A Certain Magical Index: The Movie The Miracle of Endymion is a thriller with magical girls and a space elevator. What those two things have to do with each other is something that becomes apparent as the main characters work to solve the mystery at the heart of the movie.
One key area in which the Certain Magical Index Movie succeeds is it’s pacing. The mystery surrounding the character of Arisa is one that unfolds as it needs to. The audience doesn’t learn anything too soon and this ensures that the story remains intriguing.
There are some action scenes. They always manage to come at the right time to punctuate the plot, and they also move at a suitable pace. Certain Magical Index is beautifully animated and these fights allow the movie to really show that off. The characters move quickly. Their movements are smooth, and natural.
Since this movie is a spin off from a series with two seasons it only makes sense that people who have watched said seasons will have a greater understanding of what is going on. While newcomers may not understand certain details of the world the characters inhabit, being unfamiliar with the show will not hinder viewers when it comes to understanding the plot. This is due to Certain Magical index dealing with universal themes such as loss, the desire for revenge, and the hope for a miracle. It also helps that while there is a mystery to be solved it isn’t overly complicated. The story is pretty streamlined, and there aren’t extraneous details bogging the story down.
The special features on offer here are a mixed bag. Most of the items in the extra menu are just trailers. If you were following the marketing of this movie, or just like to watch trailers, then they might they might offer some fun viewing. But the problem with adding so many trailers of a movie to that movie is that they seem redundant when the full movie is already to hand. The one special feature that stands out is the audio commentary.
The audio commentary features the main voice cast of the movie, the actors are clearly having a lot of fun watching the movie together and reminiscing about their time spent making it and the original series. The commentary has a very similar feel to the Q&A panel of a convention. It isn’t as informative as a more technically minded commentary but it is still fun to listen to the actors play off one another.
A Certain Magical Index: The Movie The Miracle of Endymion is a diverting combination of science fiction, and magical elements. The movie itself knows which emotional notes to hit at which moments. Add this to a commentary, which is enough of a fun treat to entice re-watching the movie almost immediately, and the result is a Blu-Ray worth buying.
A CERTAIN MAGICAL INDEX: THE MOVIE THE MIRACLE OF THE ENDYMION / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: HIROSHI NISHIKIORI / SCREENPLAY: HIROYUKI KAMACHI / STARRING: MICAH SOLUSOD, MONICA RIAL, BRITTNEY KARBOWSKI, BRINA PALENCIA / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
