Accel World: Fourth Acceleration

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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.

It’s been about 21 months since the last volume of Accel World, but I swear it feels longer. This series is starting to feel like a singularity to me, where the closer we get to the finale (and Kawahara has said that we’re in the final arc), the slower things get, and the denser the fight scenes and exposition becomes, till eventually we’re crushed to death waiting for Haruyuki to give “I like you but as a friend” conversations to about nine different girls and finally go visit that goddamn farm. So, as you can imagine, when we got about 4/5 of the way through the book and I saw “to be continued”, followed by an extended side story featuring a character who will only be relevant next volume, I screamed a bit. Apparently she’s the star of the Accel World movie, but, well, I didn’t see that. Indeed, this appears to function as a prologue to that movie, showing her tragic past leading up to her tragic present. It’s not bad, but not what I want to read.

When we last left Brain Burst, a large number of minor characters were undergoing total point loss and losing all their memories of the game. Fortunately… or perhaps not… they’re saved by those over the top linkers who showed up at the cliffhanger of the last book. Then THEY start killing folks… well, virtually killing them. Only Silver Crow can manage to stand up to one of them for more than five minutes, and it’s clear that the other guy is holding back. It eventually becomes clear that they’re from a new “game”, Dread Drive 2047, which is a MOBA (I assume gamers know what that means), and that they’ve been told to attack Brain Burst. Because, as becomes clear when Haruyuki is finally able to talk to everyone, both groups have been told only one “world” can survive, the other will have EVERYONE lose all their memories.

There’s a lot of discussion, as you can imagine, about whether those who have suffered “total point loss” can still be saved, after we’ve seen at least three people who had that happen to them but are still in Brain Burst. Sadly, it looks very, very unlikely. It also reminds us that a lot of these players are best friends and also dating – one girl who has her best friend/possible boyfriend suffer total point loss refuses to log out right away, as she was video calling with him and knows it would crush her. It’s a really tragic part of this series that doesn’t quite reach the ACTUAL deaths in Sword Art Online, but packs a good punch. The other interesting thing in this volume is the idea of exactly what these games are, in the end. Metatron wonders why they were created, why they have to sacrifice one game so that the other can survive… it’s a bunch of questions we’ve had since the start of the series, and we may FINALLY get to answer them soon.

Lastly, pardon me for being an old crank, but I really hate the art for this series. There’s very little fanservice in the actual text anymore, so the artist makes up for it by going overboard with the proportions and shower scenes. That said, this should scratch our Accel World itch till February 2027 or so.

Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian, Vol. 7

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By Sunsunsun and Momoco. Released in Japan as “Tokidoki Bosotto Russia-go de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Matthew Rutsohn.

I think I’ve mentioned before about how, when I saw that this series was licensed, I called it “The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Russian”. As it turns out, after seven volumes, the two series are not all that comparable except in the shallowest way. Alisa and Masachika could only wish their life was as easy as the couple in that series. Instead, we have a series where the tragic backstory is just not going away, and cannot be easily resolved with a trip back to the old hometown. Masachika still despises himself, Alya doesn’t know what love is and is hoping to be handed the answer in an easy to understand form, Maria suddenly realizes that the boy she fell in love with all those years ago is a young man with a libido, and for all that Yuki wants to show off she’s healthier now, if she overdoes it, not only does she feel worse, but everyone around her overreacts. There is so much drama.

If you know how anime and manga romantic comedies work, you knew this was coming. We’ve had the cultural festival, and so now it’s time for the sports festival. Which, of course, means another dramatic competition between the two student council rivals. Alya and Yuki have to participate in a cavalry battle, which might actually favor Alya provided Yuki doesn’t stack the deck and also be far more clever than her brother. But what are the chances of that happening? There’s also the problem of Masachika getting more popular after the events of the last book – in particular, his piano talent is now public, which just fills him with more despair as he feels that being good at something requires caring and working hard to achieve it. And Alya is starting to realize that there is something very, very wrong with Masachika’s family, but he won’t tell her what it is yet. However, most of this is the last quarter of the book.

If you’re familiar with this series, you know what the first 3/4 of this book is. Otaku references, in jokes, and fanservice. To be fair, they’re all handled pretty well here. I enjoyed the character of Elena, who is the classic “pervert girl who overdoes it because she’s secretly not”, and who gets along very well with Masachika because, unlike Masha or Alya, he can be himself around her. And yes, Yuki hops naked into the tub with her brother, which made me sigh. Honestly, I’d be more annoyed if I thought she was part of the romantic rivals, but I know she’s not, so it’s just a mild irritant. The best parts of the book involve Alya and Masha, who are both falling harder and harder for Masachika, and the collision when that comes out is going to be epic, and hopefully not as explosive as the collision involving Masachika and Yuki’s family.

So good stuff, even if it does feel a bit as if the author is pushing the inevitable resolution of this plot further and further away as the series gets more and more popular. Ah well. At least there are boob jokes. SO MANY boob jokes.

Long Story Short, I’m Living in the Mountains, Vol. 1

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By Asagi and Shino. Released in Japan as “Zenryaku, Yama Kurashi wo Hajimemashita” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by N. Marquetti.

As I’ve said before, I tend not to read the blurbs for books before I start them. As a result, I started this book assuming that it took place in some fantasy world a la every other isekai, with giant chickens being one of the commonplace things you see around there. Then our protagonist starts talking about getting TV and internet, and I reasoned, oh, hey, I was wrong, it’s just a normal Japan novel, only a bit weird. As the author states in the afterword, this turns out to not be correct either. This seems to be a strange mostly-Japan world, but with unseen gods, who seem to be selling mythological animals to anyone who happens to buy a mountain and be dealing with severe psychological issues. Does it work? Yes, mostly, though I think how much you enjoy this will depend on how much you like straight up “slow life”. This is not a slow life fake out, at least not yet. We’re here for the man and his birds.

Sano Shokei has just been dumped by his fiancee. It was a big enough thing, we find out later, that he got a sizeable payoff from her family as an apology. As a result of wanting to get the hell away from anyone who knows who he is and might pity him, he proceeds to buy two mountains and move to one of them. He also buys three checks that he gets at a spring festival, who weirdly have lizard tails. Also weirdly, they grow very big very fast, and they seem to like eating snakes. And bugs. And boars. Are they really chickens? What’s more, there are other mountains on either side of his, both of which are owned by someone fleeing a bad relationship and both of whom have animals that seemed to be normal but may actually be mythological monsters. But does it really matter in the end? They’re good birds.

The author straight up says in the afterword this is not going to have romance in it, which is a very good thing, I think, especially after meeting Sano and the other owners of the various mountains. At one point Sano wonders if he’s suffering from depression, and after seeing him through this entire book, putting down his appearance and personality and breaking down in tears when he gets drunk and thinks about his ex, I’d have to say yes. Aikawa, meanwhile, had a stalker after him for so long he has a violent fear of women (which makes it ironic that he has a lamia as one of his pets). And Katsuragi is prone to panic attacks and had an abusive boyfriend, though her behavior when she sees the very attractive Aikawa… as well as her behavior when she sees Aikawa’s friendship with Sano… suggests she may be the comic relief of this series. Well, when it isn’t the birds.

This is 8 volumes and counting in Japan, and a glance at future covers suggest it’s not really going to change from what it is. If you want to read a man tending his mountain with his giant chickens, this is right up your alley. If you’re not fond of the giant chicken genre, this won’t change your mind.