A Certain Magical Index: The Movie – The Miracle of Endymion

A Certain Magical Index: The Movie – The Miracle of Endymion (劇場版とある魔術のエンデュミオンの奇蹟) is a 2013 Japanese animated film based on an original story written by Kazuma Kamachi featuring the characters of his light novel series A Certain Magical Index. Produced by J.C.Staff and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures Japan, the film is directed by Hiroshi Nishikiori from a script written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, and stars Atsushi Abe, Yuka Iguchi, Rina Satō, and Sachika Misawa. In the film, Toma Kamijo and Index meet Arisa Meigo, who has a mysterious past, as magicians target her for being a threat to the balance between the world of magic and science.

An anime film for the Index franchise was announced in October 2011. In July 2012, Nishikiori and Yoshino were confirmed to be directing and writing the film, respectively, with the cast of the franchise's anime television series returning to reprise their roles. Additional cast to voice the original characters in the film were announced in October 2012. The film was completed a week before its premiere in February 2013.

A Certain Magical Index: The Movie – The Miracle of Endymion premiered in Japan on February 23, 2013, and was released in the United States on January 12, 2015. The film grossed over US$4million at the Japanese box office.

Plot

Production

studio	J.C.Staff

distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures Japan

runtime	90 minutes‡R1R‡

country	Japan

language	Japanese

gross	US$4.7 million

Development

Initial talks for an anime film based on A Certain Magical Index light novel series by Kazuma Kamachi began around the end of A Certain Magical Index II (2010).[6] In October, the start of the film's production was announced at the Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2011.[7] The content of the film began to develop by the end of 2011, with the producers requesting a "song foil festival atmosphere" theme.[6]

In March 2012, Index light novel editor Kazuma Miki announced that Kamachi would be writing an original story for the film instead of adapting the light novel's fifteenth volume.[8] The film's setting was confirmed to be taking place between the seventh and eighth episodes of Index II.[9] The film took inspiration from the Greek mythology for the title "Endymion", the name of the space elevator in the film,[10] and the origin of Ladylee Tangleroad, one of the new characters designed by Haimura Kiyotaka.[11][6] In June 2012, the film's premiere was announced to be in February 2013.[12] By the following month, J.C.Staff was announced to be animating the film.[13]

Pre-production

In July 2012, Hiroshi Nishikiori and Hiroyuki Yoshino were announced as the film's director and scriptwriter, respectively, along with other staff, including character designer Yuichi Tanaka and cinematographer Shingo Fukuyo. In the same month, cast of the Index franchise were confirmed to be reprising their roles in the film, including Atsushi Abe as Toma Kamijo, Yuka Iguchi as Index, Rina Satō as Mikoto Misaka, Shizuka Itō as Kaori Kanzaki, Kishō Taniyama as Stiyl Magnus, Mamiko Noto as Aisa Himegami, Anri Katsu as Motoharu Tsuchimikado, Nobuhiko Okamoto as Accelerator, Nozomi Sasaki as the Sisters, Yoshihisa Kawahara as Pierce Aogami, Kimiko Koyama as Komoe Tsukuyomi, Satomi Arai as Kuroko Shirai, and Aki Toyosaki as Kazari Uiharu.[13]

In October 2012, Yōko Hikasa, Ayane Sakura, and Sachika Misawa were announced to be respectively voicing the new characters Shutaura Sequenzia, Tangleroad, and Arisa Meigo.[14]

Animation

3D computer graphics were used for the film's mecha battles, live scenes, and background art, such as Kamijo's apartment, that was previously drawn by hand. Nishikiori revealed their decision to use 3DCG instead of the traditional method of "creating CG and art after storyboarding" was to "create a sense of scale and theatricality with limited resources". Sanzigen's CG modelers and animators and the CG department of J.C.Staff managed to handle one of the issues in animating the film such as expressing the lighting.[16]

Post-production

Shigeru Nishiyama served as the film's editor.[13] The cast took fifteen hours in one day to complete their voice work.[17] In February 2013, producer Nobuhiro Nakayama revealed that the film was completed in a week before its theatrical release.[18]

A Certain Magical Index: The Movie – The Miracle of Endymion

Plot

Voice cast

Production

Development

Pre-production

Animation

Post-production

Music

Marketing

Release

Theatrical

Home media

Reception

Box office

Critical response

Scientific accuracy

Manga adaptation

Original video animation

Plot

Note

External links

References

director	Hiroshi Nishikiori
screenplay	Hiroyuki Yoshino
story	Kazuma Kamachi
based on	A Certain Magical Index by Kazuma Kamachi
producer	Nobuhiro Nakayama Kentarō Hattori Kazuma Miki Yasutaka Kimura Satoshi Fujita
starring	Atsushi Abe Yuka Iguchi Rina Satō Sachika Misawa
cinematography	Shingo Fukuyo
editing	Shigeru Nishiyama
music	Maiko Iuchi Keiji Inai Yasunori Iwasaki Hayato Matsuo