Anime Hajime Review: A Certain Magical Index II

Original Run: October 8, 2010 - April 1, 2011
Number of Episodes: 24
Genre: Action, Comedy, Supernatural
Based on the Series Created By: Kazuma Kamachi

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for A Certain Magical Index II. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Against his better judgment, Touma Kamaijo (voiced by Atsushi Abe) is now part of the world of magic. His ability to negate all psychic and magical powers has turned him into a wildcard. Though this has earned him many allies, it has also made him a target.

Although his life has gotten much more complicated, Touma can always rely on his friend, the young nun Index (voiced by Yuka Iguchi). As the bearer of the Church’s most sacred knowledge, Index is often a target of those who wish to corrupt her power.

The tensions between the followers of magic and science are close to the breaking point. At any moment, the world might break out into open warfare. If they can help it, Touma and Index will make sure that day never comes.

Series Positives

A Certain Magical Index II (Index II) made me realize how much I want to go back to A Certain Scientific Railgun (Railgun). This season was a huge mess.

Although I had fun with this installment, Index II had a habit of shooting itself in the foot. But we’ll get into that later in the review.

No matter how crazy Index II got, its characters made the ride worth it. Everyone, whether old or new, added a fresh layer of intrigue to this narrative. An impressive feat since by the end of this installment, the cast got big. It got so big that it boarded overcrowdedness.

There were so many people in this show. It became apparent that there wasn’t enough time to do everyone justice. Index II should have been longer, and seeing how it was already at twenty-four episodes, that’s saying something.

This series never had to struggle for ideas; any combination of characters would produce something. Hell, it’s a wonder Railgun is the only anime spin-off Index has, something I think is not the case in this franchise’s manga form.

Still, even though Index II was close to bursting, its characters were a bright spot. After all, a lot was going on, and each development made everything that much direr. Time and time again, though, this cast pulled through.

Had these characters had a story that was worthy of them, this series would have been unstoppable.

Once again, Touma was a fantastic protagonist, and he only got better as this show went forward. He may not have been my favorite character, but he was the only person who can work in either the world of magic or science. Touma was the bridge between the two sides. As a fundamental aspect of this franchise, it’s a good thing Touma knows how to carry his show.

Then there was Index, who was much better utilized in this season. She finally felt important. In this installment, Index was in the middle of the action as a combatant. She held her own in a fight, even tipping the scales in her side’s favor on more than one occasion. In the first series, Index was only ever billed as a powerful entity; we saw what that meant in this one.

After Index, there was Mikoto Misaka (voiced by Rina Sato), and I didn’t think I’d have more to say about her. Anytime she was on screen, even when surrounded by bull s@#$, I always found myself enjoying the series more. Mikoto had a unique kind of charm to her, and it’s no wonder why her own story, Railgun, is as good as it is.

And speaking of other shows, I’m waiting for the day Accelerator (voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto) gets his anime spin-off. Unlike Touma, Mikoto, and Index, Accelerator was not a hero. Sure, there were people he cared about and would do heroic things for on occasion. However, he was not above taking a life.

Accelerator was like a bomb. Bad things would happen if he went off, but that was only if someone pushed his button.

Aside from its characters, my god, Index II knew how to have a fight. Action scenes may have been widely onesided, and the flow of battle usually made no sense whatsoever, but boy, they were entertaining.

Index II knew how to get the blood pumping.

I may have issues with this season, but I don’t regret watching it.

Series Negatives

Had this season ended on episode thirteen, that would have been fine. In fact, it would’ve been better than fine since it would have given a possible season three so much more room to work with.

Then came the second half of this series, and along with it, the downfall. What the hell was this?

In the past, the Index series had issues with overexplaining itself. By the end of this season, the opposite was true. Stuff just started happening. I suppose this was the consequence of having such a massive cast of characters.

Even though there wasn’t enough time to give everyone the proper amount of screen time, everyone still got an equal amount of time. EVERYONE. This season gave just as much effort in establishing its leads as it did its most insignificant of characters.

Index II tried to shove so much detail in its second half, as well as clear up problems I didn’t even know were problems. This season would not stop introducing things. As I said, this series has ideas. Why it thought it had to shove them all into the last few seconds is beyond me, though.

Final Thoughts

This show didn’t start off bad; most of this season was good. The characters, the fights, even the story made this a fun watch. To build something this dense and this deep is no small feat. However, a show needs time to build it all, and that was where this series ran into a problem.

This season ended on a sour note, and there was no reason for it.

Still, I have to say I like this show more than I hated it. Therefore, though it is strained, A Certain Magical Index II has earned a recommendation.

But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this series? How would you A Certain Magical Index II? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.

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For Anime Hajime, I’m LofZOdyssey, and I’ll see you next time.