Review | To Aru Majutsu no Index

Technology versus magic, or more accurately, science versus religion; this is the main hook of To Aru Majutsu no Index (literally: A Certain Magical Index), one of the latest series from J.C Staff. They have a pretty nice track record, including some of my favorites such as the amazing ROD The TV, Ghost Hunt, Ai Yori Aoshi and Shakugan no Shana. On top of that, the series has an interesting premise, so it was no question I'd be watching. The real question is, does this series stand up to all the others? Read on to find out!

To the west of Tokyo lies Academy City, a sort of city-sized school grounds which happens to play host to some of the most advanced scientific endeavors in the world. In this city you will also find espers; those that have amazing psycho-kinetic abilities. They are rated from the highest Level 5 abilities down to Level 0, which as the term suggests means “0” powers. Our main character, Touma Kamijo, is in the “0” category. This is a weak classification though, because his right hand contains the Imagine Breaker, the ability to negate any psychic or magical effect. Touma is a generally unlucky fellow (as he sees it anyway) who one day finds a young girl on his dorm room's balcony. She calls herself Index, and is a young nun from the Church of England. She had her brain implanted with the 103,000 magical texts of the Index-Librorum-Prohibitorum, the complete knowledge of the magical community. In order to protect her, he allows her to stay in his apartment. From that point on, Touma is constantly thrust into conflicts involving both sides of the underground war between science and magic.

The series is about Touma's adventures, which pretty much exclusively involves a pretty girl in need of saving. His Imagine Breaker is an interesting power for a protagonist. It cancels out any special ability or magical spell with a mere touch and is a lot of fun seeing the different ways he uses the ability to get out of all the touchy situations he finds himself. What makes the show even more fun is the supporting cast of characters, who are all as interesting as he is. Mikoto Misaka comes to mind. She has the esper ability of electricity, preferring to use it to accelerate objects to faster-than-bullet speeds, earning her the nickname “Railgun”. The characters all have interesting parts to play in this series, and while there are quite a few, none seem tacked on or useless.

There is a lot of great mythology and important plot elements introduced in the beginning of the series that all seem to fade out to facilitate the independent arcs that make up the majority of the series. There are about 6 main arcs and usually start with Touma finding a girl-in-need and ending with some cool but brief battle to save said maiden. In between the action are some comical moments, most your standard harem fare, but funny nonetheless. Index is unfortunately in the background of these arcs most of the time, coming in to recite a spell or complain that Touma isn't spending enough time with her. I would've liked to see her play a more prominent role, and one more, to see her (which I consider the main) storyline fleshed out a bit more, but I really think J.C Staff intended this to be a multi-season series. It ends without answering a lot of questions regarding Index and the rest of the world, which is disappointing. All will be forgiven if I see another season (which looks to be almost guaranteed). For the most part the series follows along closely to the light novels it was based off of, and is entertaining while it lasts. Still, if you're looking for a self-contained story, you won't find it here.

J.C Staff is known for great looking anime. A glance at their long list of anime is proof of that. This series continues the tradition, and I'm actually glad a studio with funds got the rights to the story. The numerous battles of magician vs. psychic vs. Touma look incredible. Flames and dust and “magical sparkles” abound during these sequences, which are brief in the grand scheme of things, but make no mistake, they are fluid and crisp (I watched the 720p HD version) and a joy to watch in action. Aside from that, the character designs are standard for this type of show. That doesn't mean they are boring, not by a long shot. It just fits. All the ladies have their own moe points (like Misaka, who seems really cute because she wears boxer shorts under her school skirt)

and you'll never confuse one character for another. Index is an adorable onee-chan character, with an “original” (for anime at least) costume design. She has a lot of feline mannerisms that add to the charm. The males all exhibit that “cool” factor you need to have in this type of series; the most pronounced of which is an antagonist, known only as Accelerator. He has the psychic ability to change the vector values of anything he touches. He's a sadistic character who shows flecks of insecurity and fear during his crazed battles. The design fits perfectly, check it out:

Academy City is a character in and of itself. Combine the cities of Mirror's Edge and DNAngel, and you sort of get the feeling of To Aru Majutsu no Index. Sterile, white, skyscrapers with windmill electricity generators engulfing more classical and European-esque living quarters and parks make this city a great setting. The color palette is vibrant and sets a great balance between the almost colorless urban structures (science) and the historical living areas (magic). Wonderful all around.

There you have it. In a nutshell, this series isn't perfect. The main storyline barely gets any love, the series tends to get lost in exposition when there should be more action, and it really doesn't have an ending. That shouldn't deter you though because the side stories are beautiful and fun to watch unfold, contain interesting characters and situations, the moments of action are very worth the wait, and the mythology of the series is rife with all the neat little details that make it easy to get lost in this world of magic, espers, science, and cute girls. Should you buy it? Wait for the next season to decide. Should you watch it? Yes.