Summary Key Points:

[spoiler]

• The city wide Sports Festival begins in Academy city.
• Touma finds out that magicians are infiltrating the city under the commotion of the festival in order to make an exchange
• Touma runs into one of the magicians, by grasping her hand and having his imagine breaker activate
• The episode ends with Touma tailing the magician, Oriana Thompson, with her fully aware of it

[/spoiler]

Opinions: (A+)

This is it. This is what I was waiting for ever since Index II was announced. An episode filled with everything that makes the franchise so darn epic, there is just too much awesome to talk about in regards to this episode.

Let me to start off at, well… the very start. We get to see Touma and Mikoto’s parents! I laughed at the whole scene where Touma’s dad ran into Mikoto’s mom. Seems like Touma got his womanizing skills genetically XD. It was also interesting to see Touma and Mikoto as they made their bet right infront of their parents. I have to say… This episode had the right dose of Touma x Mikoto moments, and it was definitely great to see Touma not totally ignoring her like he did in the start of the season. The part where Mikoto is watching Touma and his school mates all fired up, and then thinking it was because Touma wanted her to “Do something” was just funny as hell. Added to that was the part where she grabbed Touma just as Index was about to bite him, and then gave him her half consumed drink (while going extremely red) was awesome. It was pretty darn funny that said event was broadcasted all over academy city, setting off a very kill-ready Shirai .

Speaking of funny, Touma got his share of “unfortunate” events due to his so called “bad luck” that he gets from his Imagine Breaker. Now.. I say so called, because from one perspective, Touma really got to live the life (so to speak XD). Let me elaborate…

He accidentally steps on a pipe, and gets his rather “big breasted” student council friend Fukiyose’s shirt wet,  with her bra totally showing through. He later, enters a classroom to get a cellphone, only to find a girl in the midst of changing. He then sees Index changing as well, and as she jumps to bite him, she ends up kissing him on the cheek. As Index collapses, fainting from embarrassment, Fukiyose comes back, misunderstanding the situation, and grabs his hand, leading him away. As they are walking, someone bumps into Touma and his face comes dangerously close to hers, and he is promptly headbutted away. He falls back, firmly landing into another set of boobs, this time of the villain of the arc. Oriana, herself, being quite the slutty character herself, offers to apologize by giving him a kiss… XD

So yes, from one perspective, Touma actually has the kind of luck most teenagers his age dream of XD. It was hilarious funny seeing him mingle with so many women, all of which, seem to be quite interested in him. As one of my friends would say, “You dawg”. It is a testament to his character that he never actually intends to do any of things that he ends up doing, which makes it all the more funny XD

I have to comment on the character they introduced this episode, Fukiyose. She seems like another girl that is particularly close to Touma. Of all the girls in particular, I felt like this one actually had some really strong chemistry with Touma, which is odd to say the least, given that I’m a Mikoto x Touma shipper, and that this is really the first episode in which I’ve ever seen her. I really did think like the whole moment of Touma blurting out that he did want a kiss from Oriana and being smacked was very typical jelous girlfriend/wife-ish of Fukiyose. I think she’s an interesting addition to the cast, but it remains to be seen if she’s going to make an appearance beyond this episode XD

There was a lot of comedy, but I think what really helped this episode was the Sports Festival or Daihaseisai. The feeling of the event, really brought forward a feeling and culture of the rich Academy City world. Seeing mostly every recurring character that’s ever been important (sans probably Kanzaki) was a definite bonus.

Of course, it wasn’t all comedy, romance and fanservice this episode, as the stage was finally set for the next major problem that Touma has to face, this time without Kanzaki or even Index. I found it really interesting how the item that Oriana is carrying is so dangerous that it could take down Kanzaki in one swoop. Index has to stay out of it because of the whole issue with her and people coming after the 108 Magical books in her. I’m guessing this is going to lead to a Styl, Touma, Tsukimiadomo and Mikoto combination. I’m fine with Index taking a bit of a shelving, as there are so many other rich characters in the world that need their 15 minutes of fame.

I was amazed at how tightly paced, funny and fanservicey this show was, all in one episode. There was a lot to see in this one episode. This was definitely the first time since this season started, I felt had a really decent chunk of content. All in all, I think this episode pretty much covered all bases, and definitely has me, finally, excited for this arc and the entire season of Index in general. At the 8th episode of the series, I’d say its about time!

Preview:

Next week, its back to Touma dealing with magicians during Academy City events! XD