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REVIEW: A Certain Magical Index II BD+DVD [2016-08-23]


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SilverTalon01



Joined: 02 Apr 2012
Posts: 2402
PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 11:46 am Reply with quote
Quote:
The worst and most regular offender is Touma, but he's hardly the only one, as good guys and bad guys alike are guilty of prattling.


Personally, I really like Touma's illusion destroying preaching even if sometimes it seems a bit long.

Quote:
The franchise has always been prone to ageism, in the sense that it rarely seems like people older than 17 are doing anything important unless they're a villain or taking care of the wounded.


But Kanzaki is 18... seriously though, before I read the 'unless they're a villain' part, I could think of some important older characters, but that pretty much eliminated most of them. The only one I can think of that isn't a teen is Tatemiya, the leader of the Amakusa.

There are a decent amount later in the novels though. Especially if you include reformed villains.

Quote:
The policing force Judgment seems entirely composed of students as young as 13 – yes, they have powers, but that hardly equates to the maturity needed for this degree of responsibility.


That isn't suppose to be how it works though. Judgement offices are suppose to patrol only a specific smaller area assigned to them for more minor incidents as well as assisting anti skill on occasion when it comes to other things like traffic and evacuations. That is still more than anyone would really trust a 13 year old with, but they're basically hall monitors to help keep an eye on the students rather than meant for policing. Take the first Railgun episode, it isn't like they called judgement to deal with bank robbers. They called anti skill, and Kuroko got in trouble for getting involved when she wasn't suppose to. Kuroko's branch just ends up far deeper in things than they should 'because plot'.
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AksaraKishou



Joined: 16 May 2015
Posts: 1410
Location: End of the World
PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 1:58 pm Reply with quote
SilverTalon01 wrote:
Quote:
The worst and most regular offender is Touma, but he's hardly the only one, as good guys and bad guys alike are guilty of prattling.


Personally, I really like Touma's illusion destroying preaching even if sometimes it seems a bit long.

Quote:
The franchise has always been prone to ageism, in the sense that it rarely seems like people older than 17 are doing anything important unless they're a villain or taking care of the wounded.


But Kanzaki is 18... seriously though, before I read the 'unless they're a villain' part, I could think of some important older characters, but that pretty much eliminated most of them. The only one I can think of that isn't a teen is Tatemiya, the leader of the Amakusa.

There are a decent amount later in the novels though. Especially if you include reformed villains.

Quote:
The policing force Judgment seems entirely composed of students as young as 13 – yes, they have powers, but that hardly equates to the maturity needed for this degree of responsibility.


That isn't suppose to be how it works though. Judgement offices are suppose to patrol only a specific smaller area assigned to them for more minor incidents as well as assisting anti skill on occasion when it comes to other things like traffic and evacuations. That is still more than anyone would really trust a 13 year old with, but they're basically hall monitors to help keep an eye on the students rather than meant for policing. Take the first Railgun episode, it isn't like they called judgement to deal with bank robbers. They called anti skill, and Kuroko got in trouble for getting involved when she wasn't suppose to. Kuroko's branch just ends up far deeper in things than they should 'because plot'.



At this point i have more faith on the translated novels to reach New Testament by 2020...
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Kougeru



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 5527
PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 2:49 pm Reply with quote
The little preview calls this the "Final season" of the franchise. Technically it wasn't the final, because the Railgun series is part of the same franchise. Also we're getting Season 3.......some day
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jr240483



Joined: 24 Dec 2005
Posts: 4376
Location: New York City,New York,USA
PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 4:53 pm Reply with quote
highly doubt that. with how the movie was received when it was released , the increasing popularity of the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun manga(though its anime version is in the same boat as index) and how anime series like this one which is based off of harem light novels (ie Kyokai Senjou no Horizon & Infinite Stratos) its more likely that this series will end up the same fate as those two where unfortunately you will have to read the manga/light novels to continue with the storyline.

But the real gorilla in the room is the author since his health haven't been up to snuff which is why both index and railgun mangas were delayed for so long. Right now season three for the anime versions of index and railgun is the last thing on my mind for if the author bites the dust (i pray to god it dont happen) the whole series will more or less be incomplete as a whole.

Quote:
The worst and most regular offender is Touma, but he's hardly the only one, as good guys and bad guys alike are guilty of prattling


uh actually you couldnt be surprised by touma's character since technically all gary stu characters are like that. its more or less the reason why some people dislike SAO's Kirito cause he's just like Touma at times. the difference is that touma only does that when he complains about his rotten luck or in typical male harem lead fashion gets into a "sticky situation" with a girl who have developed a thing for him and the numbers after this arc is climbing. i wouldnt be surprised if Mikoto's mom Mizuru tries to go after him in the future arc let alone his supposed cousin Orihime who was featured in the Angel Fall arc.
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SilverTalon01



Joined: 02 Apr 2012
Posts: 2402
PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 6:46 pm Reply with quote
jr240483 wrote:
But the real gorilla in the room is the author since his health haven't been up to snuff which is why both index and railgun mangas were delayed for so long. Right now season three for the anime versions of index and railgun is the last thing on my mind for if the author bites the dust (i pray to god it dont happen) the whole series will more or less be incomplete as a whole.


Whoa now, the author, Kamachi, is not in poor health. He has been consistently pumping stuff out at high volume for a really long time.

Now yes, Railgun was delayed some, but that had nothing to do with the author. The issue was with the artist. I also heard that at least the last couple were due to technical issues on his part.

jr240483 wrote:
highly doubt that. with how the movie was received when it was released , the increasing popularity of the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun manga(though its anime version is in the same boat as index) and how anime series like this one which is based off of harem light novels (ie Kyokai Senjou no Horizon & Infinite Stratos) its more likely that this series will end up the same fate as those two where unfortunately you will have to read the manga/light novels to continue with the storyline.


Didn't railgun discs sell really well though? I don't recall Index II selling that well so if it won't make much difference (and I doubt it would) with sales of other Index stuff, not doing a 3rd season makes sense. Railgun though they could probably do well with disc sales again.

Edit: I quickly searched for Railgun S BD sales, and the first volume was ~15k and the third was ~13k. Pretty sure that is high enough for the show itself to be profitable.


Last edited by SilverTalon01 on Tue Aug 23, 2016 7:01 pm; edited 2 times in total
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GiriOni



Joined: 10 Aug 2012
Posts: 218
PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 6:48 pm Reply with quote
SilverTalon01 wrote:

There are a decent amount later in the novels though. Especially if you include reformed villains.


Well, at some point in the series almost everyone is a 'villain'. Part of the reason I like this series so much is how loose the 'villain' tag is.

Agree with several of the points in the article, although I personally like OP2 more.

To be honest Touma as a character is pretty flat from book 3 on, until new testament. (Although the anime, since it cut a 'character' out of the second arc, hasn't seen decent character development from Touma since arc 1)
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AksaraKishou



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PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 7:18 pm Reply with quote
jr240483 wrote:
harem light novels (ie Kyokai Senjou no Horizon & Infinite Stratos)


Did i miss the harem tag along the way or what? I've seen the anime and a good portion of the Light Novel and i really don't see why it would be considered that. Could you elaborate pls?
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FilthyCasual



Joined: 01 Jun 2015
Posts: 2185
PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 7:36 pm Reply with quote
Theron's Review wrote:
Alistair


Wouldn't that be Aleister, as in Aleister Crowley, the famed occultist? Or did the localization change that?
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killjoy_the



Joined: 30 May 2015
Posts: 2459
PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 8:01 pm Reply with quote
SilverTalon01 wrote:
Didn't railgun discs sell really well though? I don't recall Index II selling that well so if it won't make much difference (and I doubt it would) with sales of other Index stuff, not doing a 3rd season makes sense. Railgun though they could probably do well with disc sales again.


It sold better than season 1, somehow. Not by a very significant margin, though.

Kougeru wrote:
The little preview calls this the "Final season" of the franchise. Technically it wasn't the final, because the Railgun series is part of the same franchise. Also we're getting Season 3.......some day


Well Railgun's second season takes part during the first season of Index and Endymion is also set before the last arc of Index II so maybe they're technically correct in a very annoying way.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
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Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 9:06 pm Reply with quote
jr240483 wrote:
Quote:
The worst and most regular offender is Touma, but he's hardly the only one, as good guys and bad guys alike are guilty of prattling


uh actually you couldnt be surprised by touma's character since technically all gary stu characters are like that. its more or less the reason why some people dislike SAO's Kirito cause he's just like Touma at times. the difference is that touma only does that when he complains about his rotten luck or in typical male harem lead fashion gets into a "sticky situation" with a girl who have developed a thing for him and the numbers after this arc is climbing. i wouldnt be surprised if Mikoto's mom Mizuru tries to go after him in the future arc let alone his supposed cousin Orihime who was featured in the Angel Fall arc.

I think you're entirely missing the point of what I was saying. I was referring to his tendency to get preachy, not any of that stuff.
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SilverTalon01



Joined: 02 Apr 2012
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 1:09 am Reply with quote
AksaraKishou wrote:
jr240483 wrote:
harem light novels (ie Kyokai Senjou no Horizon & Infinite Stratos)


Did i miss the harem tag along the way or what? I've seen the anime and a good portion of the Light Novel and i really don't see why it would be considered that. Could you elaborate pls?


I wouldn't call it a harem. To me that would mean 3+ girls surrounding him with a romantic interest / usually trying to make out with the MC or get in his pants. Theres well over 30 LNs and I think spoiler[2 girls] have so far expressed a romantic interest in Touma spoiler[neither of which have made much of an effort to take it anywhere either which includes even telling him they like him]. Maybe a romcom element.

Key wrote:
I think you're entirely missing the point of what I was saying. I was referring to his tendency to get preachy, not any of that stuff.


I'd say it doesn't seem as wordy in writing... but that would be a lie. I still like it though, and one of my favorite parts of the LNs was someone doing the preaching back to him then punching him in the face.
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BodaciousSpacePirate
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Joined: 17 Apr 2015
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 3:59 am Reply with quote
SilverTalon01 wrote:
I wouldn't call it a harem. To me that would mean 3+ girls surrounding him with a romantic interest / usually trying to make out with the MC or get in his pants. Theres well over 30 LNs and I think spoiler[2 girls] have so far expressed a romantic interest in Touma spoiler[neither of which have made much of an effort to take it anywhere either which includes even telling him they like him]. Maybe a romcom element.


I'm not quite sure where you're getting the idea that only a few women are interested in Touma. spoiler[Lessar] thinks Touma is her soulmate, spoiler[Mikoto, Seria, and Seiri] are constantly tsundere over him, spoiler[Misaki] has a crush on him, and spoiler[Itsuwa and Kaori] are constantly blushing around him. That's all without even getting into what's going on with the other two male protagonists and their harems.
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Jonny Mendes



Joined: 17 Oct 2014
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Location: Europe
PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 5:30 am Reply with quote
AksaraKishou wrote:

Did i miss the harem tag along the way or what? I've seen the anime and a good portion of the Light Novel and i really don't see why it would be considered that. Could you elaborate pls?


Are you kidding? Touma have the one biggest harems in LN History. So many of the volumes have Touma saving a girl and that girl falling for him. Girls are falling left and right. There are so many that sometimes when they reappear, people don't remember where they came from.

SilverTalon01 wrote:

I wouldn't call it a harem. To me that would mean 3+ girls surrounding him with a romantic interest / usually trying to make out with the MC or get in his pants. Theres well over 30 LNs and I think spoiler[2 girls] have so far expressed a romantic interest in Touma spoiler[neither of which have made much of an effort to take it anywhere either which includes even telling him they like him]. Maybe a romcom element.


Is Kazuma Kamachi we are talking about. Don't expect a full blow romantic confession from them. But is clearly hinted that many girls are have interest in Touma in various degrees like the examples of @BodaciousSpacePirate.

GiriOni wrote:

To be honest Touma as a character is pretty flat from book 3 on, until new testament. (Although the anime, since it cut a 'character' out of the second arc, hasn't seen decent character development from Touma since arc 1)


That's one of the big problems with Kazuma Kamachi. He introduce so many characters but because there is almost zero character development, the story goes in circles and almost don't go anywhere from a character point of view.
Great world construction but zero character development, that's the characteristic of Kazuma Kamachi LN's
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AksaraKishou



Joined: 16 May 2015
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 8:02 am Reply with quote
Uh... people... i was referring to Horizon...
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AksaraKishou



Joined: 16 May 2015
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 8:05 am Reply with quote
Jonny Mendes wrote:
AksaraKishou wrote:

Did i miss the harem tag along the way or what? I've seen the anime and a good portion of the Light Novel and i really don't see why it would be considered that. Could you elaborate pls?


Are you kidding? Touma have the one biggest harems in LN History. So many of the volumes have Touma saving a girl and that girl falling for him. Girls are falling left and right. There are so many that sometimes when they reappear, people don't remember where they came from.

SilverTalon01 wrote:

I wouldn't call it a harem. To me that would mean 3+ girls surrounding him with a romantic interest / usually trying to make out with the MC or get in his pants. Theres well over 30 LNs and I think spoiler[2 girls] have so far expressed a romantic interest in Touma spoiler[neither of which have made much of an effort to take it anywhere either which includes even telling him they like him]. Maybe a romcom element.


Is Kazuma Kamachi we are talking about. Don't expect a full blow romantic confession from them. But is clearly hinted that many girls are have interest in Touma in various degrees like the examples of @BodaciousSpacePirate.

GiriOni wrote:

To be honest Touma as a character is pretty flat from book 3 on, until new testament. (Although the anime, since it cut a 'character' out of the second arc, hasn't seen decent character development from Touma since arc 1)


That's one of the big problems with Kazuma Kamachi. He introduce so many characters but because there is almost zero character development, the story goes in circles and almost don't go anywhere from a character point of view.
Great world construction but zero character development, that's the characteristic of Kazuma Kamachi LN's


Have you read the The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village? If not, go check out at least the synopsis. It's my favorite LN. Very Happy
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