Review of A Certain Magical Index

He is the poor misunderstood high-school student, just trying to do the right thing. She is the hyper-active child nun who likes to chew on people. Toaru Majutsu no Index didn't really spark anything within me. While I did enjoy the concepts they were presenting me, they were way to short lived and disconnected to be properly enjoyed, which really hindered its potential. While I can't speak for other people, I think this anime lacked a proper double checking before being pushed out to us. I say this because It suffers from a number of inexcusable issues that really killed my experience. All of which, Iwill go into now...

Story -
Toaru Majutsu no Index takes place in a world where science and religion both have a fantasy element to them. Scientists have "Espers" and the faithful have spells and relics. The only real difference between these two is that the spells and relics have historical background while the Espers are just... there. Typically, the two are pitted against each other, because for some reason we think they are destined rivals, and now we get to follow along.

The story starts off with dear old Touma, who, for reasons that are never discussed, disputed or considered, has the ability to nullify the powers of both sides. The way they initially portray this could fool you into thinking that Touma is some sort of super-buff vigilante who just lays low. Nah. Instead he's an incompetent delinquent who spends more time getting into compromising situations than actually paying attention to his ability.

You will also find that the story is split into two sides, the science side, and the religious side. Now, these two sides never mix because each arc is either about one or the other because of reasons that I would guess are related to the anime's desire to hold out on us. The only thing that stays the same is the location and Touma which really damages the animes ability to have a cohesive plot.

Lets talk about cohesive plots shall we? There is NONE. The first few episodes are all about Index but after she gets someones fist down her throat she just gets tossed aside into a supporting/ comedic relief role... despite having her name in he f*cking title. Every story after that is around 5 episodes long and rushes through everything like its our last day on earth. This results in numerous stories, all with no relation, being thrown at you for no real reason and with no evidence of overarching development. I think the issue is that Toaru Majutsu no Index just wanted to be longer than it was. Its arcs and style of story telling resemble that of a fighting anime, with 20-30 episode arcs being crammed into 5 or 6 with no character development or pause for breath.

Art and Sound -
I very rarely give these two a higher rating than story, that said, It doesn't even deserve to be on par with it. The art and sound can be lackluster in some places and leave a lot to be desired. The intros are oddly matrixey despite having a generally supernatural feel to them. If you ever end up watching this anime, you won't do it for either of these two, trust me.

Character -
Something I can get behind is the characters in this anime. The cast is usually quite female heavy, especially around Touma, which provides many opportunities for your typical Japanese love spats and awkward 'perv moments', which set a decent comedic tone that is regularly reinforced with more of the same. The characters themselves are somewhat colorful, as I mentioned, Index has a likable personality along with a tendency to chew on Touma. However there are some, how do I say... Cliche characters, especially on the religious side of the anime although I think that can be somewhat overlooked thanks to their consistent personalities (at least whenever they get the chance to express them).

Enjoyment -
I think I would have enjoyed this more if it was more spread out. It may just be my opinion but I honestly think that longer format would have done this show a world of good in comparison to its short and rushed approach. That said, I won't deny that it made me laugh in places, although some jokes do stop being funny after a while.

Conclusion -
I think if you are into the whole religious war thing then give it a shot. Likewise, if you are into casual, directionless anime then give it a shot as well. Me on the hand, I'll sit through season 2, and if thats any better I will move on to A Certain Scientific Railgun... We will have to see though...