Signal Fire at the Water’s Edge
Creative Staff
Story: Reki Kawahara
Art: Hima
Translation: Jocelyne Allen
What they say
PREPARE FOR A FULL DIVE!
Sparks have been flying on the Umesato campus ever since Kuroyukihime discovered that Haruyuki invited not one but multiple girls to the exciting school festival. However, when Rin collapses in the real world after Magenta Scissor infects her with an ISS kit, Haruyuki and the others put aside their issues to save their friend! The first step of their plan is to pull off a daring rescue to free Aqua Current, but lying in wait at the Castle’s gate is Seiryu, one of the Four Gods… Even if they have Aqua Current on their side, how will they overcome Seiryu’s horrifying ability Level Drain?!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Accel World volume 14 is packed full of action, touching moments, and more action. The first two chapters detail the mission to rescue Aqua Current from the Legend rank enemy Seiryu, one of the Four Gods that protects the four gates into the Imperial Palace, located in the heart of Tokyo. Actually, the first chapter is just the ride over to the palace, followed by some banter, and then some pre-battle planning. There’s a lot of dialogue that goes on during this moment, and it tends to have a lot of characters speaking up. The battle to rescue Aqua Current happens in chapter two and ends in success.
If there’s one thing I found somewhat difficult to deal with during this volume, it was how much dialogue there is. I generally don’t feel this way. I like dialogue. However, I feel like Reiki Kawahara tried really hard to include all of the characters who took part in this mission (Haruyuki, Kuroyukihime, Pard, Nikko, Chiyuri, Takumu, Utai, and Fuko), as if to say, “Hey! All these characters are still here! Please don’t forget about them!” While I’m all for making sure everyone gets their time in the limelight, the chapter before the Seiryuu rescue felt really bogged down. What probably would have taken a few pages for anyone else took this guy an entire chapter. On the other hand, while slightly annoying, I won’t deny that having this scene built up the hype for the battle. By the time the fight actually occurred, I was pretty much on the edge of my seat.
After the successful rescue, the group travels to Fuko’s house in the Accelerated World. Some of you might remember her house, which we haven’t seen since volume 3, the Dusk Taker Arc. The group has decided to rest there for the night to replenish their mental faculties so they can prepare for the next stage of their two-part operation: Going into the Tokyo Midtown Tower and destroying the ISS kid main body.
This was probably my favorite moment because it showed another scene between Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime. It was also admittedly a little annoying because once again very little seems to happen. I sometimes feel like relationship development crawls at a snail’s pace in this series. The biggest problem is Haruyuki. Part of me understands that as someone who was bullied, Haruyuki’s ability to communicate is stilted by his own lack of self-confidence, but while I do understand that, I feel like after 15 volumes, he should have become a little better at explaining himself. The fact that “his throat clogs up and tears spring to his eyes, etc., etc., etc.” still happens is a little off-putting. I suppose we could be grateful that he progresses at all, but I’ll probably forever wish his development as a character went a little faster.
The last few chapters take place when their group arrives at Tokyo Midtown Tower and gets ambushed by Magenta Scissor and her group. They were the ones who infected Rin Kusakabe’s Duel Avatar with the ISS kit. The two groups initiate a duel between each other. It’s blisteringly fast-paced and a lot happens, but fortunately, the battle progresses a lot more smoothly than some of the other scenes. If there’s one thing Reiki Kawahara is good at, it’s writing descriptive battles that are interesting. As the battle seems to reach its peak, they are interrupted by the Legend-Class Enemy Archangel Metatron, who is drawn to the use of Incarnate attacks.
In Summary
As always, Reki Kawahara’s writing is a mixture of good and bad. There are a lot of things I love about his series, but there are also a lot of things that make me shake my head. The large amount of exposition, the unnecessary amount of dialogue between characters that feel like the author is just padding his word count, the fact that Haruyuki still has some of the same problems he’s always had after 14 volumes worth of story, and the cliffhanger at the very end. That said, while all of this is annoying to some extent, I also can’t say I dislike it. Volume 14 of Accel World is a solid addition to the series. I only hope that volume 15 ends the super long arc that’s been going on for 3 or 4 volumes now.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: June 26, 2018
MSRP: $14.00
