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「刺突抗剣（スタブソード）」 (Shitotsu Kouken (Sutabu Soodo))
“Thrusting Anti-Sword (Stab Sword)”
After punching so many girls in the face lately, Touma finally gets a taste of his own medicine care of one pissed off Misaka Mikoto. Next to Tsuchimikado’s scuffle with Oriana, that ended up being one of the highlights of this episode too. The rest of it bounced back and forth between Touma and Stiyl’s pursuit and Himegami’s talks with Komoe, both of which didn’t really result in anything. In addition, those two focuses seemed to work against each other from a pacing standpoint. As soon as the suspense was picking up from being hot on Oriana’s trail, the pace slowed to a crawl with Komoe talking to Himegami about inviting Touma to the Night Parade. While I did appreciate the focus on fleshing out Himegami’s interest in Touma more, it didn’t seem like a very good time to do so. On screen, it felt like it dragged out longer than it needed to too, making me anxious to see things shift back to Touma and Stiyl. Once they finally did, I couldn’t help but notice how most of the suspense was built up by a lengthy exposition on how they absolutely can not allow Oriana to escape the proximity of Tsuchimikado’s Rihashijin spell, along with some pretty upbeat pursuit music, only for it to be tossed aside in a mere instantly when she decided to go after Tsuchimikado. I gather that comes from retaining most of the dialogue from the light novels, but question whether all of it is necessary when there’s stuff actually happening that we can see.
However, where that did work well was when that suspense carried over to Tsuchimikado’s fight with Oriana, which came with cheeky sorcery name introductions of Fallere825 and Basis104 to set the tone. The fight itself seemed rather lopsided since Tsuchimikado can’t really use his magic without risking killing himself in the process, but he did surprise me with the way he charged fearlessly through Oriana’s attacks, exchanged a few blows, pounced on her suggestive position, and grabbed her leg to do who knows what. Go Tsuchimikado go. You animal. It wasn’t all for naught though, as he did have a moment to look cool when he dispelled Oriana’s barrier and made a bluff about calling in Kaori to do some quick clean up. The bluff itself I found rather amusing, because the idea had actually crossed my mind last episode about how she could join the mission now that the threat of the Stab Sword is gone. I had actually written in my impressions as well, but ended up removing it because the title of this episode seemed to suggest otherwise. Talk about getting misled by the writers, as I still don’t see any reason this episode was titled “Stab Sword”.
Ultimately, the big shocker this week was Oriana causing Himegami to more or less explode when she mistook the cross that suppresses her Deep Blood vampire killer abilities as indication that she’s a member of Necessarius. While I’ll forgo asking why Oriana didn’t try such a direct and seemingly impossible to avoid attack on Touma or Tsuchimikado (short of that it wasn’t up in her spell casting rotation yet), it still kind of irks me how Stiyl and Touma had time to talk about what they should and shouldn’t be doing in that situation. Himegami is still alive after all, so can someone please help the poor girl bleeding to death on the sidewalk, even if it’s just carrying her to the hospital or calling for an ambulance? What’s more, Stiyl even had time to spare to lecture Touma a bit and encourage him to chase down Oriana. Messed up priorities aside, I was surprised to see Komoe keep it relatively together, and even recall the spell that Index showed her way back, which looks like it’ll be what ends up saving Himegami. That is, if Stiyl manages to pull off the spell properly (…a relatively safe bet that he will).
Lastly, I don’t tend to dwell on dips in production quality all that much, but these recent episodes have left me wondering exactly what J.C. Staff is doing. If you compare them to their work in the first few episodes where they wanted to make an immediate splash, the difference is pretty staggering. Most of my qualms are with the character designs themselves, which include the faces that look noticeably off in a lot of the scenes. Character proportions aren’t any better, as everyone looks like they’re losing weight so quickly that Index has absolutely nothing to worry about. Hopefully this is only a temporarily thing, rather than the new acceptable standard going forward.
* Due to all the static panning shots that likely shaved production time, I did manage to piece together seven full-length images though. They’re images 08, 10, 17, 22, 27, 31, and 34 for those interested.
Preview
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Holy- Himegami DD:!! -hasn’t wtched episode btw-
Production qualities I see. Biribiri looks funny in cap 9 🙁
So many suggestive full length shots hahaha
Other than that: YES! Fukiyose is back *Q*
Kuroko <3 I re watched that scene 3 times it was so hilarious to bad Touma is faster than lightening. =(
It must be tough fighting against someone like Oriana, I mean with her clothes(?) and Oriana-ness I’d probably just let her get away with it.
As for the episode itself, humor courtesy of Index, Biribiri and Kuroko is always appreciated, Tsuchimikado awesomeness and Aisa character development made this quite an episode. Though, I agree they were basically watching her bleed to death while talking and whatnots which was just not cool.
And I was really hoping for Kanzaki to enter the scene, the idea of her going up against Oriana would definitely be awesome in ways more than one.
I think you might have hit the nail on the head with the production quality thing, I remember watching other JC Staff shows and finding myself puzzled at sudden drops in quality and then scenes that seemed to draw out to buy time almost. Kaichou wa Maid-sama in particular. It was expressed they might be spreading their efforts too thin. Maybe it is indeed a new standard.
Himegami blew up. Misaka has a great future if she keeps on growing~ Touya can’t stop to stare still… And, I do wish Kanzaki would make an appearance.
LOL @ Touma getting the Falcon Punch this week.
wtf Why do they keep doing that!? HELP HER! XDD
ow so they really followed the light novel huh?
Wow. Glad it wasn’t just me. I agree that the production quality has been sucking as of late. Personally, this was not one of my favorite episodes- it really didn’t have the “it” factor that makes index so much fun to watch. 2 episodes ago was a lot more enjoyable with the athletic competition and the hidden power center/paper on the pole.
My real complain was rather more at the pace of the storytelling. They were running in circles so often with little plot development. They spent at least half of the episode between peaceful character interactions when things were in state of battle.
poor Himegami… hope Komoe sensei and Styil will manage to save her
Oriana is more dangerous than I thought
Touma getting electric falcon punch courtesy of biribir = priceless
gender equality works both sides
Himegami… another victim… Touma, you really need to look after all members of your harem…
Kuroko scene was absolutely gold this episode XD. Talk about misfortune here…
Biri Biri’s mom… please don’t sexual harass your own
sisterdaughter 😀Can’t wait to see how Touma save the day now, and nice they brought back the old golem villain from S1
There is a reason why the night parade is being mentioned other than to flesh out Himegami’s character.
Knowing how this arc would end, I can honestly expect a huge amount of anime watchers to have a reaction similar to that of what I am predicting many people’s reaction would be to the end of this arc. Show Spoiler ▼
I believe more or less that the spell didnt work because touma had his fist in himegami’s blood…
I liked how kuruko managed to make mikoto hit touma(finally) and assisted in making him scram off.
at least tsuchimikado showed us how good he is even if he doesnt use his magic abilities much
Himegami, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ath least you had a lot more screen time this time than you did in the other previvious episode that you been in. I love Mamiko Noto’s voice ^_^
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20II%20-%2011%20-%2009.jpg
FARRUUKON PAAUUUUUUNNNCHI!!!!
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20II%20-%2011%20-%2026.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20II%20-%2011%20-%2028.jpg
lol silly Tsuchimikado, Oriana spreads her legs and you go for her thigh?
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20II%20-%2011%20-%20Preview%2001.jpg
Weren’t you seriously injured 2 episodes ago?
That spell would seem powerful because she was using it against a defenseless civilian instead of a proper magician.
Himegami finally has the spotlight on her…and it was Show Spoiler ▼
These episodes are a bit stagnant and slow, but well not bad at all. 🙂
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20II%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
Holy shit Oriana, I knew you were always quite seductive, but I never thought you were this eager. lol
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20II%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2034.jpg
Wow, Aisa has never been this mesmerizing before, after being nearly invisible for so long.
Proceeds to nosebleed after staring intently at her “revealed secrets” for too long. Her blushing just intensifies the nosebleeding even more. <3 When the same happened to Seiri, her straight faced non-reaction kind of turned it off for me.
to note, Oriana’s not just assuming a sexy position when she sits on the floor like this:
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20II%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
She’s assuming a position (it’s called pulling guard) from Brazillian Jujitsu so that Tsuchimikado can’t get past her legs to assume a full mount, aka this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_(grappling).
The more you know!
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20II%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2012.jpg
Seeing that she’s a chain smoker herself, I find Komoe’s preaching to Stiyl about the potential harms of heavy smoking hardly convincing. lol
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20II%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2011.jpg
And I thought Sherry had gone rogue in her attempt to start a war between the Magic and Science sides last season. So how did she manage to get the Anglican Church to take her back in again?
Sherry is under probation of Necessarius.
haha considering her threat that smoking stunts your growth…i find her to be a very convincing example and warning! of course he’s already tall so i don’t think he’d worry about a growth stunt, saying he’d shrink would be more appropriate as a threat.
Ha Oriana looks hot once again. One question if anyone can answer this, about Kanzaki, what’s this about her being a Saint? I haven’t been following the manga so i’m not updated on the original story.
Saints in the Index universe, are people who are born with bodies that are similiar to or are replica to that of the Son of God, because of this they are physically more powerful than regular humans and are pretty much considered the nukes of the magic side.
Kanzaki is a Saint, and she was put on standby during this arc because Oriana supposedly had a weapon, the Stab Sword, a sword that can kill Saints in one blow (in the light novel which is the original source, the Saint could be killed by the Stab Sword regardless of distance).
If you paid attention, the Stab Sword does not exist (which makes this episode a misnomer actually) and was a lie by both Oriana and Lidvia, as so to cover up the existence of the Croce di Pietro to take over Academy City for the Roman Catholic Church.
Ha. Styl is a lolicon.
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20II%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2012.jpg
“Character proportions aren’t any better, as everyone looks like they’re losing weight so quickly that Index has absolutely nothing to worry about”
No kidding. Everyone makes fun of moe but it’s really an art. A few millimeters off and the characters aren’t cute anymore. Shape up, JC Staff! Index deserves better!
Fail quality is fail. J.C. Staff, what the hell are you doing? I’d rather have the consistent animation of the first season than blow all the budget on gorgeous scenes in one episode and give us crappy artwork in the other. And why is Tsuchimikado not bleeding when he was performing the array compared to Himegami who is lying in a pool of blood?
More fun facts:
– Like someone said above, there’s a reason the Night Parade is being mentioned.
– Sherry is important to Necessarius because of her proficiency in combat and decoding. Laura pulled off some negotiations with Aleister to settle things after she invaded Academy City and Sherry is now holed up inside doing documents as punishment.
– Stiyl really does not like Sherry because she attacked Index.
– It’s not really that important, but I was hoping Komoe would mention about how she could tell that Stiyl was underage before she went off on a rant about how he shouldn’t smoke.
– Tsuchimikado was able to pull off that bluff on Oriana because he guessed that she didn’t know anything about Eastern magic.
-Komoe DID call an ambulance, and she tried her best to bandage Himegami’s wound if you look closely enough. Like Stiyl said, the best thing they could do for her would be to chase after Oriana who did this damage to her in the first place. Touma was the one who wanted to stay there, which wouldn’t do anything for her, and Stiyl reminded him of what he should be doing.
You read the light novels too, huh?
Judging by the pacing, I’d guess they are wrapping up next episode.
Oriana is the most dangerous magician by far until a few more volumes in.
Light novels are a pain in the ass for me. Thanks.
Muffin Seiri next episode? I’ll be happy.
You have no idea what you’re missing dude.
Yeah, seriously. The light novels are much much better than the anime which only glosses over important information and rushes things. They’re more funny than the anime as well – excellent scenes like this one from the epilogue of the Remnant arc were cut:
“‘I heard from Yomikawa that her job last night was to go ‘outside’ and destroy an external organization called the ‘Science Association’’Asociacion de cienia,’ says Misaka as Misaka reports all the information that she heard from the Misaka network. ‘That network had interacted with Amai Ao before, so they’re rather familiar with the ‘Tree Diagram’,’ says Misaka as Misaka describes with this sudden feeling.”
“That so…”
“‘Yomikawa came back with black rings around her eyes; seems like she didn’t sleep at all,’ says Misaka as Misaka is sympathizing her regarding the age shown by her skin. ‘…Eh? Why do you look so dead, completely different from usual?’ asks Misaka as Misaka is really curious.”
“…I came back early in the morning. Now, I just want to sleep; tell me what you want to say later.”
“Ah—! It’ll be bad once you start sleeping!! says Misaka as Misaka changes into Misaka Alarm clock mode!! ‘It’s daytime! It’s two hours till noon!’ says Misaka as Misaka kicks while she fawns, trying to re-motivate your mind that is about to sleep!”
“…”
This brat, did she experience something bad while I was sleeping? Accelerator suspiciously considers as he pulls the blanket and covers his ears. Though he just needs to use the electrodes and let the Misaka network handle the calculations for him to use his powers, the Misaka network would normally be in charge of the bare minimum redirection of handling language, calculation and reflecting ultraviolet rays. Besides, he can’t just waste the battery power so carelessly.
“Damn it, I really envy this kid. I was under the condition that my brain’s about to blow, worked so hard to leave the hospital, and came back in the morning. This brat can lie about in the air-con room and enjoy the benefits…! SOB REMOVBING MY SPEECH STOIT!!”
Talking halfway through, Accelerator is suddenly unable to speak coherently, and starts to roar and rage.
Actually, the Misaka network stopped the calculations for Accelerator’s speech ability.
Accelerator wanted to say “Don’t just remove my speech ability”.
“‘Misaka doesn’t want to help do the calculations for those who don’t listen,’ says Misaka as Misaka tries to protest in a cutesy manner—wa, WAHH! ‘WHY ARE YOU WRAPPING MISAKA’S BODY IN A BLANKET!?’ SAYS MISAKA AS MISAKA SUDDENLY STARTS TO WORRY ABOUT HER PERSONAL SAFETY!!”
Must be because, for me, it is like reading Fan-fiction and that is a bad taste for my mouth… hahahaha!
Thank you for the extra work on those screenshots. 😀 I used them for the backgrounds for my iPod Touches and Cell Phone. ^^d
It’s going to end badly for Oriana once Touma gets a hold of her. He loves to beat the women.
AMAZING HOW YOU AVOIDED THE POOR QUALITY SHOTS
Yeah, I can’t help but notice some of those scenes when I watched the episode on a small monitor.
Here’s an example, http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/1717/43069333.png
i find that this story arc has been pretty draggy..and why wasn’t the damn ambulance there? isn’t the city an advanced place?? =,=”
Sport festival dude.
Roads would be congested, medical personnel would be assigned to the various events. Process would slow down.
That and the easiest answer is that timeline wise not alot of time had passed between Himegami’s attack and Touma/Stiyl discovering the body.
*Sigh* If only that was
SexhairMikoto instead of Index…“Biri Biri’s mom… please don’t sexual harass your own
sisterdaughter :D”Get those Rule 34 guys on the horn and tell them to scribble a mother-daughter threesome doujin with Touma, Misuzu and Mikoto…ASAP! *evil laugh*
OH NOES! Himegami! The poor girl’s been demoted to extra and just when the focus is back on her, this happens…
Well, no meeting yet between Kuroko and Mikoto’s mom (still appreciate Kuroko’s appearance though), but maybe there’s enough time to sneak that in near the end of the Daihaseisai arc. And I’m not surprised that this arc kinda feels draggy, since the light novel version of this arc is quite long.
Putting it in another way, Misuzu would be committing adultery.
Mikoto’s mom is such a MILF no wonder Touma’s dad was looking.
That hand even cancels blood stains! What can’t it do?
Lol yeah. Pretty entertaining to see Touma kneel in a pool of blood for 5 minutes…then get up and run away perfectly clean.
Poor Himegami
When that happened, Ai wo Torimodose was playing in the back of my head.
… Cue Touma turning into Kenshiro later. 😀
GEAR THIRD! GOMU GOMU NO GIGANT PISTOL x)
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20II%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2009.jpg
I hear Kaoru (Amagami) every time Biri biri speaks. Rina Satou sounds like a young woman, Biri Biri sounds like 6 years older.
hahah toma n index 🙂