Review: #910
Title: Accel World 17: Cradle of Stars
Series: Accel World – 17th volume
Author: Reki Kawahara
Comments: Compared to the distinctly action packed previous volumes, Cradle of Stars feels much more like filler. It has much more slice-of-life elements, focusing upon Haru’s high school days. Now that the year is progressing and the day where Kuroyukihime is going to graduate is coming closer and closer, Haru’s life cannot stay in the same routine that it has been. Throughout it all, the plan to deal with the Acceleration Research Society is underway but progress feels slow. There’s a lot of circular dialogue and exposition by the protagonists. As they are repeating the same tired old beats as they had done in the previous volumes, it really drags the story down, bloating up the volume. The volume ends with a mysterious character that is a deliberate reference to the author’s other work, which cheapens it. The volume finishes off with a short story that takes place in the early beginnings of Haru as a Burst Linker. For some reason, the author tends to like returning to when he was around a level 2 and this short story has him thinking about what to pick for his level up bonus. It reveals a bit more backstory around the other characters of Nega Nebulus and while it doesn’t add a great deal of significance, it was interesting.
Rating: 5.5/10