Accel World wraps up its first season with spectacular final episode.

As I said earlier, this isn’t Shakespeare. It follows the conventions of a fighting anime quite closely. However so far this is turning out to be one of the finest examples of the genre with a much higher level of plotting and characterization than we usually get.

Of course the story is incomplete. As usual with this genre we have a quest, and one that can’t possibly be completed in a single season. The ending of the first season makes it pretty clear that they intend to do another. Whether we actually get another season will depend on how well the DVDs for this one sell, but in this case I suspect that will be OK.

So we have a good start. A lot will depend on whether they do get financing for another season (or however many it takes to wrap up the story) and whether they can keep up the quality. I am giving Reki Kawahara the benefit of the doubt and assuming that he has a clear plan for completing the story and is not just making it up as he goes along.

I also hope that they don’t make a Bleach or Inuyasha out of this and drag out the story for hundreds of episodes. Even a good story can wear out its welcome.