Sequel to A Certain Magical Index
Genre(s): Magic, Sci-Fi, Shonen, Comedy, Action
Age-Appropriateness: 15+ (Violence, Suggestive Themes/Partial Nudity, language)
Platforms: Hulu, Crunchyroll, Funimation
Episodes: 24
TheAwersome Rating: 4.0 / 10 (Just not good)
Premise: As tensions between the world of magic and Academy City continues to rise, Touma Kamijou and his hand of negation must face off against both esper and magician in order to protect the lives of those around him. Of course, he is not alone in his fight; whether by his side or out of sight, allies and enemies both old and new will enter the fray to help him.
TheAwersome’s Thoughts: It’s amazing how a show with no filler episodes can absolutely drag as much as this one. We had about eight arcs in this season, and only now, at the end of 48 episodes, does the fabled “something’s coming” start to actually happen. You know, the thing they’ve been hinting at since the first season. We spend time on about eight arcs per season, and only about two of them contribute to the “greater plot” which is constantly changing and getting more complicated. There are about two to three instances of Toma stumbling upon some girl naked or changing PER EPISODE (averaged out, so we might have two episodes in a row with none, then the next one will have five, etc.). Index is the same one-bit always-hungry whining head-biting loli goblin with no development.
Every other villain is “actually a good guy” two episodes later, and the fights have lost any luster. Bad guy will throw some form of magic projectile attack at Toma, he’ll block about 70% of them with his hand, get scratched up, and then run forward and punch them in the face. Every single fight is that way, no variation. No new challenges that he must find a way to use his ability to overcome, nothing. Just block a few attacks, run forward, and punch them in the face. Every villain usually only needs one or two punches from an untrained fifteen-year-old (which they’re seemingly unable to defend against without magic), despite being combat veterans.
TLDR: A remarkably dull sequel that progresses slowly with various non-sequitur arcs and the same tired “jokes” of accidentally seeing a girl changing or naked, over and over again. And yet it has pretty high production value?
After this season is the movie, The Miracle of Endymion.
Oh yeah, and don’t forget that the female villains have to be over-sexualized in some way. Maybe it’s a combat nun in a short skirt and 8-inch platforms, or an overly flirty seductress with cantaloupe-sized boobs and she only buttons one button of her shirt. Because anime.
This season does lightly include some characters that were introduced in Railgun, but Misaka herself doesn’t play much more of a role than last time, so you aren’t missing anything by not having seen it. Other than you know, an actually decent show set in the same universe. You won’t be lost on any plot points for having not seen it, we’ll put it that way.
At a Glance Anime 