Heartbreak and Hype: Approaching the Turning Point

The story of Toaru Majutsu no Index (and its major spinoff Toaru Kagaku no Railgun) as a multimedia franchise has been established as one of the most successful projects in recent light novel adaptations. Known for leaving a record sales average of 20,000 copies across both seasons of Index and both seasons of Railgun, fans of the series and the industry at large had recognized the Toaru series to be a force to be reckoned with. Sadly, the success of the anime didn't seem enough for the series to be animated past a second season, and fans from Japan and overseas started clamoring for a third season to the point where even fans of other shows recognize the frustration.

As we approach the pivotal date of the Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2017 on October 1, 2017, we look back at the moments of disappointment and anticipation throughout the four years that had passed, starting from the final episode of Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S.

After Railgun S

The second season of Toaru Kagaku no Railgun ended with its 24th episode on September 27, 2013. With this episode, the Silent Party Arc, which received mixed sentiments from fans of the Toaru series, closed its final chapter. This particular story arc had been frowned upon by fans of Index because of the Cloverfield fan concept, as well as the preference towards the more story-oriented Liberal Arts City Arc. Nonetheless, the Silent Party Arc was considered the last time where Academy City would be seen in animated form.

A few months after the end of Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S, the Index series would receive a new spinoff in the form of the Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator manga series, which started serialization on December 27, 2013, while the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun manga would continue with the Daihasei Festival Arc leading to the original Dream Ranker Arc. Although the introduction of new media for the Toaru series provided fans with fresh content, it didn't take long before fans starting looking for something that's more than just static black-and-white panels.

10th Year Anniversary of Kamachi Kazuma

Logo for the Kamachi Kazuma and Toaru Majutsu no Index's 10th Anniversary.

During Dengeki Bunko Spring Festival 2014, a stage dedicated to Index was opened. However, the celebration is a more general one, congratulating the author of the series, Kamachi Kazuma, for his tenth year as a light novel writer. To commemorate for the milestone, ten projects related to Kamachi's works were announced throughout 2014.

The tenth and last project was announced during Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2014 on October of that year. A stage related to the Index series invited Satou Rina and Abe Atsushi, voice actors for Misaka Mikoto and Kamijou Touma respectively, as well as Kawada Mami, who sang a medley of the theme songs of Toaru Majutsu no Index. At the end of the program, an anime adaptation of Heavy Object, another of Kamachi's works, was announced as the tenth project.

Miki Kazuma and the Infamous "Autumn Festival Dogeza"

Flash forward to October 4, 2015, during the Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2015. Once more, fans of Index flocked to the event venue in Akihabara UDX, hoping for new developments on the Index light novel series. The event ended with Miki Kazuma, editor-in-chief of Dengeki Bunko, telling the audience, "Lastly, there is no season 3 yet for Index. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm very sorry," followed by a tabletop dogeza. The moment remains to be one of the most iconic moments of the pursuit for a season 3 of Index, and Miki would also become a notable, almost notorious, figure in determining the chances for a third season of Index.

Kazuma Miki apologizes in front of the audience during the Index stage in the Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2015.

On 2016, Miki once more stepped into the spotlight as he appeared on the Dengeki Bunko Spring Festival 2016 of March 13, 2016. However, this is to announce the anime adaptation of Fushimi Tsukasa's Eromanga-sensei light novel series, an anniversary event for Fushimi, and announcements for an animated movie based on the Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei light novel series. (Lastly, he performed a dance on the stage.)

Later that month, Miki would leave Kadokawa to form Straight Edge , a company "focused on managing talent and producing content such as publications and animation". Among the writers contracted to Straight Edge were Kamachi, Fushimi, Mahouka writer Satou Tsutomu and Kawahara Reki, author of Sword Art Online and Accel World. Fans began speculating about Miki's decision to establish Straight Edge despite the lack of signs towards a third season of Index, but stayed cautious about forming any conclusions towards Miki's actions.

Resurgence

After much disappointment in three consecutive "tease years" for Toaru Majutsu no Index, the franchise made another appearance during the Dengeki Game Festival 2017 & Dengeki Bunko Spring Festival 2017 & Dengeki Comic Festival 2017 on March 2017. Here, Index entered an unexpected collaboration with SEGA's Virtual-On video game series, creating the Toaru Majutsu no Virtual-On crossover novel. Kazuma Miki also made a big request for fans of Index during the event: "Please wait a little longer for season 3!" Dengeki Online later posted an official report about the event that implied that Miki's request was pertaining to a third season for the Toaru series.

Cover of Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Volume 19.

The approach of October also showed a resurgence of activity throughout the Index franchise. The nineteenth volume of Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index will be released on October 7, three days earlier than the typical "tenth day of the month" release. The Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2017 will also take place on October 1, more than a week earlier than expected, making the dates of the release of NT19 coincide with the upcoming Dengeki Bunko event. Meanwhile, both the Index manga (which will finish all the content covered by the anime by October) and the Railgun manga (which will enter a new original story arc by September) are also celebrating their respective serialization anniversaries. A mobile multiplayer action game based on the series has currently been released in China. The game, developed by Netease, plans to cover story details in the light novels, including OT14 onwards, and has integrated original voice lines from the anime voice cast of Index.

Aside from this, reruns of the two seasons of Index and Railgun had been ongoing on Nico Nico, and new Bluray Boxes for both series had been announced for release on late October and November respectively. There are also reports of key figures in the anime series having changes in their work status:

• Tanaka Yuichi, Main Character Designer and Animation Director of both Index and Railgun stopped complaining about a lack of work since July and had posted a sketch of Mikoto (which was later deleted).
• Nishikiori Hiroshi had stepped down from acting as Chief Director of the Milky Holmes series and has settled for a General Director position.
• Abe Atsushi, voice actor for Kamijou Touma, had been promoting the Toaru Majutsu no Index mobile action game in China and was present in the Firefly ACG Festival.

Lastly, days before the airing date of the program itself, Animax Japan's Anime Culture Club has leaked a preview of its October 1 episode, where Kazuma Miki will guest alongside Kawase Kohei, producer of the Toaru Majutsu no Index anime series. The preview stated that a third season of Toaru Majutsu no Index will be green-lit during the episode. While the preview has since been deleted from the site of Anime Culture Club, the leak has caused the hashtag #禁書目録 to trend worldwide, peaking at over 100,000 tweets.

Final Words

Although it was said that the announcement of the Heavy Object anime has caused the sales of the light novels to go on a steady decline and even affected Kawada Mami's career before her retirement, it seems that the warm eagerness of the fans about the "season 3 leak" and the 100,000-tweet trend was a good sign that the anticipation of Index still remains in the hearts of its fans. Despite all this, it is a safe option to stay cautious before immediately jumping into the conclusion that the third season of Index is a certainty. After all, we have been disappointed for a handful of years already. The best thing to do is wait for October 1 and gauge our expectations after everything has been confirmed.

Take note of the following:

• The New Project Announcement Stage on the Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2017 will take place at the second floor of Akihabara UDX on October 1, 2017, from 3:00-3:40 pm GMT+9.
• Animax Japan's Anime Culture Club will air on October 1, 2017 at 11:00 pm GMT+9.

The Toaru Majutsu no Index Wiki will definitely follow the developments—regardless of outcome—so please stay tuned!