To Aru Majutsu no Index - Miracle of Endymion Movie Discussion / Poll

[Ilidsor]

The movies out on UTW as of yesterday.

That was just such a fantastic movie it was everything I was looking for. The action scenes were just so well done and overall the whole movie was just gorgeous. Arisa singing and dancing sort of went into the uncanny valley but not enough that I couldn't watch it.

I'm really glad they worked so many characters in, and didn't have a "final boss fight" but instead all the characters working together. I only wish Accelerator had had some more screen time.

I definitely want some more Shutaura in the series. She was easily my favorite new character from the movie. Her fighting was basically Kanzaki's style + explosions.

10/10

[Solace]

I mostly liked it. Great animation and action scenes, nice balance between comedy and drama, and Arisa/Shuatara was a great new character. On the downside, I felt the villain was really pointless, a character for the sake of needing someone to root against. I couldn't really find anything interesting about her character and it felt like the movie actually wanted it to be that way. "Don't worry, she's just bad". It felt very empty.

Likewise, so did the resolution. One complaint I commonly have against anime movies is that they tend to end rather abruptly, with limited or no resolution at all. You get the big climax, some empty "and life goes on" moments, and then the credits roll. It's a bit frustrating.

You never see Shuatara after the event. Is she okay? Locked up in some experimental cage somewhere? The ending implies maybe she's singing? You just don't know. You have to assume things worked out alright because of the somewhat uplifting tone of the ending. And the extremely vague description of her powers really bothered me. How did she end up working as some kind of elite bodyguard? Where did those powers come from? Was the "miracle" power some kind of perfect storm of mental powers? Was she ever a saint, or was she an esper?

Ditto with the villain. So she lived. Does this mean we'll see her again? Is she in a coma now? Where is she? Does the city hold her, or does the church?

And while it was nice to see all the familiar faces in the Toaru universe, the movie really struggles to contain the size of the cast. There's a reason we're now up to three(!) main series, because the cast keeps growing and growing with little overarching plot resolution in sight. Yet here, they are used because fans want to see them, and they're essentially plot devices. They perform their role, and quickly exit the scene.

And while for once, Touma's speeches weren't irritating lectures, I've gotten tired of the face punching after the lecture meme.

So while I did enjoy the movie, it was mostly forgettable, and I feel like more could have been done to advance the overall story(ies) in the Toaru universe rather than toss up a one shot fan pandering festival like so many anime movies before it.

[Haak]

I was trolled. Completely trolled.

Otherwise it was a nice film. Not amazing and mostly predictable but enjoyable. I ended up comparing it to the recent Blue Exorcist film which I thought was better.

[Primary Consult]

On the one hand, I loved it:
+I basically felt like I was watching a new LN.
+This probably has my favorite magic-side sequences in the entire series. Kanzaki has some much needed screentime and Styl... that harem.
+There was a lot of character based humor [I was laughing so hard I had to pause after Saten whipped out the bat].
+Subtleties like Komoe's car with the hand pedals.

On the other hand:
-Kuroko was exceptionally annoying [and I usually like her].
-I'm not a big fan of idol singing mixed into plot. Since that was about 1/3 the story...

[mistress_kisara]

Originally Posted by Haak

I was trolled. Completely trolled.

Otherwise it was a nice film. Not amazing and mostly predictable but enjoyable.

Same with me, although there were some unnecessary characters like those three mages with Styl, I think its just a lame attempt to add more girls..

But yeah overall it was enjoyable

[Chaos2Frozen]

I'll need some times to collect my thoughts over this It's unfortunate that I'm watching this on the small screen at home, I'm sure in a theater setting it would have been way more awesome. Got to make full use of the 1080p FLAC baby


-> Excellent Animation and atmosphere setting, the sharpness of lighting and colours are like Railgun S on overdrive. The real Miracle is if this could carry over even two-thirds into the next season

-> I really like the balance on both side of Magic and Science in this Movie. Some of the stories are either too much into one or the other, but I thought there was a nice balance. Which brings me to the next point...

-> The fights were freaking cool Half of it was thanks to the overdrive Animation but the choreography was good as well. Definitely help recharged my system after the last three uneventful episodes of... Well, you know. Again, if they could bring a decent portion of it into the third season, it would be a miracle.

-> Even though Arisa was being promo as the heroine of this movie, I felt that Shutaura played that role better and was the more fleshed out of the two... Okay technically they're both the same-- Well, you understand

-> Lol Tsuchimikado! The man with a plan for everything! Didn't get his hands dirty at all but is still the hero who sets everything in place. Still, how did he manage to stow away a Kanzaki in the back

-> 3! 2! 1! It would have been perfect if Kakine was there instead of Stiyl Speaking of which, they're really playing up the whole "Stiyl's Angels" angle in this huh? I'm guessing we'll see them very soon in New Testament.

-> Our three main protagonists did their jobs well, nothing truly outstanding except for a few 'nice tricks' from Kamijou. I wonder why they don't have all the great banters that we get from the LN? Makes me a bit wory that they would remove them in the third season as well.

-> Going into this completely absent of the details, I can see the abrupt transition between scenes still plagues the series, but at the same time it's certainly not something that the audience couldn't fill in the blanks. I wish the epilogue would be a bit longer though... Kamachi seems to be writing these abrupt endings quite a lot.

-> The songs were decent-to-good; they weren't particular catchy though, except for maybe the theme song and Kawada Mami's Ending.



Overall, I'll be looking forward to the next high production value Index Animation, whether it's the third season or another movie down the road from there

[greensoulreaper]

The movie was great, I just didn't like the ending where the audience is kind of left hanging with wondering what happened to Shutaura and Arisa afterwards. There is a subtle implication that they are somewhere out there but it's still lacking I think. It was nice seeing all the ToAru characters get screen time in this movie. I felt a wave of nostalgia. The action sequences were amazing. Definitely theater quality stuff there... now I have cravings for Index III.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Delicious irony- Saten being embarrassed about short skirts

[tsunade666]

Originally Posted by mistress_kisara

Same with me, although there were some unnecessary characters like those three mages with Styl, I think its just a lame attempt to add more girls..

But yeah overall it was enjoyable

I agree... the movie tried many things but has little time that I didn't get to enjoy it that much. Though I liked it but I felt that it wasn't up to what I expect. Story wise but like I can anything about because that's just the way it is.

Kamachi make a story plot that span for a series and not a movie. I felt disappointed at some point after watching it.

While I watched it. I didn't get much disappointed because the whole watch is fun and exciting and I love the song in the climax but after watching it. It left you with dissatisfied emotion. Like there should be more and there should be less of this and more of that

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by tsunade666

While I watched it. I didn't get much disappointed because the whole watch is fun and exciting and I love the song in the climax but after watching it. It left you with dissatisfied emotion. Like there should be more and there should be less of this and more of that

Go watch the Index-tan Movie special.

I guarantee that it would get rid of any disappointment you might feel

[Gohan78]

I liked the movie but I felt that it could benefit from at least 10 minutes of additional footage.

Certain scene transitions were too abrupt. The most offending example is the scene after Arisa's debut live. We went from Touma being all battered and having to be supported by Shutaura to Touma being perfectly fine and meeting with Arisa again.

There were also a couple of things left unexplained, one minor and one major IMHO.
The minor one was: how did Arisa know Mikoto?
The major one was: who is Ladylee and why is she immortal? We see a brief flashback of a dying man giving her two stones (?) but it was never explained. I think this is a major mistake because we didn't get the reasons of the villain.
(We also don't see Shutaura in the epilogue but I am content with the implication that she merged with Arisa and got back her ability to sing.)

As usual for anime movies, they wanted to give a cammeo to as many characters as possible, even Kongo Mitsuko and her lackeys! They could have used that time to better explain the plot.

I know that a rule of anime movies is that the main character must be the one to save the day but it made little sense to send only Touma and Index in the shuttle (with Kaori's backup). Touma didn't even punch the true villain this time!

Despite my criticisms, it was nice to see the magic side back again and the songs were good. Overall I give it a 8/10.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by Gohan78

The minor one was: how did Arisa know Mikoto?

This was in the PSP prequel game.



http://dengekionline.com/elem/000/00...3/index-2.html

Originally Posted by Gohan78

The major one was: who is Ladylee and why is she immortal? We see a brief flashback of a dying man giving her two stones (?) but it was never explained. I think this is a major mistake because we didn't get the reasons of the villain.
(We also don't see Shutaura in the epilogue but I am content with the implication that she merged with Arisa and got back her ability to sing.)

http://pax222.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-142.html

-Ladylee
She gained immortality after eating ambrosia given for saving a soldier during a crusade expedition.
This messed with the cycle of her body and prevents her from using magic
She needs someone to cast magic for her and went to space becuase of its lack of ley lines and directions
She is deep under AC, but could crawl back up since she is immortal

-Arisa
She became one with Shutaura and therefore gained a form neither Aleister nor Laura can understand
She might be singing somewhere in AC while looking like Shutaura
Her breasts might have grown a bit

Originally Posted by Gohan78

I know that a rule of anime movies is that the main character must be the one to save the day but it made little sense to send only Touma and Index in the shuttle (with Kaori's backup). Touma didn't even punch the true villain this time!

Technically Kamijou didn't saved the day, he only saved the girl.

In fact, it was everybody else that saved the day.

[Hiss13]

So, I finally got the chance to watch the movie (albeit in multiple sittings rather than all at once) and I really enjoyed it.

Yay
-Great animation (movie budget, duh)
-Great character development for Arisa and Shutaura
-Great climax
-Action scenes
-Good music
-Mami Kawada ending

Nay
-A bit rushed
-The epilogue was too short (could have expanded on what happened to Shutaura afterwards)
-Character development for Ladylee was not sufficient

Overall, it was a good movie that would have probably been much better if it had 30 more minutes to develop itself.
Although, I am still kinda confused about what happened to Shutaura...so is she now the 9th Saint?

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by Hiss13

Overall, it was a good movie that would have probably been much better if it had 30 more minutes to develop itself.
Although, I am still kinda confused about what happened to Shutaura...so is she now the 9th Saint?

No, that was just a temporary label they gave her. In the end neither Aleister nor Laura knows what she is exactly, they could only speculate that she's a sort of distortion in reality.

Or at least, that's how Aleister explains it using Esper Science.

[Hiss13]

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

No, that was just a temporary label they gave her. In the end neither Aleister nor Laura knows what she is exactly, they could only speculate that she's a sort of distortion in reality.

Or at least, that's how Aleister explains it using Esper Science.

Ahh, I see....somewhat...
There is that keyword "distortion" again. Kamachi is really trying his best to make sure that word pops up as much as possible, eh?

[Random Wanderer]

I thought it was clear that Shutaura had to be a saint. Her powers temporarily manifested outside of her as Arisa, but now that they've merged she's got them back again. Of course, given the blog comments, it seems the act of being two people and becoming one again while possessing power on the level of a saint has made her into something new that no one quite understands. But it is likely she is still a saint. Just a saint with an existence that is inexplicable.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by Hiss13

Ahh, I see....somewhat...
There is that keyword "distortion" again. Kamachi is really trying his best to make sure that word pops up as much as possible, eh?

Adds to the overarching story eh ?

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

I thought it was clear that Shutaura had to be a saint. Her powers temporarily manifested outside of her as Arisa, but now that they've merged she's got them back again. Of course, given the blog comments, it seems the act of being two people and becoming one again while possessing power on the level of a saint has made her into something new that no one quite understands. But it is likely she is still a saint. Just a saint with an existence that is inexplicable.

I find it interesting that both split and merger occurred in Outer Space... I don't know what it means exactly, but it's possible that the laws of magic works all wonky when away from Earth. Probably Magicians in the past never even consider it or plan for it.

After all, that's the whole point of LadyLee carrying out her plan in space.

[Kenju of the Right]

Originally Posted by Hiss13

-Character development for Ladylee was not sufficient

Character development? how was that needed for her?

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by Kenju of the Right

Character development? how was that needed for her?

As in to flesh out her backstory and motives.

[Hiss13]

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

Adds to the overarching story eh ?

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

As in to flesh out her backstory and motives.

Exactly. I think I may have worded it wrong, though. It might have been more of an issue with the execution than with the development (although both were lacking). I could empathize with her to an extent but I still felt like something was lacking. The development within the movie itself was kinda vague, after all.

I just realized something else that made the movie good: Index DID SOMETHING!