Toaru Majutsu no Index Episode 06

"Imagine Breaker" (幻想殺し) is the sixth episode of the first season of the Toaru Majutsu no Index anime series and the last episode dedicated to the Index Arc. It was first broadcast on November 11, 2008, it was directed by Umahiki Kei and written by Akahoshi Masanao. Nishikiori Hiroshi returns to do the storyboard.

Because of her perfect memory, most of the memory capacity of Index's brain is comprised by the 103,000 grimoires, which requires her other memories to be erased once per year. But after some quick thinking and deduction, Touma arrives at the truth. He uses the Imagine Breaker to attempt to destroy the "something" the Church has planted inside Index that causes her pain. As an immediate response, "St. George's Sanctuary" activates. In order to eliminate those who desire to delve into the secrets contained within Index's brain, an operative procedure has been developed for Index. With the aid of Kanzaki and Stiyl, will Touma's right hand be able to destroy the illusion that God has made?

Synopsis
Touma, Stiyl and Kanzaki confront John's Pen Mode Index, who is ready to attack the most threatening being present, Touma. Suddenly, she glows brightly and twitches uncontrollably before firing a beam of energy towards Touma, who manages to block it with his right hand. Meanwhile, Stiyl and Kanzaki are confounded about how Index is able to perform magic. Touma, whilst blocking Index's beam, answers their queries suitably. Touma tells them that the church lied to them - Index's inability to use magic, and Index dying if her memories were not erased once a year were both lies. Touma explains that the church wouldn't let members from the lower echelons of the church know the entire truth behind Index.

Index, having seen that St. George's Sanctuary is ineffective against Touma, uses a much more powerful beam of energy on Touma. Because of the immense power of her attack, Touma's right hand nearly succumbs to its power. However, Stiyl comes in and states his magic name, applying a large amount of runic cards on the walls of Komoe's apartment. He supports Touma, and tells him that even if Index's memories were erased, as long as she lived it was good enough for him, and made it a vow to protect her life no matter what. Touma however, states that his way of thinking his wrong and should have not compromised. He asks Stiyl if he wants to save Index, and tells them that this was their chance to start anew, where they don't need to erase her memories, where they don't need to act like her enemies, where everyone is happy and had achieved the best possible ending. While saying this, his hand begins to yield against the power of Index's attack; however, he is saved by Kanzaki who has invoked her magic name. She uses her sword and wire technique to trip Index - who is still firing her beam. As Index falls backward, the beam points skyward, destroying Komoe's roof and a satellite in orbit.

Glowing feathers slowly float down after the attack. According to Kanzaki the effect is called Dragon's Breath, and one is doomed when one comes into contact with it. During the commotion, Index returns to attack Touma, but is caught unprepared by Stiyl's summoning of Innocentius, which protects Touma so that he can charge towards Index. Whilst charging towards Index, she successfully reverse-engineers Innocentius, and manages to upgrade St. George's Sanctuary against it. However, Touma is able to reach Index in time and successfully destroys the spell. As such, St. George's Sanctuary is dispelled and Index reverts to normal. Touma holds Index in his arms, glad that she is back to normal and her ordeal is over. However, he fails to notice that the feathers of Dragon's Breath were still floating down all around him. In an instant, a feather hits Touma's head and he collapses on Index.

The next day Index is holding a letter given to her by a frog-faced doctor in a certain hospital. The doctor tells Index that the letter that she is holding is from Kanzaki and Stiyl, which was intended for Touma. Unperturbed by this, she reads it anyway. The letter reveals that the church ordered them to retrieve Index, but after Stiyl and Kanzaki questioned them of the truth about the church lying to them, they suddenly changed their minds and allowed the continuation of the status quo. The letter states that even though Index is allowed to stay with Touma, that doesn't mean they will not come back to retrieve her, and will return once they have gathered proper equipment for the task. The letter explodes into bits shortly after being read by Index.

Later, Index becomes depressed over Touma's current situation. The doctor tells her that it would be easier if she were to visit Touma already, but warns her that she might be shocked when she sees him. The doctor states that Touma will not remember Index, as he had his memories destroyed; the memories are not simply lost but are gone forever.

Index, however, still goes to Touma's room. After seeing his face, she is elated that he is well and runs towards him - but as she approaches, he asks Index who she is, which shocks her. Touma asks Index if she is alright after sensing her pain, but Index says she is just fine. Touma then asks if they are familiar with each other by any chance, which prompts Index to ask a series of questions. She asks Touma if he remembers where they first met, how he destroyed her Walking Church with his right hand, how he fought magicians for her, and in tears, she asks him if he remembered that she loved him. However, it was painfully obvious to Index that he could not remember her.

However, Touma surprises Index by saying that it was all a ruse of his. He tells her that since his brain cells were destroyed by magic, he need only to touch his head with his right hand - now called Imagine Breaker - to negate the effect and restore his memories. Index at first collapses in relief that his memories had not been taken. But her feelings quickly turn into fury that he had fooled her and caused her to confess her feelings, and she punishes him by biting him several times on his person. She then storms out of his hospital room, just as the doctor is coming in. When the doctor questions Touma's actions, Touma reveals to him that he truly has no recollection of Index and that his power was unable to retain any of his memories. Touma tells the doctor the reason he lied to Index: he just didn't want her to cry. Touma then suggests that even though his memories are gone, they are still residing within his heart.

Two weeks have passed since the destruction of the Tree Diagram. In a windowless building, Stiyl Magnus visits a person floating upside-down in a tube filled with liquid. Stiyl calls him Aleister, and Aleister tells him the reason he was recalled back to Academy City. Their conversation is connected to a term called Deep Blood, with the situation surrounding it becoming complicated. Aleister tells Stiyl that the person who carries Deep Blood is currently imprisoned, and that magicians have become involved with the situation, even though they are normally allowed into the city. To protect the balance between the magic and the science side, Aleister tells Stiyl that the city will not become involved with the situation with Deep Blood, and suggests to him to use the natural enemy of magicians, who Aleister has in his possession: Imagine Breaker, Kamijou Touma. Aleister tells Stiyl that it would be all right as Touma is categorized as a Level 0. Aleister explains that since Touma neither possesses any valuable information about the city, nor is able to recreate the ways of the magic side, there would be no leakage of information between the two sides if one uses Touma.

Before leaving, Stiyl asks if Deep Blood truly exists, and if so, would it imply that the organism the ability can kill should also exist - the organisms known as vampires. Aleister goes on to comment that if Deep Blood proves the existence of vampires, then whose existence will the Imagine Breaker prove?

Adapted From

 * Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 01 Chapter 4 and Epilogue
 * Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 02 Chapter 1 Part 1

Major Events

 * The Tree Diagram is destroyed by Index.
 * Stiyl and Kanzaki discover the lies of Necessarius regarding Index.
 * Touma with the assistance of Stiyl and Kanzaki, manages to stop John's Pen Mode Index's rampage, at the cost of Touma losing his memories.
 * Touma meets the frog-faced doctor, Heaven Canceler, and becomes his patient for the first time.
 * Necessarius allows Index to stay with Touma.
 * Touma meets Index again after losing his memories, with Touma lying to Index about losing his memories.
 * Touma's Imagine Breaker's name is revealed.
 * Index confesses her love for Touma.
 * Stiyl is called back to Academy City and meets with General Superintendent Aleister regarding rescuing Deep Blood.
 * Aleister allows Stiyl to borrow Touma to help him in his mission.

Characters
By order of appearance
 * Kamijou Touma
 * Index
 * Stiyl Magnus
 * Kanzaki Kaori
 * Misaka Mikoto

New Characters

 * Heaven Canceler (unnamed)
 * Aleister Crowley (referred to as Aleister only)

Abilities

 * Imagine Breaker - Kamijou Touma
 * John's Pen Mode (Defense Mode) - Index
 * St. George's Sanctuary
 * Dragon Breath
 * Eli Eli Lema Sabachthani
 * Rune Magic - Stiyl Magnus
 * Innocentius - Stiyl Magnus
 * Wire magic - Kanzaki Kaori

New Abilities

 * Dragon's Breath - Index
 * Deep Blood (mentioned)

Locations

 * Academy City
 * School District 7
 * Tsukuyomi Residence

New Location

 * Heaven Canceller's Hospital
 * Windowless Building

Trivia

 * During this episode it is shown that Stiyl can summon Innocentius without performing the incanation that was shown in episode 02, though the conditions for this is unknown.
 * This is the first instance that Touma says his "Destroy/break your illusion." phrase.
 * As of this episode, Index is still the only person to have ever confessed to Touma.
 * The Tree Diagram was destroyed a few minutes after midnight on July 28. According to the news reports around Academy City, it has been 2 weeks since the interruption in communication with the Orihime-01 sattelite - which carried the Tree Diagram. This would mean that it is at least early August, around day 8 or 9 of the month. In the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun anime adaptation, it was shown that the Poltergeist Arc ended on August 9, which would indicate that the Sisters Arc will occur the very next day; however, it was shown in the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun anime that Touma has already met Himegami Aisa prior to August the 9th in the anime, in this episode, Touma has yet to be relieved from the hospital - much less meet Aisa. This would mean that there are slight discrepancies between the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun and Toaru Majutsu no Index anime timelines.
 * During the broadcast reporting about the lost of communication with the Orihime-01 sattelite, Misaka pasts by the spot where she and Touma last met before his memory loss.

Referbacks

 * The satellite shown in episode 1, the Tree Diagram, is shown once again and is destroyed by Index's Dragon's Breath.

Cultural References

 * Index uses the phrase "Eli Eli Lema Sabachthani?", which is for "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?". This is one of the  that  is said to have spoken during his crucifixion; it appears in the  and the  in the  in the.
 * The on Stiyl's runic cards are similar to his previous runes that he applied back in episode 2, which are ᚲ and ᚨ, which means "torch" and "one of the  (gods)" respectively. Also, the symbol ᚲ was used to destroy the letter that Index was reading.
 * Dragon's Breath maybe a reference to the dragon from the tale of.

Animation Trivia

 * Even though the distance between Index and Touma is not longer than a few feet, it took Touma an unusual amount of time to come into contact Index when he charged towards her.
 * When the sattelite was destroyed by Index, it produced a sound, which should be impossible since sound cannot travel in space.

Unanswered Questions

 * Why is Aleister inside a tube, connected to wires?
 * Who is this Deep Blood?

Quotes

 * Stiyl: "I don't need a vague possibility. If her memories are erased, then at least she'll still have her life. I'll kill anyone for that. I'll destroy whatever is needed. That is my choice, one that I made long ago." -said to Touma.
 * Touma: "You guys have been waiting for this; haven't you? A method where you don't need to take away Index's memories... A method where you don't need to be Index's enemies...A method where everyone is smiling and that everyone wants...what leads to the best happy ending!" -said to Kanzaki and Stiyl.
 * Touma: "You've been waiting all your lives, haven't you? For this development? What have you guys been clenching your teeth all this time for? Didn't you swear you'd save this one girl with your own hands? You'd like to be maind characters of the story too, right? Quit being content staying as a side character! Didn't you want to put your lives on the line and protect this one girl?! Then, it's not over yet! It hasn't even begun! '" -said to Kanzaki and Stiyl.
 * Touma: "Quit getting depressed in this kinda long prologue! You can reach her if you stretch your hand out! Let's get this thing started already, magician!" -said to Kanzaki and Stiyl.
 * Touma: "God, if this world really is functioning through your system. Then, I'll destroy that illusion first!"
 * Index: "Touma... don't you remember? Index... Index... loved you, Touma..." -Index confessing to Touma.
 * Touma: "I... just didn't want that girl to cry... That's what I crossed my mind." -said to Heaven Canceler, explaining why he tricked Index into thinking his memories were intact.
 * Touma: "That's easy...My heart, no?" -said to Heaven Canceler, as a reply to his question where his memories are.
 * Aleister: "If Deep Blood proves the existence of vampires, then whose existence will the Imagine Breaker prove?" -said to Stiyl.