a certain magical index

By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “To Aru Majutsu no Index” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

And so, once again, we have the “final” volume of Index in North America. Last time we thought it was the 22nd volume, then Yen picked up the two short story volumes after the fact. Now, we even get a translator’s afterword by Andrew Prowse thanking the readers, saying this is it for now, and please keep reading the manga. All it needs is “And the adventure continues…” after the final page. In other words, don’t expect New Testament unless there’s an anime. As for this volume, it’s far more of a short story book than the first one, though the stories eventually do tie together up to a certain point. It’s also a lot goofier, with Kamachi’s usual hit-and-miss attempts at humor and lots of powerful teenagers doing dumb teenage things. There’s ninjas, hackers, slashers, fixers, and those who fight using only their GUTS! That said, it’s a reasonable amount of fun, and Index fans should have no reason not to pick it up, especially since good sales might also change Yen’s mind.

Introduced in this volume: Balbina, Gunha Sogiita, Tabigake Misaka, Ollerus, Silvia, Kuruwa, Seria Kumokawa, Stephanie Gorgeouspalace, Misaka 17000, Misaka 18022, Misaka 14333, Misaka 15110, Misaka 10090, Misaka 12053, Misaka 19009, Misaka 11899, Misaka 16836, Misaka 10501, Misaka 19900, Misaka 12083, Misaka 10855, Misaka 17203, Misaka 19488, Misaka 15327, Misaka 13072, Misaka 17403, Misaka 10050, Misaka 10840, Misaka 12481, Misaka 18072, Misaka 19348, Misaka 17009, Misaka 15113, Misaka 14014, and Misaka 18829. (Sorry, I had to.) This takes place over the course of the entire series, and even prior to it, but in Japan it was released between Vol. 16 and 17. As you can see by the list above, leaving out the Misakas, there’s a lot of major characters who make their debut here (including some we’ve seen “debut” in English in Books 19-22, or the Railgun manga). That said, three make the most impact: Gunha, a Level 5 who gets by by essentially having Shonen Champion power (I’d say Jump, but if you look at him he’s clearly more an Akita Shoten boy); Ollerus, a somewhat distracted young man who also proves to be the most powerful person in the book; and Seria Kumokawa, a 3rd year at Touma’s school who also appears to be one of those powers behind the throne sorts.

There are some definite high points here. Uiharu gets two stories showing off her masterful computer skills, though the end of the second one implies she is fine with destroying data to avoid letting the hackers win. We meet Mikoto’s dad, and he’s pretty much exactly as you’d expect, being the sort of man who can casually threaten to bring down Crowley should he so choose. Touma and Index are absent from the book, and Mikoto’s only in one story, so this is definitely focused on the minor characters. The main “plot” involved a group of 50 “uncut gems”, who seems to be kids with powers that are unaffiliated with a country, and everyone trying to find and control/kill/do whatever with them. The best scene in the whole book occurs when Seria decides to have all these “gems” retrieved by Misaka clones, leading to an action scene we only here about via the Misaka Network, equal parts badass and funny.

It’s not a long book, and as a final volume of Index the 22nd book works better, but I’m pleased Yen went back and picked up these two books. Who knows, if Japan can get over the disaster that was the third Index anime and do more, we may see New Testament someday. Till then, don’t get your jeans slashed, don’t get into a hacking battle with Uiharu, and don’t piss off Academy City so much you get yourself super killed.

By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “To Aru Majutsu no Index” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

Despite its name, and despite the fact that Yen On is releasing it after the main Index series, this is not particularly a short story volume. Instead, it’s four interlinked plot threads, which are presented as distinct chapters – he’s done this before. In Japan this came out between the 13th and 14th volumes of the main series, and it takes place there as well, with most of the cast worrying about what seems to be an inevitable war with the Roman Orthodox Church (which, to be fair, does happen). I am happy that we are finally seeing it here, though I will admit that a lot of its events would have had more impact if it had come out in its proper place. In particular, this volume introduces one of the main protagonists of the series – though honestly you’d never know it from the book itself, as he doesn’t even appear till 4/5 of the way in, and gets taken out by Touma like garbage. Which melds nicely with the book’s themes.

Introduced in this book: Shiage Hamazura, the aforementioned third protagonist. Sasha is also seen here as herself, rather than in “I am possessed by Gabriel” mode, though thanks to the Russian equivalent of Laura Stuart she’s walking around in a fetish outfit. We also meet Komaba Ritoku, though he sadly has the misfortune of running up against Accelerator, so he’s killed off here. He shows Accelerator the picture of a girl he’s trying to protect – his sister? Well, he’s dead now, so we will never know the identity of this mystery girl… well, unless Yen licenses New Testament. This volume also helps to solidify GROUP as part of the dark side of Academy City, and shows that they can grumpily work together when they want to – though they don’t here, as Accelerator and Musujime Awaki get their own separate fights.

There’s silliness at the start (how does Touma manage to pat Aisa on the back and knock her bra off?), which also leads to one of the few deliberately funny jokes in these books which usually try to be funny and fail – Touma’s heartfelt “I’m going to start studying English!” is a big LOL. Most of the book is introducing us to Skill-Out, a group of Level Zeroes trying to wreak havoc. Later books show them off as well, but, as Touma yells at Hamazura, they could have chosen to protect the weak (and indeed we see Komaba was doing this), instead of basically being a bad biker gang with explosives. We also meet once more Mikoto’s mother, the self-proclaimed “bisexual-disaster cougar”, who is also there for humor (not as funny) but also to possibly pull Mikoto out of Academy City due to impending war. Fortunately for the Railgun’s romantic prospects, Touma manages to impress her mom enough that she decides to leave her there. And, of course, Touma gets to punch the villain, in this case Hamazura, though notably instead of “breaking that illusion” he says Hamazura can break his own illusions himself.

So overall, this is very good setup for books 14-22, and you might want to go back and read those again if you have the time. Next time we’ll get the second SS book, which I understand is far more of a short-story volume than this one was, although I imagine they’re probably all interconnected as well.

By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “To Aru Majutsu no Index” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

If this is to be the final novel of Index released in North America (something still up in the air at the moment), it’s a good way to go out, despite the fact that it also ends up killing off its main character. Still, I suspect precisely no fans believed he was dead at the time, and they certainly don’t now that we’ve had New Testament 1-23 and are starting a 3rd light novel sequence. As with the previous two books, this is a big ol’ action sequence, complete with a battle on a slowly crumbling cathedral made up of cathedrals. This time around, though, we do get more of the themes Kamachi wants in the main story, as Touma points out that writing the world off as being too evil and reformatting it is a foolishly naive thing to do, Hamazura discovers that – surprise! – Academy City’s ‘ranking’ system is fixed, and Accelerator sings out loud and sings out strong. There’s even time for some “new” characters.

Appearing on the cover are Accelerator and Misaka Worst, who ironically get the least to do in this book. New characters: Klans Tzarskij, the Russian Patriarch. “New” characters: Silvia and Ollerus, who show up at the end, both of whom the Japanese readers met in the unlicensed 2nd Short Story volume. In terms of Timeline, we end on Halloween night, which means that it’s been a little over four months since Index and Touma first met. Busy months, to be sure. There’s actually something of an attempt to show off everyone trying to save the world: Agnes’ nuns are around, Kaori swings her sword, etc. That said, in terms of action this is still very much a three-person book, with an assist from Mikoto, who gets to stop a nuke going off but for the most part is reduced to trying to save Touma and having him abandon her because he still has more saving to do.

Hamazura’s battle against Mugino ends a lot cleaner than I’d expected, mainly as Mugino is already sort of half-broken and exhausted. He appeals to the good old days when they were ITEM, and asks to reform the team (minus Frenda, who is dead, but at least he mentions apologizing at her grave for killing her). Also, it turns out his girlfriend may be the most important person in all of Academy City, as she has the potential power to move quirks… erm, sorry, skills… from one person to another. I admit I am not overly fond of Hamazura torturing (offscreen) an Academy City soldier for blackmail info he needs, but then I hate “torture works!” scenes. Accelerator manages to combine magic and science and save Last Order, though he almost breaks himself doing it, and he once again reaffirms the idea of family that’s hovered around him.

As for Touma, well, he’s there to yell at the bad guy and punch the bad guy, and he does both of those – even when the bad guy is an angel. It looks like he got through to Fiamma, though we’ll need to see more books to figure out if it stuck. Did he die? Well, no, look at the covers for New Testament 1-23. Is he dead for now? Yes. It makes for a slightly bittersweet ending to the whole arc, which otherwise is relatively happy. I’m going to assume that the first volume of New Testament will be another “Touma-light” volume, which is much easier now that there’s two other main heroes – or antiheroes. As for whether we’ll see it, that’s up to Yen Press and Dengeki Bunko. I hope we do someday.

By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “To Aru Majutsu no Index” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

As with the previous volume, and likely the next one, this is a giant action movie brought to the page. As such, there’s not quite as much development of Index’s main themes, though once again if you are religious you should drop this work like a hot potato if you haven’t already done so. That said, the ex-Pope showing up here and being the baddest ass who ever badassed just by kindly talking to everyone shows that it’s not just a binary “everyone with the Church is evil” thing. This also applies, oddly enough, to Accelerator, who seems to finally be getting over his “I am a horrible villain who must be punished” mentality now that he’s had his battle with Misaka Worst. In fact, he and Worst team up here, because a) he needs help in saving Last Order, and b) she finds the idea of his asking her for help hilarious. She too is an example of a bad guy who changes sides. And then there’s Touma, our theoretical hero, who just wants to punch Fiamma. A whole lot.

Kamachi said in the afterword that this was meant to be (along with 22) one book, which is likely why Mugino is menacing Hamazura on he cover despite the fact that she literally only shows up to be the cliffhanger. Also, given this is the second to last book in the first “series” of Index, there’s no major new character introduced here, though we do get a reappearance from a few older characters I wasn’t expecting – indeed, you could argue that without Kazakiri showing up, Accelerator and Touma would both be very dead right now. The plot is divided basically as follows: 1) Touma trying to catch up to Fiamma, starting with Lesser, then losing her but gaining Sasha, who fills a similar function; 2) Hamazura looking out for the forgotten and ignored, as always, while (finally) succeeding in helping Takitsubo; 3) Accelerator trying to help Last Order (this is less easy than helping Takitsubo); 4) Misaka arriving in Russia but mostly standing around, thus summing up her position in the novels since Book 3; and 5) Stiyl trying not to get killed by a still-possessed Index.

The action scenes are nice and solid here, and while I still find a lot of the magic discussion a bit boring, it at least doesn’t last as long this time. Everyone knows their function. Fiamma’s is to be smug, and he succeeds admirably, and you really do want Touma to punch him in the face, even though Touma does not achieve this (or really anything) in this book. Arguably that also applies to Accelerator, who is nudging closer to knowing how to save Last Order (magic) but can’t get to the next step. Again, only Hamazura succeeds while looking at the small picture… which also allows him to succeed when he ends up in the larger picture as well, pointing out to a dying Acqua of the Back that the REAL heroes are those who get up and return home to loved ones rather than those who accept death. It’s a really good scene, and you can easily see why he’s been added as a third protagonist, especially give that you get the sense Kamachi doesn’t know what to do with Touma at this point.

The next volume is important, as it will not only wrap up World War III, but may be the final volume of Index in North America. It’s unclear if New Testament is considered a new license or a continuing one, but in any case Yen On has not made it clear if they’re doing it. (That said, the back cover copy for 22 does not say ‘Final Volume’, so that’s a good sign.) Till then, enjoy an action-packed volume, and sorry, Mugino fans, I’m sure she’ll be in 22 more.

By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “To Aru Majutsu no Index” by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

I talk a lot when reviewing Durarara!! that Narita likes to write books that set up plot guns on the mantelpiece than then books where the guns are all fired. To a certain extent, the next three volumes of Index are Kamachi doing the same thing, as all the back and forth of the last nineteen volumes between the Magic and Science sides has led to World War III, with Russia and Catholic Europe fighting against Academy City and Protestant England. Of course, the war is merely a front for Fiamma of the Right, but you could say that about a lot of real-life wars. This book is also notable for trying to feature the three male protagonists equally, all of them somewhere in Russia: Touma and Lesser are trying to find Sasha Kreutzev before Fiamma does; Hamazura is trying to get someone to help Takitsubo but ends up pinned down by a group of privateers; and Accelerator is trying to save Last Order but is hampered by the worst possible person coming to stop him. Literally.

There are an awful lot of folks introduced in this volume who are only in this arc. The two who seem to warrant mentioning further are Elizalina, a young woman who has an alliance of various states right next to Russia which are totally not the Baltics in the same way that the Roman Orthodox Church is totally not the Roman Catholic Church; and the “Femme Fatale”, who we know very little about from this book, but we’ll be seeing more of later. Ah yes, and Misaka Worst, of whom much more just below. Meanwhile, Lesser is attached to Touma here as the author knows that he works best when bouncing off someone else, and also that her type (the tease) hasn’t really been used around him before. Of course, she reckons without Touma’s complete lack of interest; I don’t think he’s ever really calmed down or had two days to run together since the start of the series to think about which girl who wants to bang, if any. In any case, Touma fails at his main objective, and is also guilt-tripped by Fiamma. Fortunately…

There’s Accelerator’s plot. I have to be honest, the concept of Misaka Worst is excellent. From the meta of describing herself as the “Third Season” of Misaka clones (though given how bad the anime’s Season 3 was handled, that joke gets a bit dark) to the concept of her being the repository of all the negative feelings the other clones have (which is why she gets to be something other than ‘deadpan’) to the scientists of Academy City creating her as the ultimate Accelerator-stopping weapon as they know he’s resolved to never kill another clone, so he has to other kill one and break or let himself be killed. He avoids killing her for the moment, but breaks anyway, in a truly epic primal screamfest of despair and fury. Fortunately, Touma shows up, not only to punch sense into Accelerator by telling him to stop getting hung up on “good and evil”, but also to stop himself from getting caught in in Fiamma’s bullshit and realizing it’s OK to save Index even if it means admitting he lied to her about his memory. Oh yes, and to reset Last Order’s fatal sickness with his right hand, though she’ll get worse again fast.

I didn’t mention Hamazura, but then he didn’t really get to do much except show how the “powerless” guy can also be cool and save the day. (Speaking of which, a mother and her kids are saved by Touma, and then later saved from a different crisis by Hamazura. I was bummed Accelerator didn’t save them as well.) That said, Vol. 21 promises he’ll get more to do; Academy City sent Misaka Worst to stop Accelerator, and now we get Mugino, who unsurprisingly is STILL not dead, being flown to Russia just to destroy Hamazura. Oh yes, and there’s the real Misaka as well, who is frustrated at Touma being in Russia saving the day without her and decides to hijack a plane so she can see what the fuss is about. If nothing else, this means we’ll get a lot more women in the next book… and also possibly a much higher casualty count.

If you’re interested in reading Index 20, the series is likely review-proof for you. But this was a good volume, light on the fanservice (Lessar’s pathetic attempts are pretty much it), heavy on the action, and filled with war being hell. The war continues next time.

By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “To Aru Majutsu no Index” by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

Just as Index 17 and 18 formed a two-parter, this is essentially the second part of the 15th book, where GROUP battled against ITEM and all the other dark student organizations used by various Academy City folks for Black Ops. They ended up on top, but as you can imagine, that made some people very unhappy. As a result, one of the Board of Directors is trying to deal with them, especially Accelerator. Meanwhile, Accelerator continues to be a really nice guy while insisting he’s a horrible villain. He’s rescuing abused teenage girls, triaging pregnant mothers, and saving little kids. Indeed, the little kid he saves has to literally point out what a hero Accelerator’s being to get the “good guys” to do anything. Are there any good guys in Academy City? Mikoto, maybe, but she’s not in this book at all. Maybe it’s Hamazura, who insists he’s just a thug as much as Accelerator insists he’s a villain. But what Hamazura really is, and this book cements it, is the third male lead in Index.

Introduced in this volume: Stephanie Gorgeouspalace, who bears possibly the silliest name in all of Index. Also, Aiwass, who we’ll definitely be seeing more of. There are a few more of the Aztec teens, as well. Sadly, again, Yen Press has not licensed the Index short story books, which is where we first met Stephanie. Or the Railgun shot story book, which is where we first met Tochtli, though I think she was retroactively written into the Railgun manga as well, like Xochitl was. This takes place at the same time as Books 17 and 18, when Touma is in England dealing with the British Royal Family. It ends with Touma, Accelerator, and Hamazura all separately going to Russia, where we’ll no doubt get the 20th volume. It’s also worth noting that there are only three volumes to go after this one in the main Index series… of course, we also have Index New Testament. Its sequel. Also 22 volumes.

As I said, Hamazura is explicitly called a protagonist by Kamachi in the narrative here, as if it weren’t obvious enough. He also gives the author an opportunity to do a real romance. Touma is, of course, oblivious to his 642 love interests. Accelerator is too self-loathing to even think about a relationship, and Last Order is a daughter to him, not a lover. But Hamazura, despite all the banter and pseudo-flirtation with Kinuhata (who is twelve, making this my least favorite part of the book), is in love with Takitsubo, and she with him. Of the three “threatened” relationships at the end of this book, it’s the romantic one. Accelerator and Last Order are the familial one, and Touma and Index… well, they’re the titular one. It’s also interesting to have it pointed out that, while Touma and Accelerator are part of Aleister’s BIG PLANS, Hamazura is not, and his interference with Mugino (who comes back from the dead to try to kill him some more, and even looks just like the Terminator here) could pose a big problem in the future.

Mostly this book is filled with cool fights, giving Kinuhata more to do (despite my dislike of her underage teasing, she’s developed very well in this book), an analysis of what it means to be a hero, as seen through two guys who don’t think of themselves as one, and setting up the pieces for the last three books, which are a three-parter. It’s a solid entry in the Index series. It also means we are one book away from one of my favorite Index characters being introduced. Is she the best? Well, no, she’s the absolute WORST, actually.

(Final note: I love this cover, one of the best in the entire series. The contrast is fantastic.)

By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “To Aru Majutsu no Index” by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

As with most two-volume arcs in Index, the second half of this is filled with a lot of action, though there is also some time taken for characterization, particularly of the Royal Family. But yes, fights, fights and more fights. Former allies fight each other, as the Knight Leader and Acqua of the Back face off. Many disparate groups team up, as Touma and Index ally with the English Puritans, Agnes Sanctis’ group, the Amakusa group, the third princess, and even the staff of Buckingham Palace to take down the Second Princess. In the end, she’s defeated by literally weaponizing all of England to fight her, as well as her mother pointing out that all of them are, essentially, trying to do what’s best for Britain, it’s just that Carissa is going about it the wrong way. And, unfortunately, we also get the “there’s always someone better than you” fight, as Fiamma of the Right manages to disable Index in some way, and also seems to have a third arm that is very reminiscent of Touma’s.

Introduced in this volume: Well, we do see Sasha’s other Russian Orthodox ally, Vasilisa, as well as her seeming hunter, Skogssnua. Sasha is no longer possessed by an Angel, and seems to have been picked up by Vento. We’ve seen Fiamma before, though this is the volume where he truly comes forward and shows he’s going to be the next Big Bad. Fans of the Index books will recognize that we see a few cameos of future characters in this book, so technically this is the first we see of Leivinia Birdway, Patricia Birdway, and Mark Space. Chronologically, of course, this takes place right after the events of Book 17. Book 19 takes place back in Academy City, and is taking place at the same time as 17-18. We’re very nearly at the big climax for Index (whether we’ll see New Testament, the sequel, is of course up to the readers buying the series and Yen Press), and everything is clearly heading towards a massive World War – but we aren’t quite there yet.

Possibly my favorite scene in the book is right in the middle (and it gets a big two-page color spread), as all the various factions allied against Carissa all unite in a field for a huge banquet before the final battle. As I said before, we see more cooperation in this book than ever before, and this scene is pure gold for seeing previous enemies just hanging out and eating. They’re being made fun of (Lucia and Angelina), they’re being given a pep talk of sorts (Sherry and Orsola), they’re making stupid maid outfit jokes that Kamachi just can’t let go (the Amakusas), or they’re just eating as much as possible (Index and Agnes). It’s a sweet scene that I suspect we won’t see much of coming up – the action seems to be shifting to Russia. There’s also more Brexit references… or they would be if this hadn’t been written nine years ago. And, since I just picked on Kamachi’s stupid humor, there is one terrific joke that involves Agnes hitting a knight in the groin and the definition of chivalry.

This is the longest Index book to date, and it’s almost all battles. But it’s worth it. Next time we return to Accelerator and Hamazura, who have their own problems.

By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “To Aru Majutsu no Index” by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

Last time I mentioned that Fiamma of the Right’s plans for England sounded a bit like Brexit. Little did I know that the feeling would triple as I read this new volume, set almost entirely in the United Kingdom. The villains are trying to start a war with France – well, in reality France is a proxy for the Roman Orthodox and Russian Catholic Churches, but you know what I mean – and are discussing what happens with trading rights and shipping in the UK and sounding an awful lot like Theresa May, to be honest. This is entirely coincidental given that this book came out in Japan in March 2009, but it does given the danger a little extra frisson of reality. Which is more than can be said for Kamachi’s rewriting of English history – Henry VIII’s motives for breaking off with the Roman Orthodox church are made a lot more noble and grand than reality, and I suspect the court are telling Touma a sanitized version of the truth.

Introduced in this book: Queen Elizard, Princess Limeia, Princess Carissa, and Princess Vilian, who was in the last book but is officially named here. We also meet all of New Light, a Norse-based magical group and terrorist organization, which like most other organizations in Index has four people in it: Lesser, Bayloupe, Florice, and Lancis. Yes, it’s romanized as Lesser, so any fans of the fan spelling who are still getting the official version will be annoyed once more, as Lesser is honestly the only one of these four you’ll need to remember going forward. Timeline-wise, we’re about five days after the events of Book 16 – Itsuwa has returned to the UK, though after taking the time to heal up and briefly discuss the upcoming culture festival, Touma and Index join her. This means this is another magic-heavy book, so don’t expect lots of Mikoto here, though she at least does discuss Touma’s memory loss with him briefly.

This is the first volume of a two-parter, and so as you can imagine the book consists mostly of everything going wrong for our heroes. By the end of the book Index is captured and knocked out (punched in the stomach, no less), Kaori has just been beaten so badly that everyone is sneering at her, Agnes’s Roman Orthodox nuns are mostly captured aside from the ones whose names we can remember, and two of our supposed heroes are in reality betraying everyone – for the good of the nation, of course. Lesser (who is a hoot in general, you can see why she’ll be back) picks on Touma for being there at all, noting that as the only Japanese guy in the midst of a fight between UK denizens, he can’t possibly understand why anyone is doing anything. Of course, I have no doubt that is also Touma’s strength. We also see a bunch of former villains who are now theoretically on the side of good, also showing off – Sherry and Oriana, to be precise. At times Index reads very much like, well, an index, making sure that everyone gets a cameo.

So overall decent volume, though I will pick on the translation just a bit – I’m not sure if Laura Stuart’s English is supposed to be as bad as her Japanese, but a lot of the ‘slang’ in this book reads very badly if we’re meant to assume she is British. On the bright side, while we do have more of Kamachi’s attempts at being funny, one of them actually succeeds this time – the sequence in Buckingham Palace, starting with Touma, Index and the scones and progressing through the introduction of the Queen is very well done, and very funny. I tip my hat. (It also provided the cover image.) I also approve of one translation convention – everyone in charge in England refers to Index as “the Index” and treats her exactly like you would an encyclopedia, not a person. It’s very obvious and very well done. Index fans will want to pick this up, especially now that the third season of the anime has shown itself to be rushing everything so badly. You’ll want to see what actually happens.

By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “To Aru Majutsu no Index” by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

Given the events of the last volume, and the fact that the cover art looks for all the world like a fun romantic comedy, I imagine the average reader went into this book thinking it would be a nice, relaxing volume. And it is… for about the first quarter of the book. Then Acqua of the Back arrives, and everything pretty much goes to hell. But hey, at least this book has Touma and Index in it, right? Well, not so much. Index is once again relegated to comic relief (she even lampshades how useful she WOULD have been after everything has already happened), and Touma is removed from most of the fighting by, yet again, half-fatal injuries. No, this book is about the Amakusa Church, their guilt-driven Saint Kaori Kanzaki, and their #1 Touma fan Itsuwa, who can cook, clean, is pretty with a nice chest, wields a spear magnificently, and loves Touma. In fact, in a series filled with heroines with major faults, her main fault may be not having one.

Introduced in this book: Fiamma of the Right, the “Knight Leader”, and the Third English Princess, whose name I will hold off on till I see how Yen romanizes it. This takes place about three days after Touma and Index get back from France. Touma is starting to worry about his attendance credits, and well he should – he’s barely been in class this semester. We have basically passed all the Index spinoff titles in terms of chronology. There are, of course, several ongoing plot threads from previous books. Itsuwa is dispatched to be Touma’s bodyguard after the events of tBook 14 (and so that the Amakusa Church can try to get them together as a couple, something doomed to failure). Acqua’s threat to Touma a couple books ago is carried out here, and he very nearly succeeds. And Mikoto has found out about Touma’s amnesia, and it’s bothering her, mostly as she’s not sure when it happened.

This book, as with a lot of shonen titles, is about seeing people who are so much better, faster, and stronger than you, and then getting up and fighting anyway because it’s right. Acqua doesn’t care what Touma’s motivations or desires are – his hand is a weapon, and therefore he treats Touma the same way. (Honestly, given the last two members of God’s Right Seat, he’s the least villainous, but that’s only by degree.) Itsuwa and the rest of the Amakusa fight because they know Touma is a good person, right hand or no. And Kaori leaps in to fight because Acqua is about to kill the rest of the Amakusa, and she may be keeping her distance from them but she still wants to protect them. In fact, arguably it’s Kaori who learns the biggest lesson here – no, not Tsuchimikado’s stupid ero maid thing, which made my teeth grind. But you can’t protect the ones you love from the shadows and by pushing them away. It only hurts them more. Seeing Kaori and the Amakusa team up was absolutely the highlight of this book, and I like that for once Touma did not get in the final blow (or even break any illusions), though he certainly made it possible.

It appears we’re going to be focusing on England next time (and watch out for Fiamma describing how to bring the island nation down to its knees in a way that sounds suspiciously similar to a no-deal Brexit). Also, I worry my discussion of the lack of a role for Index and her desire to help more may change for the worse soon – it sounds like Fiamma’s big plan is basically to capture her. In any case, though Kamachi remains as bad as ever at wacky harem antics, this is still an excellent volume of Index.

By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “To Aru Majutsu no Index” by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

Last time I said that Index was not in the book at all. Well… she’s not in this book either. More importantly than that, however, is that Touma is entirely absent from this book as well, though one might argue that his presence is felt in terms of the two protagonists who take over for him. In fact, as the series goes on and expands, we’re going to see this more and more. A Certain Magical Index is not just about Touma anymore. And so we have other protagonists that step up. (No, sorry, Mikoto, you aren’t in this one either. But you get the more popular side manga anyway.) The first protagonist should be very familiar to Index readers, as it’s Accelerator, who’s still calling himself a villain and thinking of himself as the worst, despite the fact that he saves more lives in this book than anyone else, and has a guardian and adopted daughter more than willing to lay down their life to stop him going mad and destroying the world. As for the other protagonist, I’m afraid I’m going to have to get EVEN NERDIER than usual.

I’m limiting “Introduced in this volume” only to those who either appear in future books or have an impact on future books. So: Shizuri Mugino, Rikou Takitsubo, Saiai Kinuhata, Frenda (Seivelun), Xochitl, Baba Yoshio, Kakine Teitoku, “Girl in the Dress”, Chimitsu Sunazara, Shiage Hamazura, Hattori Hanzou. The Railgun manga is ongoing, which may explain why Kazari Uiharu gets a bigger role in this book than she ever did before or will again. In terms of timeline, it’s the day after Book 14, so presumably Touma and Index are flying back from France. By the way, I mentioned the Railgun manga. Fans of that series will note that over half the people I just mentioned as debuting in this book had large roles in the ongoing railgun storyline to some degree or another, particularly the members of ITEM. Indeed, Frenda pretty much gets all her development in Railgun, for reasons that will become apparent once you finish Index 15. (She doesn’t even get a last name in this book!) Xochitl too is expanded on quite a bit in that series.

As for the obvious, I told a little white lie in the “this volume” above. Shiage Hamazura and Hattori Hanzou are introduced in the first volume of Index short stories, which came out between Books 13 and 14. Yen Press generally does not license side story volumes, so we’re not seeing this. Fortunately, some of the important stuff is covered in the anime, as it adapted the “Skill Out Uprising” story which introduces Shiage Hamazura and has him confront Touma as a rather two-bit villain. Touma, needless to say, kicks his ass. This happens about 9 days prior to the events in this book, in the long break between Books 13 and 14. At some point after that, Hamazura gets picked up by ITEM and turned into their lackey, which is where we see him in Railgun, and also at the start of this book. (The SS volume also shows us Sasha Kreutsev, who Index readers with long memories will remember had her form used by the villain of the 4th novel.) So while I hate to say “go watch the anime” in my light novel review, go watch the anime.

As for this book, it’s rather hard to review, mostly as I’m coming at it about ten years after it was published, and after the author has spent most of Railgun trying to expand on several of the groups and people introduced here. I have trouble judging if something felt forced or if the reader at the time would shrug and move on. As an example, Mugino going completely berserk and attempting to kill the rest of her team is something that I suspect might have had a reader going “huh, where the heck did that come from?” to someone who is meeting her for the first time here, to the point where Hamazura actually has to spell out her motivations to us in one of his speeches. But fans of Railgun will likely be thinking “I was waiting for her to finally snap, and now it’s happened”.

I’d mentioned Touma was absent here, but he’s very much on the minds of both Accelerator, who puts him on a pedestal that can’t possibly be lived up to, as well as Hamazura, who is inspired by him to actually fight back against a Level 5 for the sake of the girl he loves. (In general Kamachi is not great at writing romance, but I give him props for trying. Hamazura and Takitsubo are pretty cute here, and there are one or two hints dropped before the climax that they like each other.) Most of what occurs here, as with much of Index’s plot lately, is a consequence of the previous volume. In this case, all of Academy City’s heavy hitters being called to Avignon means the villainous groups are running amock. Naturally, our group of villains emerges victorious, meaning it’s the last group standing at the end.

I also want to take the time to praise Uiharu, who only gets about 3 pages to show off her badassery, and gets her shoulder and collarbone dislocated for her troubles, but standing up to the 2nd most powerful person in Academy City, and even sticking her tongue out him? That’s amazing. (I also note that Japan, for some reason, has fanart pairing her and Kakine romantically. To which I have to say: NO.) Also kudos to Yomikawa and Last Order for being able to talk Accelerator down. That said, I suspect that every single person in Academy City knows what his weak point is now, and if I were Last Order I would not feel safe.

There’s little humor in this book, and a lot of action and betrayal. As such, it’s playing on Kamachi’s strengths, and ends up being a quick and exciting read. I would like to check back in on Index next time, though. She is in the title.

By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “To Aru Majutsu no Index” by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

It’s hard, as this series goes on, not to feel that we are headed towards a certain point of no return. Indeed, Touma’s job in this book is to try to stop the world from descending into total war, and he only just manages to keep it in check. Both sides, magic and science, are clearly cruising for a bruising, so to speak, and I’m pretty sure that eventually there’s going to be no way to stop everything blowing up. This time around the French city of Avignon is completely destroyed, and though there are attempts to try to say “oh, they’re only knocking people unconscious”, there’s clearly significant innocent casualties. This is not helped by the Roman Cathol… Orthodox Church’s mid control weapon, or the fact that Touma and Accelerator are both used here as the equivalent of nuclear weapons dropped on the enemy. Despite Touma’s best efforts, things are getting worse, not better.

Introduced in this volume: Suama Oyafune, Monaka Oyafume. Terra of the Left also makes his first proper appearance here, though of course it’s also his last. We’re into October now, 3 months after the start of the Index series. Since the last book the Railgun cast has been busy, as most of the Dream Ranker arc has happened, and Saten and Frenda have continued to bond and become good friends. This assumes that you ignore the actual text of Index 14, in which Mikoto sees Uiharu and thinks “oh, that friend of Kuroko’s I don’t know”. On the bright side, in real life, the Index and Railgun mangas have both started, meaning hopefully that continuity will start to match up with them. And don’t worry, Uiharu, I bet you get a big scene soon! We’ve also seen the first Index short story collection come out. These sadly are not licensed by Yen, which is a shame, as sometimes they tie into the plot of the main storyline more than most short story collections. More on that next time. And, most significantly, this is the first volume that has not been made into an anime.

As for this book, Index is completely absent, and it’s Itsuwa who plays the heroine, as you might have guessed from the cover. Aside from the hand towel joke, which has already gotten old (as with almost all jokes the author attempts), I quite like Itsuwa. She’s capable, cute, and clearly meant to contrast with all the girls Touma knows who get angry and hit him at the drop of a hat. When he points out her top has become see-through due to rescuing him from a river, she just blushes and rushes off to change. No surprise that she rapidly became a fan favorite, and we’ll see her back soon. Tsuchimikado is also around in this book, mostly serving as Touma’s backup and deliverer of exposition, although we’ve reached the point in the series where Touma can figure most things out on his own. The plot is, to be honest, slight. Touma is sent to stop a magical maguffin that is causing Roman Orthodox believers to riot and want to destroy Academy City. He does, eventually. The end.

That said, there are important things going on here, not least of which is realizing that Touma’s last name, Kamijou, may be a lot more significant than we had previously expected. Touma’s right hand power, Imagine Breaker, is clearly a giant mystery still, and he hasn’t harnessed most of its power. Terra fo the Left implies that he knew more about it before the memory loss, but I’m not really sure that’s the case. More importantly, thanks to accidentally leaving his cell phone on during a battle, Mikoto also now knows about his memory loss – but not WHEN it happened. Given that she’s been worried lately that he’s been ignoring her, I suspect she thinks he may have forgotten the Sisters arc.

In any case, it looks as if Acqua of the Back, who has proven to be the most reasonable of the antagonists du jour, is up next. Before that, however, we’ll flip back to the Science side, which is having its own chaotic power struggles. Index fans will enjoy this one, although I suspect most of them are looking towards the next volume…

By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “To Aru Majutsu no Index” by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

Last time I bemoaned my dislike of the author trying to be funny, which he does every once in a while. Fortunately, this book is the sequel to Book 12, which had all the funny stuff front-loaded, and so it is content to be a giant series of fights, showing off Touma’s stubborn drive to help people, Accelerator realizing that no, anti-hero doesn’t quite fit yet, he’s still a villain, and Crowley using people as unwitting pawns to such an extent that he’s actually called out on it at the end. In short, it’s doing the things I like to read A Certain Magical Index for, and therefore I would argue it’s an excellent volume. It also features a significant role for Index, who contrasts with Accelerator so much that it boggles the mind that their paths keep intersecting. Still waiting for her to be useless and annoying, that must be anime-only, I swear.

Introduced in this volume: Acqua of the Back, Terra of the Left (voice only). Compared to the ranting, deeply broken Vento of the Front, whose hatred and fury at anything related to science has literally been weaponized by the Catholic… geh, by the Orthodox Church, Acqua looks to be fairly sensible and calm. Of course, he still threatens Touma with death, but honestly, Touma can be a bit overbearing. And frankly, Acqua was right, Vento can’t just say “wait, I was wrong all along” and switch sides the way so many other opponents Touma’s dealt with have done. In terms of chronology, we’re directly after the events in Book 12, and the two read as a two-book set. Uiharu is slightly less out of character here at least, in her one scene before she collapses like most of the population in the city.

We also see Hyouka Kazakiri as well, and honestly it’s been so look since the 6th book I won’t blame anyone who had forgotten her. Sadly, she’s mostly used as a walking plot device, and I have a sneaking suspicion will continue to be irrelevant after this book is finished. Presumable she and Index are out having burgers and Cokes whenever the focus is not on them. The really important plot here, though, is Accelerator, who gets his first real spotlight since his “rehabilitation” in the 5th book. It wasn’t much of a rehabilitation, to be honest, and those who like their heroes and villains to be black and white won’t like this book at all. Most of his victims are mooks who also seem to be happy to kill innocent civilians if it serves them, but it’s the WAY Accelerator kills them – in one case punching a woman’s jaw off and then crushing her in a hydraulic press – that leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Not that I think it’s bad – it’s exactly what the author wants to do, showing us how much of Accelerator’s goodwill is entirely tied to Last Order, and when she’s not around or captured, god help everyone. I will leave the mysterious black Angel Wings he sprouts before sending Kihara into the sky like a rocket for a later date.

If you have been reading Index, this is a good one – no surprise given it’s an odd number. Good fights, Index gets to actually do things using the magic the narrative keeps insisting she doesn’t have, Touma gets to alternately talk and punch a villain down to size, and the frog-faced Doctor draws a line in the sand – and also shows us how close he really is to the heart of Academy City. And next time we take another European field trip, this time to France, and finally see why fandom loves Itsuwa so much.

By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “To Aru Majutsu no Index” by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

I’m afraid that I just have to say it at this point: Kamachi is simply not very good at writing comedy. Deliberate comedy, like the events of the first 3/4 or so of this book, seems like it should be something of a success for him, but he gets tripped up by his own overly wordy prose, and also the tendency to rely on familiar cliches and character types – “tee hee, she’s embarrassed to admit her feelings” pretty much defines Mikoto, but it’s not funny per se. The anime actually improved much of this by cutting it down and removing the musty prose, and it’s one of the few times I recommend watching the anime as it handles the material better than the source. Unfortunately, as most of this book is a “cooldown” book, we’re left with another even-number volume curse. It certainly picks up speed by the cliffhanger ending, though.

Introduced in this volume: Amata Kihara. For the most part, this is catching up with old characters and seeing how they’re doing. Kihara is a nasty piece of work, and keep an eye out for his last name in future volumes, as he’s party of a family of nasty pieces of work. We’ve also seen another Kihara, Gensei, as one of the main villains in a Railgun arc. Speaking of Railgun, take those timelines and crumple them in a ball, as we see Mikoto run into Uiharu here, and she barely knows who she is beyond “Kuroko’s friend”. The anime corrected this, of course, since it already took place after Railgun’s first season. This is the trouble with sprawling continuities with multiple spinoffs – you’re going to get contradictions like this. (Uiharu is also OOC here, still being in the “I aspire to be a pure young maiden” stage.) Obviously, this also takes place immediately after Vol. 11 of Index, as Vento of the Front has arrived in Academy City and is here to kick ass and chew bubblegum.

The main conceit of this book, however, is to reintegrate Accelerator into the main events of Academy City. After his seeming heel-face turn in Vol. 5 (though he’d be the first to deny that was what it was), he’s been getting healed in a hospital, and he and Last Order are finally able to move out. Not that they’re going far, as they’re moving in with Yomikawa and Yoshikawa, who continue to have vaguely yuri subtext if you bother to hunt closely for it. Accelerator is quite grumpy about the fact that he can’t use his power for more than 15 minutes anymore, and can’t use it at all – even to keep himself coherent – without the help of the remaining Misaka clones he hadn’t killed off. His understandable self-hatred is a running theme, as he doesn’t really believe he can ever be redeemed (many fans would agree). As for Last Order, she’s still pretty much a brat here, stealing Misaka 10032’s goggles and taking off.

The highlight of the book, deliberately, is the crossing of heroines. Touma is out on a “date” with Mikoto as his punishment game for losing at the Athletic Festival, and Accelerator is out and about trying to find where Last Order has run off. As a result, they each run into the other’s main girl – Last Order has a chat with Touma, and Accelerator comes across a very hungry Index, who he proceeds to feed hamburgers, which may be a mistake. This is not really the highlight per se, of course – as I indicated earlier, the comedy is not as good as it could be, and the anime did it better. What makes it a highlight is the end of the book, where things turn serious – Kihara is here to take back Last Order, and nullifies Accelerator’s powers. Meanwhile, Vento of the Front has invaded and is taking out all of the security forces with apparent magical powers. As a result, at the end of the book the heroines have shifted once more – Index is here to rescue Accelerator (somehow), and Last Order is tearfully asking Touma for help.

It’s a nifty cliffhanger, and should be resolved next time. We also may get even more old faces, as Aleister talks about using Hyouka Kazakiri (remember her?) to help wipe out the Roman Orthodox Church invasion. Somehow – how he plans to use a meek, busty, somewhat nonexistent girl is something that will have to wait for another time. In the end, this isn’t the best volume of Index, but I suspect it needs to be judged when read with Vol. 13, due out in November.

By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “To Aru Majutsu no Index” by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

The Index series is very fond of building on previous volumes and showing us that nothing takes place in a vacuum – there are no “stand alone” novels, everything impacts something else. And so this volume ends up being something of a direct sequel to the 7th volume, as Touma and Index win a trip to Italy (that was clearly rigged, though that’s not made explicit) and barely manage to arrive in a small city near Venice before they are once again embroiled in the Roman Orthodox’s attempts to regain power whatever the cost. This also follows up on events from Vols. 9 and 10 = Lidvia failed, and so the church is even more desperate, and looking for scapegoats. And what better scapegoats than the group of nuns who failed in the 7th book, led by Agnes Sanctis, who it turns out is far too similar to Touma and Orsola for her own good. For a book that goes to Italy and back in under 24 hours, there’s a lot going on here.

Introduced in this volume: Biagio Busoni, Itsuwa, Pope Matthai Reese, Vento of the Front. The latter two are not explicitly named. Busoni is the villain of the volume, but like Lidvia he ends up being another in a series of failures. Itsuwa is the most important introduction here, but you wouldn’t guess it from her small and pointless appearance in this volume, where she spends the entire time handing Touma hot towels and harboring an obvious crush on him, which the other Amakusa Catholics encourage and get frustrated by. (So she clearly saw Touma in action in Book 7, even if she wasn’t named – the anime adding her makes total sense.) The Pope and Vento appear in the final cliffhanger scene, and make it clear that the Church is not going away. Timeline-wise, it’s the end of September, and the festival has mostly ended but school hasn’t started up yet, which is why Touma and Index can go to Italy. In the Railgun timeline, we’re starting the Dream Ranker arc, though honestly at this point it gets harder to mesh timelines – Railgun hasn’t hit books after this one yet.

As you might be able to tell by the cover, Index gets significant time in this book, even though Agnes is the heroine that Touma is saving this time around, and arguably Orsola gets more to do. I have a bit of a reputation as an Index apologist, but even her detractors would have to admit that she’s at her best in this book, showing off her knowledge of Europe and ability to speak multiple languages, saving Touma and Orsola from a sniper attack, and continuing to use magic despite characters literally saying she can’t use magic mere pages later. (I understand what they’re trying to say – Index herself has no magic ability, she’s just using the books within her. But it’s semantics at this point, given she’s speaking spells that alter the trajectory of bullets and the like.) Actually, the one big flaw in this book is Touma, who spends most of it being far grumpier and angrier than he has any right to be – Index does bite him a couple of times, but the prose makes it very clear that he was asking for it heavily.

And once again we have the Roman Orthodox Church as villains, though Orsola exists to show off the goodness that can still exist within them. Of course, she’s off to join the English Puritans, and from a strictly religious standpoint, this could be disquieting – but this is a fantasy where magic is thrown around like candy, so there’s no need to examine it too hard. As always, the book goes out of the way to avoid using the word “Catholic” in regards to this church, even though we have the Russian Catholic Church mentioned. Indeed, for a book with as much religion as this one has, Jesus Christ is never named explicitly – which could be a simple translation choice, but also makes sense, given that these Roman Catholics seems to place far more faith in powerful tools, such as the Cross that Jesus died on (Crossist is used a lot) than Jesus’ teachings, which only Orsola seems to take to heart. Again, Index is fascinating in many ways, but devout Catholics may want to skip it.

This volume ends with a cliffhanger, but I’m not sure that we’ll see it resolved in the next book, as Touma’s punishment game should take center stage. Also, isn’t it about time we see Accelerator again? In any event, this is a very good volume that will please casual light novels readers.

By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “To Aru Majutsu no Index” by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

This picks up immediately after the end of the previous volume, as befits a two-part arc. In fact, Kamachi helpfully provides a recap for anyone who may have somehow skipped the previous book. I had wondered if we’d get more athletic events for the festival, but no, sadly the festival is mostly offscreen for Touma, as he spends 4/5 of the volume chasing after Oriana Thomson, watching her nearly kill his friends, and arguing with her on the nature of doing good and how it’s impossible for everyone to share the same view, ethics, or religion – it’s all influenced by their own head. Luckily, the Roman Catholic Church is coming to the rescue to change everyone’s minds into their own! For some strange reason, Touma objects to this…

Introduced in this volume: no one! Given this is the second in a two-parter, we get no new characters. That said, Lidvia certainly gets a lot more to do here, and she’s really not a pleasant person at all, though when given Lady of the Tiger choice she at least attempts to do the right thing by choosing Lady AND Tiger. We also see Laura Stuart (or rather hear Laura Stuart) at her most devious and cunning – Lidvia has a long way to go to get to Laura’s level. Himegami also gets a larger role in this book, and it once again reflects on her status as a “failed heroine” – she wants to do romantic things with Touma, but he’s too busy saving the world, and in the end she ends up an innocent victim who Touma doesn’t even have the time to rescue – Stiyl and Komoe-sensei have to do it. (I will simply ignore the ship tease between Stiyl and Komoe in this book, because eurgh.)

Luckily she’s cheered up by Index, who also gets very little to do this book, but that’s by design, as most of the Magic Side know that Index is a plot maguffin and so they have to keep an eye on her to see what’s going to happen. Of course, finding out Touma is once again getting himself hospitalized without her knowing anything makes her grumpier. I find Index far more tolerable in prose form – no offense to Yuka Iguchi, but I think Index herself simply sounds less stupid in the books as opposed to the anime. She’s the emotional core of the series, and it’s her purity that inspires many other characters – most obviously Touma and Stiyl here. (She also gets a great line about Peter Pan when looking at the youthful looks of Touma and Mikoto’s mothers, which the anime sadly cut.)

The book itself does its level best to conceal its big secret: this entire runaround was pointless, and chasing after Oriana was meant to be a distraction. Luckily, like follows like, and pointless follows pointless – for all that Lidvia succeeds in her ritual, it’s useless due to Academy City’s fireworks show lighting up the sky. I think one reason Index is so upset is that she could have saved him a lot of running around and injuries by simply having hm ask her, but then when you’re a walking magic wikipedia… In any case, a good volume, and less magic theory than the 9th book (though we still get some, mostly related to astrology). Next time, Index Does Italy!