A Certain Magical Index III

Episode 21

Though the events depicted in this week's episode are almost entirely focused on what's happening in Russia, the scale of the war that Fiamma has instigated is nonetheless having the desired impression. The Pope is back on his feet and preparing to do what he can, and now Academy City is getting directly involved too. Even Necessarius seems to be having its own internal issues. In other words, all sorts of crazy stuff is going down once again.

As with last episode, however, this seems like more controlled and methodical craziness, as it's mostly making sense even to an anime-only viewer. The perspective nimbly bounces around between all three protagonists, the Pope, Mikoto, and even Stiyl in one of the better-edited episodes so far for this series. (Admittedly, that's not saying much.) Touma actually gets the short stick on time, with his scenes mostly amounting to him realizing that Fiamma has been manipulating him for some dastardly reason. Hamazura, meanwhile, takes off with Takitsubo once the Academy City forces show up, only to have a fateful meeting with Accelerator, hence bringing the two of them together again for the first time in quite a while. Meanwhile Accelerator is still struggling with this whole hero vs. villain mentality while actually trying to forge an alliance of common interest (aka “screw Academy City”) with Mikasa Worst. As illogical as that might seem on the surface, it does make sense given that their dispositions are very similar.

But then there's all sorts of other interesting stuff going on. Mikoto finally arrives on the scene and looks prepared to actually do something, although her action in this episode is entirely limited to saving her own butt when the plane gets destroyed. Still, meeting 10777 and knowing that Mikasa Worst is also going to be involved offers some great potential for character interactions. Elizarena possibly being able to cure both Takitsubo and (more problematically) Last Order is also an interesting twist, and watching characters like Accelerator and Hamazura have their first contacts with magic being talked about seriously is also interesting; I look forward to seeing their awed reactions if they ever encounter it. Stiyl and Laura Stuart's scene looks juicy too, especially with Index going into active mode. We even have conventional military forces getting involved as well.

For all of the stuff happening across various fronts, and for as happy as I am to see the real Mikoto active, the feature scene of this arc – and maybe even this whole third installment so far – is the one with Fiamma somehow raising the ground around Touma into a floating edifice. It's easily the coolest visual gimmick that the series has used yet and features some of its best CG work. I can't imagine what the actual purpose is for doing so, and it's entirely possible that it's just to promote the sense of it being a star. With Hyouka also speeding to join the action and another angelic figure flitting around, (Sasha maybe?) it looks like next episode is going to be packed too.

Rating: B+

A Certain Magical Index III is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.