By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “Shinyaku To Aru Majutsu no Index” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse.
I’ve been dealing with a very bad cold the last few days, which might explain some of this, but not all of it: there were a few points in this book I was genuinely laughing out loud. Longtime readers will know that I find Index, much like Strike the Blood, to be rather pathetic when it comes to actual humor, mostly as the humor tends towards the usual shonen harem “whoops I just groped you ha ha” jokes. And indeed, there’s one of those in here too, and it’s not funny. But there is a scene in this book where Mugino is trying to bake something from a cookbook, and the entire scene is just so bizarre and out there I could not stop laughing. It’s the good kind of funny. Likewise, this is the good kind of Index book. Touma runs all over creation, gets everyone mad at him, tries to save a girl, and gets shot in the chest multiple times. OK, that last one is new.
No, that’s not a new character on the cover. You’ve seen Headband Girl before, and if you really want to feel like a nerd, go and look for her page on the Index wiki. Wait, you mean the blond bishie? Yeah, he is new. That’s Thor, looking nothing like Chris Hemsworth. Thor is technically part of GREMLIN, but he’s not very happy with them at the moment after the events of the last two books. As for Touma, he’s dealing with having been away for so long and it being festival time – which means he should be at the school doing prep. Unfortunately for Touma, not only is Ollerus trying to stop and explain the plot and backstory of the entire series to him (Touma is mostly uninterested), but Thor wants to save a girl named Fräulein Kreutune, and gets really pissed off that Touma is no longer a one-dimensional caricature of himself. What’s to be done?
Fräulein Kreutune does indeed look to be the latest girl that needs to be saved, but I’m fairly certain it’s not going to be Touma doing it, especially as she’s befriended Last Order and Fremea. Right now she’s creepy and monotone, I suspect that won’t last. She and Thor are the big new characters, but there’s also a bunch of returning favorites, some of whom I suspected and some of whom are a genuine surprise. I’m fairly positive that whatever is confronting Mugino is NOT the vengeful ghost of Frenda back from the dead, nor do I think Frenda is actually Not Dead After All, so we’ll see what’s up with that next time. The return of Kakine delights me far less, but I’m more worried about the woman telling him to go wild than I am about him personally. As for Touma? Well, he gets himself shot multiple times in the chest as a distraction to confuse the enemy. Which is par for the course.
This is a 2-parter, so we’ll have to wait till the next volume to find out what happens. If you like Index hijinks, this is for you. It even has Mikoto in it! She doesn’t do anything, but hey. And it has Index in it! She doesn’t do anything, but hey.
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