Brace yourselves, for I have shocking information to share – in this weeks episode of Index II, Index is kidnapped! How’s that for a plot twist?

Well – not really. It’s actually our old buddy, the 6′ tall, flame-haired, chain-smoking, stubble-cheeked 14 year-old Styl Magnus. Seeing Styl brought back definite memories of the first season, and indeed this was pretty much vintage Index. Index kidnapped – check. Biblical world domination plot – check. Touma gets in trouble without doing anything wrong – check. Nun-service – check.

Along with some lovely shots of Index in the shower, we get a close up look at a new Sister this week – Kugimita Rie! Oops, that’s Agnese Sanctis – a vertically and dexterity-challenged loli nun representing the Roman Catholic Church. Her method of dealing with her lack of height is a preposterous pair of platform sandals, which unfortunately exacerbates her dexterity problem greatly. Madcap misunderstandings follow, especially as she seems to have a thing for Touma, which leads to much Index mastication. The plot – if it matters – involves a rogue group called the Amakusa Catholics, a real-life group of religious mystics. Seems the R.C.’s have mislaid a powerful book (Liber Al vel Legis) which only Sister Orsola Aquinas can decipher. The Amakusa kidnap Orsola (Aya Endo) right from under Styl and Agnese’s noses, and the race is on to retrieve her and the book before whole bunches of biblically bad things happen.

I was a little worried that this season would be some sort of unnatural Index/Railgun hybrid – I’m not a huge fan of Railgun the series, though I like the character – but those fears appear to be unfounded. This is straight up Index – the same irreverent mix of mysticism and bad science along with visual comedy and fanservice. And through it all the unflappable Touma, a decent-hearted schlemazel of a kid who just wants to stay out of trouble and get his homework done. He’s not flashy, but there’s just something incredibly appealing about the guy as a central character. This series may not be especially deep but it’s good fun, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.