I enjoyed the story of the show even though at times it dragged and seemed just a bit too slow. Accelerator was awesome and my favorite character as well as Kanzaki Kaori. Sadly she barely got any screen time even though she was supposed to be another important character in the series. It seems like a third season will come and I hope it's handled a bit better.
To Aru Majutsu no Index tv Review
Touma Kamijou is a student in Academy City with seemingly no luck at all; one day he meets a strange girl dressed in a nun outfit named Index. His encounter with her leads him to meet many other people all with strange powers of their own. Now Touma is out to solve my mysteries behind Index and the city itself.
Credit: MisaSasekage
Story & Characters
Forewarning : This is a scoring solely on the second season of the anime.
Have you ever watched something and really enjoyed the first season, only to painfully watch the show disembark from where it started into mediocrity? I'm sure we all have. Yet, no matter how many times we do it doesn't change how it affects us. It still hits hard and the more we like the show, the harder it hits.
Toaru Majutsu no Index (which shall be referred to as Toaru from here on out) was a breath of fresh air for me. Incredibly detailed characters in a fully developed world chalked full of great dialogue and a wonderful story. While I struggled with the first few episodes and the sheer amount of dialogue, once the story got going a bit more I was hooked. I dare say that the first season ranks up there as one of my most recommend shows and all time favorites. Combining great elements along with some very minor harem-style elements, it was a great catch. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Season two of Toaru is still the same show we grew to love during the first season, but lacks the enjoyment, and especially taste that the first season had. Since any plot elements I would normally cover are fairly lengthy and offer continuation from the previous season, I will skip over them and the majority of the characters. This is mostly due to the sheer amount of characters in the second season.
The plot immediately continues from where the first season left off and during the twenty-four episode run, hardly goes
anywhere. It really isn't until the final episodes does the show regain the same steam that the first season had.
One of the biggest issues with Toaru season two is the progression. Especially in comparison to the first season,
season two panders around far too much for how little is covered. It isn't until roughly halfway through when the
story focuses on Accelerator did I start really enjoying the show again. Mainly because the story really started to
flow again, instead of doing far too much starting and stopping.
Also another disappointing factor was the cast of characters weren't nearly as strong. A few of the female leads
from the previous season (Aisa Himegami and Kaori Kanzaki) are given very minimal rolls and in Karoi's case, the
majority of her scenes are completely unlike her developed character from the first season. Especially with the
inclusion of fan service from her. However, the primary amount of fan service comes from the big breasted Oriana
Thomson and her absurdly lengthy plot that could of been much better delivered had it been focused more. This seems to
be a larger problem in the show, as the plot itself seems to start going all over the place instead of a more focused
storyline from the first season. There is also an increase in big-breasted characters from the first season as well as
completely un-necessary fan service scenes that have nothing to do with the plot and are just there to add fan
service.
It's also rather disappointing to notice that Toaru is starting to shape up more like a harem series rather than a
deeply developed action story with small harem elements. As previously mentioned, the fan service is also greatly
vamped up this time around and rather unwelcomed, since the minimal amount of fan service in a harem-styled series was a
welcomed enjoyment for the first season and what is done is fairly tasteless and detracts from the show. Another thing
I would like to see is a relationship develop, or some character progression made. It seems that every single character
from the previous season hasn't changed. The only exception to this rule is the Accelerator, which might of been
the saving grace for this season. Considering the show is twenty-four episodes long, it would of been nice to see
something happen in that aspect. Especially since there was so much in the first season.
Despite these complains, the second season does get off to a strong start near the end, but unfortunately it just
isn't enough and we're left on a cliff hanger waiting for season three.
Rating:
Art
The art work is truly the only thing that has improved from the first season. However, in certain scenes it appears that Touma's physical shape will change somewhat. Besides this minor complaint, the animation is as strong as ever. Battles are absolutely beautiful to watch and the unique set pieces introduced are beautifully done. I'm really glad that they stuck with the same style of the first season and only built off of it.
I'd say that this is the one aspect from the original that I preferred in the second season. Although once again, it seems that there aren't nearly as many great battles as there were in the first season. Though, the ones they do have are a treat to watch and dare I say even better than any of the battles from the first season.
Rating:
Sound
Sound is another aspect that is rather well done. The same VAs reprise their roles for the season season of Toaru and the additional cast does a very nice job as well. However, the true star of the show is Nobuhiko Okamoto, who voices the Accelerator. Mr. Okamoto delivers an incredibly performance, ranging in a wide variety of tones for the sadistic Accelerator. This is one of the best performances I've seen in an anime in a long time.
Aside from Mr. Okamoto's amazing performance, the rest of the sound is pretty much identical to the first season. Even the opening and closing songs share a familiarity to the first season. While it would of been nice to see a bit more change, it was still very fitting for the show and worked rather nicely.
Rating:
Presentation
I really wish I could fully recommend the season season of Toaru as I could the first, but I cannot do so. Perhaps it's because there simply was no change from the original in structure and presentation and my tastes have simply changed, or perhaps it is because that the show just isn't as strong this time around. It's almost as if they decided to structure the show exactly how they did in the first season. To start it off slowly and slowly progress, instead of continuing off the momentum of the first season.
What was once a very refreshing anime series has slowly turned into a by-the-numbers series. There is no doubt that
Toaru isn't a bad show, but with this second season I cannot say I'm really look forward to the third.
Especially if this is an example of the direction they want to take the show.
Rating:
Final Verdict
5.6667 (average)
Reviewed by CyanideBlizzard, Apr 03, 2011
Comments
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MisaSasekage Moderator Apr 04, 2011
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CyanideBlizzard Retired Moderator Apr 04, 2011
Don't get me wrong, while I scored the show rather low I still enjoyed it on the overall and I will watch the third season whenever it's released. I just felt it was lacking in many aspects from the first season, despite being so much better in other aspects. It also started to suffer from simply having way too much characters active in the series, so we get characters like Kanzaki Kaori thrown on the backburner and when she does appear, it's more like she's just used for fan service.
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