To Aru Majutsu no Index II - Episode 10

Oriana Thomson's counter-spell may have been eventually dismissed thank to Touma's trusty old hand, but not before it did some damage to his friend Fukiyose (you know, the one with the breasts) - there's no time to dwell on such things however, with Stab Sword (God, I still can't type that without frowning) still at large and Oriana continuing to look for an escape route.

Luckily without her ability to hide herself, tracking Oriana down proves to be relatively easy - actually stopping her from escaping is, of course, another matter, as she quickly puts Tsuchimikado out of commission before turning her attentions to Touma.  Cue a barrage of various spells being aimed our protagonists way which look like they may be able to overwhelm him, before guess what?  Yep, that's right, out comes that hand again to save the day and wrest Stab Sword from it's current owner....

...except said all-important artefact appears to actually be an ice cream billboard.  Uh-oh, it looks like our heroes of the day have been fooled - indeed, it appears that the real threat to Academy City is something very different to what was initial expected, with the possibility of the Roman Catholic church taking over Academy City now looking a distinct possibility.  It looks as though Touma, Stiyl and Tsuchimikado will have to step up to the plate once again... although not before Touma more literally steps up to a plate to grab some lunch with his parents and, inevitably, Mikoto and her mother.

It's certainly easy to pick holes in To Aru Majutsu no Index's flaws as ever, with Touma's hand being entirely too useful and powerful to the point where it drains away dramatic tension as well as it does spells, and the sudden shift from serious "Academy City is doomed" talk to goofing around with Index and having a nice family lunch is pretty jarring even by this show's standards.  Yet despite all this, I still find myself broadly enjoying each episode, even though I end up rolling my eyes from time to time - of course, a dose of Mikoto Misaka also helps, but somehow even these shows weaknesses somehow add to the entertainment value of the package as a whole.  This certainly isn't highbrow or refined viewing, but so what?  It's still pretty fun.