JAAA - To Aru Majutsu no Index [ep3]

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Discussion thread for To Aru Majutsu no Index. Viewing is currently up to episode 3. If you would like to post anything about the series beyond that point, it must be spoiler tagged with an appropriate tag. Discussion for episode 4 will open at 6 PM PST/9 PM EST Saturday, May 21st. Do not post any unmarked spoilers for that episode until then.

Anime Overview:

[img float=left]http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a314/acidadept/index.jpg[/img]To Aru Majutsu No Index (A Certain Magical Index)

Touma is just an extremely-unlucky ordinary high school student, living in a state-of-the-art city dedicated to the study of people with esper powers.  However, Touma possesses an unheard of ability to negate the effects of esper powers with his riht hand.  One day, he wakes up to find a young girl dressed like a nun hanging on his balcony.  Her name is Index, and she claims to be on the run from rogue magicians who desire the 103,000 magical texts in the Index Librorum Prohibitorum locked inside her head...

Based on a series of light novels.  As of 2011, with over 12 million copies sold, it is the best-selling light novel series of all time.  A spin-off manga entitled To Aru Kagaku No Railgun (A Certain Scientific Railgun) and a corresponding anime adaption has been released, centering on Academy City's 3rd Level 5, Misaka Mikoto.

Link to JAAA General thread: http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=1275.0

[Kain]

Episode one and two discussion go~!

Episode one started out interestingly enough, though I wonder why Index just stayed where she landed.  Loved the near end of ep 2 where they barged in on his sensei and she was frantically trying to clean her place up.

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Haha yeah. Shows that komoe isn't quite so much of an innocent little girl as she appears. Between that and how she was in the classroom in ep1, I think they made her out to be quite an entertaining character.

I think my favorite part of ep2 was how touma showed his cleverness in the innocentius fight. He was able to deduce innocentius's range and devise a plan that would allow him to erase it. For someone's whose only power is to stop other powers, it pretty much forces his strategy to devolve into bringing his opponent down to his level, and beating them at it, as he did with that final punch in the face to stiyl. But he showed that he could do more than just brute force his way through a fight, and actually think on the fly.

[Kain]

Indeed.  Activating the sprinklers was a nice strategy.  It was pretty easy to guess what would happen when I got a look at the papers though...especially since he's in an apartment.

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You're running for your life from a giant fiery witch-hunting pope that instantly regenerates and melts door handles upon its summoning. You've been told that the only way to stop the auto-regeneration is to destroy every last rune marking. You see the rune markings and what they're on. You see that there's a lot of them. You see that the giant fiery witch-hunting pope is coming after you again.

You don't have that much time to think. =p

What's more curious is that the fire sprinklers didn't go off just by innocentius's mere presence. As previously stated, it melts door handles upon its summoning. And yet, after its summoning, it can just stand in the hallway without any problems. Why the whole place wasn't going up in flames remains a bit of a mystery. Granted, you can say "it's magic," and that it's only hot if it's attacking you or in the process of being summoned, which would be consistent with what happens.

If I were in touma's shoes, my strategy probably would've been to lead innocentius throughout the building and have it burn the rune markings away for me, while keeping it in check with the canceler power. Of course, given the above, that may not even work, along with it being risky. Mostly due to the possible involvement of other people; touma's right hand keeps him pretty safe from innocentius, but it's only a stall measure. That's why I was particularly impressed with the sprinkler strategy. It's safe and easy, without being a traditional answer to the problem.

[Atrius (He/Him)]

Wow...  For all intents and purposes she looks, and acts like a little kid, even sleeping in bunny pajamas, but works as a teacher and lives alone in an apartment littered with beer cans and cigarettes.

It also nice to see fights actually aren't just going to end with him blocking everything his opponent can throw at him with his hand, that would have been boring.  I was a little skeptical after the first episode, but this show should turn out to be really good.

[Kain]

"You made her cry...." I laughed so hard when this part happened.

As for constantly blocking things with his hand, that would be boring indeed.  But with that kind of power, why is he considered a level 0?  (Episode 1.) One would think he'd at least be a higher rank.

[Rolina]

It's kind of implied that that very power actually nullifies the instruments/abilities used to check his level.  As a direct result, as no reading was attained, he was listed as a Level 0.  That's what he measured as, so that's what he's listed as, even if his power more or less is an anti-power capable of stopping even Level 5s.

[Kain]

...wat.

[leaf]

Well, role...
[spoiler=stuff from To Aru Kagaku no Railgun and the light novels]You have no idea how accurate that statement actually is. He's considered a level 0 because he doesn't generate an AIM field, a prerequisite for having esper abilities. Stronger espers give off bigger AIM fields.

[spoiler=what AIM fields are]"AIM" stands for "An Involuntary Movement," and is some type of energy espers unconsciously give off. It's immeasurable by standard means. AIM is a subject of ongoing research in Academy City.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=stuff that happens further on in Index]Although there may even be a better reason for why Touma is considered a level 0. The brains behind Academy City might not want him in the Judgment/Anti-Skill databanks, since he's apparently vital to their plans... whatever those plans actually are. I believe this becomes evident the first or second time we see Aeolus.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[Rolina]

It could also be that his power is separate from Esper powers and Magic.  A new ability entirely.  That too would contribute to the inability to read his level, supposedly.  I've seen a few other theories on it too, but I've never actually read the VNs, so I don't know if they're true or not.

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That's a possibility. It has been shown to cancel both esper powers and magic, and it apparently even erases things such as good luck and blessings from God, as index suggested in ep1. Therefore, it would have to exist outside of the known powers of the world.

Also, they're light novels, not visual novels.

[Rolina]

Oh, whoops.  I knew that.  Just used the wrong acronym... [/selffacepalm]

[Kain]

Any nominations to remove Index from the viewing list, speak them here.

[zman9000]

I'm sure were keeping index. its just to good.

also to sum what exactly his power we could just say, it destroys any thing not normal.
think of the ideal normal world, what ever he touches becomes normal. and anything paranormal goes away.