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“The Dark Side of Academy City”
A Day in the Life of GROUP
With the Document of C destroyed, it’s only natural that we turn our focuses back to the main setting for the franchise – Academy City. It amazes me how quickly Accelerator and Tsuchimikado returned from Avignon, and efficiency seems to be their creed as they immediately hop aboard yet another mission. The aim? It seems like there’s a lot of little things they need to get right, in order to shut down a shady organisation. These two need no re-introduction and work in tandem within a unit of four, secretly functioning in the shadows of Academy City. One of the two remaining members would be Musujime Awaki, a teleporting girl who Accelerator face punched. I’m quite surprised to see Awaki join forces with her nemesis, and my guess is that she has no say in the matter, coerced into working for GROUP. And finally, there’s an Aztec magician named Etzali who uses magic to steal appearances from others using their skin. For those who don’t remember, he stole Unabara’s identity and failed to kill Touma in S1. Given how he’s meant to be a loyal member of the magic side, it’s safe to say that the higher ups of Academy City have him under their thumb too. Together, this bunch of misfits form the underground association known as GROUP.
Their coordination and decisiveness proved impressive, and they seamlessly handled any tasks thrown at them — Tsuchimikado taking out an informant, Etzali acting as decoy for the raid, preventing the assassination of Oyafune Monaka (can she catch a break?), Accelerator setting off to prevent the theft of a satellite dish — all in a day’s work! But I’d be surprised if everything continued going straightforwards for them, without a hitch in sight. It’s just a matter of until GROUP eventually come across another faction from the dark side of Academy City.
ITEM meets SCHOOL
On the other hand, we have another two other factions in the fray – SCHOOL and ITEM. It’s been too long, so I think a memory refresh is due in regards to ITEM. For those who’ve seen Railgun S, you will know that ITEM are a posse of girls led by Shizuri Mugino, the 4th ranked Level 5 esper who wields powerful particle beams. On her team are: Kinuhata Saiai, a monotonous girl shielded by nitrogen who likes using ‘ultra’ as a prefix; Frenda Seivelun, a cheerful girl who subverts herself to Mugino and uses explosive plush toys to fight; and Takitsubo Rikou, the lynchpin of ITEM’s operation, who uses her AIM stalker to track down their targets. It looks like new recruit Hamazura Shiage has tagged along for their next ride, and I’ll provide another memory refresher. Shiage was the former leader of Skill-Out, who held an inferiority complex towards higher level espers, causing him to try and kill Misaka’s mum. He would have succeeded too if not for Touma’s timely intervention. Ironically, he ends up serving as a lackey for higher level espers, though that becomes the least of his concerns as the episode progresses.
Anyhow, you wouldn’t think the Meltdowner would have much trouble, since she possesses such extraordinary firepower to blast down potential problems. However, hubris proved to be ITEM’s downfall yet again. Much like how they underestimated Misaka Mikoto in Railgun S, they stroll into the laboratory without taking any precautionary measures and pay dearly for it. Saiai and Frenda are taken out of commission, their fates unknown. The rest are forced to scatter, completely losing sight of their target. It looks like Kakine has gotten away with what he wanted, free from Mugino’s pursuit, as well as decimating half of ITEM for a bonus. You could say ITEM have failed whereas SCHOOL have prevailed.
Concluding Thoughts
I have no doubts that SCHOOL are up to no good, and Kakine has a score to settle with Aleister Crowley. Which makes me wonder about three things. What is Kakine’s ability, why does he hold a grudge against Aleister, and how does he plan on infiltrating the windowless building? I suppose these mysteries will be answered sooner or later, but in actuality, that stuff hardly interests me. At least compared with the implications that this episode has been establishing. While the Level 5 espers have always possessed significant abilities on par with weapons of mass destruction, they are finally beginning to form teams that enhance the extent of their operations, as well as introducing an unprecedented dimension to the way in which they engage against one another. This is extremely exciting, because they don’t just win by blasting each other to pieces. They now have to keenly exercise their intellectual capabilities to think a couple of steps ahead, and work well as a team in order to outmanoeuvre each other. In this instance, SCHOOL defeated ITEM. But what’s to say that they’d be able to pull off the same thing against GROUP? Thinking about it, the 177th branch of Judgement can be described as Misaka Mikoto’s affiliates. While they are a public morals committee tasked with establishing law and order, something so far removed from the underbelly of Academy City, they can definitely be counted upon if the conflicts became exposed at a surface level. I’m thrilled to witness how these various factions will interact, because ultimately, only one can come out on top.
Anyway, that’s everything I wanted to discuss for this episode. As always, thanks for reading my post and see you next week!
Preview
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https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20III%20-%2004%20-%20Large%20Preview%2003.jpg
I wonder if there any more dark skinned waifu/heroines.
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20III%20-%2004%20-%20Large%20Preview%2002.jpg
Also looking for more waifu/heroines that keep revealing their chest.
Jungle fever
Wait, maybe I missed something. Wasn’t Oyafune Monaka killed by Tsuchimikado at the end of episode 1?
Nope, they called an ambulance for her.(This scene is cut in anime adaption)
that obaa-chan is bullet magnet…
For anime-only scum like myself, this episode is far, far too complex. It brings together various characters that we haven’t seen for a long time and expects us to make sense of the whole thing whilst simultaneously burying us in a barrage of silly acronyms. So basically it makes the whole thing fanservice for LN fans rather than a serious attempt to engage a new audience. And that’s fine for a franchise this big, but don’t expect me to tag along much longer if it carries on in a similar vein.
Which is what I’d like to say, but for this one ray of sunshine among all the dark clouds of confusion:
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20III%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2007.jpg
The big problem was mostly the 7 years delay between seasons I think.
I rewatched Index a couple of months ago because I know that could be a problem. I have no problem comprehending this episode as a result.
That exactly was my reaction this week.
Now we wait for the Sisters.
Wow! Thanks for the attempted RECAP!!…………as a anime watcher of ALL the material so far, i can honestly now say that i am EVEN MORE confused.
BUT WHO CARES!?!? Ive always like the characters, and dug the Animation style.
On another note, was this series ALWAYS so chock full of lolis? Lol!
And damn, those “enforcers” or whatever they are from the church. Ex: the guy from last episode with the air scythe and the pierced up chibi from last season.
Why are their appearances so stereotypically EVIL looking??
Man, i almost feel like this was explained earlier before, some sort of two sides of the same coin, evil vs good balance logic.
Ahh well.
Oh wait, i think i remembered!!! Arent they ALL rehabilitated criminals?
Yes, they are. They formed a team late in season 2.
damn…i really cant stand how ugly this season of index looks. Not only is it not getting any better (its actually getting worse),but the directional “talent” on display here continues to remain flat; which is a shame because the arc we are currently is on is one of the more better executed arcs in the entire franchise. It’s still littered with a bunch of kamachi’s writing flaws, but this is an example of his storytelling at its most thrilling. Anyway, i hope this drop in quality is not present in railgun 3; maaaaaan would that be disappointing.
Have to agree that this episode in particular left a bit to be desired. At least most of the close up shots of the characters were still fine.
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Railgun/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Railgun%20S%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2036.jpg
Why do I have a feeling that her fight would be in Railgun 3? It sure looks to be set up that way.
The parallel stories felt a but messy but who cares!
With this EP I feel like Toaru Majutsu no Index III pulled a page out of Toaru Kagaku no Railgun in how the focus has shifted to internal dispute and the religious representatives have been benched. With this coup e’tat from the group called “SCHOOL” using LVLed espers to destroy Academy City seems like the different religious groups are all benched.
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20III%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2005.jpg
Also I got a kick seeing this seen:
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20III%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2021.jpg
I was under the impression that this “暗部” arc is before the first episode of season 3 in terms of timeline… Can someone who reads the LN confirm this?
Definitely after since the doctor mentions Avignon and Tsuchi reacts to the name Oyafune Monaka. The same timeline as the books.
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20III%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2026.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20III%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20III%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2033.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20III%20-%2004%20-%20Large%20Preview%2002.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20III%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2020.jpg
Show Spoiler ▼
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20III%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
“The Girl In A Dress” finally makes her debut appearance this season and she still hasn’t been given a name in the light novels (last I read)…
Soon it will be shown why are new protagonist Hamazura Shiage is the arguably the luckiest loser of the series
regarding Frenda
Show Spoiler ▼
I guess we will find out what happened to the other two ITEM members in the next episode?
Though I have been spoiled already due to some hinting in earlier comments, so I hope that we won’t have to wait too long so I can continue the rest of the season unspoiled.