Sword Art Online, Vol. 27: Unital Ring VI

August 26, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Reki Kawahara and abec. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

Last time I said that it was a good book but the plot progression was minimal, and I’d say that the plot progression is even more minimal here. It’s also not quite as good a book. Stuff happens, don’t get me wrong. Lives are put in danger, especially in the Underworld, and there is a return there of a villain that I really didn’t care about when they were around in the main Underworld arc and care less about now that their descendants have returned. On the Unital Ring side, we’re headed up to a new level, and we’re interacting more with players from different games, but I sort of feel like Kirito is a metaphor for what Kawahara is trying to do with the series. He’s trying to juggle 3-4 plots at once and can’t devote all his attention to any of them. Frankly, I’d rather that he and Asuna try to figure out if Kizmel has been magically brought back to life (clearly implied near the end) than anything with dragon spaceships.

We pick up where we left off, with Ronie and Tiese staring at Eolyne and wondering if he’s just Eugeo wearing a mask, but the answer to that is still – so far – that he is not. They all then bond in a big bath scene, but then Kirito and Asuna are dragged back to Japan while Alice gets to stay and bond with her sister some more. They head back to Unital Ring to find that everyone else is tacking the floor boss, with Lizbeth staying behind so that someone can bring them up to speed. They then arrive on the new floor… the third “game” to do so, after Asuka Empire (which Yuuki and her friends played) and Apocalyptic Date (where the players are anthro). Unfortunately, these new gamers know Kirito’s reputation, and they’re also desperate because of some poor decision making, so they decide to kidnap Yui. Also a poor decision. And back in Underworld, Alice’s reunion is interrupted by a full-blown invasion.

There were a few scenes in this book I enjoyed. The entire sequence with the robot kitten was not only adorable but also showed off the issues that AI is running into – I loved it when we were told that, if it ran on AI, the kitten would start walking around on two legs like a human. I also liked Asuna and Kirito’s brief panic on returning to Unital Ring, which was sort of darkly funny – was everyone killed off while they were gone? But honestly, the main issue with this book was that there was simply too much going on, and it didn’t give me enough depth to really care about one thing over the other. This is especially true on the Underworld side, where we still don’t quite know who the main villain is, but the ones behind the invasion are frankly a group I would have been delighted to never see again. At least it wasn’t the return of Gabriel Miller. Yet.

If you’re still reading SAO, I’d say keep going. Eugeo payoff looks like it will be coming next time, and hopefully we get some dark elves as well. Just… not in this book.

Filed Under: reviews, sword art online

Otherside Picnic, Vol. 8

August 24, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Iori Miyazawa and shirakaba. Released in Japan as “Urasekai Picnic” by Hayakawa Bunko JA. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

For the most part, this book is an emotional journey. It’s about Sorawo, a woman whose emotions have always been something of a foreign country (to herself, not necessarily to others) learning about what love is, what it means to love someone, and how that can change a relationship. And she has perfectly normal fears. She has a great relationship with Toriko now, one defined in the first book: they’re accomplices. But Toriko wants something more, and Sorawo knows it. That said, in case you were worried that this book would be all fluff and lack the sheer horror of the previous books, fear not. The middle of the book is here for you. What’s more, given that the book is about Sorawo’s feelings about Toriko, it makes sense that the horror is all based around Toriko. Let’s just say I hope this is never animated – I deal far better with horror as a written word than I do with horror as a visual medium.

Toriko has confessed to Sorawo, and says she wants a response. But she knows Sorawo is who she is, so she’s giving her a week to come up with this answer. This allows Sorawo to do a minor tour of the supporting cast to get some advice. College friend Benimori gives probably the most sensible advice, and seems delighted to find Sorawo, who has a bit of a reputation at their college, going through a real relationship. She talks with Natsumi, whose advice seems to be more about Natsumi than it is about Sorawo. She talks with Kozakura, who points out that their desire to go to the Otherside constantly, something almost everyone else would find terrifying, is what unites them – but that Toriko would stop doing it without Sorawo. And then finally, after a bus ride home that devolves into a series of Toriko-related visions, she goes to her apartment and confronts the girl she loves but barely knows.

I emphasized the horror, but rest assured there’s a lot of funny stuff here as well. The entire scene with Natsumi is amazing, complete with Natsumi calling Sorawo a “raging lesbian”, which is projecting if ever I saw it. Kozakura’s talk with Sorawo goes off the rails thanks to the presence of Kasumi, and leads to a self-help guide from hell. And the last part of the book, with Toriko and Sorawo opening up to each other, while also filled with sweet, touching moments, has its share of hilarity. We’ve known for a while that Sorawo is an unreliable narrator, but Toriko describing how Sorawo is ogling her constantly ever since they first met drives that home very well. Of course, we the reader have also seen that, but it’s been in the context of her internal monologue, so it hadn’t been apparent that it was written all over her face as well.

The sweet emotional bits are there as well, of course. I loved Toriko trying to do research into what she feels Sorawo’s issues might be – it’s a sign of how much she’s prepared to devote to their relationship, but also a sign of how little Sorawo opens up about her past – her matter-of-factness is disturbing, not edifying, even when she has to bluntly say “my family did not sexually assault me”. We also finally get a long look at Toriko’s mothers, what they did and who they were, as Sorawo finally realizes that in order to be Toriko’s lover, she needs to know who Toriko is and where she came from. And then there’s the part of the book that I think everyone will be talking about, the sex scene. At first disappointing, though very true to what Sorawo has told us, the reader, about her sexuality so far, it then rapidly moves in a very different direction. What follows is not only fulfilling for both of them but also 100% in character – both for them and the book. Kozakura would be completely unsurprised. They’re freaks, of course they have freaky sex.

We’re caught up once again, so I’m not sure where the series goes from here. We were introduced to a new character, who I didn’t have room to talk about, so it may do something with her. That said, this book is for those who’ve been waiting forever for these two to get together.

Filed Under: otherside picnic, reviews

Accel World: Conqueror of the Sundered Heavens

August 23, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Reki Kawahara and Hima. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jocelyne Allen.

There’s more spoilers than usual for the last third of this book, so if you avoid them FYI.

It’s been a while since we last checked in with Accel World. The previous volume was supposedly the end of the long, long, LONG arc and the start of another one, but that turns out to not quite be true, as most of this is setup for a massive cliffhanger. There was also a bit of frustration, as Haruyuki’s sacrifice felt like it was going to lead to a lot of angst for everyone. Which is kind of does, but that angst is mostly kept off the page. One of the more frustrating aspects to Accel World is that so many of the exciting scenes, or battles, or much needed group meetings happen away from Haruyuki, so we don’t really learn as much as we’d like. And the first two thirds of this book is much the same, really. Get ready, though, as the last third is THE PAYOFF.

Things have been happening since the end of the last book. Tezcatlipoca has been running amuck, and everyone in the Accelerated World is blaming the traitor, Haruyuki. Thus they’re challenging him to duels constantly. Haruyuki being who he is, he’s accepting all of them, but he’s really good by now, so he usually wins. Then, after briefly dropping by to make sure the owl is taken care of during the summer, and possibly recruit fellow owl caretaker Reina to join the student council, he goes off to a meeting of his new allies, White Cosmos. For the most part, they’re exactly what everyone but Haruyuki would expect – a bunch of normal, if somewhat eccentric, people with their own agendas. Admittedly, some of those agendas include forcing Haruyuki to total point less, but hey. After all that, though, he’s forced to do something he’s been avoiding all this time: talk to Kuroyukihime.

Or rather, to Sayuki. Yes, Accel World finally gives in and admits one of its biggest mysteries since the start of the series. Haruyuki has known her name since the start, but he hasn’t actually said it till now, and we also get the name of her sister as well. And there’s a very good reason for all of this: we finally get a mutual confession and a kiss. The idea that Haruyuki is not only in an enemy group now but may be forced to fight against all his friends – and possibly get pushed to lose his points/memories, as well as the same anger for Kuroyukihime, leads them to finally take that big step. Unfortunately, any additional progress (as well as the long postponed trip to see Haruyuki’s family) will have to wait, because the mid-range guilds have been trying to take out Tezcatlipoca and have instead unleashed something much worse… more new characters to have to remember. Oh, and a new game. So long, Brain Burst, it’s been nice.

I admit that this book started a bit slow for me, as it had a lot of scenes I didn’t really care about and was putting off scenes I wanted to see. But when it got to the payoff, it was quite good. Also, hey, a portal! Who doesn’t like portals?

Filed Under: accel world, reviews
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