Accel World: Deity of Demise

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

Well, technically Kawahara was correct, and the arc that lasted nine books ends here. That said,k I can’t see anyone really being satisfied with the way this arc ended. Last time I said that I didn’t really think Kawahara would do a “the bad guys win” arc, but he comes pretty damn close here, and while I get why Haruyuki did what he did, I expect that literally everyone is going to be angry with him when the next book comes out. As for the rest of the book, aside from one major problem, which I’ll get to later, this is pretty good. The beginning has things resolved by Haruyuki essentially pulling shonen bullshit out of his ass, which, well, given this is a shonen manga in light novel form, works fine for me. There’s also a lot of exposition about what to do next, who is the best person to do it, and, possibly most importantly, who will be feeding the owl when they all go on holiday.

Honestly, that’s one of the more tasteful Accel World covers. As for what happens, well, Haruyuki helps to free everyone from the latest certain death that White Cosmos has set up, but unfortunately, they’re going to have to try to free the massive monster, Tezcatlicopa, from White Cosmos’ control, which means hitting all six crowns at once with six swords. This is going to be even more difficult because White Cosmos manages to kidnap Haruyuki, meaning *he* is now the one essentially trapped and unable to do anything, the same as his comrades used to be. This means that everyone is going to have to achieve a lot of stuff without him. Worst of all, once Tezcatlicopa is freed, everyone realizes what a bad idea that really was.

My main issue with this volume, and it’s one I’ve had with Sword Art Online before (which has finally managed to move past it), is that the whole book is from Haruyuki’s POV. This means that the entire 2nd half of the volume is made up of cool fights that the reader only gets to hear about second hand, as he can’t be in them. This is frustrating for him, but it’s murder for a reader, especially after sitting through endless exposition preparing for said fights. It made this volume feel a lot less exciting than it actually is. As for the cliffhanger, well, Harukuyi’s group of players all know each other in the real world and have forged eternal bonds of fellowship, so naturally the “thanks for playing you will forget everything now” ending is going to rankle. It’s also still very unclear what exactly White Cosmos is really up to, especially in regards to her relationship with her sister. Basically, this arc may have been 9 volumes long but I’m not sure we’re that much further along.

Still, the next book promises to be a corker… oh, we’re caught up? It’s not even out in Japan yet? Ergh. Yeah, wonderful, that makes this EVEN MORE FRUSTRATING. In any case, enjoy Haruyuki watching cool things happen far away from him.

Sword Art Online, Vol. 23: Unital Ring II

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

Definitely enjoying seeing this series now that Kawahara, a good 20 years older than his SAO Vol. 1 self, knowing his strengths and weaknesses and using them to good effect. There are heroines in peril here, but there is very little of the fanservicey “hero saves the girl from the predator” that we used to see constantly in this series. The humor is mostly character-based, and rarely feels forced. Kirito is powerful and tends to still get the “last boss kill”, but the nature of Unital Ring means he’s struggling a lot more, and he also has the grace to pass on some of his rewards to more deserving people. And we get, for the first time in the main series, Argo becoming a supporting player. Created for the Progressive novels and then put in the anime, manga and games, she’s always been a ghost presence in the main series itself. Now she gets a name – Tomo – and an agenda, which is more than just “tease Kirito constantly”. Though, well, she does that too, of course.

The plot is mostly a ‘rescue arc’ of sorts – everyone else in Kirito’s group was playing ALO when the Unital Ring changeover happened, but Sinon was in GGO, so she ends up being a long ways away from any of her allies. She’s confused, mistakenly branded as a PKer, caught dying of thirst in a desert, and forced to fight a massive dinosaur with the help of some bird people who don’t even speak Japanese. It is awesome, easily the best part of the book, and benefits greatly from the lack of Kirito’s POV. Elsewhere, Kirito’s party ad their log cabin are being reinforced, but a lot of players keep trying to attack him. Why? And Argo’s back (yes, she’s Tomo, but Kirito does not really make the switch so I won’t either), and is (unsurprisingly) now a crack reporter, here to rip open one of the more closemouthed folks in the cast – Kikuoka.

I’ve made no secret about my love of Argo, and though she doesn’t get much to do here, there’s a promise of more. I enjoyed the fact that her response to Kirito’s “where have you been all this time” was a polite “none of your business”, and also intrigued that (sorry, game continuity) she hasn’t been in ALO or GGO or even back in a game at all since the SAO disaster ended, though she hints that may change. In the meantime, it’s nice to see the cast work as a core cast, as opposed to being Kirito and his harem. Everyone apart from Alice and Asuna (who are minding the fort) gets something to do, with Yui being the most impressive. Now that she’s a physical part of Unital Ring (and could theoretically die if she’s killed, sorry, Shirou) she’s busy learning sowrds, learning magic, and basically becoming Little Miss Badass. Kirito is, needless to say, both proud and fretful.

So yes, this was a good solid volume, and I’m glad SAO has finally seemed to have matured, after several false alarms. Can’t wait for more.

Altina the Sword Princess, Vol. 11

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By Yukiya Murasaki and himesuz. Released in Japan as “Haken no Kouki Altina” by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

It’s actually surprising how little Altina the Sword Princess has leaned into the usual anime cliches. It’s very concerned with its sort-of-Europe worldbuilding, and therefore there’s no real room for a lot of bath scenes or accidental groping. I say it’s surprising because this is, after all, the author of How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord, a series begun after Altina had started and which eventually grew so popular it may have led to Altina’s extended hiatus. In any case, all that changes here, as Regis, in order to avoid getting caught by Latrielle’s troops, has to disguise himself as a woman. And he makes a very good woman indeed. Cue a lot of “I didn’t know you were into that” jokes, with furious denials. Fortunately, like most everything in this series, it serves the purpose of keeping the plot going, as Regis, now that he has made a mortal enemy, has to do everything possible to stop Latrielle becoming the next Emperor.

We pick up where we left off last time, with Regis and Fanrine being horribly murdered by Latrielle’s soldiers. Except of course they are not – their deaths are faked and they’re spirited away by Jessica and Franziska, who are trying hard to be big bad mercenaries but can’t quite be evil enough. That said, headless corpses, both of whom turn out to be men, is not going to fool the army for long, so Regis goes into disguise to try to get more evidence against Latrielle. The only thing that can really stop him becoming emperor now is for the news of his patricide to come out, but unfortunately all they have is secondhand rumors, mostly as the maids and staff who were there when it happened are all quietly murdered too. Fortunately they also have the Grand Chamberlain, who is under house arrest not avoid him talking. That said, if they had an ally who was ALSO a prince, house arrest might not be too hard to get around.

If you’re wondering how Altina is taking all this, well, she is actually in this book, fear not. She received news of Regis’ tragic “death in battle” and doesn’t believe it one bit but it’s annoying enough to make her take a large part of her army and head over to where Latrielle is, leaving us with a cliffhanger confrontation. (There’s also a side story which shows that being the Sword Princess is possibly the best thing that ever happened to her, as she’s useless at everything else. It also shows the whole “maids have to put up with sexual harassment” thing is bullshit if your superior officer can punch you unconscious. Other than that, as the author admits, this was a lot of talk and moving pieces around and not a lot of action, though that looks to change in the next book.

Altina is the definition of a ‘solid’ series – you’ll never rush to read it the day it comes out, but it’s always good.