The Return of the Black Snow Princess Arc (黒雪姫の帰還編, Kuro Sekki no Kikan-hen) is the first story arc of the Accel World series. It contains the start of Haruyuki Arita and his introduction to the Brain Burst and the meeting of the one who introduced Brain Burst to him, Kuroyukihime. This arc spans the whole first novel of the Accel World series and chapter 1 until chapter 8 of the Accel World manga series. The anime begins the arc in episode 1 and ends in episode 5.
Outline
The Fat Pig and the Bully
Haru and Araya's Gang
During class Haru receives a mail from Araya saying that he must bring him lunch at the rooftop. During lunchtime, he brought Araya and his gang the food he must get for them, but has brought them only one rice bread. Araya became mad and gave him a new order, stating that it is his last change. In the bathroom, Haru is talking to himself in the mirror and wishes that he could say that to Araya. Haru then locked himself up in the bathroom and uses direct link to go to some place in the school's network to play some squash. During his squash game, he was found by his friend Chiyuri who has been searching him everywhere after seeing what happened to him at the rooftop.
The meeting with Kuroyukihime
The meeting between Haru and Kuroyukihime
After that Haru smashed Chiyuri's lunch to the wall thinking that he doesn't want her pity. He escapes and goes back to the virtual world to play some squash again. When he gets there, he sees that a unknown person reached lv. 166 with the game which in turn shocked him. An unknown person talks to him asking if he is the one who logged those ridiculously high scores. He then looks up and it turns out to be Kuroyukihime who asks him if he would like to accelerate to the next level.
She then says that he must show up tomorrow in the lounge during lunchtime and then leaves. Haru then appears in the lounge where he got held up by Megumi Wakamiya and another member of the student council. He tries to say that he is coming for Kuroyukihime but can't. Kuroyukihime then says that he can come.
Obtaining Brain Burst
Kuroyukihime signals Haru to have the seat in front of her. She then pulls out a cable for a wired connection between her and Haru surprising everybody in the lounge. Haru is surprised by this and questions her on why she wants to do this, as wired connections are for lovers. However, she continues on while talking through mental communications to keep their conversation private. Kuroyukihime then states that she is sending Haru a program called Brain Burst to his Neuro Linker.
The welcome message after installing Brain Burst.
After hearing everything she said, Haru decides to accept the program and starts installing it. As it is installing, Haru asks Kuroyukihime as to what exactly is Brain Burst. She then tells him that she will answer all of his questions only if the program successfully installs. As soon as it has successfully installed into Haru's Neuro Linker, Araya and his gang appear in the lounge since they were looking for him for the food that he was supposed to give. Kuroyukihime interrupts into their conversation and tempts Araya into hitting Haru, but before he could, she shouted to Haru to use the Burst Link command to which he did.
The world of Acceleration.
After accelerating, Kuroyukihime goes on explaining the details about the Brain Burst program and how acceleration works. Then, she plots a plan to have Araya expelled by telling Haru to let Araya hit him and have it all recorded on the school's camera. They return to normal speed and Haru is struck by Araya and is flown towards Kuroyukihime injuring her as well. Araya and his gang is then taken into custody. Before leaving, she tells Haru to make sure he doesn't turn on his Neuro Linker until tommorrow in order to ensure that he doesn't connect onto the global net.
Heading Home & Following Morning
He disconnects and runs into Chiyu who is also heading home. The two also run into their other childhood friend, Takumu Mayuzumi and decide to all head home together. However, during their conversation, Haru misunderstood and assumed that Chiyu told Taku that he was being bullied. Feeling ashamed, he decides to run ahead home by himself. The next morning he receives his lunch money from his mother, but he must turn on his Neuro Linker before he can receive it and then promptly leaves and heads to school. As soon as he leaves, he is connected onto the global net and is challenged to a match. Confused on what is happening, his Duel Avatar is revealed to be Silver Crow and his opponent, Ash Roller reveals his presence and charges toward Silver Crow.
Kuroyukihime going into further details of Brain Burst Duels and Avatars.
Due to his limited experience and knowledge of Brain Burst duels, Haru lost his first battle. In the cafeteria, Kuroyukihime and Haruyuki accelerate in order for her to explain in details how duels work, how Duel Avatars are created and the different types of avatars and skills they possess. Realizing that he is still inexperienced, Haru promises to Kuroyukihime that he will always follow her and become stronger. After returning, Megumi asks the relationship between the two as she and the other students are curious to which Kuroyukihime responds that she was simply rejected. When school is finished, Kuroyukihime decides that Haru is now ready for another duel and pushes him outside of the school and its network.
Rematch
Haru returns as Silver Crow in order to fight against Ash Roller once more, but this time with knowledge of the game and advice that was given by Kuroyukihime. Initially, he gets the upper-hand as he was able to seperate Ash Roller from his motorcycle. However, he is able to return to it and the battle shifts in favor of Ash Roller. Silver Crow loses his confidence after his special move, Headbutt fails to damage his opponent. He then remembers Kuroyukihime's words and decides to continue fighting. Crow then takes advantage of a weakness in Ash Roller's motorcycle and finishes him off with another Headbutt, making him the victor.
Kuroyukihime congratulates Haru on his first victory, but is interrupted by Chiyuri who has decided to confront her in order to find the reasons behind her being with Haru.
Episodes
| No. | Title | Japanese Airdate | English Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Acceleration (Kasoku 加速) | April 6, 2012 | April 19, 2013 |
| 2 | Transformation (Hen'i 変移) | April 11, 2012 | April 26, 2013 |
| 3 | Investigation (Chōsa 調査) | April 20, 2012 | May 3, 2013 |
| 4 | Declaration (Sengen 宣言) | April 27, 2012 | May 10, 2013 |
| 5 | Aviation (Hishō 飛翔) | May 4, 2012 | May 18, 2013 |