Alternative TitlesEnglish: A Certain Magical Index Synonyms: Toaru Majutsu no Kinsho Mokuroku Japanese: とある魔術の禁書目録（インデックス）
Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 24
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Oct 4, 2008 to Mar 19, 2009
Duration:
23 min. per episode Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 7.781 (scored by 12187 users)
Ranked: #5402
Popularity: #128
Members: 22,337
Favorites: 268 1 indicates a weighted score
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SynopsisSet in a city of scientifically advanced superhuman students, but in a world where magic is also real. Toma Kamijo’s right hand, the Imagine Breaker, will negate all magic, psychic, or divine powers, but not his own bad luck. One day he finds a young girl hanging on his balcony railing. She turns out to be a nun from the Church of England, and her mind has been implanted with the Index-Librorum-Prohibitorum - all the magical texts the Church has removed from circulation. |
Related AnimeAdaptation: Toaru Majutsu no Index, Toaru Majutsu no Index
Spin-off: Toaru Majutsu no Index-tan
Side story: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun
Characters & Voice Actors
Staff
Reviews
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gdavge2003
38 of 56 people found this review helpful
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24 of 24 episodes seen
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| Overall |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Character |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
To Aru Majutsu no Index is an action, comedy set in a modern (or perhaps slightly futuristic) city called Academy City. The entire city is basically composed of several schools that teach the usage of Esper; a scientific kind of magic.
The story revolves around the protagonist Kamijou Touma, as he is caught between tensions and events involving conflicts between Magic and Esper (science). While the first few episodes were quite promising, hinting at a huge power struggle between two sides, with Touma being in the center of attention, the rest was quite the letdown. There wasn't any deep story. The main plot simply gets shoved into the background and To Aru Majutsu no Index becomes a somewhat repetitive, episodic 2/3 episode-per-plot anime. Despite the great entrance leading to an episodic series, however, I admit it was still enjoyable to watch. The plots are simple, but watching Kamijou Touma go through each challenge in his way was entertaining.
The art and sound are definitely the strongest points of To Aru Majutsu no Index. The art is simply amazing. Movements and actions flow smoothly, showing just how many panels the creators drew to create each episode. CG effects are wonderfully done; with the sun shining brightly and casting beams of light on Academy City. The opening songs fit the action theme of To Aru Majutsu no Index very well, and the relaxing ending songs tone down viewers' excitement after watching the episodes.
Characters were great and unique in terms of personality, but development was stagnant. Each character had a unique personality that you can identify and tag them with. Touma is a carefree, friendly guy who's always there to help out his friends, while Index is mischievous and spoiled on the outside, deep down she cares much about everyone around her. However, without much character development, they pretty much stay the same throughout the 24 episodes of To Aru Majutsu no Index. But overall, I think this can be overlooked, as once you become attached to them, development won't degrade the characters' uniqueness.
Overall, I enjoyed watching To Aru Majutsu no Index on a weekly basis. It was a good anime overall, despite the lack of a concrete central plot. Just watching how Touma deals with situations and interact with those around him is purely enjoyable. Definitely give To Aru Majutsu no Index a try! read more
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kaminakun
17 of 26 people found this review helpful
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24 of 24 episodes seen
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
6 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Character |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
"Then would you accompany me to the depth of hell?" - Index
"When magic and science crosses path, what will happen?" is how I would have liked to start this review. However the answer to that would have simply be "nothing" since, although both sides exists in the same place, there were hardly any interaction between them. So instead, I will begin by asking Index what she meant by accompanying her to the depth of hell. She was hardly present for half the show and during the rare occasions when she is in an episode, she gets sidelined and become a minor character with absolutely no impact to the story (beside biting Touma on the head).
So what happened to those 103,000 magical texts? With the exception of the first few episodes and the last episode or two, where Index as a character actually matters to the plot, there is practically zero reference to the 103,000 magical texts for 80% of the show. Granted the production studio (J.C. Staff) wanted to follow the novel as closely as possible (and they did a very good job at it), it is understandable for the abrupt ending to the story thus far. But it still makes no sense for the story’s centerpiece to be dangling here and there with no sense of purpose in the various story arcs.
If one were to ignore the problems mentioned above, then the overall production quality of Toaru Majutsu no Index is actually quite good. Decent animation from J.C. Staff (though sometimes the distant shots seem lacking in detail) plus a great cast of seiyu make this anime a pleasant watch to those who don’t really mind a poor storyline. Don’t get me wrong though, the mini arcs throughout the show which introduces and help create character developments are great in themselves. However, once the dust settles, it always makes me wonder what happen to the story that was suppose to center around Index.
Character-wise, most were introduced to compliment the particular story arc (with the exception of the main protagonists). Afterward, they will tend to “fade” to the back sometimes making a few seconds appearance here and there with no significance. In terms of character development, not much observable changes occurred for the male protagonist and Index which can be attributed to the faithful following of the novel (since there wasn’t that much matter to talk about at the time of the anime production). On the other hand the co-heroine/main protagonist, Mikoto, of the Railgun series (a spinoff of Toaru Majutsu no Index) did show considerable character growth which makes her shine like a bright star among the group of relatively static characters.
Those familiar with Shana will instantly ring a bell in their head as they watch the first OP of this series. If the OP does not make you go "OMG, this sounds similar to Shana’s OP!", then perhaps watching the daily interaction between Index and Touma will help ring some bells. To be more precise, one can even replace Index with Shana and voila, you have yourself Shakugan no Shana III. The point I am trying to make here is the similarities between the two anime.
1. From the same production company.
2. At least one of their OP theme is sang by the same singer (Kawada Mami).
3. Shana = Index, Yuji = Touma.
So what am I trying to say here? It means that if you enjoy watching Shakugan no Shana, feel free to give this anime a try. The magician (magic) vs esper (science) theme advertised by Toaru Majutsu no Index does have its selling points, but I just think it desperately need a sequel to really link the various bits and pieces together. I enjoyed the mini arcs (whether they are filler or not), those irrelevant mini stories were very entertaining and they help keep my mind off Index. But once I start thinking deeper into the character ties and relationships, there is just something missing about the purpose of Index. Perhaps a hopeful sequel will fill in the missing puzzles, but as things stand right now the story really hurts the show. read more
Recommendations
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In both of these series the lead boy is made to be with to the lead girl due to reasons revolving around magic. Also, the story lines are both based around magic and the like.
Both are set in a world that is quite normal on the first look (one is a bit more futuristic though) but involve supernatural occurrences, like magicians or people with abnormal powers.
The atmosphere is quite similar, though the plot of Shakugan no Shana is a lot darker/heavier at the start of the show.
To Aru is basically SnS with magic instead of swords or the other powers and a bit more comedy. Animation is quite similar, due to the fact both anime are by JC Staff. Not that it matters, but the openings are also by the same person. Overall, To Aru simply gave off a similar vibe to SnS.
Very similar style and has many similarities. If you like one of these, you will definitely like the other.
Shana and Index are both made from the same staff team. Both are J.C Staff productions and they share a lot of similarities in terms of animation. And both their OP songs are from Kawada Mami, which sang both of the first Shakugan no Shana OPs.
The shows give a very similar feel to each other. Neither should be missed.
Both are from the same staff team, both are similar in animation and plot (kinda) Both have OPs sung by the same person.
Supernatural main girl, guy with hidden powers and similar plot ^^
Hmm ..... smilar story line , similar heroes but this time guy is a big hero , of course exist little romantic plot . That anime is very good in my opinion , one of the best i this Fall ....
To Aru Majutsu no Index is on a higher level than Shana at .. well.. everything. But they deal with similar eerie and supernatural situations, have teenagers which get in these weird moments that change their live's forever. Though some characters are similar, both shows are different on a lot of things, but they share the same feeling when watching them.
Main female protagonist with special powers + male protagonist with hidden powers. Maguc + relationships. Both shows share the similar feeling.
Both shows have very similar art. Both have opening songs sung by Mami Kawada. Plot is similar as new people with new supernatural powers keep coming and affect protagonists in some way. Extremely similar feel.
I love J.C. Staff and Index is just like Shana without the tsundereness. Character designs are very similar in these two animes. It's just more J.C. Staff goodness. Can't get enough of J.C. Staff.
The magic battles, the character types, the humor....
I don't know what else I should list.
And there's of course the Shana-tan and Index-tan specials.
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Random guy who is kind hearted, meets cute girl in random circumstances. Girl happens to be related to some kind of supernatural power, and thus boy gets thrown into a choatic world of fighting, action, complex strange new principles, etc.
In the two serie, a boy meet a girl with strange power and their is people who want to catch her.
The atmospheres are quite similar, and both deal with people who can use certain kinds of magic.
Steiner and Excel (Kurokami) seem to be somewhat like Kanazaki and Stiyl (To Aru Majutsu no Index). They both had confrontations with the main characters and faught to either kill them or take them somewhere (mostly directed to Index and Kuro). Although after awhile, they became companions with the main characters.
Reishin (Kurokami) and Izzard (To Aru Majutsu no Index) were both seen as the main threat, but half way through the series it changes to someone else.
To Aru Majutsu no Index has multiple sets of characters who come from specific 'Church's' and are sent to take out the main characters, while Kurokami have people from different 'Clans', also set to take them out and obtain power.
Kuro and Index both seem to be important to their respective areas. Index being important as she has 103,000 of the grimoires stored in her memory, and Kuro as she is the princess of her tribe. They both encounter somewhat regular high school boys who both have their lives changed afterwards.
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Opening Theme#01: "PSI-missing" by Kawada Mami (eps 1-16)
#02: "masterpiece" by Kawada Mami (eps 17-24)
Ending Theme#01: "Rimless ~Fuchinashi no Sekai~「Rimless～フチナシノセカイ～」" by IKU (eps 1-19)
#02: "Chikaigoto ~Sukoshi Dake Mou Ichido~ 「誓い言～スコシだけもう一度～」" by IKU (eps 20-)
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