To Aru Majutsu no Index II – Ep. 1

So  they started off with a short story about a magician that wanted to use of the grimoires in Index to cure someone he cared about whose afflicted with a curse. It was a decent episode to start off with as it gives a short recap of what happened previously and reintroduces Toma and his right hand, and Index with all those grimoires in her head. there was only one thing of note though this episode, and that’s dere dere Mikoto!!,/a>

She just showed up briefly after Toma bumped into her; with no other purpose than to just make an appearance. But even so, it was one of the highlights of the episode for me! I mean how often do you get to see Mikoto all dere dere like that?!? Ahhhhh, just remembering it makes me feel all warm inside!

In any case, next episode seems to start the arc with the Amakusa Catholics. Which means, either next episode or the one after we’ll get to see Itsuwa!!! Can’t wait for that!

That said, let’s review the new opening and ending songs!

Opening: “No Buts!” by Mami Kawada

I really like the song, it’s just what you expect from Mami Kawada! It’s got that “pumped” feeling to it; like Shakugan no Shana Second op “Joint”. They’re really putting in lots of images from the Amakusa arc in too, but my only complaint about that is not enough Itsuwa!! I do love the images of Oriana Thomson and Mikoto’s mom in the opening though. Makes me pretty sure a few people will add those 2 characters to the To Aru Majutsu no Index doujinshi repertoire. So I expect to see them in the next Comiket doujinshi batch. That aside, there was a lot of Toma x Index implications in the opening (At least I feel that way) with the saving grace being Mikoto running to get in between the two towards the end.

Ending: “Magic∞world” by Maon Kurosaki

The song itself isn’t bad; I’ve never hear a Mano Kurosaki song before, so this one is my first. It’s a good song, but nothing stands out to me. The images they use feel a little cliched and remind me of the 2nd ending for season 1 “the whole walking down the street thing”. Not to say I dislike it; it just doesn’t wow me.