A Certain Magical Index II [Anime Review]

This review is going to cover not one, but two A Certain Magical Index animations. The first is the second season, the second is the movie, The Miracle of Endymion. These anime are connected, somehow, to A Certain Scientific Railgun. (Reviews for Railgun, and Railgun S).

Stunned idiot, oblivious Index, and perving nun.

This is probably the second most graphic of all the Toaru series... Railgun S, which had the experiment using the 20,000 Misaka's and Accelerator, was just a little more graphic.

4 out of 5 stars

Battle Nuns.

It is somewhat hard to measure the exact levels of blood and violence... but both have lots. In Railgun S, it is science gone wrong and in Index II it is religious fundamentalism that causes the violence.

The brunette girl's hair shine shows his eye line perfectly.

If anything that is one of the stronger motifs in Index II. It depicts religious fundamentalism as a violent and dangerous power that seeks to either control or destroy everything and everyone. As such, several fundamentalist groups attempt to move against Academy City, which is the largest scientific community in the world. The fundamentalists also come into conflict with other religious groups, and at times they even attack themselves or their followers. It is trying to show the dangers of having a closed mind, of following only dogma or the commands of others.

There are religious characters and factions that are not fundamentalists, and they are shown in a positive light. So Index II is trying to contrast the two types of faith. The conflicts between these groups, and Academy City, is the main story of Index II.

Of course this would not be a Toaru series without comedy. There is a good amount of comedy mixed among the very serious plot.

The deadly battle against a washing machine.

If you are a fan of the Toaru stories, this is a good addition to the series. Sadly it ends leaving you wanting the next series... really wanting it. It is a rather massive cliff hanger of an ending. Oh, and yes, I do know that Index II come in two parts in the US, I am reviewing it as if it was only the one series it is. 


Next up, the movie.

Like everything in Toaru, you get a mix of Railgun and Index.

Only in anime do things like this happen, constantly.

I'm not going to spoil the plot on this. It is a rather enjoyable film, and in many ways I really have to agree with one of the antagonists. I am not a fan of the concept of miracles.

4 out of 5 stars

Stiyl has assistant witches.

This movie has some nice catchy music. Which is certainly a good thing. It's not even bad in the dub, in fact it is pretty good.

The story has some good twists and turns in it, and we get to go into space for the second time in the Toaru series. A few new characters are introduced, but not so many that we get bogged down.

This feels like it falls just a little before the end of Index II, but I was reading somewhere that the game this is based on is actually supposed to take place sometime before the Daihasei Festival, because Kuroko is still in a wheel chair... but I thought she ended up in a wheel chair twice, at least.

Even if it cannot be easily placed on the confusing timeline of Toaru, it is still a good watch.