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So now that Aisa is part of Toma’s improbable circle of females, we can finally start involving her in some stories, right? Wrong. Why would you even think that? A Certain Magical Index kicks off another story arc with episode 10, introducing not one but 10,000 new characters. Actually, the main character of this next arc is someone you’ve already met: Mikoto Misaka, my beloved BiriBiri. Toma runs into her again in front of a vending machine, though he doesn’t remember why she has it out for him. On their first meeting, Mikoto tried to pick a fight with Toma, but Toma was able to cancel her attacks with his ability. They talk for a bit until Mikoto’s “sister” shows up, who refers to herself simply as Misaka (that being the family name), and has a bizarre and obnoxious way of speaking.

The sister Misaka is very robotic, and is usually carrying around a sophisticated set of goggles. You can tell something isn’t quite right about her, given her mannerisms and the way Mikoto reacts when they come into contact. The rest of the cast pretty much stays out of this episode (and indeed the story arc), and we get even more cat-related hijinks. For the record, the only thing I hate more than cats are videos that exploit their cuteness.

So nothing much happens in this episode, and Aisa Himegami gets completely tossed aside in favor of Mikoto. Which is fine by me, because Aisa doesn’t really do anything to warrant more screen time, and Mikoto is just a really good character. It’s interesting, though, how her personality changes between this and A Certain Scientific Railgun. I’m assuming the events of Index take place before Railgun, so over the course of this series, she lightens up and adopts a more comedic role alongside her junior, Kuroko Shirai. Like Mikoto, Kuroko is characterized slightly differently than in Railgun. Here she’s much less lecherous, and more of a cheerleader type. Her attraction to Mikoto is still pretty obvious, but she hasn’t crossed any lines yet... I do love how easily she gets under Mikoto’s skin, though.

Tags: A Certain Magical Index, Toaru Majutsu no Index, Super Serial