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» Hatrack River Forum » Active Forums » Books, Films, Food and Culture » Heroes Done RIGHT! To Aru Majutsu no Index

   
Author Topic: Heroes Done RIGHT! To Aru Majutsu no Index
Blayne Bradley
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Disclaimer: Generally I liked Heroes, I liked the idea of a wide diversity of powers semi randomly given to people and seeing the whole superhuman hero genre get seemingly deconstructed en masse at a more plausible pacing. It was fun, but what we must always ask is compared to what?

I now have my "what", two Anime's that I just discovered A Very Magical Index and A Very Scientific Railgun (this one is a spinoff) is what!

Now now okay, it's not Heroes, it's actually very different from Heroes in premise, story, characters etc but as a "subset" of the premise you could slot Heroes right in there, or more accurately strip away the story, the plot, and the occult practitioners and magic-users what your left with is essentially the basic premise of Heroes: You have an area (Academy City) filed 80% with people who are "espers", esper as defined in these series(s) as "normal humans born with or given (through science) supernatural abilities".

Which pretty much cover the entire Heroes gauntlet of powers; teleportation, telepathy, regeneration, electricity, fire, etc the list goes on.

And by virtue of being an anime not only are these powers showed and displayed prominently fairly often but can be showed to their full effect not limited by the budget constraints of a live action series, if a characters power nukes a city then in theory an anime can easily show it with no difference in costs to anyother scene; amazing!

Heck, the main character of "Index" is basically The Haitian with the series basically having him the protagonist, a person with the ability to 'cancel' the ability of anyone else just by touching it with his right hand (though it seems that the rest of his body has the ability to a lesser effect).

Of course, unfortunately the thread title is slightly inaccurate but is my wider point: To Aru Majutsu no Index isn't or probably ever intended to be Heroes BUT despite this it does a better job being Heroes then Heroes itself.

Alot of people with different abilities, people USING THEM INTELLIGENTLY, NICE SPECIAL EFFECTS!!!

Where it's different from Heroes, well firstly its an Anime, so completely different outlook on humor, you also don't have that non-linear Baccano/Durara character interaction of seeing many different groups of characters doing their own thing meeting up by chance only when its plot critical (this was something that I liked in Heroes and really like in Durara) (though it kinda happens in a "meta" sense, as the spinoff Railgun focuses on a kickass side character), and well there's magic in a very DC-esque magic&divinity/technology conflict between those who practice "magic" which in a vaguely Lovecraftian way seems directly tied to a deity and those who use technology and believe in science(espers).

Two overarching factions balanced by the fact that they're methods are mutually exclusive, an esper cannot cast magic and a magician cannot be an esper (those who tried end up a fairly messy fate), the plot is that the mcguffin girl "Index" who holds 103,000 magic grimoirs (one wonders if the Necronomicon is in there, the Book of Eibon is) in her memories perfectly memorized (and thus an index, get it?) end up running away from some allegedly bad wizards and ends up running into Kajimo Touma, a "level 0" (ability less) esper who has the power to cancel any esper ability he touches, who then vows to protect Index at all costs.

So yes, the magic/esper conflict makes it significantly different ballgame from Heroes but I stand that it does the job better at being Heroes than Heores did. So here's what I say, if you liked Heroes or at least liked it premise enough to give it a shot for a while before plot-stupidity set in to the point that it broke your willing suspension of disbelief then give (if your at least tolerant of anime) To Aru Majutsu no Index a try, come to it for the Heroes esque setting stay for the great story and characters, so here's my point:

Why wasn't Heroes animated? I think it could have been massively better overall with alot more awesome battles ON SCREEN had it been animated.

And yes I know I need a blog, I'm working on it.

edit: Also, the protagonist ill repeat has the power to cancel/negate the powers of others, though limited by the fact that he has to touch the person or the effects os persons power via his right hand, now to my count he has NEVER told this to anyone during the fight to give his opponants a chance to derive a counter if they're sufficiently powerful enough where telling them would be a huge mistake.

INTELLIGENCE!!!

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0Megabyte
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Never mind.

Good for you. I've heard of this series, and it never sounded interesting to me.

What series from the last... say, year or so does everyone recommend to someone like me, who finds the concept of Strike Witches, for example, to be too absurd to be worth considering? (that is, girls without panties flying around in WW2 or whatever. The key part too absurd is the lack of pants. Why? Why?! I even like the new Panty and Stocking show, but the lack of pants in Strike Witches is a bridge too far for me.

Which is admittedly weird/hypocritical, but whatever.

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Blayne Bradley
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So basically anything on far end of the ecchi/fanservice scale would technically be out buuuut that still leaves a huge range of choices, its like asking okay I don't like green apples, which apple would you suggest?
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0Megabyte
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Actually, it's more "I'm curious what kind of apples you'd suggest. Just keep in mind that I hate green apples, so don't recommend those, otherwise have fun, I really want to know."
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Blayne Bradley
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Well, what genres do you like, narrow it down for me! Do you mind the stereotypical anime animation cliches, or serious only? Action? Shonen Action? Mystery? Supernatural? Slice of life? Widget series?
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0Megabyte
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Anyone else can answer too, btw.

So, what do I like? Ghost in the Shell, the 08th MS Team, Serial Experiments Lain, Eva, FLCL, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt (yes, I finally decided I enjoy the crazy show. Even if it should never be aired on television.) Spice and Wolf, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Cowboy Bebop, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Baccano!, Paranoia Agent and anything by Satoshi Kon, Miyazaki films, Makoto Shinkai films like The Place Promised in Our Early Days, The Girl Who Lept Through Time... for the best of the highlights.

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Blayne Bradley
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So I'ld reccomend:

1. Angel Beats!
2. Durara!! (same people as Bacano!)
3. Soul Eater
4. The thread title
5. Monster (psychological thriller, if you liked that first Hannibal Lecter book youll like this)
6. Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
7. Eden of the East (hard to explain this one, you got 12 people with 10 billion$ each tasked to save japan, winner wins, all the losers die)
8. WORKING!! (Hilarious as its like watching myself)

I need to sort through everything I've seen and then make a proper list.

If you don't mind shows that are extremely ecchi then I could also suggest seikon no qwesar, (aya hirano is in it)

Oh and I'm currently watching "This Ugly Yet Beautiful World" by studio Gainax, also "Now and Then, Here and There."

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Geraine
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Noein and Aquarion were pretty good.
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Blayne Bradley
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On this note I could also I think describe Index as "Heroes meets Eureka".
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