Introductions: Hello welcome to Animebookapedia and on this channel we discuss all things related to anime and writing that I find interesting. Today in this video I’m going to be talking about a light novel series known as Accel World. About a virtual fighting game set in the year 2065 called brain burst. In this video, I will be analysing one of the main central characters within the story known as Sky Raker.
The way how this analysis video will be structured is we are first going to have an overview of Sky Raker and what she’s like as a person. Then throughout the video, I will be answering these 5 questions:
What do we first learn about Sky Raker in volume 3?
Why did her friendship with Kuroyukihime break apart?
What prevented Sky Raker from getting her legs back?
Why did she become so desperate to reach the sky?
What can we learn from the character of Sky Raker?
To answer these questions, I will be analysing quotes from the light novel. From volumes 3-5, which will appear on the screen as I read them, and I will be using clips from the anime in the background as I do my analysis. I haven’t read anything past volume 6 of the light novels, so anything discussed about her character beyond that point won’t be included. Without further ado let us begin.
Overview: Sky Raker is a level 8 burst linker who was previously the deputy head of the old Nega Nebulus, led by the Black King Kuroyukihime. Raker means one who views, so in a sense, her name means one who views the sky. She is 16 years of age and when we are first introduced to her, she is at the top of the old Tokyo Tower in the unlimited neutral field; she later meets the main character, Haruyuki, atop this pillar after her child Ash Roller took him there because he wanted to help Haruyuki get his wings back. Cruelly taken away by a burst linker known as Dusk Taker.
Personality: It’s quite apparent, similar to Kuroyukihime and the Red King(Niko) there is a gap between Sky Raker’s mental age and her physical age. When Haruyuki first meets Sky Raker the book says, “The calm voice was like a gentle breeze, and Haruyuki also felt keenly compelled to lower his head deeply for some reason.” Because her voice is compared to a gentle breeze, we quickly get the impression that she is polite and well mannered. The act of Haruyuki bowing to her ‘deeply’ is an indication that her kindness is something not to be taken lightly as while her voice is gentle, it is implied her tone of voice when speaking to Haruyuki was rather assertive. The other thing that suggests her kindness is something that should be treasured is the way how Ash Roller behaves when he is in her presence.
“I-It has been a while Master. A-a-as if I could forget you.” His pattern of speech changed so abruptly compared to when he speaks to someone like Haruyuki, who is quick to make note that this was out of character for Ash Roller and it would have made more sense for to bellow something along the lines of ‘megaaaa nice to see you again!’ This has heavy implications that Sky Raker is someone who can be stern when she sees it’s necessary, so stern that it would make someone as vulgar as Ash Roller stutter, from simply them greeting one another. From this it can be inferred that Sky Raker is not just gentle or assertive, but she is closer to a mother figure if anything. Someone who will correct you when you are wrong. Someone who makes it clear they are your senior, and someone who will show kindness to help strengthen your resolve.
What Do We First Learn About Sky Raker In Volume 3?
In volume 3 of Accel World, there was a multitude of things we first learnt about Sky Raker. The most important thing about her character and the reason why she is one of the best incarnate users in the accelerated world was because of her obsession to reach the sky. “I..I made my avatar itself more lightweight, and in order to enhance my will, I decided to get rid of my legs, which held my greatest attack abilities.” For her to sacrifice her legs holding her greatest attack potential would be a death sentence to many burst linkers. Not to Sky Raker though, to Sky Raker seeing the sky, even if it were virtual was something far more important. It is interesting to note that before she was able to say any of this she had to pause before the words would come out as noted by the ellipse. The actions she has taken in the past to reach the sky is something she deeply regrets.
Another thing that showcases Sky Raker’s obsession for the sky is when she says, “I spent every level up bonus enhancing my jumping ability.” Points in brain burst are precious, so precious that if you were to lose all of them then Brain Burst would automatically uninstall and delete itself, removing your memories with it. The enhancement of her jumping abilities alone shows that she was desperate to reach the sky even if it were only for a moment, however, it is more interesting to think about the fact that she poured all her burst points into jumping to reach the sky, only to sacrifice her legs not long after to improve her will. She didn’t value or treasure her legs because she was so fixated on the sky being greater than the earth she already stood on.
Why did her friendship with Kuroyukihime break apart?
This links in well with the last point as Sky Raker became so obsessed with the sky that she asked her Legion master, and friend, to cut off her legs, “Because of my own foolishness, I once lost friendship, those bonds. I deeply regret that I was part of the reason she threw herself into battle with the other kings with extreme recklessness.” According to Sky Raker Kuroyukihime attacked the other kings because of her. Kuroyukihime didn’t want to do it, but Sky Raker pleaded for her to cut off her legs even saying harsh things to her just so she would do it. Kuroyukihime lost her greatest ally and greatest friend. At the time Kuroyukihime would feel truly alone. This clouded Kuroyukihime’s judgement turning her sorrow into ambition as she attacked the other 6 kings, breaking the non-aggression treaty they had previously formed. Sky Raker then regrets her actions as she says, “I just barely managed to reach the top of the old Tokyo Tower.” This is when Sky Raker realised her mistake, but it was too late she already ended the friendship, and she ended it for her own desires. Sky Raker came to believe that her duel avatar was never meant to reach the sky but only one who can view it for a second. Sky Raker secluded herself to the top of the Tokyo Tower as a punishment and reminder to herself that this is as far as she’ll ever reach to the sky and it’s a reminder to her of her foolish actions, still steeped in self-hatred. Therefore, in volume 4 at the end, it was Kuroyukihime who had to be the one to reach out to Sky Raker. Sky Raker had already decided that she wasn’t worthy to be Kuroyukihime’s friend since she was the one to push away and reject her in the first place. Thankfully, in the end, Kuroyukihime reached out to her and they were able to mend their friendship.
What Prevented Sky Raker From Getting Her Legs Back?
Even despite mending her friendship with Kuroyukihime Sky Raker did not get her legs back, “The psychic wounds that were the source of my avatar and my hopes did not have that much power. ‘Raker’ means ‘one who views.’ Viewing the sky for a moment at the peak of parabola…that is the absolute limit of the power given to me. But by the time I realized this, I had lost everything I cared about.” The issue with Sky Raker here is the fact that she has misunderstood the psychic wounds of her own avatar, or perhaps she already knew averted her eyes from the truth. She believed that her duel avatar was only supposed to only view the wonders of the sky for a brief moment. Although Haruyuki gave a different opinion on the matter as he said, “Your wings are Gale Thruster, a booster, a jet pack. In this world without air, even you…only you can fly.” At the top of Hermes’ Cord as Haruyuki and Sky Raker are both in space, he’s carrying her and she continues to praise him, belittling her own avatar in the process. Sky Raker believed her wings Gale Thruster were inferior to Haruyuki’s own wings. On the contrary, Haruyuki is of the opinion that her wings aren’t useless and in truth, she just misunderstood her avatar. She misunderstood her dream. Sky Raker thought her avatar meant one who views the sky for a brief moment, Haruyuki says that Sky Raker means to view beyond the sky. An avatar meant to fly in space.
If that’s the case then the next question you would ask is, why didn’t Sky Raker recognise this before? Well, the reason Sky Raker couldn’t see this before was that she was afraid. She was afraid that if she knew how large the sky as it would be too much to handle. Sky Raker thought she wouldn’t be able to handle the weight of the sky because she already sacrificed so much only to jump a few more feet. The idea of having to sacrifice more scared her. What more did she have to give up just to see the sky she sought for? And was it even possible to reach that boundless sky? These were the questions that likely flushed through her mind encouraging Sky Raker to abandon her dream. For every burst linker, their legs don’t only carry their duel avatar, in fact, the duel avatar itself carries all their aspirations and dreams. Sky Raker had her legs cut off because she saw them as ‘dead weight’. Not recognising that the dead weight she cut off was the key to reaching the sky she sought for. So, again, at the top of Hermes’ Cord in volume 5 when she finally saw it, she was no longer afraid, there was no reason to be afraid. Space might have been infinite but, its beauty made her want to see more of it even if she couldn’t see all of it. Sky Raker’s legs reformed at last as she prepared to take on the heavy burden of seeking what laid beyond the skies we already know.
Why Did She Become So Desperate To Reach The Sky?
Now that we’ve answered all of the previous questions, answering this one has now become much easier. Let’s recap what we know so far though. We learnt that Sky Raker is kind but also assertive. She’s mature mentally after spending lots of time in the Accelerated World. Sky Raker became obsessed with reaching the sky, which strained her friendship with Kuroyukihime; she eventually patched things up but didn’t address her fear of the sky because she was afraid to sacrifice anything else. So, we circle back to this question, why did Sky Raker want to reach the sky? Well, the answer to this question is quite simple, “Prosthetics. Sky Raker’s legs were artificial and electronically controlled.” Two things can be inferred from this, Sky Raker either lost her legs in an accident, or she never had legs, to begin with. If we were to consider the ladder it would explain her maddening desire to reach space, which she first thought was just the sky. She never got to experience what it was like to have legs, to be grounded on earth and be able to move completely of your own volition. This isn’t to say prosthetic legs aren’t well made, but they likely don’t have the same response time and authenticity has real legs. She doesn’t feel like they are apart of her, in a sense, it was the same reason she cut off her virtual legs they were just ‘dead weight.’ However, space doesn’t adhere to these rules, it’s a weightless world with no gravity and there she wouldn’t have to be reminded of the part of her body that isn’t her own, she can bask at space’s wondrous sights and become lost in her own happiness.
What do we learn from Sky Raker’s character?
Sky Raker’s character teaches us what it is like to have a passion. You can love something unconditionally and have a goal that seems unattainable. You might one day want to be an author or a doctor. To reach this goal you sacrifice a lot to the point where it can strain your relationships with the people you care about and you can lose yourself. Even when this happens giving up isn’t the right answer, degrading and putting yourself down isn’t the answer either. Rethink what you should be doing, sometimes you just need to reassess your goals. What kind of doctor do you want to be? Is it the right field of science for you? Maybe as an author, your book failed despite your efforts. Should you try to write in a different genre? Or should you write from a different perspective. When all is said and done only you can answer these questions. And when you do, I’m sure you too will find a purpose for your wings.
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