Michael is Low on Hit Points
It's not all action and moe, and that's why A Certain Magical Index came out so well
- Posted March 24th, 2009 at 4:10 PM ET
- Subjects A Certain Magical Index
- Tags impressions, final look
- Image sources
1- A Certain Magical Index [unknown] - Video searches
none
Now there's an opinion you won't find anywhere else. I've read a season's worth of post after post bitching about the lack of mindless action and the need for more biri-biri blushing. To me, it's all been a tad bit ridiculous. Now I've always been a huge proponent of "to each his own." But then why the hell were you people following this show to begin with?
Index is a show focusing on it's own self-built mythos of science and religion. There's plenty of terminology, plenty of creative and unique plotlines, and plenty of thinking involved. I applaud all of this, as Index creates far more interesting and well executed setups than an oft-compared Shana could ever. I can't wait to see what else the original author has cooked up in the inevitable season 2.
But my love of Index seems to be a cold and lonely one. The anime blogosphere seems united in one prolonged Index bashing. What's come under repeated attack is the show's execution. Apparently, the characters talk too much. Dialogue is evil. There isn't enough action and moe. Is that really what you want?
I've seen quite a few people praising Touma's date with Mikoto as an example of what they want more of. I'm sorry, but that date is a ridiculous, cliched filled fan-serving exercise that's painful to watch at times. Now I'm not 100% against blushing moeblobs, but it has its place and I don't need Index filled to the brim with it. What's there generally works fine in small amounts.
Complaining about the "lack" of action boggles my mind. Touma v Mikoto. Touma v Innocentius. Touma v Kaori. Touma v Index. Touma v the entire cram school. Touma v Aureolus. Mikoto clone v Accelerator. Touma v Accelerator. Kaori v Archangel Gabriel. Touma v Tsuchimikado. Touma v Unabara. Touma v Golem. Touma v Cromwell. What am I missing here?
My guess is that the confrontations don't have enough 'action' in them for most people. However, the battle against Innocentius that originally got everyone stoked for the series isn't a sword swinging, guns blazing extravaganza. Touma has to think his way out of the situation. There was exposition in there? Heaven help us!
I'm sorry, but Touma having to think his way out of a pinch versus fighting his way out wins everyday in my world. The fight with Innocentius sure is pretty, but the confrontation with Aureolus is just as imaginative and rewarding. Having to think during an encounter versus simply turning off my brain is a nice change of pace in anime land.
Now I will admit that the exposition isn't without its downsides. Some points get repeated too often and some scenes drag on longer than they need to. But it's hardly a deal breaker. My issue lies in how almost any dialogue in this show is looked down upon. A long exposition full of interesting narrative and creative musings certainly does not deserve such vitriol.
Is action and moe the only thing people care about!!!
...
Ok, it's out of my system! Sorry about that, but having read post after post trashing the show, someone who likes Index had to stand up for it. Sure, the anime has some issues, but overall the experience is more than worth it. But if my word isn't enough to convince you, just take a look at all the bloggers who are bashing the show. They finished the whole season, didn't they!
1 psgels
I dropped this show after four episodes, so I don't know if things got any better, but I usually am a fan of series with lots of dialogue (I loved Mouryou no Hako, which has more talking than Index could even dream of), but what turned me off was that the dialogue constantly got in the way of the other things in the series. The fights were like "I'm going to fight you... but first let me blurt out my life story in full detail even though you don't want to hear it but I'm going to talk anyway". It just felt too forced, and it felt like the creators were hanging a bit too much to their beloved dialogue.
2 Nazarielle
I was one of the many who dropped the show after episode 6. The way in which Touma lost his memories felt so incredibly contrived. From the moment I heard that Index's memories needed to be erased in order for her to live, I knew Touma was going to interfere and get his erased instead. But I never thought it'd be by a random attack Index uses which just so happens to also have the effect of erasing memories. When I caught back up over my Spring Break and actually watched the following episode, I ended up being pleased with how they handled it. Having Touma pretend that he didn't lose his memories was a brilliant way to move things along and pretty much cooled off all my anger at the somewhat lame way in which he actually lost his memories Man that was a lot of spoiler tags.
Anyway, the middle section of the series I really enjoyed. Seeing Touma fight Aureolus, Accelerator, and then the whole crazy mess with the Archangel was right up my alley. And then they brought it back to Accelerator, who seriously has the most OP esper power ever, no wonder he was considered the strongest. Do want.
This final arc of the story (I guess season, huh?) was rather meh, I felt. The whole human who turns out to be something other than a human is a dead horse that needs no further beatings. And really, there was nothing added to the story that made it all that interesting. The only good thing to come out of it was that Index finally got to shine and do something other than tsuntsun at Touma and chomp on him. The actual fight between Sherry and Touma was short and sweet, but the reason behind all of it was rather lame and the fact that she could so easily be influenced and shaken by Touma's words shows how weak she really was. All in all, a somewhat of a shame of an end to an overall good series. If it had ended one arc sooner, after the bit with Accelerator, it might've actually been better.
Anyway, I liked the series for the most part and I will be following it when the second season comes out (there is a second season coming, right?). I like where things are going, in general, and I look forward to what seems to be an inevitable clash between espers and magicians. Or at least that Crowley guy.
3 Son Gohan
This show was decent but not good. Some problems I encountered:
1. too much disconnect between the various arcs
2. some fights resolved by pure "deus-ex-machina" (Aureolos and Accelerator should have never lost to Touma, come on...)
3. slow pacing, especially evident in the episode where Touma and Biribiri have a long confrontation on a bridge
4. the whole Accelerator/Last Order arc was badly executed.
5. Touma's self-righteous speeches were annoying and repetitive.
4 lelangir
If you've seen Shigurui, well, I was also just thinking about that show, where it's 10% action, 90% clenched teeth and badass samurai staring each other down - yet somehow it's soooo adrenaline packed. What's the difference between that and Index? No idea. [I dropped index after a few minutes of the first ep.]
5 Glo the Legend
I for one agree with you. I really liked this show, and looked forward to new episodes week after week. Honestly, I didn't really think that anyone didn't like it. obviously by the comments of some, I was wrong.
I thought that there was a lot of cool terminology used, and if you ask me, there was plenty of fighting. Also, I thought that each arc brought something new and unique to the story, and I like shows like that (I pretty much like all shows though).
Touma did have some long self-righteous speeches though. But so does every character in every show (pretty much).
NEVER drop an anime after the first episode. I dropped Clannad: After Story pretty early on, but then I went back and watched it, and I'm glad that I did.
As far as Index goes, and can't wait for the side story and the new season to come out.
Re Michael is LoHP
@ psgels
Believe me, I know about your unique tastes and I enjoy you as a blogger because of it! As for dialogue being forced, there are certain scenes which are bigger offenders than most of the others. You might have liked the series if you had continued on.
@ Nazarielle
I've never seen amnesia used quite like Index uses it. Usually, it's merely a plot device to obscure future plot twists from the viewer. With Index, the viewer already knows Touma's relative history as we witness it during the first arc of the story. Watching Touma deal with situations he doesn't understand, but we the viewer do, is a very original slant (as far as I've ever seen).
Sure, the final arc may not have been the most compelling to end the series on. But it at least brought most of the main cast back into the fold for one final go 'round. Of course, that's the trouble you have with adapting an ongoing novel series. I think they handled it well enough. It certainly beats them trying something anime original.
The second season hasn't been announced yet officially, but it's pretty much a sure bet at this point. Seeing as the spinoff A Certain Scientific Railgun is due this fall, I'm betting we won't see season 2 for a little while though.
And finally, I applaud your use of spoiler tags... except you didn't really need them this time, because of the red spoiler warning at the top of this post. Looking at my comment guidelines, I don't exactly make that clear. Sorry about that. I'll straighten that out later. Thank you for your effort though!
@ Son Gohan
1) Each arc is a different light novel. In order to transition them better, JCStaff would have needed to resort to a more loose adaptation. After Shana and Zero, I'm not so sure I trust JCStaff with loose adaptations. I say we got the lesser of two evils.
2) Aureolus lost because his own power was turned against him. I wouldn't call that deus ex machina. Accelerator could have beaten Touma if he knew what he was up against. But seeing as Accelerator has never seen so much as a worthy challenge, someone who could "reflect" him caught him off guard.
3) That scene is easily the number one offender, in my eyes. There were certainly other slow points, but they weren't deal breakers for me. I guess your mileage may vary.
4) I don't know about that. I thought it was fine. But even so, that's one arc among 5 others I thought were all well executed.
5) Don't blame Touma, blame the people who didn't listen the first time he schooled them! All kidding aside, I can see this point. Once again, it wasn't a deal breaker for me, but I can see on how it gets to people.
@ lelangir
I haven't seen Shigurui. But you say you dropped Index a few minutes into the first episode? Wow, that's quick! What turned you off so suddenly and decidedly?
@ Glo the Legend
I think I've seen one or two other blogs say good things about Index. Some blogs only moderately knock the show. Others flat out bash it. At least from what I've seen, that is. I'm just using what gets linked from AnimeNano, plus comments I've received in past posts I've trumpeted Index in.
On another note, I'm also someone who doesn't like dropping shows. I've seen enough series turn around and surprise me that a show has to outright piss me off to get dropped.
Plus, I use anime I'm not terribly interested in as an excuse to exercise. I have a recumbent bike I ride when I'm watching shows that I don't feel I need to lay down and relax to watch. Completionism keeps me fit!
6 Omisyth
The key thing for me is balance. What was wrong with the exposition in Index was that it usually came in condensed time frames, where the characters would stand for minutes explaining what was going on. Perhaps if we were fed the information bit by bit over the course of the episode, it would have been more tolerable. Such as the first two episodes, including the fight you mentioned.
It's not even like the dialogue was particularly engaging either. This is probably more of a personal thing, but I don't care about the percentage of the brain that can store memories in, all I really needed to know is that Index will "die" if her memories aren't erased. It just felt unecessary to me.
Re Michael is LoHP
@ Omisyth
The whole conversation of memory storage is integral to the plot. It's what sets up the situation where Index will die. And thus, when that postulate is disproved, the fact that Index dying is a lie now casts a light onto who lied and why. The plot then moves in the direction set up by the dialogue.
This is how the series works. It's had this setup since day 01. If people don't like it, then that's perfectly ok. That's only natural. My issue wasn't really that at all. What sparked this post were the bloggers that followed the show week after week and bashed it with the same old tired jargon more closely associated with put-downs than actual critical analysis.
In other words, I understand where people are coming from with their complaints. It's just the repeated slamming of a show whose style they should have come to turns with eons ago annoyed me.
7 OBALLER
why is everyone shitting on this show?? I loved it. there were sick characters and great action. Plus accelerator is one of the most badass characters in all anime.
the fact that each arc was different made things very interesting and is one of the few shows that does this well.
@glo: You are completely right. NEVER drop a show after the first episode.. you never know whats gonna happen. i was gonna drop queen's blade after the first and now it seems good. Also pandora hearts ep 2 was like 1000000 times better than ep 1
Re Michael is LoHP
@ OBALLER
I know! Every plot arc and every character added a unique angle to the show. It always felt fresh to me.
As for dropping after the first episode, I too feel you have to give it a few episodes more... most of the time. Sometimes, a show can really blow you away (in a bad sense). But then, hitting up episode 2 is hardly that difficult. If anything, I would just add the anime to my "on hold" list; I'll check it out eventually.
8 Roy Mustang
But my love of Index seems to be a cold and lonely one
I loved Toaru Index too. The only thing the show needed more of was...Index.
I loved it. there were sick characters and great action.
I disagree. The show needed less action and more Puhi Puhi finger rubbing.
Re Michael is LoHP
@ Roy Mustang
Check out all these people coming out for Index! I'm not alone! I'm sure Index will be worked into the plot more as the main storyline deepens. But that's just my unsubstantiated guess.