***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for A Certain Magical Index and A Certain Magical Index II. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
Against his better judgment, Touma Kamaijo (voiced by Atsushi Abe) is now a part of the world of magic. This has made a peaceful life in Academy City difficult. His ability to negate psychic and magical powers has also made him a wildcard. Though this has earned him many allies, it has also made him a target.
Supported by his friends, there is one Touma can always rely on to have his back. The young nun Index (voiced by Yuka Iguchi). The bearer of the Church's most sacred knowledge, she's yet to free herself from danger. Together, these two make for a formidable duo.
While Touma and Index strive for a normal life, the worlds of science and magic have other plans. With each passing day, the tension between the two moves closer to a breaking point. Up until now, there has been a balance. And it is this balance that has never been at greater risk.
At any moment, the world could split in two. If he can help it, Touma will make sure that day will never come.
Series Positives
So as far as I know, I haven’t screwed up this time. After checking and double checking, everything’s lined up as it should be. Under this assumption, I noticed a few things.
First, I’m convinced A Certain Scientific Railgun is a sequel rather than a spin-off. The amount of information A Certain Magical Index, both I and II, glosses over is kind of ridiculous. For instance, Uihara (voiced by Aki Toyosaki) is part of this season. I was happy to see, don’t get me wrong. But she got no introduction. Like at all. If you haven’t seen Railgun, you’d have no idea who she was. You’d maybe not even realize she was from Railgun. Or that Railgun is a thing for that matter. By the way, Uihara wasn’t the only character who just sort of showed up.
Second, God damn it. Index II made realize how much I wanted to be watching Railgun. This season was a huge mess.
That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it. A majority of Index II wasn’t bad. It was as good as the original.
It also had many of the same faults of the original. But we’ll get into that.
Even during the parts which weren’t that strong, there were elements to grab on to. This is not a bad franchise. Yet, it has a habit of shooting itself in the foot.
Characters
No matter how crazy Index II got, the characters made it all worth it. Even when this season was at its most obnoxious, the characters made it watchable. And this season got pretty obnoxious.
Each character, whether old or new, added a layer of intrigue. And this cast got big. It got so big, in fact, I would describe it as overcrowded.
There were just so many people. And as this season demonstrated, there wasn’t enough time to do them all justice. Index II should have been longer.
At twenty-four episodes already saying there should’ve been more speaks volumes. This series doesn’t have to struggle for ideas. Almost any combination of characters could produce something. Hell, Railgun doesn’t have to be the only spin-off. And correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that’s the case in print form.
The more I think about it, the more I realize how good of a cast this is. They had to put up with a lot of nonsense. The hill that needed climbing was daunting. But time and time again, these characters pulled it off. If only there was a story worthy of them. This series would be unstoppable.
Touma remains a fantastic lead. He only got better as the show went on. While he may not be my favorite character, he’s the only one who can work in both worlds. I find it strange that’s the case. For how much both sides hate each other, they don’t interact all that much. I say that even taking into account how this season ended.
There were characters on the magic side. There were characters on the science side. Some talked to each other. But no one ever faced each other. Touma was the bridge. He’s a fundamental part of this franchise. So, it’s a good thing he's not a boring lead.
Granted, Index II did put him in some unwinnable situations. I lost count how many times he walked in on a girl undressing. Sure, some of these instances were his fault. Others weren't and it was getting annoying how he kept getting blamed for these.
But when Touma had to make a stand, like in the first season, he wouldn't budge. For most of the series, he was an underestimated player. This gave him an edge and led to some awesome moments. By the end, he overcame that. Touma was at last recognized as a legitimate threat. As he always should have been.
I liked Index much more in this season. First off, she felt more important. That’s good since the title bears her name. She was, of course, adorable once again. But unlike before, she wasn't baggage.
This time around, Index was in the middle of everything that was happening. Not as someone who needed protection. She was a combatant. She held her own in a fight. She tipped the scales on more than one occasion. In the first series, the Church only ever said she could be a threat to them. In Index II showed what that meant.
Mikoto (voiced by Rina Sato), I didn’t think I'd have more to say about her. Anytime she was on screen, even when it was bull s@#$, I found myself enjoying the series a lot more. She had a special charm to her. She’s one of the main reason I like Railgun as much as I do. And it transferred well into Index. The only thing Index II added, Mikoto was at her cutest. She'd still beat the living crap out of you if you piss her off. But if you catch her with her guard down, she’s a pure sweetheart.
Mikoto has well earned her own series. There’s another, though, who's done the same.
I’m waiting for the day Accelerator (voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto) gets his own anime spin-off. What makes him such an interesting character is how different he is from Touma and Mikoto. He’s not a hero. There are people he cares about and will do heroic things for. If that means killing to make that happen, then so be it. Accelerator was like a bomb. A lot of bad things would happen if he got set off. But someone had to push that button. Yet, if left alone, nothing would happen.
His presence was often enough to dispel a fight. That level of power was impressive. Still, it was pretty cool when someone was foolish enough to push him too far.
The Fights
My God, Index II knew how to have moments. And they damn near always happened during a fight.
Don’t get me wrong. Fights were not the most well-constructed scenes. They were quite lopsided as well as jumbled. The flow of battle made no sense whatsoever. But boy they were entertaining.
Index II knew how to get the blood pumping. These scenes will make you want to throw a punch. For every questionable decision, this season understood how to do two things. One was the motivational speech. The other the actual coup de grace.
Over and over, these two elements alone made up a lot of ground. Things were exciting when they should have been dull. Things were engaging when they should have been confusing. They made you want to continue when by the end, it was time to check out.
I have problems with this season. I’m about to go over them. But I’m not against a continuation.
Series Negatives
I said the majority of Index II was good. It was the original series again. The same points from my first review apply to the first thirteen episodes. Had the season ended there, that would have been fine. In fact, it would've been better because it would've given a third season so much more room to work with.
Episodes fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen were fine. This was when Touma and Index ran into trouble in Venice, Italy. How they got into the situation they found themselves in was beyond stupid. But the events themselves weren’t that big of a deal.
So, the first sixteen episodes of Index II were a good sequel. They represented what the original did right. Focusing on the characters and their reactions to the problems at hand. Yet, these episodes also keep a major issue with the Index storyline. It was overly complex. The magic side of this world was convoluted. It wasn’t as grounded as the science side or Railgun. But, it was followable.
Then came episode seventeen. And with it the downfall. What the f@#$ was this?
Things began happening. Before, the story tried overexplaining. While not the best form of storytelling, at least I knew why things were going on. At the end of Index II, I didn’t have a clue. This was where the problems of having a huge cast came in.
Everyone got an equal amount of time. As well as an equal amount of importance. Everyone. From the leads to even some of the most insignificant of characters. This season tried to give everyone a role.
Okay, fine. If that’s what a story wants to do, then whatever. That’s a huge task to undertake. It would be dumb to make it any harder than it needs to be. Like, for instance, adding characters. Key characters. Characters who were never once mentioned before. Yeah, that would be unnecessary. So then why did it happen?
Index II tried to shove as much as possible into the last few episodes. It also tried clearing up things I didn’t know were a problem. That and revealing things I didn’t realize were problems.
For example, throughout both seasons there was one character who was always behind the scenes. It was some guy upside down in a water tank. It was strange but I didn’t question it. Every time he was on screen, I figure he was with the magical world. It turned out he was, in reality, the leader of Academy City.
ALRIGHT THEN. I missed that little detail somewhere along the line. It didn’t help I only realized this person had a name right before this revelation. This was just one problem.
For the last two, but mostly the final episode, Index II kept introducing things. Like I said, this series has ideas. Why it thought it had to shove them all into the last second is beyond me.
Final Thoughts
With this out of the way, I’m free to watch Railgun S. Oh I hope it doesn’t become another Index II.
This didn’t start off bad. Most of it was good. The characters, the fights, even the story made this a fun watch. I do enjoy this world. I want to know more about it. To build something like this is no small feat. But it needs time to get built.
This season ended on a bad note. I’m serious, you can stop watching at episode sixteen. To continue would mean giving yourself a headache. That said, these characters do make it bearable. For instance, the end has the most scenes with Accelerator. F@#$ you show for doing that, but Accelerator’s is a good enough reason to continue.
A Certain Magical Index II is a difficult one to recommend. But if you’ve come this far, I still recommend it.
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