(Toaru Majutsu no Index & Toaru Kagaku no Railgun)
Although I have a long list of acclaimed anime from the last decade or two that I intend to plow through, lately I find myself more often just watching new shows put out by fansub groups that I follow. I am not a big fan of having to watch things week to week; normally I start watching when a series has just finished or, as in the case of Magical Index, when a season is at least in its second half. I hadn't heard anything about this one from anyone, nor had there been any mention from my favourite reviewers, but the premise looked vaguely like my kind of thing – something like Heroes or X-Men in a high-school anime setting, adapted from a series of light novels.
The bulk of these two shows takes place in Academy City, a district of Tokyo inhabited by two million esper students - people with special abilities that are scientifically classified and rated. One of these students, Touma, a Level 0 who has no visible powers so far, encounters a strange girl named Index, who turns out to be a member of a branch of the Church of England called Necessarius – a shady group with the responsibility of using ordinarily prohibited magic to protect the world from evildoers. She's on the run from mysterious attackers and Touma, getting caught up in her predicament, discovers that his right hand is the "Imagine Breaker", with the power to completely dispel supernatural forces and abilities on contact, be they magical or scientific in nature. Naturally, being a selfless do-gooder protagonist, he ends up involved in several international plots and city-threatening incidents, meeting members of different (usually oddly violent) Christian sects and other nasty organisations on the way.
He also comes across Misaka Mikoto, another high-schooler who is somewhat famous for being one of the few Level 5 espers in the city. She has the power to control electricity and can use this to fire small metallic objects (usually coins) rather like a railgun. Misaka gets her own spinoff novels and show, which some folks seem to prefer over the main series. It's a lot more light-hearted; even when things get serious in the show it seems to be handled in a more easygoing way than in Index, which is quite dark and heavy at times.
From what I understand, both shows follow the novels pretty closely, and are comprised of arcs that last for several episodes at a time. Most of the characters are likeable and engaging, with the exception of Index, who is possibly the most annoying titular character I have ever seen. By the end of the second season of Magical Index she is relegated to background comic relief and has almost nothing to do with the plotlines at all, for which I am thankful, although it is a mite silly considering the show's title. The visuals are great; lots of sparkly special effects, nice animation and art style, interesting character designs. Soundtracks are good too, including some excellent theme music.
I really enjoyed both Index and Railgun, but Index really lost a lot of its charm for me towards the end of the second season. Not sure why; probably has a lot to do with me catching up to the weekly broadcasts at that point. The plots became quite complex and not that fun to follow over a long period of time – these shows definitely benefit from being watched several episodes at a time, e.g. one novel's worth in one go. Or perhaps after 72 episodes (across both shows) it was just a bit much. Who knows; I'd still recommend. It's a well-done adolescent action sci-fi timekiller that delivers just what it promises; no more and no less.
Seriously though: worst ending ever on the second season of Index. Seems like it was just halfway through one of the books or something. No development, no closure or big climax, threads left weirdly unresolved. Disappoint. At least there's more coming.
