Two video games based on the series were developed by Banpresto and published by

for PlayStation 3 and

. The first of these, , was released in Japan on September 13, 2012. The second one, , was released in Japan on January 31, 2013. The limited edition versions of these games include an

of the anime series (Blu-ray Disc for the PS3 version, DVD for the PSP version). In ''

Z.H.P. Unlosing Ranger VS Darkdeath Evilman ''Z.H.P. Unlosing Ranger VS Darkdeath Evilman'' is a tactical role-playing roguelite video game developed and published by Nippon Ichi Software. It was first released for PlayStation Portable on March 11, 2010 in Japan, October 26, 2010 in North ...

'' for PSP, Silver Crow is an unlockable costume. In '' Sword Art Online: Lost Song'', Black Lotus is an obtainable character and is also one of the opponents you can defeat. An action role-playing game titled '' Accel World vs. Sword Art Online: Millennium Twilight'' was announced in October 2016. The game is a crossover with '' Sword Art Online'', developed by

Bandai Namco Entertainment is a Japanese multinational video game video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in ...

for

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

and

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international territo ...

and released on July 7, 2017. The Windows PC version was released on September 12, 2017.

Reception

Rebecca Silverman of

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...

reviewed the series and gave a story rating of A−, stating a similar basis of '' Sword Art Online'' with improved characters. Richard Eisenbeis of

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

praised the anime for its well-thought out story, relatable main character, and great villain protagonist, but criticizes the anime for its third arc. At the end, he says that the anime starts out strong, but ends on a weak note.

References

External links

*
Video game official website
* {{Hiroyuki Yoshino 2009 Japanese novels 2010 manga 2012 anime television series debuts 2012 manga 2013 anime OVAs Fiction set in 2046 Anime and manga based on light novels Adventure anime and manga ASCII Media Works manga Kadokawa Dwango franchises Bandai Namco franchises Augmented reality in fiction Brain–computer interfacing in fiction Dengeki Bunko Dengeki Comics Dengeki Daioh Fantasy anime and manga Light novels Massively multiplayer online role-playing games in fiction Muse Communication PlayStation 3 games PlayStation Portable games School life in anime and manga Science fiction anime and manga Seinen manga Shōnen manga Sunrise (company) Time in fiction Virtual reality in fiction Viz Media anime Yen Press titles