First Impressions / To Aru Majutsu no Index

「学習装置（テスタメント）」 (Gakushuu Souchi (Tesutamento))
“Learning Device (Testament)”

She doesn’t have a single line to her name in this entire sequel, but Hyouka makes a return in the big way due to Aleister’s blasphemous act of turning her into an artificial angel to deal with religious fanatics (i.e. Vento). While Hyouka is mostly an experimental guinea pig and the focus of Touma’s righteousness at the moment, it’s nice to see the pinnacle of science in the world, Academy City, finally dealing with the attacks from the Roman Catholic Church itself. It’s about time Aleister stopped relying on a Level 0 to fend off those crazy oversea factions who want to wipe his city off the face of the Earth. I say let the extremists fight amongst themselves.

Of course, there won’t be any winners from that haphazard attitude when Aleister’s out to use “Fuse Kazakiri” to expand Academy City’s AIM field, a.k.a. Imaginary Number District, to the entire world and use it to cause magicians to go out of control and self-destruct. However, it is refreshing to see the magic/science power struggle tip in favor of science for a change, as Vento continues to cough up blood from using her powers. The messed up nature of it all only really sinks in when I see the twisted Kihara carrying his plan out, kidnapping Last Order so that they can use the Testament device to inject a virus into her and get the Sisters to do their bidding. It may be science, but it’s the shady kind of science that doesn’t see clones as anything more than biological tools — something that doesn’t sit well with Touma or Accelerator.

Interestingly enough, it’s Touma and Index’s concern for Hyouka that serves as a fail-safe of sorts for Aleister. If Touma were to use his Imagine Breaker to erase her, the very manifestation of the AIM field that Aleister’s created in Academy City would be gone and his whole angel project with it. It’s pretty clear that things won’t go down that route though, as our righteous protagonist won’t settle for such a compromising solution and will continue searching for a way to save anyone and everyone. The benefit of that, at least from my standpoint, is how Accelerator is doing what he can to put a stop it on the Last Order side of things. I’m still a bit dumbfounded by how they’re working together (sort of) without realizing who the other person is, but it does make for some interesting conversation between them. Also, with the added support from Mikoto, this probably marks the first time our four main characters are in it together and has Accelerator throwing skyscrapers in a fit of rage just because he can.

In light of Aleister’s actions, it feels like Vento’s been suddenly switched to a victimized role, which is completely absurd when she’s the invader and is taking people down with her Divine Punishment by making them want to kill her. Incidentally, the whole Fuse Kazakiri ordeal does make it easy to forget that she was after Touma at one point, seeing as she’s more concerned about that now. This change-up could probably be considered one of the series’ trademark mid-arc plot twists, except unlike the Daihasei one, they actually showed how the original problem was eclipsed by a bigger one. My only minor complaint is with the way a lot of the storytelling was glossed over, making it a little harder to follow than it should have been. Those familiar with the light novels probably won’t have this problem, whereas anime-only viewers like me had to make a few assumptions from the dialogue to put it all together.

 

Preview

98 Comments

    2. oh I get it, so the science dudes of the Academy is trying to erase the magic dudes of the Churches around the world. For that they are using Last Order and the clones to create an angel (ironic). The magic dude initially came to erase Touma and made everyone else unconscious, but upon realizing the science dude’s plan decides to erase the “angel” instead. Ironically, Accelorator and Touma are good people and want to safe the Last Order and the clones while defeating the magic dudes, so it became a three way war.

      *Everything gets confusing when you add magic in

      leon
      Reply

  2. The part where Accelerator pulled out the building and literally drove it along the road was very good. It really showed why the hell he was number 1.

    Kazakiri’s look when touma finds her, really reminded me of “other” types of anime

    Zaku Fan
    Reply

  3. ~KIRIHARA KUN!
    ^i made this my ring tone for some bizzare reason.

    WOW just wow, TAMnI just got better after the start of this arc. With the addition of Misaka to the battle everything was finally perfect.

    I cant wait for the epic finish of this arc if even if its next week or the week after.

    rasone0104
    Reply

    1. Huh? Two of the three plans this arc have already come to fruition. Vento’s mass unconsciousness pretty much paralyzed the city. Crowley’s counterattack with Kazakiri/LO has already destroyed most of Academy City’s District 7. At this point Touma’s only trying to stop it from getting worse.

      The only plan that hasn’t fully manifested yet is the ‘killing blow’ with the spikes that Tsuchimikado is working on.

      Lurker
      Reply

    1. They kind of changed up Accelerator’s attack on Crowley. I think he didn’t throw a skyscraper in the novel. He some how reached into the ground, stopped the rotation of the Earth for a second, harnessed the vector energy of the act and threw the giant vector force at the “windowless building.” Of course, that is a lot harder to animate than to narrate.

      xcswmboy
      Reply

      5. That means 1.8 x 10^27 Joules of energy…
        which means 380 billion megatons of TNT.

        Aleister’s “windowless building” must have been quite strong not to get blown to pieces…
        Magic probably?

        Ecchi201
        Reply

    1. as far as I know, there is no such thing as an English version of the manga. as for the Anime, unless you live in Japan, import is your only option. at least if you want legit stuff… dont know any off hand sites where you can get them.

      Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

      noobiesnack
      Reply

      2. When our shows go to Asia do they price them thru the roof as imports? Too bad when anime comes over here the discs are so high priced as imported goods I hate buying them. You have to shop really well to find a decent price on animes.

        Karmafan
        Reply

      3. Anime isn’t priced through the roof. It’s vastly cheaper than it is in its native country, where you pay the equivalent of 25-35 dollars per single episode on dvd/bluray.

        willowywicca
        Reply

  8. Here we learn how everything Science related (last season) had come together in this episode as all part of Aleister’s grand scheme of things… Well, one of it anyway.

    From Volume 6= We learn that Kazakiri Hyouka is made up of all the AIM fields produced by all the Espers of Academy City. And the AIM Diffusion Field is also called the [Imaginary Number District]. btw a similar creature was also born from gathering a large number of AIM in one place – AIM Burst (Railgun, notice the halo?). Over here it was also hinted that the creation of a new artificial heaven would screw with the set laws of magic.

    From Volume 5 = We learn that the Testament supercomputer can input a ‘virus’ into the Misaka Network via Last Order that can affect all the Sisters. Kihara did the same thing here by imputing the [Angel] virus code and Hyouka is affected by the AIM fields of ALL Espers including Last Order’s, the virus transmitted from Last Order warped the entire [Imaginary Number District] into an Anti-Magic field, and change [Kazakiri Hyouka] into a full Artificial Angel [Fuse=Kazakiri].

    From Volume 3 = We learn that the Misaka Imoutos have been spread throughout the world, by using the Network and the clones as a sort of AIM transmitting station, Aleister can cover the world with the [Imaginary Number District], effectively wiping out all Magicians on the planet.

    Chaos2Frozen
    Reply

  12. “Heiwajima Accelerator” pretty much sums up my thoughts on most of my fav scenes this week.
    Also think they should have rushed the Daihaseisai Arc and gave this more eps.

    Firefly
    Reply

  14. I’m an anime-only viewer but I use your write-ups to help me understand what’s going on when stories are complex like this one. By the way, I was a bit confused (like you said). I feel like I have a better idea of what’s going on but I have two questions still.

    -> Why does the Roman Catholic Church want to take over Academy City of all cities?

    -> And what exactly do the AIM fields do again? D:

    p.s. Accelerator is cool. I falled for him. :B

    Shirt
    Reply

    1. If i remember correctly, every esper has their own distinct and unique aim field, by projecting their own “personnel reality”, their powers manifest and turn into a reality. In essence, their aim field is the core of their power.

      Oh and the reason why Catholic Church is pissed is cuz they are losing a lot of believers due to science.

      oliviaven
      Reply

    2. Academy City is the embodiment of science in the world and is what maintains the balance of power between science and magic. Wiping it off the face of the Earth would let religion rule the world. There’s more to it than that, which hasn’t been revealed in the anime yet.

      AIM is short for “An Involuntary Movement” or “No Awareness” (mujikaku) in Japanese. It’s a field of energy that espers emit unconsciously and can be harmful to magicians in heavy doses. In Academy City, it’s so concentrated that it manifested itself as a form of consciousness, i.e. Hyouka.

      AIM Dispersion Field is the phenomenon when AIM Fields from espers with similar wavelengths resonate, which Aleister wants to make use of to spread the AIM Field throughout the world. This was seen in the Sisters arc as well as the Poltergeist arc in Railgun.

      Divine
      Reply

      1. First and foremost, thanks you two. Okay, now I’m gonna try to sum it up with dumb people terms. I apologize for the stupidity but it’s the first thing that came to mind. -_-”

        [AIM = Fart]
        -> Too much fart from unconscious espers can be harmful to magicians. As of now, the fart was so concentrated, it turned into a living fart that can think. This is Hyouka now.

        [AIMDF = Resonating Fart]
        -> When Fart resonates, it gets bigger? D;

        (I’m not too clear on what exactly happens when AIM Diffusion Fields resonate but by the looks of it, it’s pretty diabolical.)

        Shirt
        Reply

  16. quote:
    Accelerator throwing skyscrapers in a fit of rage just because he can.
    EPIC
    Also lol @ Accelerator officially demoting Kihara to pawn.
    Poor Hyoka, she looks wasted…
    “I wish I had an (scientific) angel” tops the charts in Academy City?
    Crowley certainly can smile for now with “Just as planned” meme.
    But given Touma and his ways, that plan to obliterate magic side will be stopped.

    ewok40k
    Reply

    2. alisteir plan is much more complex and wreck than you can think, he just used fuze= kazikari because of the Roman Catholic Church invation, but his true plan is not ready yet, is hinted in the novels that for him destroying all the magic side is not important, and not difficult, since his plan is another thing and this becomes a race with god right seat to achive the plan first and conquer all.

      enker
      Reply

      1. He is too creepy and a homicidal maniac. His ONLY redeming quality is that he is taking care of last order. He is ok in small doses but to have his own series would not be a good idea.

        Thats like giving Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gacy their own sitcom.

        Karmafan
        Reply

      2. ^ yeah but it could be a slice of life with him and last order getting into hilarious situations, totally buddy cop flick status. accelerators sisters network battery is getting too low for this shit.

        RickyMack
        Reply

  21. I don’t know how JC Staff could confuse Accelerator throwing a concrete wall into throwing an entire building.

    They unintentionally (or did they?) made one of the most singlehandedly insane events in the novels even more insane and compeltely over the top hilarious.

    Also, if anyone asks, Platinaburg is still alive, if don’t see clearly he is actually wearing a bullet proof vest.

    Gaze of Providence
    Reply

  22. Throwing a skyscraper was cool but I dont really understand how Accelerator can fuse his arm into the wall hm… Laws of Anime yet again? And didnt Accelerator already have a time limit of 4mins on his esper powers? And what happened to the request he asked Heaven Canceller? I couldnt really tell if the Sisters were getting invaded by the virus cause I cant really catch what their conversation. Seeing Kazakiri being possessed while sticking her tongue out was quite weird… Maybe cause I havent seen possessions in anime for quite a while. Well, looking forward to more action next episode! Anyone can clarify my questions? Thanks!

    Tenkou
    Reply

    1. -It’s vectors and personal reality, I don’t have to explain shit.

      -Yes, Accelerator has a time limit for his esper powers. The red light indicates he is on esper mode which sucks up the power of his battery really fast, and as you can see, Accelerator has been abusing it during this episode.

      -What request to the Heaven Canceler? The battery pack?

      -Last Order was given a virus through the use of Testament, which makes her the core to the activation of FUZE=Kazakiri.
      Along with this, Last Order as the command center of the Sisters uses up all the processing ability of all the Sisters in Academy City (which should only be about 10, dammit JC Staff) which basically renders them immobile, don’t know why 10032 is talking and moving though. The Sisters of course tried to reject the Last Order, though they are unsuccessful.

      Gaze of Providence
      Reply

    2. About Accelerator’s request: In the novel, he lied to Index about the battery. Actually there’s no spare battery for Accelerator’s “Misaka Network connecting electrode”. It is a prototype, the battery is unique and not mass produced yet. When the battery is running out, it would be auto-recharged for 48 hours before he can switch into esper mode.

      Anon
      Reply

  23. I’m totally loving this arc. I don’t know how Accelerator can be totally scary yet awesome at the same time.Actually, in this entire series seems like I’ve only liked the arcs involving the Science side….except for the fact that I totally forget where Hyouka came from. Which arc/episodes was she introduced in?

    Amurita
    Reply

    2. Kazakiri was forced to become an angel with the incomplete technique of alisteir since it was to soon to launch his plan, so he did some modifications and forced the plan into kazakiri when he input the virus into last order which transmitted the virus to the missaka network world wide, making Alisteir counterstrike.

      If not perfect around the world at least the “Angel” could destroy any magician who used magic inside academy city where the esper presence is stronger and affect the others around the word where the misaka network is like an antenna of kazikari power.

      Adding to that that kazikari in this form is almost invencible, capable of bring biblical destruction on his enemies, but yes the technique is not ready so kazikari is being mind controled by the virus, so her expression.

      enker
      Reply

    1. Of course, you have the since side using magical concepts.

      That’s just crazy

      But Alisteir was the greatest and most evil magician of the world before switching to the science side.

      enker
      Reply

  26. (OK, this is my 3rd try using a proxy, let’s hope my post gets through)

    LOLWUT at Hyouka’s ahegao. Do they really need to have her stick her tongue out as though she’s enjoying it?

    Anyway, seeing the halo ring on Hyouko’s head:
    ttp://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index/To%20Aru%20Majutsu%20no%20Index%20II%20-%2021%20-%20Large%2034.jpg

    reminds me of this:
    ttp://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Railgun/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Railgun%20-%2012%20-%20Large%2029.jpg

    (Just add the letter “h” in front of the html links above)

    Yes, guys, that’s the Level Upper monster in Railgun, which like Hyouka, is also a manifestation of many esper AIM fields, so perhaps Aleister may have obtained some useful data during the Level Upper incident when applying the same to a more powerful “angel” in Hyouka.

    BTW, did Accelerator just throw an entire building? LOL

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

    1. The concept of an artificial angel was born long before the AIM Burst. Check episode 4 of Railgun, Mikoto and those other whatstheirfaces discuss urban legends such as the Imaginary Number District.

      Also, if JC Staff gets it right, the logic behind Fuze=Kazakiri as an artifical angel will be explained in the next episode.

      Gaze of Providence
      Reply

    2. @Kinny Riddle

      Quite the opposite actually, the idea of Fuse=Kazakiri was already in motion long before the Level Upper incident.

      Kiyama just so happen to replicate the results, but on a much smaller scale. AIM Burst was form from the AIM field of 10 000 Espers (I recall), while Kazakiri is the result of 1 800 000 Espers of the entire city.

      Chaos2Frozen
      Reply

      1. Show Spoiler ▼

        I’m just saiyan.

        Gaze of Providence
        Reply

      3. As far as I’m aware, the Level Upper arc comes first in the Index timeline, which coincides with Touma meeting Index. I’m not sure if Aleister got the idea from that incident or if he knew about AIM Fields when he establish Academy City.

        Divine
        Reply

      4. @Divine

        But you have to remember Divine, the plan to produce clones started way back when Mikoto was just a little Level 1 girl. That’s about 10 years give or take, that’s way longer than the incident with Kiyama’s student.

        Remember way back at the start of this arc Kihara taunted Accelerator with the question why did Academy City want to produce Clones of the Number 3 instead of the stronger Number 1? That implies that Aleister probably had this intend from the beginning, the Level 6 shift experiment was a smokescreen.

        Chaos2Frozen
        Reply

    3. @Gaze and Chaos

      Well, yeah, I was aware of the conversation in Railgun episode 4 concerning rumours of the Imaginary School District.

      What I was trying to say was perhaps Aleister may or may not have collected some useful battle data from Mikoto’s fight with the AIM Burst creature, so that he may fine tune any details when the time comes for him to “awaken” the obviously more advanced Hyouka.

      Kinny Riddle
      Reply

      1. Dunno, but remember that the AIM Burst was simply an accident in Harumi’s Level Upper Network. Since she was simply trying to mimic a very similar network that we are all familiar with.

        The AIM Burst is pretty much a formless blob formed by the AIM Dispersions and despair of the thousand users of the Level Upper.

        Unlike Hyouka which is formed from a million espers as well as deliberately created by Crowley.

        Gaze of Providence
        Reply

      2. Well, you’d never know. Perhaps Aleister would find battle data of an accidental inferior zombie quite useful when calibrating his more superior Nemesis. (Please pardon the Resident Evil reference 8) )

        Kinny Riddle
        Reply

  27. I felt that this episode was really way too rushed. I am especially angry at JC Staff for changing the windowless building scene. Accelerator TOOK ENERGY FROM THE EARTH’S ROTATION AND FIRED IT, and it somehow turned into him throwing a building?

    The problem with the anime is that it lacks emotion due to everything being so rushed. The scene with Accelerator in the alleyway was supposed to be heartbreaking since he knew he couldn’t return to the light again due to Anti-skill spotting him, but it was simply brushed off in the anime.

    A note: FUZE=Kazakiri is allowed to come into existence because she’s supported by the MISAKA Network. The clones are spread all over the world for “bodily adjustments”. Yes, Aleister’s plan is to try and wipe out magic from existence by using the Imaginary Number District. This also means that the Level 6 project was nothing more than an excuse for him to relocate the clones all around the world for his plans.

    Suzushina Yuriko
    Reply

    2. 1) im actually pretty fine with how JC did it, I mean really it’ll confuse people even more than the fact kihara can punch accelerator.
      2)I think ep 19 more or less did that can’t turn back transition when he was in the shadows and as soon as he walked towards the light he was stopped.

      Well, this ep made my fav characters like this.

      1.Touma
      2.Accelerator
      3.Misaka

      do_ob
      Reply

    3. Well after taking in the numbers some people played around with, that attack in the novel would practically wipe out all of Japan.

      The building throwing was over the top, yes, but it made more sense than Accelerator slowing down the earth for five minutes just so he can steal it’s rotational energy into one single attack. Honestly though, that would be probably difficult for JC Staff to pull off.

      The building throw should’ve been executed better definitely, it felt like a piece of slightly hard yet easily breakable pastry was thrown and only the top half go ruined. As well as several buildings were still apparently standing after large building suddenly collapse near them (perhaps Academy City buildings are THAT strong? who knows).

      Gaze of Providence
      Reply

  28. I just realized something.

    If Aleister intends to use Fuse Kazakiri to wipe out all magicians, wouldn’t that include his allies within the Anglican Church like Stiyl and Agnes?

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

    1. Yup!
      It’s common for scientist to chuck out failed projects or incomplete ones. Aleister thinks like one. He was a master magician that searches for humans to transcend. He saw that magic alone is not enough… LOLZ at him. His followers didn’t take that kindly… He turns to science, and found the same problem… So…
      But magic and science don’t mix well… Like Ice Cream and Blood Curry…

      Moondogg
      Reply

      1. Notice how Touma is the link of AC to the EPC. The RCC, except the Amakusa, don’t even have a permanent agent inside AC. I suppose the plot will advance more if all of Touma’s allies were once punched my him… hmmm… Reminds me of Nanoha….

        Moondogg
        Reply

    3. @Kinny Riddle

      Well they would be fine as long as they don’t use magic, but yeah he would suppress all magicians in the world.

      @Moondogg

      Tsuchimikado is another link from Academy City to Necessarius.

      Chaos2Frozen
      Reply

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