jeudi 9 février 2017

Accel World 01 : Kuroyukihime's Return, FR + EN

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Author: Reki Kawahara, HIMA (Illustrations)
Genre: Action, Cyberpunk, Romance

Language: English
Pages: 224
Publisher: Yen On
Translation: Jocelyne Allen
Release: 22 juillet 2014
Format: Paperback
Price: $13

Original Title: Accel World 01 - Kuroyukihime no Kikan -

Blurb:

Prepare for a full dive!

Even in the future, all the advances and innovation in the world can't change the dynamics of the school playground. And for Haruyuki Arita, a fat kid in junior high, that means he's destined to always be at the bottom of the food chain, prime pickings for the school bullies. But when he is approached by Kuroyukihime, a beautiful and aloof upperclassman, Haruyuki's life is turned on its head as he dives into Brain Burst, a mysterious computer program, and the Accelerated World with her help. It's in the Accel World that Haruyuki casts off his depressing reality and takes hold of the chance to become a Burst Linker, a knight to protect his princess!

Review:

Just like Sword Art Online, this review won't be exactly "objective", in that I already knew the story because I watched the anime long before having the light novel on hand...

Even in the future, no matter how far technology has advanced, humans don't change at all, which we realize on the first few pages, alongside Haruyuki. But as searching for peace in his favorite game of squash during lunch break, he's approached by the "school princess", who makes a strange offer...

The hero is what we've been calling for some years an "antihero". No, he's not tall or handsome or particularly intelligent. He's small, fat and the punchbag of his class bullies. He's not without talent, though, which Kuroyukihime, the famous "princess", didn't miss. She, however, at first glance, seems to be the perfect girl stereotype. Pretty, smart and surrounded by a whole group of followers, Haruyuki really doesn't understand how he caught her attention.

But the author's, Reki Kawahara, strong suit is that he knows how to write stereotypical characters without falling into any clichés. Things never are what they seems to be at first glance, and our hero will bear the consequences of it as he discovers the news universe Kuroyukihime leads him to.

The action has a big part and the hero isn't miraculously the best in the beginning without any explanation like it sometimes happens. Explanations are disseminated throughout this first volume, which helps the reader digest them on the way and not be overwhelmed all at once by a massive information flow.

The characters sometimes turn out to be irritating, but we mustn't forget that they are between thirteen and fourteen, and teenage years don't seem to be an escapable stage, even in the future. I took great pleasure in seeing the firsts steps of Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime's relationship. Even though it's secondary to the main story, this relationship's development is absolutely adorable, without being mushy, which is another strong point of this author.

I found the writing style much more fluid and pleasant in this book than it was in SAO, but I concluded it had to be because of the translation more than anything else, because the two series weren't written with that many years between them.


In the end, this is a good introductory volume to a series about a coming of age story, where the hero learns to come out of his shell and see beyond a world that had become narrow because of his insecurities. Fans of video games mined in the real world, as well as futuristic technology's are sure to appreciate it. Although, even if you are like me and it's not really your cup of tea, give it a chance, things are so well explained that you don't have to have knowledge of it!

The series - Accel World :
1. Kuroyukihime's Return
2. The Red Storm Princess
3. The Twilight Marauder
4. Flight Toward a Blue Sky
5. The Floating Starlight Bridge
6. Shrine Maiden of the Sacred Fire
7. Armor of Catastrophe
8. The Binary Stars of Destiny
9. The Seven-Thousand-Year Prayer
10. Elements
11. The Carbide Wolf
12. The Red Crest
13. Signal Fire at the Water's Edge
14. Archangel of Savage Light
15. The End and the Beginning
{Ongoing}

2 commentaires:

  1. Je l'ai dans ma PAL mais comme je m'étais fait l'anime en très peu de temps, je n'ai pas voulu le lire de suite. Et je t'avoue que le nombre de tomes est un peu déprimant lol mais je lirai au moins ce premier tome pour voir un peu. J'ai SAO progressive en anglais, il faudrait que je m'y mette aussi, Reki Kawahara est très doué!

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    Réponses
    1. Je comprends. Je crois qu'il s'est écoulé quelque chose comme 2 ans entre mon visionnage de l'anime et ma lecture du Light Novel, donc je comprends parfaitement. (c'était pareil avec SAO d'ailleurs... ) C'est vrai qu'il y a beaucoup de tomes ! Et je suis d'accord, Reki Kawahara est un sacré écrivain ! ;)

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