Title: A Certain Magical Index II part 2
Director: Hiroshi Nishikori
Studio: J. C. Staff
U. S. Distributor: Funmation Entertainment
U. S. Release Date: Dec. 16th, 2014
Format: DVD / Blu-ray / 12 episodes / 300 minutes
Genre: Fantasy, Harem, Comedy
Age Rating: TV 14
Overall Personal Rating: B+
Synopsis:
The Book of the Law – an encoded grimoire containing catastrophic magic – has been stolen, so naturally Kamijo, Index, and a few familiar faces join in the crusade to protect the one nun who can decipher the powerful text. But as the group battles church sects and holy assassins, they realize that discovering who their true enemy is may be more difficult than saving the sister.
Meanwhile, an organization known as the Science Society resurrects an esper-producing program, a school festival brings out the competition – and drama – in the student population, and a mysterious figure negotiates the purchase of a sacred relic that could threaten the future of Academy City.
Commentary:
As with the rest of the Magical Index series there is plenty of fan service, but this 12 episodes tends to take itself a little more serious. That is a nice departure from the earlier episodes. This are getting much more tense and I was really looking for some sort of closure and as with the first season it just doesn’t happen. That is not to say I was left unsatisfied, instead I felt like I had been give a generous dose of this odd magic / scientific series. I am still rather confused as to the scientific aspects because all of the special powers seem to be somewhat magical even though they call themselves ESPers. Still it is cleat that the church and the scientific community still have a long way to go before they can find common ground.
Overal Grade: B+
A Certain Magical Index season II part 2 brings it all back together and adds another layer of complexity to this simple yet strange harem series. The series has managed to move further away form the harem aspects and lean much more on the action supernatural backbone of the series and i for one really do enjoy that. There are still moments that the easy way out with moe / fan service is just a downer for me. I can enjoy the juxtaposition of an older teenage boy and a 12 year old girl, but to make a large number of the sexually charged girls in this series so blatantly young yet scantily clad is tiresome and somewhat a waist of time. Magical Index has a strong enough plot and rich enough characters that they could have all been college age and it would have made much more sense.
I do like the series and am looking forward to the movie to see if it wraps things up. I suspect it does. Maybe we will discover what the real importance of Kamijo’s right hand really is. I am not buying that he is a level zero who just so happens to be able to negate magic. He is also able to take a great deal of punishment and keep on coming back for more. I do hope the movie satisfies what ails the series and give it closure that is so deserves.
