Made by me, yours truly

ITEM's Character Designs Across the Toaru Series. Which one is your favorite?😳

ITEM's look has changed quite a bit across the Toaru franchise, and it follows the story's timeline from their past in Toaru Anbu no Item to their appearances in Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S and Toaru Majutsu no Index III. Mugino swaps her long formal coat in Anbu no Item for a loose purple mini dress with a wide belt in the later series, which feels more relaxed but still intimidating. Frenda trades her bright sailor-style beret for her iconic black one, and Railgun S adds a small braid on the side of her hair. Takitsubo goes from a sporty tracksuit jacket to a school uniform and then a casual white tee, with her eyes looking more tired in Index III. Kinuhata sticks with her oversized orange hoodie throughout, but in Index III she pulls the hood up more often, which fits the darker tone of that season. 🔥

Anime:

•Toaru Anbu no Item / A Certain Dark Item

•Toaru Majutsu no Index III / A Certain Magical Index III

•Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S / A Certain Scientific Railgun S

Credit: Nanimedesu

https://x.com/ten_4537/status/2110935581375226302/photo/1

Para celebrar el estreno del anime ITEM voy a abriri el debate que creo muchos se llevan preguntando desde OT15: Si Mugino Shizuri conociera a Kamijou Touma, se enamoraría de el?. Vamos a ser claros, esto es una serie Harem, nos guste o no, todos los nivel 5 no solo conocen a Touma sino tienen una relación con el, positiva en la mayoría de los casos, de hecho, si el los convocara para pedir ayuda 5 de 7 dirían que si. Mugino solo por que no lo conoce.

Mi pregunta es: si convivieran en un tomo o dos, como protagonistas y cruzaran caminos, Mugino terminaría en el harem/facción Kamijou?

Si me preguntan yo digo que si, considerando que hasta Accel y Kakine ya han peleado de su lado.

Source: In the comments, because the last time I tried posting it with the source in the post body, the post got removed by reddit filters (not by an admin, but instead automated).

Toaru Dark ITEM Chapter 10

#ToaruTimelinePlayback

▞▟▗▘ October 16 🌆 Evening ▖▙▚▛

Kamijou Touma asks Misaka Mikoto not to tell anyone about his memory loss.

The news reports that an explosion has occurred in the Eurotunnel.

✞ 『A Certain Magical Index』

https://x.com/toaru_project/status/2110989116045226361

【Special Interview】『Toaru Anbu no ITEM / A Certain Dark ITEM』 Opening & Ending Theme Artists in Conversation! East Of Eden × Kishida Kyoudan & THE Akeboshi Rockets Discuss Their Love for the 『Toaru』 Series and the Feelings Behind Their Songs

Mekurimekuru | Dengeki Bunko | October 16, 2026

The TV anime 『Toaru Anbu no ITEM / A Certain Dark ITEM』 began airing on Friday, October 9. East Of Eden performs its opening theme, while Kishida Kyoudan & THE Akeboshi Rockets performs its ending theme.

This time, we've brought the two groups together for a special conversation about the opening and ending themes!

Representing Kishida Kyoudan & THE Akeboshi Rockets, whose members are huge fans of the 『Toaru』 series, are Kishida and ichigo. Joining them from East Of Eden, who are performing an anime theme song for the first time, are Ayasa and Akane Minato.

We asked them about the feelings they poured into their respective songs, the appeal of ITEM's characters, and how they incorporated the anime's world into their music. They also shared plenty of behind-the-scenes stories from the production process.

“We finally get to do it!” — The excitement of performing their first anime theme song

Interviewer: First, could you introduce yourselves?

Ayasa: We're East Of Eden. It's a pleasure to be here. I formed the band by personally reaching out to musicians who were involved in various activities and whom I thought were wonderful.

ichigo: You approached each member individually?

Ayasa: That's right. I reached out to the people I specifically wanted in the band.

ichigo: That's such a cool way to form a band! Completely different from us amateurs getting together! (Laughs)

Akane Minato (Minato): Today, I'd like to learn whatever I can from you two.

ichigo: Hopefully, we can share something with you, even if it's just wisdom from the extra years we've lived.

Kishida: You're talking to one of the artists who's wasted the most years of their life! (Laughs) It's been 20 years since we formed our band, and we've been making anime songs for a long time. Our beginnings were something like Vocaloid producers forming a band.

ichigo: That's pretty much how it started. We formed the band almost like it was a part-time job, and somehow it's lasted 20 years.

Photo captions: East Of Eden's Ayasa (violin) and Akane Minato (vocals); Kishida Kyoudan & THE Akeboshi Rockets' Kishida (bass) and ichigo (vocals).

Interviewer: We've brought together the two groups responsible for the opening and ending themes of 『Toaru Anbu no ITEM / A Certain Dark ITEM』, so we'd love to hear you discuss your respective songs. “Ghost Sequence” is East Of Eden's first anime tie-in, correct?

Minato: Yes. I've admired anime songs for a really long time, so when I heard about it, I thought, “We finally get to do it!” I was incredibly happy.

Ayasa: I've also always admired theme songs where the music and visuals come together.

Interviewer: Kishida Kyoudan & THE Akeboshi Rockets has created many anime songs, including one for the 『Toaru』 series, right?

Kishida: We made “nameless story,” the ending theme for 『A Certain Scientific Railgun T』. I've actually followed 『Toaru』 as a fan myself. So this time, too, I was like, “All right, let's do this!” (Laughs)

『Toaru』 is one of Dengeki Bunko's flagship series, after all. I once wanted to become a light novel author or scenario writer myself.

ichigo: Back in my twenties, I even formed a band called JUDGEMENT simply because I wanted to say “Judgment desu no!”—Shirai Kuroko's catchphrase from 『A Certain Scientific Railgun』.

It's really moving to think that someone like me is now involved in the franchise's official music.

“For the violin, I imagined Mugino's beams.”

Interviewer: “Ghost Sequence” was written and composed by Ryutaro Fujinaga of Elements Garden. What did you discuss with him?

Ayasa: We talked about wanting to express the digital atmosphere of 『Toaru Anbu no ITEM / A Certain Dark ITEM』 through synthesizer sounds.

We don't have a keyboardist in our band, but we wanted to emphasize electronic elements.

Minato: At the same time, I think the song really brings out the individual strengths of all five members.

Ayasa: We also discussed wanting a hard-hitting song with a heavy sound.

Since it's an opening theme, Fujinaga-sensei also emphasized the importance of making an immediate impact. The song incorporates phrases designed to deliver 100% intensity right from the beginning.

Interviewer: Kishida, what were you imagining while producing “Meltdowner”?

Kishida: The central character of 『Toaru Anbu no ITEM / A Certain Dark ITEM』 is Mugino, one of the most distinctive women in the entire 『Toaru』 series.

She fires beams, too, so naturally I wanted an aggressive sound.

I asked the record label staff what references they had in mind for the song, and they told me, “We don't have any references, so we'd like you to suggest some.”

I submitted several options, and they chose a metal track with guitars and bass tuned to drop C. That's how we ended up developing that kind of sound.

Interviewer: The combination of heavy instrumentation and synthesizers is quite distinctive.

Kishida: Like East Of Eden, we thought emphasizing synthesizers would suit the series.

We used plenty of synths and sound effects to evoke the beams, along with drop C tuning.

And the drummer is playing an unbelievable number of kick-drum hits.

But I didn't want to sacrifice catchiness, so I made the vocal melody melodic.

ichigo: It was incredibly fun to sing. The melody flows really well, so it feels natural to perform.

The chorus melody is difficult, though. I was singing it while thinking, “Somehow, I'll make this work!”

Ayasa: The approach to the guitar tones is really cool.

Kishida: About half of what sounds like synthesizers is actually guitar.

Our guitarist Hayapii made all kinds of random sound-effect-like noises on his guitar. We used those recordings as source material, cutting them up and piecing them together.

Ayasa: Amazing!

Interviewer: Kishida, what were your impressions when you heard East Of Eden's “Ghost Sequence”?

Kishida: What an incredible singer!

Minato: Thank you!

ichigo: I love 『Cowboy Bebop』, so I've always admired heavy songs that incorporate strings.

“Ghost Sequence” is really cool. It has such a grand sense of scale.

Ayasa: Each of our members refined their respective parts of the song we received before recording.

For my violin, I imagined Mugino's beams.

You can hear that atmosphere in the opening phrase, but I especially focused on creating phrasing that sounds like a beam firing in the passage after the chorus, just before the second A section begins.

While the guitar and bass play heavy riffs, I deliberately play in a higher register, going all out with intensity.

Minato: The five of us are one unit, so I imagined all of us fighting back-to-back.

That image carries into the vocals, especially at the beginning of the chorus, where I use a particularly impactful singing style.

“If I start talking, we'll be here all day!” — Kishida Kyoudan's love for 『Toaru』

Interviewer: Are there any particular elements of “Meltdowner” that you'd like listeners to pay attention to?

Kishida: The lyrics reflect the world of the original light novels.

I wrote them so that people familiar with the source material would recognize certain interesting details.

There are also parts that will make readers of 『A Certain Magical Index』 think, “Ah, I see.”

After all, Mugino appears in other installments of the series.

Interviewer: The lyric “Rather than merely surviving, sink your teeth into that life” is particularly striking.

Kishida: That's exactly the kind of person Mugino is.

Even in the original novels, there are situations where she knows she'll die if she attacks, yet she chooses to attack anyway.

Interviewer: The vocals are incredibly powerful.

ichigo: Rather than overthinking it, I approached it with the mindset that if I could deliver the vocals properly, we'd win.

The song itself is excellent, so I concentrated on singing it all the way through with a great tone and cool rhythm.

Interviewer: Kishida, you seem to have a particularly strong attachment to the 『Toaru』 series.

Kishida: If I start talking, we'll be here all day! (Laughs)

When it comes to 『Toaru Anbu no ITEM / A Certain Dark ITEM』, the members of ITEM are such richly developed characters that they could easily receive much more exploration even within 『A Certain Magical Index』 itself.

That's precisely what the spin-off 『Toaru Anbu no ITEM / A Certain Dark ITEM』 does.

I think this TV anime will also show their more approachable sides.

The original novels include everyday-life scenes, too.

I can really feel how committed the anime production team is to exploring each character in depth.

ichigo: The fact that they're villains is part of ITEM's appeal, too.

Kishida: Exactly!

Even in the promotional video for this anime, there's a line along the lines of, “Justice and I have never really gotten along.”

Interviewer: Akane and Ayasa, what aspects of this series appeal to you?

Minato: It's not just about battles between people with supernatural abilities. The characters have a lot of humanity, too.

There are also warm, relaxed everyday moments, and I feel something similar to East Of Eden in that.

Ayasa: That's so true! (Laughs)

Minato: They know when to get serious, but they also have these soft, laid-back sides. That's something I find relatable.

Interviewer: Are there any characters you see yourselves in?

Minato: Mugino. I also pay attention to beauty and taking care of my appearance.

Kishida: I really don't think you should identify yourself as Mugino! (Laughs) She's a dangerous person.

Minato: I'll make sure not to imitate her more problematic qualities! (Laughs)

Ayasa: ITEM does terrifying things during their missions, but their conversations with each other can be pretty casual, and they tease one another.

I really love that contrast.

East Of Eden asks Kishida Kyoudan & THE Akeboshi Rockets some questions!

Interviewer: This is East Of Eden's first anime song. Is there anything you'd like to ask these two, who have worked on so many anime themes?

Ayasa: Anime songs are often written while the original story is still ongoing, right?

How do you create a song when you don't know what's going to happen later in the story?

Kishida: I always ask which part of the original story the anime will adapt.

Then I read that section thoroughly and write the lyrics using the information available within that range.

If there's room, I'll incorporate elements from other parts of the original work as well.

Ayasa: I see…!

Kishida: Another difficult part is deciding how much of your own interpretation to include.

For example, thinking, “This character would probably feel this way, so these are the words they'd use.”

Rather than thinking, “I'm writing lyrics for my band,” I approach it as, “I'm writing lyrics for this anime.”

It's about interpreting the characters' words and figuring out how to incorporate them into the song.

Minato: Your lyrics are quite philosophical. Do you write the lyrics before composing the music?

Kishida: The music comes first.

They end up sounding philosophical because I'm adjusting the words to fit the music! (Laughs)

Sometimes ichigo looks at me like, “What on earth is this guy talking about in these lyrics?” She's even gotten angry at me before.

ichigo: Because they're difficult to sing!

I've asked him, “Did you actually try saying these words out loud when you wrote them?”

Kishida: Which lyrics made you the angriest?

ichigo: Probably “Akatsuki no Kaleid Blood,” the opening theme for the OVA 『Strike the Blood IV』.

He wrote 銀色の弾丸, meaning “silver bullet,” but made me sing it as the English phrase “Silver Bullet.”

And he'd squeezed it into just four musical notes!

I was like, “How am I supposed to sing that!?”

But having to come up with creative ways to sing something can give a song its own unique personality, so there are good sides to it, too.

Kishida: Thank you for putting up with me back then! (Laughs)

Interviewer: (Laughs) The TV anime 『Toaru Anbu no ITEM / A Certain Dark ITEM』 began airing on October 9. What are you all looking forward to?

Ayasa: I think the voice actors' performances will make each character feel even more three-dimensional.

I'm also incredibly excited to see how the opening animation fits together with our song.

Minato: Same here. I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of visuals they've created.

ichigo: I feel like the song has already left our hands now, so I'd like to enjoy the anime every week as a viewer and a fan.

Kishida: I can feel how much passion everyone involved is putting into this project, so I'm also looking forward to the animation.

I think the battle scenes in particular could be incredibly spectacular.

Interview and article by Dai Tanaka.

Artist Profiles

East Of Eden

A five-member rock band centered around violinist Ayasa, joined by Akane Minato (vocals), Yuki (guitar), MINA (bass), and MIZUKI (drums).

Formed in 2023, the band brings together musicians from different musical backgrounds to create a powerful, metal-centered rock sound.

Their distinctive incorporation of violin and the exceptional musical abilities of all five members have attracted considerable attention.

Kishida Kyoudan & THE Akeboshi Rockets

A four-member rock band consisting of Kishida (bass), ichigo (vocals), Hayapii (guitar), and Micchan (drums).

The band was formed in 2007 when Kishida, who had been active in the Touhou arrangement music scene, invited the other members to join.

They made their major-label debut in 2010 with “HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD,” the opening theme for 『Highschool of the Dead』.

They have since performed numerous anime theme songs, including songs for 『Strike the Blood』, 『GATE』, and 『A Certain Scientific Railgun T』.

『Toaru Anbu no ITEM / A Certain Dark ITEM』 — Anime Information

Broadcast Schedule

Production Staff

Main Cast

Related Light Novel: 『Toaru Anbu no ITEM / A Certain Dark ITEM』

Academy City is a place where supernatural powers are recognized as part of ordinary science.

But behind its peaceful facade exist organizations belonging to the Dark Side, tasked with carrying out missions that can never be made public.

ITEM is an elite unit consisting of four girls.

Takitsubo Rikou can detect and track the faint powers emitted by espers. Frenda Seivelun specializes in combat using explosives and traps. Kinuhata Saiai manipulates nitrogen to provide defense.

And then there's Mugino Shizuri, one of Academy City's seven Level 5 espers.

Living freely within Academy City's darkness, these girls quietly set their sights on their targets—

“Y-O-U-'R-E D-E-A-D. T-H-A-T-'S F-O-R S-U-R-E.”

This is the story of the girls' encounters, friendships, and darkness, which will eventually lead to a horrific incident.

Author: Kamachi Kazuma | Illustrations and Character Design: Nilitsu | Character Design: Haimura Kiyotaka | Publication Date: March 10, 2023

© Kamachi Kazuma/KADOKAWA/PROJECT-ITEM

https://mequrimequru.jp/articles/details/1446526/

Discuss on the Megathread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Toaru/s/tv3Bn8mWMe

Source: https://x.com/qg0rnluqof58425/status/2110352436049375356?s=46

https://x.com/yamadaaaaa_46/status/2110702494901031210

https://x.com/ten_4537/status/2110935581375226302/photo/2

https://x.com/OneWhoPurifies/status/2110794447311306909

https://x.com/OneWhoPurifies/status/2110796355136344200

I wrote an old fanfic where Index chose to stay in England after NTR22.

I'm not too happy with the writing anymore 😂 but I still think that final scene of Touma opening a letter from England from Index, Stiyl and Kanzaki is bittersweet.

It's a full circle moment where our hero finally says goodbye to the heroine, even if she's gone they still have a powerful bond and Kanzaki appreciates him for all he's done and Stiyl begrudgingly respects him for saving Index.

https://x.com/amegasuki12/status/2110697050568540353

https://x.com/sgk_123/status/2110703553170063676/photo/1

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/144422576

https://x.com/asam_kku/status/2110730775654236525/photo/1

In short: It's Touma.

I ultimately cannot get behind everyone being inspired and changed solely by Touma as that crushes agency in a lot of characters, characters (especially females) should have their own motivations for becoming better people, if Touma is always at the center it feels like the Touma Show and like the world bends over to give him a sloppy toppy.

There are more reasons for why I detest Sprengel, Aradia and Aleister's character change but if there's a main reason it's ultimately that I'll always prefer Toaru as a story where characters have their own individual paths created by themselves and don't abandon their motivations because good boy Touma wanted them to fight for him.

This is why I don't like some Toaru females as they ultimately feel like complimentary pieces to the males, Hamazura and Accelerator tend to do this to the girls around them as well.

For a character like Alice that sort of development is fine and endearing even because a child being guided by an older figure that genuinely cares for them is completely natural, when the person is either a grown ass man like Aleister or a grown ass woman like Aradia and Sprengel then they're characters just aren't doing much of value.

I'd prefer Sprengel if she stayed a villain that perceived Touma as boring for his hero gimmick and already saw his spectacle when Jesus Christ was alive and the absolute closest I got to liking Aradia was when she made a flower for a sick child at a hospital because the moment had nothing to do with Touma. That was a return to form to the Aradia we saw in GT6 that wanted to protect people who were rejected from society like witches.

Sprengel's talk about looking for a King that will basically make her happy just reads like bad wish fulfilment, you're supposed to be your own person. That's called strength and its what Kamijou Touma does for himself.

Aleister's character was better off retired after Coronzon arc in my opinion as not only is his redemption just not a good idea on principle (4th hero rivals Naruto calling Obito a cool guy) but it being done through Touma is utterly painful to read through. This man Kamijou Touma is the center of the goddamn universe and a character like Aleister who once fought for himself now only does what Touma wants, that's just disheartening.

Kamijou Touma at his best is a very helpful figure that ultimately has people he can't reach like Terra and Acqua and characters like Acqua end up becoming better on their own through their own will. It's why I enjoyed Trismegistus in the Transcendent arc as he went through an arc of rejecting his Transcendent mentality all by himself and deciding to finally help Touma save Alice instead of falling head over heels for Touma and becoming a better person because of him.

Touma is awesome, I wouldn't make him my namesake if I didn't love him to death but he genuinely ruins a lot of characters that should be independent actors.

The most that Touma should effect people is how CRC was beaten by Touma in GT11, as he fell Anna Kingsford confessed to him that she loved his teachings, that even though they were false she based her entire life on them so he should too, living to serve someone is a good ideology, in that moment CRC was influenced by both Kingsford and Touma and it was a character that wasn't Touma that finally made him change his heart.

Likewise the warm moment between Aleister and Kingsford was actually quite nice in GT10. The way that characters who are redeemed should be acting is building a network of connections with people who uplift them together, not just Touma since one character shouldn't do so much, it becomes bothersome at that point.

Accelerator changed because of his growing family, Last Order, Yomikawa, Yoshikawa, Misaka Worst and Qliphah Puzzle 545, Hamazura changed because he finally found something to protect in these ITEM girls, they both started by learning from Kamijou Touma but eventually realized what it meant to be the main character of their own lives.

That's what GT Aleister, Sprengel and Aradia lack which is the main reason (apart from some other things) I will never like these characters.

Made by me, yours truly

The haven't given up on adapting the entire series! Clearly, they just want to catch up on the spinoffs (ALL of the spinoffs) and then save NT and GT all for one big push!

See, once they finish adapting ITEM, they'll surely move onto Mental Out, and then Astral Buddy and Dark Matter! Once they do that, they'll reveal the start of an NT anime that'll get four 24 episode seasons and it'll be fantastic!

It's only been like 7 years, there's still plenty of time! The heat death of the universe is like... REALLY long from now, so they'll get to it.