「速記原典(ショートハンド)」 (Sokki Genten (Shootohando))
“Stenography Text (Shorthand)”

Some payback was in order after Oriana’s Shorthand nearly killed Seiri, and Touma gladly obliges by doing what he does best after preaching — punching girls in the face! They don’t call it the Imagine Breaker for nothing, as Touma’s right hand saves me from wondering what it’s like to put scantily clad anime girls in their place. Not only that, it sure shattered the illusion that her single shirt button could hold up for as long as it did. The trade-off seemed to be my bewilderment over how Touma was able to stand there questioning Oriana about getting innocent people involved when Tsuchimikado was writhing in pain on the street after his regenerative ability was used against him. Granted, Touma didn’t go on nearly as long as he probably could have to confirm that Oriana deserved a punch in the face, before things got underway with her wide variety of Shorthand magical attacks. Ultimately, Touma does get the jump on her — much like he tends to do with everyone who’s up against his Imagine Breaker for the first time — but it does kind of surprise me how much of a beating he can take as a Level 0 esper. I probably could have done without the scene just before the commercial break where he convinced himself that he had to do this for Seiri’s sake, though it did reemphasize that that’s Touma for us.

In terms of story progression, all the Stab Sword stuff quickly went wayward when it was discovered that Oriana was carrying a billboard sign all along. Given her nickname, I can’t say it comes as too much of a surprise that it was a complete feint. In its place, the threat’s now been escalated to the Petrine Cross, a.k.a. the Cross of St. Peter. As we learn from Styil and Tsuchimikado, the inverted cross supposedly has the ability to place all the people around where it’s planted under the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, and can severely upset the science/magic balance of the world if it’s used in Academy City. While Laura’s naturally not fond of that idea and how the trade that’s happening is likely over who gets to rule over a converted Academy City, I’m curious as to what will become of all the Stab Sword build-up. At the moment, it’s only served as a plot device to work in some immediate suspense and showcase Oriana’s abilities as Route Disturb; however, the next episode is titled “Stab Sword” suggesting that it’s not completely out of the picture just yet. Incidentally, that’s good news to me, as I was looking forward to seeing what comes from a magical weapon that’s perceived as the nuke of the magic world. Whatever happens, this plot development did work well to reiterate that there’s always more to the story than we’re initially let on, which gives off a conspiracy-like vibe that I tend to enjoy.

On the more lighthearted side of things, we had a rivalry of sorts developing between Index and Mikoto. While there wasn’t too much to take away from their bickering, I did get a good laugh out of Index questioning Mikoto if she’s Touma’s girlfriend or something. It just had to be in front of Touma’s parents as well, plus Misuzu who’s clearly a Touma x Mikoto shipper that will happily push her own daughter into Touma’s arms. For the time being, I don’t see too much coming from that though, as the focus shifts back to Oriana in her new outfit next time. She did make further contact with Lidvia Lorenzetti (Sakuma Rei) this episode (as noted in the credits), who’s expressed some concern over the transaction going well. Subtle foreshadowing or not, it’s probably safe to say that Touma and the others will foil their plans in the end, so I’m just curious to see how Himegami gets dragged into the mess next time. There’s also Komoe with blood all over her, whose I’d imagine would be Stiyl’s since he’s seen in the park with her in the preview just prior.

* P.S. I find it hard to believe that Oriana’s wearing any underwear at all.

 

Preview

79 Comments

    1. Talking in the middle of a fight is the trademark of EVERY shounen out there. Add to the fact that this story is based on writen NOVELs you get even more talking, that’s how it’s always been.

      GP
  1. Does anyone else keep wanting to tell Touma, “Stop talking and save your friend already! You don’t have time!” during his fight scenes? I mean, Tsu is dying…the worst thing you could do is make heroic dialogue while standing there!

    In other news, loved the appearance of the frog doctor again: his presence of badass medicine always seems to amaze me…dunno why. Of all the side-characters, I hope he gets some more screentime.

    haru
      1. 2 problems with your theory =

        1) it’s not internal, we see him talking. but definition, its external.
        Oriana even responds to him.

        2) his talking would take as much time as it takes him to talk in the anime.
        unless Touma has developed a secondary ability that lets him rip space and time and thus make a 30sec spoken speech take only 2-3 sec to everyone else in the world, the passage of time isn’t variable that way.

        Talbot
    1. ::as tsuchimikado is bleeding::

      touma: why must you involve innocent people in this, its so wrong of you to do that, do you know how many people are hurting because of your actions, your actions only bring pain and suffering, you need to stop this life of villainy, hurting other people and letting them suffer is not the right thing to do in the world, do you know how many of my friends you hurt….::continues yapping:::

      tsuchimikado:………

      RickyMack
  2. Yet another punch from toma

    Index breaking the intense atmosphere and using his fist(i think) instead of biting.

    laughed at Misakas reaction.

    * P.S. I find it hard to believe that Oriana’s wearing any underwear at all. – made me curious
    i didnt thought of that

    Croosboy
  3. Aw…I actually like the exposition for the Oriana Thompson fight. Like the explanation of biting different corners activates different spells or that the attacks cannot come from the same direction consecutively (which is supposed to be how Touma rushed through the onslaught of spells). Psh, now they just reduced it to Touma stupidly charging and winning.

    Mikoto was awesome though. Last 3 minutes = best part of this episode.

    xcswmboy
  4. Dammit JC Staff what’re you doing? Episode was all over the place for me, not nearly as worse as episode 6 though this episode lacked the animation quality that had been gifted to that episode, and the inconsistent animation was grating. Well, at least they kept Seiri’s inner monologue. Just hope they keep the other ones as well.

    Also, seemingly all churches in this universe are devious lying bastards, so don’t count your chickens before they hatch just yet.

    Next episode will definitely surprise people, well I’m really hoping JC Staff pulls it off properly.

    Gaze of Providence
  5. fun episode as always. not the greatest series perhaps, but this is the one show that consistently makes me happy each week. which is more than i can say for a lot of other shows this season!

    nice recap divine ~

    ruth
  6. @Divine

    Actually, that’s really it- The legend of [Stab Sword] was a fake, what they were really carrying is the [Saint Peter’s Cross] I have no idea why they would name the next episode as ‘Stab Sword’ when it’s already revealed that there’s no such thing.

    Also a small, minor correction, but the Saint Peter’s Cross doesn’t actually place people under the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, what it does however is that no matter what happens on those grounds, it will always result in something benefical to the RCC, which means in the long run, even Academy City would willingly become a part of the Church’s property.

    Chaos2Frozen
      1. Well the Stab Sword is definitely not considered a nuke as it has absolutely no offensive power outside of Saint killing. Saints are called nukes because they can literally level a city if they so feel like it. The exception is Academy City because of some Show Spoiler ▼

        defenses. Also, the Gregorian chant could have well been considered a strategic weapon.

        xcswmboy
  7. Anyone else think Oriana did something to Touma’s dad when she bumped into him? I can’t imagine that that was just coincidence. Although I find it hard to believe that Touma will not touch him father an negate the probable shorthand that was placed on him, its still interesting. (As somehow the magic will occur- Touma will not touch his father and somehting bad will happen to him, just you watch)

    MMBinNC
  8. Looking back at the fight scene… I should give credit to Touma for not freaking out like an idiot by any of Oriana’s seductive attempts with words and loose clothings.

    Too often heroes get distracted by fanservice in the middle of a fight!

    Chaos2Frozen
  9. The first half of the show wasn’t very exciting for me. But as soon as the Slice of Life scenes rolled around, I was thrilled again. 😀 I can’t get enough of Mikoto! When her mother told her that they were the parents of that boy she cared so much about, I laughed at the fact that she knew instantly who she was referring to. And the way she screamed at her mother was hilarious. xD Ah, look! Kuroko’s having fun! When she has fun, I has fun! 😀

    And is it me or is Touma looking less and less like he did in the first season with every episode? D:

    Oh and Mikoto’s lips are sexy. All hell will break loose if she ever does a lollipop fanservice scene. D; –twitch– –twitch

    1. yeah, I like the slice-of-life parts as well but id prefer if she blushed a lot more like the previous eps.
      though I do want mikoto to be more involved with the fights, im interested to see how she can handle a magician and see how science vs. magic will happen.

      amado
  10. The Stab Sword’s original purpose (though now false) actually foreshadows something that will occur later in this particular arc. I’m quite certain that… Okay, these are possible spoilers here, I might be wrong.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    To be honest, Divine, I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t some screwed up reason for Oriana not wearing anything under her shirt or pants.

    Dorian
  11. Woa is Mikoto’s mom quite a hottie. If Oriana wasn’t around (or wasn’t the buxom bombshell she is) I bet everyone will be focusing on Mrs. Misaka instead. And if Mikoto inherits her mom’s hottness when she grows up (which I’m sure would be inevitable)… are you paying attention Touma?

    Sailor Enlil
  12. * P.S. I find it hard to believe that Oriana’s wearing any underwear at all.

    in the light novel it state that she had two button instead of one and it fall off during the battle, in anime she had one button all along and fall off to none. i’m not suprise to see no underwear but i’m guessing we can only find out in dvd version ;D

    lkaze
    1. If Random Curiosity comments are installed with a thumbs up option, I would have given you 10 thumbs up right away.

      Speaking of which, Divine, how about installing a thumbs up option for good posts to encourage people to write awesome quality posts?

      (Though I wouldn’t recommend installing thumbs down as that’ll lead to unnecessary trolling and flaming. )

      Kinny Riddle
    2. Though I wouldn’t recommend installing thumbs down as that’ll lead to unnecessary trolling and flaming.

      Case in point: Sankaku Complex and YouTube. Ugh. If the thumbs-up/thumbs-down button causes commenters to act like total S-Grade jerkasses, I’d rather not see that option here at all. It’s your call though, Divine.

      Incognito
    1. Actually, he received some unexpected help from Index of all people, who unwittingly diverted attention away from that question to how Mikoto is actually “stalking” Touma by cheering for his school, greatly embarrassing Mikoto instead, to the enjoyment of all of us.

      Kinny Riddle
  13. I was a bit let down with your choice of screenshots, Divine. I expected that closeup shot of Oriana’s merchandise after Touma punched her(not the face Touma, not the face!!) and he checked up on Tsuchimikado. Instead I got a pantyshot of Index. I can always count on you for these types of screenshots though 😉

  14. Good job Misuzu for nudging your daughter in the right direction. XD Gawd that park and subsequent cafe scene was just pure Dere Biribiri win.

    Everytime Touma tries to find a cover story to explain away Index’s presence, he always gets interrupted by other people quite fortunately, or should I say, unfortunately. 🙂

    In this case, it is Index that’s changed the subject by focusing on Mikoto’s closet obsession with Touma (and saying it in front of their parents to boot, lol )

    Touma never disappoints when it comes to punching girls in the face. Though why the face? I wonder if it’s because he has factored in Oriana’s busty torso and reckoned it’ll “absorb” the shock from his fist? LOL

    (Which leads to the second question: In that case, why punch poor Agniese in the face as well? )

    Kinny Riddle
  15. One thing I’ve noticed: It seems biting Touma on the head is no longer an option for Index whenever she gets pissed at him. Rather, she chooses to whack him softly with her fists.

    I wonder if she’s beginning to realize her feelings for Touma and noticed how embarrassing it’s been that she’s practically “kissing” Touma’s head all this time?

    Kinny Riddle
  16. More moe Mikoto-chan :3 I hope Touma win the bet and makes Mikoto-chan wear catgirl costume and say Nyaa :3

    Come to think of it, if J.C. Staff can make Index-tan for TAMI OVAs, why can’t they do the same for TAKC OVAs?

    Omega
    1. What are you talking about? Railgun had two specials (the MMR More Complete Railgun Specials), a completely fanservice only OAD, and an OVA.

      With Index, they only had 2 episodes of Index-tan and that’s it. Though I hope JC Staff would animate ANY of the handful of Side stories Kamachi magically writes in lightspeed for some apparent reason.

      Gaze of Providence
    2. That only works if you have a male protagonist who’ll at least allow his quirky yet adorable female companion (who he lives with) to abuse him and eat on top of his head. Railgun doesn’t have that luxury.

      Gaze of Providence
  17. More points to clear up things in this week’s episode:

    The reason why Oriana can make so much combinations when there’s only four elements is because of the angle of which she holds the paper in her made. Touma figured out that Oriana cannot use the same spell twice. This basically means that there wouldn’t be a similar attack coming from the same direction, so Touma moved along the places that were attacked before as a safe route and predicted the movements of future attacks.

    Oriana does not want to needlessly hurt anyone. In that spell where she said Touma would die if he moved, note that the lines do not touch Touma even though she could have made it do so. The lines are not visible in Touma’s point of view. She intended for the attacks to miss where he was and surround him before she rendered him unconscious. Touma ignored her warning and stepped into the danger zone, which is why she called him an idiot.

    Oriana ran into Touma’s dad by accident. What originally happened was that Touma’s mom was exhibiting a terrifying aura because he was being friendly with Mikoto’s mom. Touma’s dad backs away slowly, bumps into Oriana, turns around to bow and say sorry, and plants his face into her boobs by accident. Like father, like son indeed.

    Oriana did not do anything to Touma’s dad when she bumped into him. She did not know it was the father of the boy she just fought and it was simply an accident.

    Catholic tradition holds that Jesus gave the right to create a church to Peter who is considered the first pope. This is why the concept of St. Peter’s Cross that wherever you plant it automatically makes it a territory beneficial to the Roman Catholics makes perfect sense. When we’re shown the sword it is pointing down to draw the viewer to its properties of looking like a cross. However, usually we see swords pointing upwards (like during a battle charge) and the actual symbol of St. Peter’s Cross is an inverted cross. When you consider the actions of Oriana and Lidvia pretty much are a conquest for territory, the imagery is appropriate.

    Suzushina Yuriko
  18. I didn’t have any problems with the episode at all. Maybe I’ve come to expect Touma’s preaching and all the girl-punching, but it feels natural to this show now so I just enjoy watching each week.

    Science

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