Toaru Majutsu no Index
A Certain Magical Index

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STORY: story of To Aru Majutsu no Index is long and complex. While at first it will look like every volume is a completely different story with little to no relations to another, later on all plot threads will slowly be put together and you will be surprised just how far into the future the writer planned certain plot threads.
Also, expect a lot of Scientific Exposition and Religious (especially Christian) symbolism.

ART: with this being a Light Novel, there is not much to say about the art tough most of illustrations are pleasant to the eye.

CHARACTERS: there are many characters in TAMNI, ranging from overpowered Espers ... and Mages to weak so called "Level 0's", most of them being unique from one another.
There are three main characters in the story:

Kamijou Touma - THE main character of the story. While being labeled a "Level 0", his power is Negation of other supernatural powers with his right hands... tough as the story goes on it becomes more and more obvious that there is more to the power that meets the eye.
Kamijou Touma himself is an unlucky guy who always ends up being dragged into some kind of mess concerning the Dark Side of various factions and being a true Hero (tough he never will admit to be anything more but a common person) he always chooses to help the good guys.
For many characters, especially later on in the story, he is the ideal that inspires them. They see him as a hero and inspired by his deeds, they gain unfaltering wish to fight against what is not right and for former villains, he is the list at the end of the tunnel on their road to redemption.
And thats his main role in the story: not to be a developing character with inner fights (that is left for others) but to be the ideal hero.

Accelerator - the most powerful Esper in the world. His power is the ability to control all kinds of vectors.
He starts as a villain early on, with more then 10 000 deaths on his hands. After his conflict with Kamijou Touma, the story of his redemption starts.
While being a mass murderer, Accelerator believes that "Pieces of shit that fell into the Dark Side" should fight only one another and never try to mix the innocent people into their games. So when he meets a girl that is target of many darksiders, he becomes her personal guardian and falls further and further into the dark side where he pleases us by giving evil villains their due.
However a question remains: can a villain protect an innocent life that is targeted by so much evil in the world?

Hamazura Shiage - while Accelerator is the strongest Esper, Shiage is a "Level 0". At beginning he is a member of a Level 0 group called Skill Out, a group that seeks to protect other 0's from Espers... and at the same time bully the Espers. As such, from the very beginning he is a dark-sider.
When Kamijou Touma beats him up, he leaves the Skill Out and becomes a grunt worker for ITEM, a dark side 4-member organization that uses illegal methods for good of the Academy City... or more exactly, for the good of their greedy and immoral leaders. There, he helps get rid of corpses and such.
But like Accelerator, he also will find someone that he wants to protect. And soon he will become an enemy of the Academy City. Can a powerless person like him protect himself, the girl he loves... as well as his friends... from the evil of the world they belong to... an evil that has powerful technology and Espers that would make armed soldiers shiver in fear?

SETTING: the story happens in a world similar to ours... with some exceptions.

First, in Japan there is a place called Academy City. That city is part of Tokyo and it is around 20 years ahead in technology. Their technology will never cease to amaze you, especially since it is nicely explained how it works.
It is also a place where people with supernatural powers called Espers are created, raised and researched. There are many different powers and you will always look forward to seeing those Espers in battle.
However, there is a dark side to this organization... brutal experiments over children, immoral scientists, mass murders, Soviet-like secret organization... all existing in shadows of people who just seek to lead a normal life... and that dark side threatens to make many victims world-wide...

Second, Magic exists and the world is mainly ruled by Religious organizations that act behind the scenes. Unlike the Academy City, these factions follow religious ideas rather then scientific and the spells the mages use are filled with religious symbolism. As a Christian myself I am amazed at how well the writer researched religion and how well he made it all work in this story.
There are hundreds of magical organizations but three are the main ones:

Anglican Purist Church or more exactly Necessarius - their main goal is witch-hunt and control of mages throughout the world. For most of the story, Kamijou Touma is their ally.
Like Academy City, they have a dark side which is mainly felt through their leader and some of their actions. While they were not villains through TAMNI, there is a high possibility they will be in TAMNI's sequel: TAMNI: New Testament.

Roman Catholic Church - most powerful organization in the world, claiming to have 2 billion followers.
But that size is also their greatest enemy and their primary goal is to hold Status quo in the world and use all means necessary to not let the Catholic power plummet. And because of that desperation, the dark side is powerful here and thus Kamijou Touma finds himself to be their enemy in most cases, weakenign their dark side little by little.

God's Right Seat - part of the Roman Catholic Church's dark side... and teh faction that actually leads the Roman Catholic Church.
It consists of four members, every of them wielding power of one of God's Archangel's (Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel and Michael).
Their main goal tough is not to protect Catholic Church but to sit right to the God... which means to become equal to him. Their leader will do anything for that goal, even if it means sacrificing millions of lives...

ENJOYMENT: TAMNI is definitely an enjoying read. It has everything you may want: action, Slice of Life, comedy, moral questioning, great characters, intriguing storyline, well built world... if you give this a try, there is really a great chance you will enjoy it.

*There may be some minor spoilers that do not affect the reading experience*

To Aru Majutsu no Index is a fairly typical shounen series - The main character is a rather bland 'hero because it's the right thing to do' archetype, there is very little killing of villains, lots of random female characters and ecchi scenes... the list goes on. But what is it that sets TAMnI apart from the rest of these mediocre shounen titles? The answer to that question is - complexity. The depth of both the plot and the characters are a lot more than what it initially seems like. I'll explain it ... a little more in the individual sections.

STORY (10/10):
The basic premise of TAMnI is the battle between Science and Religion... Just that in this case, the religion side can use Magic while the Science side has Espers. There is a lot of Christian symbolism and scientific explanations. Each arc can be classified as either a science arc or a religion arc (of which the former is usually more interesting). The story takes a fairly long time to really pick up, since it only gets really good from volume 3 (The Sisters Arc, to be specific). The foresight of the author is quite commendable – small, seemingly insignificant details turn up later to affect the story in a big way.

ART (8/10):
No complaints about the art. It does its job and conveys what it wants to fairly well.

CHARACTERS(10/10):
This is the true strength of TAMnI. Though one may be annoyed that enemies are never killed off and are just 'converted to the good side', one must also admit that TAMnI does an amazing job of it. Redemption is a fairly common character trait in this novel, but that actually adds to the enjoyment value rather than anything else.
TAMnI has three protagonists:

- Kamijou Touma: The main protagonist, the one who everything revolves around. Touma is the first protagonist to be introduced and is usually mixed up in every event in one way or another. He is technically an esper without powers (Level 0), but in reality, he has a power that negates all other powers, while bringing him extremely bad luck in the process. He is a 'true hero' who often jumps into dangerous situations for the sake of others. Though he is quite bland and is always surrounded by girls, he is a fairly likable character who you can't help but like.

- Accelerator: The strongest Esper. Accelerator is initially introduced as a villain, but over time, he chooses the path of redemption and chooses to go over to the good side... though his methods remain violent. He is by far the most interesting character in the series and also the one who develops the most. He is often depicted as a 'reluctant hero' or even as an 'antihero', since he is the only main character who has no qualms about killing.

- Hamazura Shiage: The random delinquent. Hamazura is the last protagonist to be introduced and his introduction as a protagonist comes very late in the series. Like Touma, Hamazura is a Level 0... Just that he doesn't have any power at all. Hamazura is yet another 'reluctant hero', though most of his actions are for self-gain. Among the three protagonists, he is usually the one who faces the most overwhelming odds. He is probably the most likable of the trio, since he is the easiest one to relate to.

Honorable mention:
-Misaka Mikoto: Easily the most popular character of the series (Popular enough to get her own series), Misaka, known as the Railgun, is one of the strongest espers in Academy City. She is a tomboy who follows the tsundere archetype, which may seem pretty common, but the execution sets her apart from the rest. She often gets into fights with Touma, since he’s the only one who can keep up with her. Despite being prideful, she will go out of her way to help her friends. She isn't one of the main protagonists, but most of the science arcs deal with her in one way or another.

Enjoyment (8/10):
One issue with TAMnI is the rather erratic pace. For every enjoyable (usually Science) arc, there is a relatively boring (usually Religion/magic) counterpart. While even the slower arcs have a particular standard, they never reach the level of the Science arcs. Accelerator’s arcs are always amazing though.

Overall (9/10):
Overall, TAMnI is an interesting series with surprising depth for a shounen series. While it’s sequel (New Testament) doesn’t really live upto this one, it remains one of the best Light Novels I’ve read.

This was one of the first light novels I read, which is why I was able to finish it in the first place. I don't really remember the details since I read a while ago, so I'll speak mostly of my impression.

The first 13 volumes of this novel are pretty dull (well, except for sister's arc). The author sets up a magnificent stage where magicians and higher technology coexist, but emphasizes only the magic part until about volume 16 for whatever reason. I'm fine with him writing about what interests him, but personally I find the science side to be much more interesting. He ... also invented some of the most creative physic powers I've seen. However, all these have greatly gone in waste due to immature writing and a lack of a central plot. He manages to turn everything around at around volume 16 and really sets up an epic final battle, but that happened too late.

Other than its wasted potential, I'd like to address 2 additional problems with this novel. Firstly, the author likes to tell many different stories simultaneously, which I call immature writing. The problem with this becomes particularly conspicuous during the later quarter of the novel where 4 or 5 groups of people are trying to do things at different places at similar times. The author simply writes a few pages for a group, and immediately jumps to the story of another group which, for the most part, were unrelated. These mini side-stories do tie up in the end, but I easily lost track of the characters, what was happening, why they were trying to do what they're doing,... etc., and is in general a big minus that only dilutes my interest.

Secondly, the author creates a massive dichotomy between magic and science, where the magicians earn everything through hard work while the espers were just gifted. However he never truly develops this theme in depth. He sort of just told you, "here's something to think about..." and left it like that. In addition, the power of the MC pretty much defies any meaning he does manage to squeeze in, because it is just way too OP and out of place for the setting of this novel. I mean, almost every battle the MC was involved in boils down to he shit talking a bunch of crap, then he punches the villain. This in and of itself is a rather boring pattern for fights, not to mention how most of MC's shit talking was very idealistic.

Finally, if you're thinking of reading this because you saw the anime, expect shit art. don't even.

Overall, this story was interesting but too much potential wasted. I give this a 7/10.

INTRODUCTION: I will hold on to avoid as many spoilers as possible

Okay, this is my first review written for a light novel, so be a little kind if I end up wavering and getting lost in the subject, okay? (As I am a complete amateur, I will use terms that can be a little subjective, but know that everyone stands out from the main series as a whole, like ... Toaru or Index. Of course, there will be moments that I really want to talk about to toaru series as a whole, or the Index character, but I believe that will be obvious when ... it is said).

Toaru Majutsu No Index is with absolute certainty one of the best books that I have read in my entire life ... This is not just because it has an incredible story, extremely human characters (in terms of feelings) and deep, or simply because it is so much fun . No, it is certainly the accumulation of all this that made me give such a high position to this work.

Really, if you think about the script as a whole, it can be summed up in a very simple way ... Kamijou Touma clenching his fist and changing a person's destiny, no matter if he will have to sacrifice his life for this, but he will certainly succeed. Really, a very simple summary, right? Well, that's because what I explained was just flour ... Yes, from that simple component, it will form the most beautiful of desserts. It is the incredible plots, discussions between characters, the direction of the story and moments of depth that make this book EXTREMELY appreciable and enjoyable to read


To be honest, the story of "Toaru Majutsu No Index" is magnificent ... With mysterious tones that continue to guide the reader as if the author's writing ability was like a conductor conducting his orchestra, it makes this book extremely addictive, because this gives the reader more reasons to continue exploring this divine literary world created by Kamachii. With each volume having at least one twist in the story, this great story manages to create extremely interesting mysteries and developments, and when you feel like you’re totally used to the plot, it gives you a push enough to shiver your spine, like a professional boxer hitting a powerful jab on an amateur who thinks he's capable of anything. Would it be Kamachii's ability to develop different and interesting terrains, plots With each volume, his true "magic"? Well, I will leave this question with some hidden meanings for the readers of this review hehe.

Now! What would make reading so enjoyable, if not characters developed with sublime perfection? Well, toaru will certainly not be an example of failure in this regard. To be honest, Index is the only work that I managed to like the characters so much. I mean, each one has their charisma and depth to add to the script, and sometimes, the ways that such characters are introduced really fascinate the reader, simply because it is in a different and very intriguing way (Well, it's not every time that the author manages to accomplish this, but the moments he manages are certainly incredible). Furthermore, I like the way Kamachi manages these characters, because even when you think they were thrown away, they enter the script spontaneously and very realistically, whether to make humor, bring depth or just keep the reader interested in some way. . In reality, his practice only affirms my previous claim, that every character has his importance and content to add to the script ... To be able to do this, at least in my opinion is something commendable.

In fact, speaking of characters, how could I even forget about the villains? Each has their reasons for fighting, each has their reasons for clenching their teeth and going deeper into the darkness. Of course, some have cliché backstorys, but for me, they all manage to add to the script in some way ... So, I like to see how Kamachii does not create extremely bad villains. The main factor in this is that boy who raises his fists to destroy the unfair fate of those he thinks deserve better. Yes, that same hypocritical and selfish hero, who even after defeating villains, extends his hand to save the lives of those that the world would certainly judge as "evil". An example of a villain who was affected by the heroism of that boy, is the one who took more than 10,000 lives and dyed his hands with blood, and even so, it was in a way, saved from the darkness by that spiky-haired boy and that child with stupid capillary leather. Yea! Villains can certainly regret their past deeds and rise up as heroes! (Maybe I was "polluted" by this great story, and maybe one day those words will come back to me, and I will become a complete hypocrite ... Okay, so let me enjoy this momentary gift, and stop thinking one little in the future, okay?)

Well, that was my review of this great light novel. For the lazy on duty (we are together; D), or simply to people who were really interested in this review, I will leave a small summary ...

Toaru Majutsu No Index "(also known as" Old Testament-OT ")

STORY: 9 (To be honest, I would love to give this work a 10... There is a good principle of the world that fits perfectly with the initial philosophical proposal, salvation interspersed between the mind and the heart, science X magic, exploring the conspiratorial intensifications and There is also a powerful flow of information, whether it's the apparent destruction of a concept until it comes back in a miraculous plane of rebuilding, some manipulative terms and buzzwords like "Aeons" that highlight life for its beauty. philosophy, though... Man, how inconsistent is this work in its quality! I'm not talking about plot holes, not even your annoying ecchi with "fukou daaaa" excuses. It's more like the world-intro arc was too good [OT1-OT6], for the part that the second season adapted [albeit erroneously], was a disappointment
I mean, OT1 is a beautiful conspiracy story, full of sentimental infodumps, cycles of hate, to find in the end hope in faith and reason for knowledge. OT2 with its post-disaster questions, OT3 with the beauty of its genetic metaphor for the value of human life, artificially treated by a machine, just like clones. Damn, OT4 also had a surreal beauty in its mystery and the definition of bad luck, that only you could decide your happiness, in a much more complex way than stated. OT5 with its beautiful story of redemption and OT6 which although superficial in philosophy, faithfully convinced in its thunderous twist!....... And then, we have OT7, OT9 and OT11! The triple of mediocrity, which spoils the second part! The screenplay conveniences become more frightening, as the philosophical and poetic beauty is scarce, summarized in fake back-stories, surrendering to the cliché. At least this second part isn't all bad, after all we have OT8 with good twists and development [Your Deus EX machina is terrible, but it doesn't spoil the volume. The work loves to play with the gaps in every system of battle and conspiracy, which allows saving, but sometimes, the answers are convenient... At least, it's the minority], OT10 with its beautiful foreshadowing of the intersection between worlds and "realities personal" in search of a happy ending overcoming the evil conspiracy! Besides, the conveniences here are explained by a beautiful world-building and mystery, with some poetic terms used later in the final arc. OT12-OT13 needs no introduction, it's great!....... Fortunately, in NT, the consistency improves a lot, a fun and laughing ecchi, and an even more insane philosophical creativity! Damn, the Aeons connecting the three main protagonists and the antagonist provided one of the best twists I've ever seen!)



CHARACTERS: 9 (The vast majority with a good range of creativity and charisma, where even those who have "cliché" initiatives, later show themselves only subtle hints for a gigantic deconstruction of their own archetype, or sometimes, jokes with their own to add in the apparent "generic" formula, a new content to be poured that turns the whole formula into a gigantic charisma and creativity ............... Kamijou Touma is certainly a hero among heroes , although this is completely contradictory to him. The amount of hints present for his crises and insanity issues completely explode in NT, the man who fought to save the world. We also have the story of that protagonist who bathed his hands in blood while the strong The smell of iron permeated the places where he went, and now, he struggles to live a normal life and protect the ones he loves... Yes, he certainly fought the world for that. And that lucky boy of level 0 who was running away from the world? Well, while in the OT we have this game between "worlds", in the NT we have it in a more magical and philosophical way, where at least 50% of the construction is found in the OT. In addition, I really like the "heroines" of this work, where Index is my favorite for being responsible for great wordplay and a more than exceptional duo with Touma, although she is much more forgotten in the next book. I really love your philosophy with the worldbuilding)

ART: 7 (Well, some may completely disagree with that note, but I'm not just considering the final volumes of the first book ... I'm considering the path of the illustrations. To be honest, it was difficult to adapt to the illustrations, as they really took time to fix, and it ends up affecting the reader's imagination as a whole [At least for me]. Besides, I think the illustrator [Haimura Kiyotaka] could invest a little more in the scenarios ... I believe they could be more "rich" as a whole. Well, I'm a complete ignorant, so I'm not going to focus so much on that subject hehe)

FUN: 10 (Without a doubt, I give this grade. I really find the dialogues very fun, and the way the story is told, just makes me more anxious about what will happen ... I love the side of science and magic , and the "leaders" on these sides are really mysterious, the way I love it. I mean ... It's really hard to read, and sometimes I even spent time researching something to better understand the scenario or what was going on , but it really was very pleasant)

I pray that the boy's silence will end ... I pray that he will rise up again against this disgusting and dark world that surrounds him, clench his fists with even more force and break down fate again ... YES! BREAK THAT DAMNED ILLUSIONS, KAMIJOU TOUMA!

"In perdition, you could still trust your heart... After all, it's your best friend who can break all the shitty logic in this world!"

Kazuma Kamachi's first job is not a perfect job, there is no doubt about that. His pacing is somewhat erratic and many of his story arcs could easily be separate stories, were it not for the recurring characters. And speaking of characters, this series has an incredibly high number of characters, but many may disappear to not be mentioned in another 5-10 volumes in the future (Index, for example, when his name is in the title, sometimes he just appears for a brief scene and then forget). However, if everything were bad, I would not be writing about this story, especially that little by little ... it is noticeable how the author improves his writing (Volume 3 being when this narrative shows its true colors) and although on more than one occasion almost I'm dying of laughter As ridiculous as the story gets, we get to see some of the more original special abilities within this type of story, for example, not limiting someone with electrical powers to only generating lightning, but also controlling the associated physical phenomena like magnetism. .
In the same way, the strong elements are in how the universe of its story is created and expanded, being narrated from different angles and from the perspective of different characters, since as the story progresses some characters develop little by little, until it reaches its end. for becoming protagonists with their own motivations, either to redeem their crimes or seek to protect someone important. Thus the story acquires different shades of depth, we already have the protagonist who does not hesitate to help others, the antihero trying to leave behind his dark past or the "normal" subject who ends up involved because he wants to protect something.

Following the idea of the nuances of depth, the world that has been built in this narrative carries the idea of duality and the coexistence (not peaceful) of science and magic in equal parts quite well, although normally each arc focuses only in one aspect. Whether it's magic or science, it's not until very late in the story that the two mix to create the big conflict arcs of the story. There are many rather complex explanations for how the powers work in the world of these novels, either from real elements or concepts invented by the author that help build the logic of the entire narrative universe of him.

In general, although as a reading it has several ups and downs, I must admit that I had a lot of fun reading it and it didn't cost me much to read the 41 volumes, so I could recommend it as an easy reading of a fantasy shonen or if you want, watch the anime, without However, as I said before, it's not until the third novel that it really shows its strengths, so if you're interested, you should wait a bit for the story to pick up a fast pace. It won't be especially deep and won't make the most of the elements that available, but the fact that it is a fun experience works in its favor.