A Certain Magical Index

A Certain Magical Index: first started out as a light novel written by Kazuma Kamachi and illustrated by Kiyotaka Haimura in 2004 and ran for 22 volumes.  In 2008 it was finally adapted into an anime, directed by HiroshiNishikiori and ran for 24 episodes. Luckily things did not end there, because there was a second season that ran for another 24 episodes.  Season 1 and 2 covered the first 6 volumes of the novels.  There was also a 24 episode spin off created in 2009 adapted from the manga entitled: A Certain Scientific Railgun and this also ran for a second season, but I will be sticking with the original anime for this review. Only because I haven’t watched the spin offs yet.  Yeah I know it’s hard to believe: a super otaku with a life but I am one of those rare breeds and although I spend way too much time watching anime and reading manga I have been diligently writing books (self promo sorry had to do it)… but enough of that back to the anime.  

This anime takes place in Academy City. This city is dedicated to science and advancing superhuman students called ESPers.  Because science is the driving force in the city the majority of its citizens believe there is no such thing as magic.  But with everything there is always a flip side and in this anime it is magic; which is controlled be the church.  The main character is Toma Kamijo, and on the surface he is your average slacker high school student with barely any ESP abilities. Looks can be deceiving, because Toma has a power, stronger than anyone posses in Academy city, in his right hand called Imagine Breaker.  It has the power to cancel out any supernatural power both ESP and magic. Unfortunately his right hand also cancels out all of his luck so he is the unluckiest guy on the planet. 

As his luck (or lack thereof) would have it Index Labrorum Prohbitorum or Index literally drops into his life. Index is a nun who is from a secret magical branch of the Church of England and she has the contents of 130,000 forbidden magical books stored in her head. This has made Index a target for other rouge magicians who want the power these books contain. Toma decides he has to protect Index and this is where this wacky anime begins. There are a lot of funny scenes and the plot line that runs throughout this series is good but it is one of those take it or leave it anime. I would recommend this one if you have nothing else to watch and just want something funny to watch. Even though this anime has a lot of action and it is funny, I just felt it was lacking something and in the end it is not one of those that made you want to shout about it.      

Photos via photobucket, video via youtube