* Based on a light novel series by Kawahara Reki, with illustrations by Hima.

One autumn day in 2046, Haruyuki has an encounter with Kuroyuki-hime, the prettiest girl in his school. For the middle school boy who is often bullied, the meeting changes his life. Through a mysterious piece of software she gave him, Haruyuki learns about the existence of the virtual Accel World. It was after that fateful encounter that Haruyuki of the lowest school caste becomes Burst Linker, a courageous knight defending a princess.

Source: ANN

Note: The first two episodes received a pre-airing held in collaboration with various stores and webstreaming services. The first one took place at Gamers's Akihabara head office in Tokyo on Friday, March 23, 2012. Others took place at Softmap Akihabara also on March 23, 2012, Animate Nipponbashi in Osaka on March 24, 2012 and Comic Toranoana in Nagoya on March 25, 2012. Attendance was limited to 400 people, 100 for each location, and participants were chosen through a post-card lottery held until Wednesday, March 7, 2012. Additional webcasts were streamed at Bandai Channel on March 26, 2012, at PlayStation Store between Wednesday, March 28 and Tuesday, April 3, 2012, at Warner on Demand between April 1 and April 2, 2012 and at Nico Nico Douga on April 2, 2012. Viewership was limited to 1000 accounts for all services except Nico Nico Douga, which was limited to 2000. The regular TV broadcast started on April 7, 2012.

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Same setting: Sword Art Online
Sequel: Accel World OVA
Sequel: Accel World: Infinite Burst