In true Houtarou fashion, his deduction comes in a sudden flash of brilliance. The reason there was no possible way for any of the other students to have been the killer…was because it was the viewer himself. The POV of the camera committed the crime…but our brilliant detetctive…was wrong?! The rope Hongou called for was never used, and come to think of it, why didn’t Irisu just ask Hongou herself about the conclusion? These were all things that the others had picked up on throughout the Classic Club’s investigation, but never fully considered until the finished movie left them with unusual misgivings.
To be honest, I was really bored with this mystery until Houtarou reached his albeit false conclusion. I thought it was brilliant and completely unsuspected, a marvelous twist to the expertly crafted mystery by Hongou. My interest turned into a compulsion to continue watching as one-by-one the other members told Oreki about their problems with the final film, each poking larger holes in Houtarou’s deduction. It was Irisu’s plan all along to have someone else finish the unfinished movie, and using the Classic’s Club was just the altered plan after none of the class’s top theories would fly, but even with a finished movie, Oreki couldn’t wrap his head around the still mysterious circumstances which led Irisu to go to such measures.
She could’ve easily just asked Hongou as to the ending of the story, unless something grave had happened. But it turns out that the shy writer just didn’t want to confront the class about her aversion to the story’s outcome. She much preferred mysteries where everyone lived, and didn’t seem to have the stomach for the rest of the class’s call for mass murder. Caring for the poor girl, Irisu had her play sick, and let the class finish the movie, which, as we saw, they were most definitely not up to the task.
These two episodes nearly solidify Hyouka’s theme: the growth and development of Oreki Houtarou from a lethargic, energy-conserver, to a proactive person who uses his talents to help others see past themselves and reach truer conclusions. Or at least that’s my take on it and how I think Oreki’s sister sees it, as she seems to be so generously positioning a lot of the pieces in her brother’s high school life.
The next episode seems to certain around the Culture Festival, which should be a callback to the Anthology the Classics Club was working on and which helped to prompt the investigation into Chitanda’s uncle’s strange history regarding the Club and the Culture festival years ago. Maybe they’ll pick back up on that and investigate his disappearance in India, or, even better, what the hell is going on with Oreki’s sister (also in India), and why she’s been pulling strings behind the scenes since he started high school and was forcefully asked to join the Classics Club in the first place.
With Chrome Disaster taken care of and a friendship between Yukino and her guardian on the road to repair, Haru is left with what appears to be the remnants of the Catastrophe armor that have taken control of Cherry Rook. Even though he’s finally managed to think past his own faults, realizing his own inner strength as well as the outer, that armor is now sitting in wait, for the day he gives into despair, like Cherry Rook when Scarlet Rain surpassed him and became a legion king.
With Haru and Kuro as examples, we see the sensitive nature of the connection between a Burst Linker and their avatar. Hesitation really has no place in Accel World when it causes your avatar to freeze in place. But it’s a bit comforting to see that it wasn’t the armor itself that just took unrelenting control of a Linker, Cherry wanted power, and fell to the temptation of the armor, allowed it in, allowed it to go on a rampage. The armor seems to feed off of the doubt and fear of Linkers, as it’s now trying to do with Haru by tempting him the power he wants, not only to win, but to be able to withstand whatever hurt comes his way. If it doesn’t reappear soon, I imagine it’ll come up after a while, to give the plot some time to move past Chrome Disaster, but what’s really strange is how it didn’t appear in Haru’s inventory…or not yet, at least.
Yukino seems to be a full-fledged member of Kuro’s team now, and all that’s left is Chiyu, if she joins at all. The next episode preview seemed to feature her and a green Burst Linker, it’s hard to tell if this is Chiyu or just another enemy on the hunt for the Black and Red Kings. You can’t forget that the Yellow King is still on the prowl and definitely holding a grudge against Scarlet Rain and Black Lotus. If Chiyu does join, she’s picking up quite the list of enemies that come with the job…
All-in-all, Acchi Kocchi was a fun show to follow and I recommend it for fans of romantic comedy or just pure comedy. Although I was afraid it was falling onto the 
Not to be outdone by Teru, Toki raises the bar twofold as she not only manages to see two turns ahead, but after Teru seems to have Toki broken down in the bonus hand, she shines through the darkness, able to see a full three turns ahead! Whether or not this will help is yet undetermined, at the very least it may help provide some insight into Teru’s abilities. Meanwhile, Hanada is pulling defense for her team, designated the “sacrifice” to Teru’s wrath, and Kuro can’t seem to get it together. Although she is being helping by hoarding dora and making it easier for Toki and Hanada to read Teru’s hand, and the dora are kept from boost Teru’s scores as well.
All while Saki sits just outside, she obviously senses disturbances in the force, either from Toki’s time bending or Teru’s spacial distortions, lightening keeps sparking around that mahjong table. Achiga’s plot is definitely winding its way back to Saki’s in order to tie up into a possible joint-conclusion. But with only 4 more episodes, it’ll most likely just put both series slightly closer to the final round of the competition. They certainly won’t be able to go as far in-depth as they have with this first round.
Now then, I have two concerns with Achiga: will Teru fall to Toki’s three-turn time shift, and will Nodoka, Shizu, and Ako reunite? Teru certainly isn’t going to lose that huge lead she’s built, but putting a third stop to her winning streaks will certainly prove a moral victory. If Kuro could manage to help out more, it’d also lift her from near-tears. I was really hoping for more detail, but at this rate, the ending is looking to become rushed.
