If there's one thing you can't fault J.C. Staff on, it's the animation. Sharp, crisp, with a signature pallet and inspired character design, Index can be a treat to look at. Consistent in its appearance throughout, it does a fine job of carrying a sharp appearance, even though it does not strive to be anything beyond that.
Sound is another matter. The opening and ending themes just aren't up to the quality of the animation and, for me at least, seemed to drag down the sequences. Generic BGM throughout didn't help, though vocal performances are of note. Yuka Iguchi and Rina Satou especially as Index and Misaka add great energy and depth to their respective character's lines. The rest of the cast isn't bad either, ranging from enjoyable to decent. What a complete waste of Mamiko Noto though.
These performances were also greatly amplified by a very likeable cast. Index is a real charmer from the get-go and Misaka's firecracker personality really adds something to the dynamic of the Index-Touma-Misaka triangle. I have no complaints about Touma personally, but he is another generic male lead with a built-in deus ex machina. Fortunately, it isn't the be-all end-all solution it appears to be. The supporting cast is enjoyable, but so many of them are sparsely seen, with some disappearing as quickly as they appear, that it's easy to forget or just not care about them.
While the characters are intriguing enough to keep watching, the plot isn't. Functioning on an individual arc setup, it's too disjointed with too little themes carried over from arc to arc to make it worth the effort. While Index lacks its spiritual predecessor's romantic angst, at least said angst helped carry the story over each individual arc. Here, Index has few if any ties throughout, burning bridges as quickly as it can construct them. Add in the previously mentioned myriad of complicated terminology that perpetuates the dialogue of the series, and even the strongest attention spans may be jolted by this one.
So what can be said about it as a whole? It's certainly not a terrible series, but there's too much wasted potential. The character relationships are stagnant and the poignant characters of each arc are gone with the next. It's more a compilation of side stories than a full-bodied plot, heavy on the dialogue but short-handed on plot or character development. But it is likeable, and nice to look at, and with some luck, the franchise will become more focused in the future. For now, it's disposable eye candy. Nothing more, nothing less.
Overall, I give To Aru Majutsu no Index a 6 out of 10.
