is a Japanese light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by HiMA. The series began publication in ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Bunko imprint in February 2009 and is licensed in North America by Yen Press. Two manga series began serialization in Dengeki Bunko Magazine from May 2010, with another series beginning serialization in Dengeki Daioh in January 2013. An anime adaptation by Sunrise aired in Japan between April and September 2012. An English-language version began streaming on Viz Media's Neon Alley service in April 2013. Two video games were released for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 in September 2012, and January 2013, each containing an original video animation episode. An anime film titled Accel World: Infinite Burst featuring an original story by Kawahara premiered in Japan in July 2016.
Plot
Haruyuki "Haru" Arita is a short, overweight boy who is frequently ridiculed by delinquents at the Umesato Junior High School. Using his Neuro Linker to escape the torment of real life, he logs onto the school's local network cyberspace where he always plays virtual squash alone, and his innate video game skills bring him to the attention of Kuroyukihime (literally meaning "Black Snow Princess"), the school's popular, highly intellectual and attractive female student council vice-president.
After helping him against the delinquents, Kuroyukihime introduces Haruyuki to Brain Burst, a secret program that is able to accelerate the human cognitive process to the point at which time appears to stop. Haruyuki soon learns that Brain Burst is more than just a program, but an augmented-reality massively-multiplayer online (ARMMO) fighting game where people fight each other in fierce duels in order to obtain burst points, which can be spent for acceleration abilities in the real world.
Kuroyukihime then enlists Haruyuki's help in reaching level 10 within Brain Burst by defeating the "Six Kings of Pure Colour" and ultimately meeting the creator of Brain Burst to learn its true purpose. With every challenge they face in the accelerated world, Haru and Kuroyukihime, under their aliases "Silver Crow" and "Black Lotus", gather trusted allies and confront treacherous enemies. Their bond grows stronger while working to attain their ultimate objective: to reach the highest in-game level and meet the game's creator, who will reveal why the game was created and the true purpose of it.
Media
Light novels
Accel World began as a light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by HiMA. Originally, Kawahara entered the first novel in the series into ASCII Media Works' 15th Dengeki Novel Prize in 2008 and the novel won the Grand Prize. The first novel was published by ASCII Media Works on February 10, 2009, under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. As of March 2022, 26 volumes have been published. At their Japan Expo USA panel, Yen Press announced the rights to publish the light novels in English. The English version is translated by Jocelyne Allen. The first volume was released on July 22, 2014.
Manga
A manga adaptation titled Accel World illustrated by Hiroyuki Aigamo was serialized between April 10, 2010, and June 9, 2017, in ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Bunko Magazine. The series has been collected in eight tankōbon volumes, released between July 27, 2011, and July 27, 2017. A four-panel comic strip manga titled illustrated by Ryuryū Akari was serialized between April 10, 2010, and June 10, 2016, in Dengeki Bunko Magazine. Five tankōbon volumes were released between July 27, 2011, and October 26, 2013. In February 2014, Yen Press announced they had licensed Accel World for an English release in North America. The English translation is by Jocelyne Allen. They released the volumes between September 23, 2014, and December 11, 2018. A spin-off manga, Accel World / Dural: Magisa Garden, written and drawn by Ayato Sasakura was serialized in Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh (published by ASCII Media Works) from March 2012 to August 2017 and collected in eight volumes. It spotlights female burst linkers who attend a private school, Kiyomi Gakuin, in Nakano, Tokyo. Some of the characters from the main story also appear.