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: 7.771 (scored by 11362 users)
Ranked: #5472
Popularity: #134
Members: 21,012
Favorites: 240 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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SamFury
11 of 15 people found this review helpful
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24 of 24 episodes seen
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| Overall |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Character |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
A Somewhat Unlucky Boy
Academy City, the Mecca of Science, is where most of it's denizens are student that have been scientifically engineered to be espers, or wielders of certain unique abilities: manipulating electricity, teleportation and controlling natural forces.
Touma is a student in the Esper Development Program, with very unique skill, the ability to negate supernatural powers, like the ones manifested by other Espers. This, of course, nullifies his good fortune as well: vending machines devour his yen, his cellphone crushed into silicon fragments by his foot, and he has to attend extra classes during the summer.
But fate isn't done with Touma, ready to twist the string of his destiny around it's cold slender fingers. Enter Index, hanging to dry from Touma's balcony, a church sister being hunted by... magicians. The plot has an interesting hook, the conflict between science and magic. The first four episodes prove to be interesting, serving as a prelude to what would be a plot line epic in proportions. But Toaru Majutsu no Index [no Index] quickly shifts gears, abandoning an expansive story, for smaller three to four episode arcs surrounding the various characters. It's amusing but for the most part leaves you asking: Why does this matter?. Though the last episode does give some hope, hinting at a conflict between science and magic, that's about to build, brim and explode.
The characters are likable, if somewhat cliched. Touma is the can-do hero that attempts to save 'everyone'. Misaka is a shining star in somewhat average cast. Her love/hate relationships with both the lead and her friend Kuroko coupled with her superiority complex is amusing. One of the plots faults is the harem that is accidentally formed. Harems cause symptoms of shallow character interaction and plots driven by mindless love polygons. Shades of these indicators are found in no Index, but hopefully the 'harem factor' won’t be a crutch for the plot in the future.
Production
The animation and the art is excellent. The palette is bright and vibrant, painting Academy City alive. Cool silvers and grays are layered on the natural colors woven in between the streets. Action scenes are fluid and are filled with some intense scenes on this backdrop. Character models are drawn well, the magician's being the most interesting of the bunch. Kiori and Stiyl seem otherworldly in their outlandish clothing. There were irritating bits of fanservice unappealing because the heroines, for the most part, were flat chested.
The music was engaging, a techno flare that fit the whole scientific motif. Neither opening was exceptional, their upbeat chords danced about, setting the appropriate mood. The voice acting wasn't noteworthy, though some of the voices became grating. Index's voice had an annoying timbre that scratched at the senses.
Watchability and Enjoyment
The structure of the show made my enjoyment of the program, mixed. Some of the chapters were splendid, balancing humor, drama, and action while others made me want to drop the program all together. I have hope for the second season, which promises a return to the whole conflict between magic and science, which intrigued me in the first few episodes.
Closing Thoughts
The ambition of the plot quickly disappears and what remains is a cast of likable characters, great art, and a promise. Hopefully Toaru Majutsu no Index will deliver on that promise. The small gems of story telling give me confidence that there is still hope for the exploration of the main theme presented. We can only hope. read more
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gdavge2003
36 of 50 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
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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Saikou [Saikou] (Brazilian Portuguese)
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