Definitely a setup episode this week, and it looks like next week will wrap up the Croce de Pietro arc. Not too much happened, really – not a lot of humor, not much action – mostly a lot of talking.

What was interesting? Well, we had a seemingly extraneous snippet of dialogue from Mikasa – which leads me to wonder if my guess about Accelerator stepping into the fray may bear out. We had Komoe – quite covered in Himegami’s blood – attach herself onto Stiyl in thanks for saving Himegami’s life. And we had Kuroko (ugh) smitten with Mikoto’s busty MILF. Biri-biri aura with woman-sized cleavage? For once, I agree with Kuroko! And Touma finally got a little taste of his own medicine, getting Falcon Punched by a girl.

This arc is starting to drag a bit for me. Oriana is a good villain – a mistress of double entendres (“You can’t make me come if you’re distracted!”) and slutty outfits. She’s systematically kicked everyone’s ass so far, though this week she showed some guilt over the Himegami attack. But we get it – she’s a badass and she wants to use the Croce de Pietro and basically open up some kind of Roman Catholic Human Instrumentality Project in Academy City. But I’m ready for the final battle already – enough is enough.

As for Index – you know, the one in the title? She continues to be largely AWOL though adorable in cheerleader mode – too risky to let her presence to exposed. That’s not a big plus for me, either – get this arc done and maybe she can play with the other kids again.