A Certain Magical Index III
We’re still clinging onto a tiny amount of hope, thinking the 3rd season of A Certain Magical Index would provide us with the same quality as the light novel. The first two seasons were nothing but a jumbled mess. However, there were some excellent aspects as well that we could not ignore.
We’re going to be dealing with an in-depth review on A Certain Magical Index 3. Let us tell you about our experience with this season. Did they manage to improve the plot and did not escalate the story with this season? Let’s get right into it!
The story continues with Touma being stressed as ever. He just can’t take a break as the science and the magic sides are at each other's throats. Some other groups are taking advantage of the messy situation and just contributing to the chaos.
The Academy City declares war on the Roman Catholic Church, and tension rises between the two. Touma is busy with his own stuff as well as dealing with Index. He’s also watching the members of the Right Seat of God. They’re all extremely dangerous. Touma must come to the front lines yet again to protect his loved ones.
Right off the bat, the story does not make any sense. If you’ve read the light novel, there’s no way you need to watch the anime because it is so poorly executed. The events in anime are so rushed that it’s just not fun to watch it anymore. It’s evident how a massive chunk of the light novel is cut out.
One of the best arcs in the light novel, The Battle Royale Arc, was a mess. It was a bloodbath of all the characters when it was supposed to be so well-executed. It was probably one of the most well-written arcs in the light novel.
Because of the abnormally fast pace of the anime, the arcs were no longer than 3 or 4 episodes. That led to the redundant reintroduction of the characters. However, there isn’t much information about them, to begin with, as It’s all so rushed.
The first 3-4 episodes made us realize that this season will be no different from the last two seasons as it lacks depth just as the previous two seasons did. The content of the light novel had been compressed and shortened to accommodate the events in 26 episodes. The pacing is very off, and it’s the most prominent flaw that we noticed.
The characters are also not appropriately introduced, which leads us to forget them quickly over time. It will not be an exaggeration if we claim that it gets hard for us to remember the names of a few characters when they’re introduced in a particular arc and are even an essential part of that specific arc. It would’ve been great to give detailed information about the characters and their motives and not be lost in circles.
As already mentioned, the new supporting characters are hard to memorize and are easy to forget because of the lack of effort in introducing them. The main and supporting characters from the previous seasons haven’t changed much, though.
We have Touma, who always acts first and talks later. He’s still the same in the third season. Touma is mostly a significant character who takes all the spotlight in all arcs.
Index is still sidelined in the third season as she has always been in the previous seasons. She’s still annoying. We don’t get how naïve she is despite having so much intelligence. Apart from everything, she does have a kind side to her, which we like. She cares about her peers and helps them whenever they’re in need.
Misaka is the only tolerable character in the series. She’s usually everyone’s favorite. She’s seen chiefly with Touma, all flustered and sometimes angry because she’s in love with him. We would’ve liked it if her relationship with Touma progressed a bit. However, it remained the same till the end. Overall, her character did not develop until the end of the series, and her relevance remained minimal.
Accelerator, again, is a pretty exciting anti-hero who made us fall in love with him. He’s also one of the most enjoyable characters in the series. However, he is sidelined due to the events of chaos happening around him.
The quality of the animation is not as good as it was in the previous season. It’s not that awful, though. We’re just comparing it to the art of the last season. The movements are no longer so fluid and smooth. The characters often seem off with their facial expressions. The CGI was not good in this season. Overall, the animation has degraded a bit as compared to the previous season.
The only thing that we liked in this season was the lighthearted soundtrack. It goes well with the overall vibe of the series.
The background sounds, however, were not as fitting as they were in the previous seasons. The voice acting was pretty decent. Overall, the sound department did put some effort into their work, and it shows.
We waited for many years, hoping that the last season might be different from the previous ones. However, we were disappointed as it was even worse than the previous ones. The series had great potential to be one of the best anime in its genre, but its rushed plot and off-pacing ruined everything. If you liked the story, we would recommend reading the light novel instead of watching the anime. It’ll be worth it.
