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「蓮の杖 (ロータスワンド)」 (Hasu no Tsue (Rōtasu Wando))
“Lotus Wand”
And so we finally arrive at the finale of this arc, and what a finale it was. While it was a bit rushed, it’s easy to turn a blind eye to the pacing with the sheer amount of win in this episode. The obvious highlight of this episode was the loli Falcon Punch Touma delivered to Agnese to break her illusions, a punch I’ve been waiting to see animated again for a long time. It felt wrong pumping my fists as a little girl got a new face arrangement, but you couldn’t help but feel excited to see the patented Touma Falcon Punch in action again. I found the fight itself between Touma and Agnese to be pretty good, although it mostly consisted of Touma getting beat around until he figured out a strategy, which is pretty common place for Index anyway. Of course, one of the reasons I like Index so much is because the battles require actual strategy on Touma’s part and not just a bigger laser, and that was shown in full force here when Touma faked out Agnese in order to cancel her magic, rush in, and get a hit in on her. Speaking of that, we were finally shown the Lotus Wand, the extremely long staff that Agnese carries around with her, in action this episode. The anime changed the basis of its power a little, but according to Agnese (in the anime) its ability is to transfer any damage done to the staff onto anything of the wielder’s choice. As usual, Index villains have pretty broken powers, but Touma and the gang overcome it with the reemergence of Innocentius, a spell we haven’t seen since episode 6 of season one, and this time it’s super-sized. Part of me was hoping that Majo Kari no Ou would start playing during the scene, but the new BGM was excellent in its own right and certainly gave the scene an epic feel to it.
The end of an arc also means a trip to the hospital for Touma, and just when he thought he was starting to get better at not being hurt. Even so, he should probably thank Agnese for sending him to the hospital this time, as a deredere Kanzaki was there waiting for him. After only seeing Kanzaki’s hard side whenever she’d show up in season one, it was nice to her soft side for once. I know some people were confused as to where this attitude came from, but you have to remember that this is not the first time Touma has solved her problems, and she feels greatly indebted to him as a result. That doesn’t mean that she’ll become a service station like Tsuchimikado suggests, but you should keep that in mind while watching Kanzaki interact with Touma. That said, I’m hoping this won’t be the last time we see Kanzaki flustered this season, since she’s just way too cute to not see do this again! Considering that Laura is only allowing the Amakusa to join the Anglican Church in order to keep a leash on Kanzaki, this is probably not the last time we will see Kanzaki needing the services of Touma.
Still, I had my fair share of problems with the finale of this arc, although they aren’t particularly noteworthy or big. As I mentioned earlier, this episode came off as very rushed, not showing Orsola, the Amakusa, or the Agnese Forces after Touma defeated Agnese, leaving it up to a verbal explanation from Kanzaki. While this is somewhat justifiable considering future events, as a standalone arc, I thought it was a very sloppy way to rap things up and could have been handled differently. I also didn’t like how sudden the shift from Touma being with the group to him confronting Agnese was, one moment he was with everyone and the next he was busting into where Agnese was located with no explanation as to how he found her location or how the group devised their plans. I understand that the anime has time constraints that it must adhere to, but I still believe there could have been better choreographing in the transition between those scenes.
That aside, looking at this arc overall, I found it to be an average Index arc in nearly every aspect. It wasn’t the worse, but certainly wasn’t one of the best either. While the story itself was interesting and gave us a chance to see the world outside of Academy City and how the major religious institutions go about conducting politics, the newly introduced characters in this arc were not given very good characterization and the interactions between them and Touma felt less impactful than say, when Touma rescued Index or fought Accelerator for Mikoto. In particular, I’m disappointed that Lucia and Angelene did not end up doing much this arc, despite the fact that they were made out to be Agnese’s two right hand women. Likewise, the art and animation for this arc slipped quite a bit in contrast to other Index arcs, a degrade that was especially noticeable last episode, with tons of off model character designs and jerky animation, although this episode and episode 2 were okay as far as production values go. That said, I still found the arc entertaining and can’t find anything particularly important to gripe at other than those little peeves, so I’ll simply label it as okay. Moving on to next episode, we’ll be going into volume 8, which focuses on Kuroko and her battle against fellow teleporter Musujime Awaki (Sakurai Harumi). Of course, Uiharu and Mikoto are in it, so Railgun fans should be ecstatic, especially considering a Railgun OVA was just released last week.
Preview
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*Note: This episode covers volume 7 Chapter 4 Part 3 to the Epilogue of volume 7 of the light novels (pages 285-344).
Oh, Railgun episode next.
and Kanzaki has just lost her coolness. =(
ahahaha, Falcon Punch!
what I am wondering the most was why Toma did not use imagine breaker to break the lotus wand? I assume he could break magical items using his ability, right?
that aside… this episode is epic win!! super flame giant and using environment as magic formula was awesome…
Kanzaki was so cute :D… and Laura gives an aura of villain…
Yay for the returning of Railgun… though it is probably Kuroko who is to shine this time…
Wouldn’t Imagine Breaker need to be pulled in the direction of the oncoming attack? In the case of the Lotus wand, it seemed to be able to pull attacks from different directions. Might be missing something tho.
In the manga Touma hit the impact point with Imagine Breaker at the exact instant it’s materialized, not 3sec before like this.
I think Touma didn’t want to take the chance of destroying the staff, since for all we know it might not do anything at all, and characters repeatedly tell Touma that he’s an amateur regarding magic.
Touma simply took the safer bet, by beating up the wielder of the weapon.
Just a theory… the staff status was linked with the house… what would happen if toma destroyed the staff? maybe he would have disappeared
What house? Whatcha talkin’ ’bout Willis?
It’s still extremely awkward to see Touma punching a girl, and a loli at that. The anime/light novels should have at least made them older, not that I’m saying violence against women are OK. 😛
Have to agree with you there on the awkwardness. On the one hand, sort of glad to see Touma doesn’t discriminate when it comes to punching people (regardless of age or gender or anything else) who happen to be causing a lot of trouble, on the other hand… it still sort of makes for some wincing when watching it.
You gotta do what you gotta do. If a loli is trying to kill you and it’s life or death there’s no time to be a gentleman about it, sometimes you just gotta punch a loli to live!
For a woman who wears such sexy clothing she sure is shy. I never understood why she would fight in what some would call instant win miss wet t-shirt costume.
I don’t know and I really don’t mind either 😛
Kanzaki being a Saint, I’d probably have joined the Amakuza too.
She was previously an Amakusa, her wearing such a clothing is part of her magic. It is the same reason why Tatemiya doesn’t tie his shoes.
Touma preaching, and then deliering his fist was standard fare. I had no problems with him hitting agnese after her treatment of Orsola.
Styil getting his oversized flame elemental was nice touch. One thing I dont see is elite catholic battle nunz laying down arms – they would have won or died trying.
Kudos to the Archbishop Laura for making plans within plans, and getting sure outcome would be favourable regardless of the actual result of the fighting. I can only reply to Styil’s “What a bitch!” comment – A Magnificent Bitch!
Vatican on their side just swept everything under the carpet of “unauthorised actions by rogue elements in the special ops”. How close to the real world… (Bay of Pigs anyone?)
And deredere Kaori was just sweet. Tsuchimikado teasing her was lulz. BTW why do I have feeling Tsuchimikado is having agenda of his own in all that? He looks much like Xellos of the “Slayers” to me, always in the background and seemingly laid back.
You know Tsuchimikado would always have something racking in the back of his head. He mostly looks casual but the look he has at random times makes me wonder what he is really thinking 😛
Still think the punches were a tad much, knowing Touma and his fighting abilities, he could have gone for something less powerful and would have ended the same way. Bottom line really is Agnese, a girl with a big weapon. No weapon, no enemy.
Agnese Attacks were quite impressive.
I more curious about her background story now:
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20II%20-%2005%20-%2017.jpg
Like wise, I do like to know the bad “guys” are not all psycho since birth. Hence why I felt the impact from a falcon punch was harsh.
It’s the same for all the girls from the Roman Catholic Church, they must have all been through some pretty bad times to be devout nuns at their age. Take their reaction from Index’s Sheol Fear for example, how well it work is based off of two factors: the level of their belief in said religion and that the group is of only one religion or the power gets diluted. I mean come despite all the special effects Index was basically just bashing their religion under her breadth.
well in the end, it didn’t seem that their beliefs held strong as seen in this episode. I have no doubt they went through a lot and that’s why I pity those girls more than anything.
Nice to see Mikoto and Kuroko are back next episode.
Too bad the only thing I look forward to right now is the return of a certain Albino and the loli.
Show Spoiler ▼
Less, and I mean way less, Kuroko in my index animu kthx. Lots of Biribiri is fine though.
One misfortune day leads to a dense character fortunate day with Kanzaki, come on Touma!
I don’t actually think he’s dense, he just doesn’t put the girls on the spot. Still a dere dere Swordy is so damn hawt!
So once again, how the hell did Touma get out of being surrounded by dozen of nuns in the previous episode and ended up in the church in this episode?
Right after Touma was surrounded, Amakusa soldiers were shown fighting the nuns on the roof, so I assume that is how Touma got out of the circle of nuns… though it doesn’t explain how he got inside the church…
the nuns are like zombies…
Real man punch girls.
hmmmm my harem sensors are tingling
seriously it’s very weird to see a boy hitting a girl hehehe
Seeing Touma FALCON PUNCH (Twice!) a Kugiyama voiced loli was perhaps the most awesome thing I’ve ever seen in this otherwise generic arc.
It looks like Touma’s harem party has no cap limit… He’s truly amazing… *cough*
Can’t wait for the “Punishment Game” Touma has to go through with Misaka’s antics! Too bad that’s a bit later on in the season~
If I recall correctly the novel stated during Stiyl and Laura’s conversation on how she was the one Show Spoiler ▼
.
I mean, that scene was pretty important, and showed how much a dangerous mind Laura has.
Indeed and people keep on falling into her well managed and thought traps. Most probably the reason why she is up there in the Anglican church’s hierarchy.
Hopefully, the upcoming Show Spoiler ▼
onee-sama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
its interesting to note that touma will easily hit girls and so far he never did that to mikoto that one time… or maybe he wouldnt hit a girl, before he lost his memories that is
Touma will hit girls who deserved them, I’m pretty sure Touma wanted to beat Kaori back in the first season, before he lost his memories. And as with the case with Sherry from the last season, Agnese pretty much deserved this one.
To Touma, Mikoto is just a middle schooler who is in way over her head.
I know he will hit them if theyre doing bad things but I think I remember a time when touma hit index because she was annoying him while he didnt do it to mikoto when she bugged him.
note: im a toumaXmikoto fan so im looking for more romance between them, no need to take it too seriously…
Index and Mikoto hurting Touma is done purely out of comedic value, that is why you don’t see Touma hitting either the two, because he know that they aren’t actually serious.
Also, Touma knows that they are good people, and Mikoto… well Touma acknowledges that she holds back her power (even when attacking thugs), a lot.
Seems like Touma totally has no qualms about punching lolis, as long as they’re “evil”. Poor Agnese, not only does she gets punched, twice, it seems like the RC Church has decided to make her the scapegoat of this whole incident.
Kaori’s deredere was also quite unexpected, I knew she felt indebted to Touma constantly helping her out, but this change felt sudden. Not that I’m complaining. 🙂
Laura shows her political savvy by acquiring not only a VIP in Orsola, she has also got the Amakusa Sect under the Anglican fold, thus ensuring Kaori’s loyalty to them for the time being, both done in one swoop.
Next week: Woot at Kuroko and Uiharu. I’ll die a happy man if Saten gets 2 seconds of cameo as well.
BTW, I’m wondering which English subs should I go for archiving, as both UTW and Ayako are competing to fill the void left by Eclipse, who did season 1. I’ve always gone for Eclipse, but I’m at a lost, any recommendations? (And please keep any criticisms civil, folks)
Yeah, I miss my Eclipse subs. Ayako normally pulls out the episodes quicker than UTW. As far as subbing quality goes, my Japanese is not good enough to make a comparison. At his point really, it’s whichever comes first? (I do like UTW)
UTW. Ayako editing is generally poor and at times I wonder if they actually have a QC process. While UTW has released later than Ayako thus far, for the record, UTW switched staff up a bit after episode 1 and, random problems not withstanding, release around 30 minutes or an hour after Ayako. UTW will also be doing BD releases for Index II, whereas Ayako will probably not. Also, Ayako’s font is eye cancer.
see how an innocentius with 4300 rune cards do… agnese was lucky enough because she didnt turn to ash.
@suzuku just a correction its INNOCENTIUS! (Majokari no Ō) meaning absolute death to enemies.
Odd, I thought I had the ‘i’ there. Fixed.
Touma was fun to watch and although I loved seeing his trade move, it felt also wrong seeing Agnese fly off from it. I mean I don’t mind seeing Touma pull all the stops against tough opponents but it felt like overkill against a little girl. Kanzaki was sweet in her softer moments at the end of the episode and with Laura’s games, it’s great to know we will see this gorgeous babe again.
Biribi, Shirai-san and Uihara next episode. More and more railgun ftw <3
I find it cute that Stiyl could not be honest when Index asked him if he was worried for her. Dammit Stiyl, that was your chance, and Touma is pretty much okay with your infatuation.
Wow, he just punched a loli nun. What an A-Hole.
I was expecting Touma to hit Agnese in a different angel but OMG in the face ouch. well at least i know now that Touma never never choice gender in fighting.
… Took you quite some time eh, Suzuku.
Dere mode Kaori was one of my most anticipated moments this arc, although I wished they could’ve done more on that, well… just this much and people are already wondering “Since when did she become like that!?”
… And for the next arc… for the fun of doing it, I’ll just say it’s not Kuroko, not Mikoto, but it’s Awaki who’s going to be the star. Heh heh. Why? Don’t ask, just don’t.
*flees*
Yeah, too bad I can’t be like Touma and destroy the illusion of IRL. :p
Yeeesss I’ve waited a long time for the teleporter arc…..
Yes, Touma hit girls if they deserve it, regardless age or height. But don’t worry Show Spoiler ▼
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20II%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2017.jpg
Anyone else watched her feets, poor Agnese.
@Striker: I saw what you did there XD. I know what you mean I know very well she belong to certain “GROUP”.
*flees*
Are people seriously upset that touma hit agnese?! That girl had something coming, if nothing else for being extremely naive and not being able to see that she was being used.
Besides that, it’s not real! It ain’t like you just watched a video on youtube of a grown man punching a woman in the face. Good episode imo, if a little rushed as suzuku said.
Excuse me sir, would you like more Railgun with your Index II? YES, PLEASE.
But no Saten. This is bitter sweet.
And hopefully none of that slice of life thing crao the girls did in many eps of railgun with basically doing nothing. That really annoyed me.
And and I guess that, like in Railgun, Touma will hardly appear?
I think Touma should have kept the sword that the Amakusa dropped, it seems kinda pointless to steal someone’s sword just to drop it while doing a dodge roll a minute later.
When Agnese licked the rod, am I the only one that thought it’s gonna transfer to Touma as “damage”?
Yeah, I thought about that too. If you know what I mean.
God, I’m so going to hell.
As for people who thought that Touma punched Agnese right in the face was wrong…
1) Battle/war knows no gender.
2) Battle/war knows no age.
As long as a person is willing to put his/her life on the line for the sole reason of his/her ideals/principles/beliefs (or no reason at all and just like fighting), he/she is already “equal” to his/her opponent(s) with the same reason.
At least that’s what I see on Touma facing every opponent he encounters. And him fighting his opponents less than his age or a female is no exception.
And for Agnese, she just stepped into a world where serious ideals/principles/beliefs clash at a young age, so she should be prepared for consequences like being killed in the line of duty.