Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Alice Rants - A Certain Magical Index Movie *Endymion's Miracle*



So, I finally got around to watching this movie. And... I enjoyed it! It felt like a classic addition to the story, not just a movie tacked on to JUST make more money. By the way, GIANT SPOILERS, so don't read and complain thereafter, you chose to tread the path.

Short synopsis (my style):

The story starts with a plane in space, undergoing an accident. The plane crashes, but thankfully all passengers are safe. We then skip to our main protagonists, Touma and Index. They discuss the giant tower in Academy City, then meet with the growing singing sensation, Meigo Arisa. She discovers that she has been recruited to be an idol for a major company in order to promote the giant tower. Later on, the latter gets attacked by magicians, including Stiyl and Kansaki. While Touma tries his best to protect her, they soon get rescued by the Black Crow Unit, along with it's leader, Shutaura Sequenzia. We then discover that Arisa might arouse a war between the magic and science factions. We learn back story about the new characters in the story. Arisa later goes to make her first official appearance in public, along with Misaka Mikoto's gang, but the event gets ruined, as the venue gets bombed. However, every single person at the venue is completely unharmed, and the news claims it to be a miracle. However, things cannot remain merry. We find out that Arisa may be a saint, which is why both the magic and science factions are after her. Arisa soon gets abducted by her boss, Ladylee Tangleroad, as we find out that she plans to destroy half the earth, as she wishes to die herself (she is immortal) and Arisa happens to be the key to making it happen. Ladylee launches an event at Endymion, and Arisa decides to sing to invoke a miracle. Many bad events happen at the venue, and we later find out that Shutaura and Arisa used to be one, and that Arisa came to be because  of Shutaura's wish for a miracle to occur. They both proceed to sing, which brings an end to all bad events at the tower. Touma and Index both ponder about Arisa, since she has vanished. Index wonders if she was just an illusion, however Touma reassures her that she wasn't, as he was able to touch her with his right hand. They both then stare at the sky, as if they heard something (probably Arisa).

WELL THEN. ON TO THE RANT.



This is Arisa Meigo. She is a new character introduced to the series. My evaluation of her is...
great! It's my opinion, so yes, deal with it. Let's look at it objectively, then I'll tell you what I think of her personally.

Objective view:
She is the product of Shutaura's wish to save everyone from the plane crash in exchange for all that Shutaura's loves. She is a Level 0 esper, however she has the power to invoke miracles when she sings, this is why at all the events which she attends and sings at, a miracle happens. She loves singing and believes that this is what makes her... her. It's all she has in her opinion. She also has no memories prior to 3 years in the past in correspondence to the movie's timeline.

What I think:
I love her. I loves characters who are selfless and work towards the one dream she wants. She's also adorable and her voice is lovable. We have characters who lament about their lost memories, but she just pushes on. I'm not saying that all of those characters suck, but they can annoy me at times. She's like a fresh breeze to me.


And yeah, she has spurts of courage. She can't do much other than this (and miracles, but we call them miracles for a reason).



In conclusion, 7-8/10. We have a cute, courageous and talented girl on our hands! And that's great~ She is sadly gone, and part of a few cliches, but let's get into that later. NEXT.

--



This girl is another new character, Ladylee Tangleroad. She is the CEO of the Orbit Portal Company at the age of 10. My evaluation of her... 5/10 sorta. I'm used to characters like her unfortunately, and they aren't high in my list. Let's move on to my objective views though.

Objective view:
In reality, she happens to be an immortal human, who is also a magician. Having lived for about a millennium, she wishes to die, hence the plot to use Arisa to destroy a giant portion of Earth. She believes that the spell she is about to invoke has the potential to finally kill her.

What I think:
I don't love or hate her. She feels like a rather recycled character design, being one that wishes to die as they are immortal. Though, we can't expect her to embrace it either if she doesn't like it. Just... I know that you REALLY want to die, but to involve almost half the population of Earth? I mean, she doesn't even hate them, so she has no other reason other than selfishness. But because of all of this, I can't hate her either. I mean, look at this.



Her wish doesn't get fulfilled, and she gets attached like this after the ruckus. I mean, from the looks of it, they're conducting an experiment, but WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY RESEARCHING?! Like, yes, she did bad things, but throw her into a prison or something. This does not swim well for me. :T

Plus look at this:





Like, what the hell? The first shows that she doesn't even resist to violence, possibly because she is trying to die and that this time MAY be the time. But... just look at the rest of the images. Blown up 38 times? Stabbed 16 times? All these painful experiences, and all for naught too. And for some reason, I'm assuming that she did these to herself, or at least didn't resist in the least. *sigh* It just... hurts, y'know? Moving on though.


We get some minor insight on her too. I'm guessing seeing people she loved die before her eyes caused her maniacal attitude, but I'm sorry movie. Don't expect me to suddenly love her because she now has a back story. We don't get details, we don't get love.



In conclusion, we get... her. A 10 year old-looking immortal who wishes to die. A lot about her is sad, but I just... can't love her. I'm sorry. She is also part of cliches, but luckily less than Arisa. So yes, not a bad or good character in my opinion.

--


Here's another new one! She is Shutaura Sequenzia, head of the Black Crow Unit. Her evaluation will be... low. I'll give the details in the conclusion, but basically, she is MISS cliche.

Objective view:
She is a Level 4 esper, possessing the ability to control rare earth, called Earth Palette. She is a good hand-to-hand fighter and a strong esper, which ended up helping her for the better. She is very strict and cares for the city's safety, a "duty girl" if you will.

What I think:
Like I said before, I don't like her. Maybe it's because at some point, she pointed a gun at Arisa. But, I do have my own valid reasons. For one, I don't like very... upright characters?



For one, when Touma and she meet, the only thing she ends up saying after saving them is "Don't get involved with Arisa" and basically introducing herself in a rather cold tone. While I do understand that she has to keep things secret, saying it in that way won't change a thing. And she just leaves too. I mean, Touma is Touma, so he's going to end up helping her anyways, but how the hell will he know she'll be safe after this? You don't do much other than this.



Also, this scene. In anime, I NEVER get how they fail to notice such a giant injury when they first look at them. I mean, THERE'S BLOOD EVERYWHERE. Were you blinded somehow? I don't know, I never got it, and possibly never will.



I don't get it lady. For those who don't know, she basically lunged at Touma for saying that the fact that everyone was unscathed is a "miracle", and she hates that word. So much that she threw a man who suffered a HUGE ass concussion against the wall. He just saved your life, ONE WORD shouldn't throw you off so quickly. It's like, the one thing you shouldn't do as a soldier.


Girl, going alone is strategically unadvantageous. I know you want revenge and all, but YOU KNOW she's plotting to destroy half the world right? More troops might, oh I don't know, EVACUATE PEOPLE OR SOMETHING? Let them do that, and you challenge the boss.    



SHE DID NOT... JUST SHOOT DOWN MY ARISA-CHAN. But I sorta get this scene, she was on edge, and Arisa happens to be the cause of it. This one is more of a personal complaint, but actions like this will eventually make her into a psycho-path. I mean, if you can't take music at all, yeah... must be hard to live anywhere really.




Yeah, more inflicting pain onto Arisa. Don't like this. At all.




I do get her butthurt-ness though. Her father was also part of the so-called "miracle", yet no one bothered to make note of that. In fact, since he died and Arisa appeared, they didn't even know he existed. I mean, that sucks.



In conclusion:
3/10 really. I'm really sorry for those who like her, but the world is only so fun when we're different. She's cool, so that's a plus. But she does do stupid moves at times, which is a minus. So yeah.

--



More new characters! This is the last batch guys~ We can't go in depth on these guys, but I can still talk about 'em.



This one is Marie Spearhead, the water magic user.



This one is Mallybath Blackball, the earth magic user.


And this one is Jane Elves, the wind magic user.

Their impact though? It was actually okay. They made nice magic effect and they weren't useless or anything. Little comedy tid-bits, overall good filler characters.

--

For the movie itself:

Like I said, I liked it! Obviously, there were some cliches here and there, but it was better than other... said movies (perhaps I'll discuss that one when I get the chance). I'll tell you what I liked and what I didn't like.


This scene offered insight, foreshadowing, etc. Yeah. All movies do this, so I can't blame 'em. It actually helps too, because we'll be informed and stuff.


We're not foreshadowing, we're just showing you a girl who's praying. STOP DOUBTING US OR I'LL KILL YOU.


Aw, she started off like this~ And wow, for someone with absolutely no support whatsoever, you got some nice equipment girl.


I like Shirai Kuroko, for her part, she actually cares for Mikoto (albeit in a yuri manner though). And this scene, GOLD.


Touma, I don't hate you, really, I don't. But please stop getting all the girls. At least not this one.


Stop telling me I'm foreshadowing. 'Cause I'm not. Honest.




Kira kira~ SHE SPARKLES BECAUSE SHE IS AMAZING, WORSHIP HER, FOOLS.




Oh hey, just passing through, not trying to kill you is all. 



While I admit this saved their lives, a bug? It looks like one. *sigh* I'll never understand concept design. 


Yeah, cliche number one. Has dream relating to previous foreshadowing. Aw well, I still love you Arisa. <3





You got me there anime movie, two cliches in a row? Didn't see that coming.  But, I still like this one at least. Simply because it's true, singing IS all she has. No memories, no family... BUT THE PROBLEM IS...





That info shows after. So in fact, when I first saw the "singing is all I have scene", I actually lost a bit of faith in Arisa. But the pluses, nice fountain. :D TOUMA, I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM HER YOU WOMANISER. Oh, and CLICHE NUMBER THREE! Don't worry, this one didn't happen right after, I just wanted to make a point. 




Intro to Ladylee! And her lair looks pretty damn nice. 


It's the loli teach again. xD We all love her. 



I was wondering, but does this mean that Touma slept with Index (just together, get your mind outta the gutter) before Arisa came? 



Yay~ The bro trio~


Oh, 'sup you~ CAMEOOOO~



Bath time, fanservice time, can YOU see the difference? I thought so. 




How do they know each other? I'm fine with it, BUT HOW?



Hey, Kuroko, I AGREE. Seems like what I would have written when I was younger (and I did, you'll never see it though).



Hey, a fight scene. :3 It was pretty cool, gotta admit. 





To all of those who watched the movie, don't tell me I'm the only one who thought her dancing looked... awkward. I think they used a different animation for that for some reason, like CGI. :T



Hey look, Google's twin. 


I didn't see this coming though. I just thought: "Ten year old pres? Eh, bad writing."




How'd we get HER involved? 





LOOK, ALL THE FORESHADOWING CONNECTS. Plot for revenge is also there. Ladylee is evil btw. xD



That's... really nice. 



Hey look, it's that time of year again. Oh, and screw physics. 



This is beautiful too. Very.



I loved this. I love the SISTERS, and erm. LOOK AT THAT GIANT LAZER THING HFAIFJ AIOJFIO ASJF IOASJ. 



And those two~ I LOVE YOU ACCELERATOR~ <3




And yeah, gotta snap you out. Touma, freaking no mercy. But this is why he's superior over the characters who are like: "I CAN'T HIT FEMALES".







Yupp, Arisa was born from her wish to enact a miracle. I actually didn't see this coming, I only saw that Arisa wasn't really a "real" human per se. I just don't get why Shutaura had to be naked after. 




And yeah, foiled. 



Hey, all that's well ends well. And unless my video was broken, it'd would have been nice to hear the actual singing instead of pure silence. I dunno, it's technically another cliche, but I was wondering what the hell happened to those two. Oh, and Arisa's gone. TT-TT

--

So yeah, that's the end of it. I hope you watch it someday, or that you enjoyed it as much as me~ By the way, I would rate this a solid 8/10. For an anime movie, I don't think that it was too cliche. And pretty much coupled with skilled voice acting and nice animations ('cept for the concerts, BRRRR). 

Alice

1 comment:

  1. yeah, i found this article because i was googling what they heard at the end because I heard nothing. Why not at least have her song heard softly in the background? So stupid! they hear nothing! :P

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