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Eyrie Productions, Unlimited
Gryphon
Charter Member
23509 posts |
Jan-12-15, 07:27 PM (EST) |
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"Recent(ish?) Anime: Index / Railgun"
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Croaker put this into an over-capacity AGA thread down in private-mail, like, months ago, and - coincidentally enough - it ended up sidetracking into a short discussion about why I hadn't watched Strike Witches. Which I just re-looked-up because it had come up in another thread, and in the process I rediscovered this bit, which should probably have had a thread of its own at the time. To introduce another totally random crazy anime, Raildex! Aka To Aru Majutsu no Index ("A Certain Magical Index") and its parallel series, To Aru Kagaku no Railgun ("A Certain Scientific Railgun"). Which involves a scientific experiment in granting people psi powers on a truly staggering scale - over two million test subjects, aka students, gathered into 'Academy City', a sprawling town made up entirely of schools, student housing, research labs, and support industries for the above. And in the midst of all this we have three key individuals: Index Librorum Prohibitorum, an Episcopal nun of no other acknowledged name, whose eidetic memory is utilized as the primary backup storage space for over one hundred thousand eldritch and arcane texts - ranging from the trivial ('Standard book of spells, grade one') to the rugose ('The Book of Eibon' is explicitly mentioned at one point). She's also a poorly-socialized but quite nice teenage girl who likes cute kittens and stands up for her friends. And her meals. Don't get between her and food. Mikoto 'Railgun' Misaka, one of the seven "Level 5" espers, the top tier in power levels of Academy City's success stories. Brash, hot-tempered, cheerful, big-hearted, seriously tsundere on occasion. And capable of introducing your face to a penny at mach 5 if you annoy her. She's an electrokinetic on a level that could go toe to toe with Magneto and have a fairly good chance of winning. Given that the actual Magneto is now in UF, I'd love to see them meet. :) Touma Kamijou, the world's most unfortunate teenager. He's smart but a little lazy, and has no acknowledged super-powers other than, apparently, the ability to get into the strangest of coincidences. And the ability to totally nullify others' powers, both magical and psi, on contact. His unyielding moral sense and willingness to put himself on the line get him into more trouble than any protagonist ought; we first meet him when he jumps a delinquent gang that's been harassing Mikoto - not to save her, but because he recognizes her, and is trying to save them from getting railgunned. (It doesn't work.) These three seem to attract the oddest assortment of interesting characters around them, ranging from Stiyl Magnus (Episcopalian Priest-Mage) to Tsuchimikado Motoharu (supposedly Touma's slacker classmate, actually spying for pretty much everyone important), to Kuroko Shirai (teleporter, member of "Judgement" - Academy City's student police corps, momentary President of the United States, and Mikoto-Stalker Extraordinaire). And of course they get into exactly the kind of trouble you'd expect from being the stars of not one, but -two-, anime series.
Which led to:
>>... where's the question? This is an "ask Gryphon anything" thread.
>>
>>--G.
>
>
>Excellent point, that. I got so caught up in badly promoting the
>series that I completely forgot.
>
>To question!
>
>A) Have you seen it? I have not! >2) Did you like it? Unknown! >III) Is it the sort of thing that would fit into UF? Again I am shrugging!
And that was basically as far as it went at the time. As it happens, I've seen a couple episodes of Index now. I can't decide yet whether I like it. It has an interesting premise and it's nicely made, but the plot's taking its sweet time getting comfortable on the couch, and until it's a bit more settled in I won't be able to tell if I'm interested in it. I'll keep picking at it, though. It's hard to go wrong with adorable nuns who've read Unaussprechlichen Külten. I kind of want her to team up with Hellboy. --G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam. |
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BZArcher
Member since Nov-9-05
1800 posts |
Jan-12-15, 08:46 PM (EST) |
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1. "RE: Recent(ish?) Anime: Index / Railgun"
In response to message #0
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LAST EDITED ON Jan-13-15 AT 10:23 AM (EST)
"Hey, Red!""Index?" Hellboy looked pleasantly, genuinely surprised as the impossibly tiny girl in a white and gold habit leapt to hug him, her arms barely making it around his shoulders. "Hey, kiddo! Nice to see you!" Gryphon's brows rose as he took that sight in, and waited for the nun to fall back to the floor before looking quizzically to Hellboy. "So...you guys know each other?" "Cat show." "Ah." ---------------------------
Jaymie "BZArcher" Wagner
She/They
@BZArcher / bzarcher at gmail
"Life is change. Let’s live.” |
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Gryphon
Charter Member
23509 posts |
Jan-13-15, 08:07 PM (EST) |
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10. "RE: Recent(ish?) Anime: Index / Railgun"
In response to message #6
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LAST EDITED ON Jan-13-15 AT 08:08 PM (EST)
>>...the thought of those two teaming up is both scary and awesome, and
>>I would really like to see it happen. Even if it's just to go to a
>>cat show.
>
>Hm. How about teaming Index up with Ivy from The Dresden
>Files?Seems a bit redundant. I'd be more tempted to team her up with, say, Sister Destiny, because they're both nuns but belong to different unions, which could be good comedy. --G.
As BZA put it when this came up in the studio, "You memorized 100,000 evil spellbooks?!" (eyeroll) "Anglicans."
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam. |
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Gryphon
Charter Member
23509 posts |
Jan-14-15, 11:26 PM (EST) |
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13. "RE: Recent(ish?) Anime: Index / Railgun"
In response to message #10
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Speaking of redundant teamups: "Hi, sorry, didn't get to introduce myself before people started shooting. Makoto Kino." "Mikoto Misaka." "Huh." "I know, right? What were the odds? So listen, are you up for frying some of these jerks, or would you rather wait for the cops? I'm not sure how this stuff works in this town." "Oh, no, frying's definitely an option. Frying works." --G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam. |
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Croaker
Charter Member
651 posts |
Jan-13-15, 01:47 PM (EST) |
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8. "RE: Recent(ish?) Anime: Index / Railgun"
In response to message #5
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>It's admittedly been a while since I watched the whole thing through,
>but I think it starts pulling together pretty soon after where
>you're at now. Though you may need to watch Railgun to get the whole
>picture.
>
>(I actually watched Railgun first, and had a bit of a hard time
>figuring out what Index was doing there in the first place. No lie.) Railgun has the virtue of being generally better written and making more sense. Index is an adaptation of about 4-5 separate novels per season, and it shows as the plot arcs are somewhat disconnected. Railgun is written by the same author, but makes for a single overarching plot over the course of each season. Sorta-mostly. --
Croaker
RCW #mc2
"When in doubt, shoot something. Preferably the enemy." |
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Gryphon
Charter Member
23509 posts |
Jan-15-15, 08:45 PM (EST) |
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16. "RE: Recent(ish?) Anime: Index / Railgun"
In response to message #8
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>Railgun has the virtue of being generally better written and making
>more sense. It's got some episode titles, I'll give it that. I haven't watched it yet, but there's one in the list I have here entitled "A Bikini Divides the Eyeline Between Top and Bottom, but a One-Piece Shows Off the Figure so They Only Flatter the Slender", which sounds like it should be a Fall Out Boy song and is the most ambitious title I've seen since the episode of Vividred Operation entitled (if memory serves) "The One Where Kenjirō Has a Master Plan to Strengthen the Girls' Friendship Power but Things Get Way Out of Hand". --G.
honorable mentions: "When Working Under a Hot Sun, Rehydration is Essential" and "Everyone Is Proactive When It Comes to This"
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam. |
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mdg1
Member since Aug-25-04
1374 posts |
Jan-16-15, 05:59 AM (EST) |
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19. "RE: Recent(ish?) Anime: Index / Railgun"
In response to message #16
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I take it you haven't read much John Hodgman, who's works include:
- An Almanac of Complete World Knowledge Compiled with Instructive Annotation and Arranged in Useful Order by myself, John Hodgman, a Professional Writer, in The Areas of My Expertise, which Include: Matters Historical, Matters Literary, Matters Cryptozoological, Hobo Matters, Food, Drink & Cheese (a Kind of Food), Squirrels & Lobsters & Eels, Haircuts, Utopia, What Will Happen in the Future, and Most Other Subjects
- For Your Consideration, The Firms of Dutton & Riverhead Books Present in the English Language: A Further Compendium of Complete World Knowledge in "The Areas Of My Expertise," Assembled and Illumined by Me, John Hodgman, A Famous Minor Television Personality, Offering More Information Than You Require On Subjects as Diverse as: The Past (as There Is Always More of It), The Future (as There Is Still Some Left), All of the Presidents of the United States, The Secrets of Hollywood, Gambling, The Sport of the Asthmatic Man (Including: Hermit-Crab Racing), Strange Encounters with Aliens, How to Buy a Computer, How to Cook an Owl, and Most Other Subjects
- And, of course:
As Long Threatened and Longer Postponed, Herein you Will Find: A Third Compendium ("Tri-Pendium") of Complete World Knowledge, Now and Finally Complete, As Set Down by Me, A Former Professional Literary Writer; A Former Former Professional Literary Agent; A Minor Television Personality Who Is Arguably Still Famous In Some Circles; and ... A Current DERANGED MILLONAIRE, Who Is Known In Your Language as JOHN HODGMAN Simultaneously Covering and Uncovering Such Previously Un-touched-upon Subjects As... The Practice and Pronunciation of "Oenophilia"; The Ancient Teachings of The Americanomicon; The Meaning of your Dreams; Gentleman Criminals; How Boats Work; How To Raise Sperm Wales; The Secrets of The Master Magicians; How To Finally Become Happy and Wealthy As A Deranged Millionaire Before The Coming Global Super-Collapse and The End of Human Civilization, aka "Ragnarok"; Plus: Sports! As Well As Most Other Subjects, At Last In Such Sufficiency As To Report: THAT IS ALL
:D Mario |
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TsukaiStarburst
Member since Jan-5-15
260 posts |
Jan-15-15, 11:06 PM (EST) |
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17. "RE: Recent(ish?) Anime: Index / Railgun"
In response to message #15
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OK so. Spoilers... I kind of lost faith in Railgun when the big bad who 'attempted to become a god' actually SUCCEEDED. She proceeded to literally completely destroy the universe on a whim, recreated it from scratch to create a world designed to torture the protagonist, and then kept doing it unti he became suicidal. Furthermore, it was apparently revealed she's done this in the past, constantly trying to get the world back to the way she came from and originally liked it. Eventually the protagonist actually does end up suiciding from being the most hated person in the universe in a world where everyone is better off and nobody needs him, only to be saved by deus ex machina, chooses to go back to the original world, oh and he's gonna be the big bad's friend now. Ech. |
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The Traitor
Member since Feb-24-09
1244 posts |
Jan-16-15, 12:31 PM (EST) |
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22. "RE: Recent(ish?) Anime: Index / Railgun"
In response to message #21
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Nothing wrong with that per se, but still, there is a middle ground. Besides, maybe it's just me, but the ending described in the spoiler text above implies (SPOILERS) that rather than it being the standard "You Must Be Shat On From A Great Height" narrative that people rightly take exception to round here, the protagonist has figured out that maybe the antagonist got that way because they themselves had been ripped to bits by karma/fate/whatever, and so in the do-over decides to be a friend to them because they need one and therefore demonstrates great moral character and the power to forgive - possibly with too much forgiveness, but w/e, nobody's perfect. (END SPOILERS) ---
"She's old, she's lame, she's barren too, // "She's not worth feed or hay, // "But I'll give her this," - he blew smoke at me - // "She was something in her day." -- Garnet Rogers, Small Victory FiMFiction.net: we might accept blatant porn involving the cast of My Little Pony but as God is my witness we have standards. |
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