Episode 11 – Piercing Antisword (Stab Sword)
Shitotsu Kōken (Sutabu Sōdo) (刺突抗剣 (スタブソード)
While we did get a little bit more progress in the overall story, in the end not too much really happened in this episode. One thing I have noticed about this series is that the animation quality has been continuously going downhill, which might mean that JC staff might be running low on budget, or is outright being lazy with animating this series. Either ways, it was quite noticeable at certain parts of this episode, which has been bugging me a little. That being said, the chase after Oriana continues this episode, with a noticeable casualty as a direct result. Poor Himegami did not deserved to be attacked like she was, and Komoe sensei witnessing the entire thing occurring right in front of her must have been traumatizing. There was also a lot of random fooling around this episode, involving Index, “Biribiri” Mikoto, Kuroko, and Touma, but that wasn’t anything out of the ordinary in this episode.
For the most part, the first half of the episode focused on the random interactions between Touma, Index, and Mikoto. I did get a little laugh out of Mikoto’s mom’s “daring” comments regarding how eating good food makes certain places grow, which both Index and Mikoto responded with embarrassed, cold responses. Besides that, and the moment where Mikoto used a thunder punch on Touma for hugging Index around her waist, there weren’t really any other funny moments in the episode. Admittingly, the episode would have been much better if it had just focused on the main conflict involving Oriana instead of constantly switching back to “Index/Mikoto comedy mode”, but I guess it can’t really be helped at this point.
The meat to this episode involved our protagonists’ chase of Oriana, where Tsuchimikado once again used a tracking spell to try and pinpoint her location. This did backfire, though, because Oriana (in a smart move) decided to take out Tsuchimikado right there and then, which would prevent Touma and Styl from every being able to track her down via magical means. Their fight was ended quickly, with Tsuchimikado on the losing side in the battle. While Tsuchimikado’s bluff involving the saint, Kanzaki Kaori, saved him from death, he’s pretty much useless at this point in terms of helping with the chase. His injuries seemed rather severe, so he’s probably out of commission for at least the next episode or two.
The major event this episode, though, most certainly is the scene involving Himegami and Oriana. I don’t exactly know why the creators all of a sudden decided to get Himegami involved in the story (considering she hasn’t had a major role in this series for a while), but one noticable thing about her is that she wears a cross from the British Necessarius church. Oriana instantly thought of Himegami as a member of the enemy group because of the cross, and acted accordingly. Without hesitation, Oriana initiated a spell against Himegami that ended up putting Himegami into a near death situation. Surprisingly enough, it looks like Komoe sensei’s memories of the spell she used to cure Index back early on in Season one might actually come handy in trying to save Himegami. I can’t say for sure as to whether everything works out perfectly, but considering the damage Himegami took, any help would probably be good.
Now, I can’t say that this episode was amazing; the first half was all essentially filler material, with the second half of the episode touching upon very little involving the St. Peter’s cross, or Oriana and her partner’s intentions/motives. In other words, there was virtually no progress in the actual main plot from this episode, which is disappointing to say the least. While it does look like the situation will escalate more next week, I can’t help but feel right now that this show isn’t taking the main conflict all too seriously. I mean, come on, there’s a renegade mage on the run out to take complete control of Academy city, and here is our main protagonist sitting around, casually eating lunch with some family and friends, and hugging girls around their waist? All the slice of life moments feel seriously out of place considering the serious plot at hand, and it really detracts from what should be the main focus of this show. A little bit of comic relief here and there is nice and all, but “little bit” is the keyword here.
Overall Enjoyment: 3.9/5
Screenshots are later in the post.
Next Episode Preview: Astronomical Observatory (Belvedere) – 天文台 (ベルヴェデーレ) (Tenmondai (Beruvedeere))
Distant Paradise 
