What do you think?
Rate this book
新約 とある魔術の禁書目録 [Shin'yaku Toaru Majutsu no Index] #3
新約 とある魔術の禁書目録 3 [Shin'yaku Toaru Majutsu no Index 3]
New A Certain Magical Index (Shinyaku To Aru Majutsu no Index) Vol.3 (Dengeki Bunko) Manga
389 pages, Paperback
First published December 10, 2011
8 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Kazuma Kamachi
240 books153 followersKamachi Kazuma (鎌池和馬) is a Japanese-born light novel author and the original creator of the Toaru Majutsu no Index light novel series and Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, its spin-off manga series.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 14, 2013
Possibly the most epic fictional America since... Amerika? Team America: World Police? Well, let us not exaggerate the setting too much (lest we make it come true!).
What makes this series and the larger franchise so interesting (and I suspect so successful), as I think is exemplified by this novel, is how it deals without apology in big, fantastical ideas. These become anchors for the story's conflicts, and both sides are done equally well- with clever mythical symbolism for magical processes and a quintessentially Japanese view of cyberpunk/near-future science fiction for the scientific innovations.
The balance is in the politics and the mundanely comic lives the characters are allowed in between calls to action.
In this particular story, media power in politics/the surveillance state and a magical control over humans derived from Russian fairy lore are the main points of focus, but we have plenty of more minor elements in play (like 'instinctual inconsistencies' in those imprinted with Accelerator's frame of mind, among weapons, magical countermeasures, and other things) and the story has definitely progressed to a significant conflict following World War III- this time from a split in the science side weakening Academy City's central control, precipitated by a rogue magic cabal called GREMLIN who at first seem dispossessed Russians from the losing side of the war.
The political tensions, beginning with internal strife in America, are interesting not least because Academy City's official position is as yet unknown, and we have in actions what the protagonist has been warned about countless times before about how magicians operate.
The constant action familiar from the war at the end of the last series doesn't leave as much space as some might like for the interesting encounters like Misaka Mikoto and Accelerator (who interestingly have just met for the first time in the Railgun S anime at the time I'm writing this) to greatly progress, but Misaka does express her resolve to follow Kamijou and set things right by the end. Kamijou Touma continues to be a somewhat odd case of a righteous hero who denies his righteousness while employing a righteous fist and owning all responsibility, and this could be a bit of an annoyance to some, but 'the boy' not being the whole focus is one of the best things about the series. He is what I call a 'displaced hero', in that his sense of self has undergone a crisis (because of the memory event in this case; but the general idea is as with Emiya Shirou in Fate/Stay Night- any trauma will do) and he clings to the support he has from friends and the responsibility he feels towards them and people in general, resorting to great ideals whether he acknowledges them or not. In this novel the burden he takes on is more obvious than before, since he sees his involvement as sought out this time.
As ever, the translation is at Baka-Tsuki.
What makes this series and the larger franchise so interesting (and I suspect so successful), as I think is exemplified by this novel, is how it deals without apology in big, fantastical ideas. These become anchors for the story's conflicts, and both sides are done equally well- with clever mythical symbolism for magical processes and a quintessentially Japanese view of cyberpunk/near-future science fiction for the scientific innovations.
The balance is in the politics and the mundanely comic lives the characters are allowed in between calls to action.
In this particular story, media power in politics/the surveillance state and a magical control over humans derived from Russian fairy lore are the main points of focus, but we have plenty of more minor elements in play (like 'instinctual inconsistencies' in those imprinted with Accelerator's frame of mind, among weapons, magical countermeasures, and other things) and the story has definitely progressed to a significant conflict following World War III- this time from a split in the science side weakening Academy City's central control, precipitated by a rogue magic cabal called GREMLIN who at first seem dispossessed Russians from the losing side of the war.
The political tensions, beginning with internal strife in America, are interesting not least because Academy City's official position is as yet unknown, and we have in actions what the protagonist has been warned about countless times before about how magicians operate.
The constant action familiar from the war at the end of the last series doesn't leave as much space as some might like for the interesting encounters like Misaka Mikoto and Accelerator (who interestingly have just met for the first time in the Railgun S anime at the time I'm writing this) to greatly progress, but Misaka does express her resolve to follow Kamijou and set things right by the end. Kamijou Touma continues to be a somewhat odd case of a righteous hero who denies his righteousness while employing a righteous fist and owning all responsibility, and this could be a bit of an annoyance to some, but 'the boy' not being the whole focus is one of the best things about the series. He is what I call a 'displaced hero', in that his sense of self has undergone a crisis (because of the memory event in this case; but the general idea is as with Emiya Shirou in Fate/Stay Night- any trauma will do) and he clings to the support he has from friends and the responsibility he feels towards them and people in general, resorting to great ideals whether he acknowledges them or not. In this novel the burden he takes on is more obvious than before, since he sees his involvement as sought out this time.
As ever, the translation is at Baka-Tsuki.
Read
June 1, 2025Tous nos protagonistes se retrouvent à Hawaï pour contrecarrer les plans de GREMLIN qui menacent de prendre le contrôle des USA.
Contrepied du tome précédent, ici on démarre tout de suite avec beaucoup d'action qui va se poursuivre sur tout le tome.
Si l'action est parfois confuse du fait du grand nombre de personnages, il en reste un tome divertissant et je suis très content de voir que l'approche combinée semble se poursuivre (magie + science). J'espère que nos protagonistes continueront de fonctionner en groupe !
Contrepied du tome précédent, ici on démarre tout de suite avec beaucoup d'action qui va se poursuivre sur tout le tome.
Si l'action est parfois confuse du fait du grand nombre de personnages, il en reste un tome divertissant et je suis très content de voir que l'approche combinée semble se poursuivre (magie + science). J'espère que nos protagonistes continueront de fonctionner en groupe !
January 31, 2021
This volume gets a lot of criticism but I honestly loved it. Birdway was very cool, and it kicked off the main conflict between GREMLIN and, well, everyone else. Hawaii was a nice change of setting from the usual Europe and Japan settings. Hamazura and Misaka Worst had surprisingly good synergy.
April 7, 2025
Time - [02h 36m 06s]
August 1, 2015
It has been a matter of time. Finally, the setting of A Certain Magical Index reaches the United States of America, a nation that we have always been expecting to play a hand in this world. More specifically, this novel takes places on the Hawaiian Islands, and features Roberto Katze, America's goofy president, which might be a funny quip about us as a country.
Similarly to the World War III arc, the first-person narration switches between many people, some of whom are not even central to the story, but are given names nonetheless to add a realistic feeling to the whole affair. And what an affair, indeed. The action scenes are superb and no character is left behind; it would have been a travesty to bring along our caring Railgun and not have her zap her way to victory. This is also the beginning of GREMLIN's active presence within the plot, and unlike the slow unveiling of magical powers in the first series, the antagonists this time start with a bang. I found their powers fascinating and actually yearned to hear a lecture on them! But the action is not the only thing that stands out; I noticed very subtle and interesting characterization and developments throughout. Basically, the conflict is awesome and this novel may very well be one of the top five of the Index series.
By the end of this novel, I realized what a fantastic villain organization GREMLIN is. I love everything about them; their abilities, their origins, their plans. It is way more compelling than the religious magic side from the first series. Kamachi has struck gold with these guys, and I cannot wait to see their plans unfold in the Baggage City arc.
Similarly to the World War III arc, the first-person narration switches between many people, some of whom are not even central to the story, but are given names nonetheless to add a realistic feeling to the whole affair. And what an affair, indeed. The action scenes are superb and no character is left behind; it would have been a travesty to bring along our caring Railgun and not have her zap her way to victory. This is also the beginning of GREMLIN's active presence within the plot, and unlike the slow unveiling of magical powers in the first series, the antagonists this time start with a bang. I found their powers fascinating and actually yearned to hear a lecture on them! But the action is not the only thing that stands out; I noticed very subtle and interesting characterization and developments throughout. Basically, the conflict is awesome and this novel may very well be one of the top five of the Index series.
By the end of this novel, I realized what a fantastic villain organization GREMLIN is. I love everything about them; their abilities, their origins, their plans. It is way more compelling than the religious magic side from the first series. Kamachi has struck gold with these guys, and I cannot wait to see their plans unfold in the Baggage City arc.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews