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--- lb:toaru [2024-08-11 14:25:07] – external edit 127.0.0.1
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 ====== Toaru Project ======
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 The とある(Toaru) Project is a fairly large franchise spanning [[lb:Light Novels]], [[lb:Manga]], [[lb:Anime]], [[lb:Games]] and more.\\
 The main appeals are the fantastic worldbuilding and storyline; showing off the struggle between [[#Science]] and [[#Magic]].\\
 This is one of my personal favorites.
 <WRAP centeralign>
-Related:\\
+[[lb:toaru:what.if.academy.city.existed]]\\
-[[lb:toaru:what.if.academy.city.existed]]
+[[lb:toaru:misaka mikoto]]
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+{{tag>anime light_novels manga otaku speculah}}
 ===== Reviews =====
 This was initially a small note regarding the entire series, but I eventually added way more. I'll fix it up at some point. For now, it's okay like this.\\
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 <wrap spoiler> At the end of the first Volume (first arc in the anime) he loses his memory and starts pretending he hasn't. This lasts until the last Volume of the first Index series. This is actually one of my favorite aspects of his character, only because he pretends he knows what's going on 90% of the time... to not reveal he lost his memory.</wrap>\\
 He lives with Index and her cat Sphynx (or, more accurately, they live with him). People say it doesn't make sense because of how annoying she is. They seem to miss that Touma actually likes Index.
+----
+Temporary addition: One implication that is //there// but nobody seems to have noticed is that Kamijou's arm cancels out all supernatural abilities, including any he may have himself. This means that Kamijou, having gone through the Esper Development Program, may actually have Esper abilities beyond Level 0 but, if he does, they never manifest due to the damn arm. I vaguely remember that the phrasing in one of the Light Novels directly implied this to be the case.\\
+Now...that might mean that Kamijou's real Esper ability will only manifest whenever his arm is chopped off. But since he doesn't know what this potential Esper ability is, he probably never activates it (assuming he isn't Level 0).
 === Misaka Mikoto ===
 {{page>lb:toaru:misaka.mikoto&firstseconly&noheader&nofooter&noeditbtn}}
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 Despite this, I don't actually buy this all that much. The two counter-examples would be Mugino and Saten-san. Saten-san's interest in urban legends, and problem-solving skills (I may be wildly misremembering here though) imply she isn't an unimaginative person... she's a Level 0. Mugino has, at least from what I've seen, never really shown to use her powers creatively... opting instead for brute force.\\
 Another counter example would be Uiharu, who is likely the best hacker in the world.
+----
+I'm writing this temporary addition after the temporary addition below.\\
+Now...this (imagination) is probably really stupid, since it's essentially an extension of belief. Adding onto what I added there, if part of the requirement is bettering your understanding of what your ability can do, than ‘imagination’ or creativity is automatically included. When you know that control over electro-magnetism allows you to stick to walls that have steel support beams because magnetism, it isn't really a case of requiring to be more creative.\\
+Although, it is shown that higher level Espers tend to be more versatile in how they use their abilities, while the lower-level ones are creatively bankrupt (even when they receive Level Upper). So, for example, someone who can control fire will, at a low level, only think of making fireballs or lighting things on fire. Someone at a higher level will be a lot more flexible, understanding they can, for example, rid a closed space of oxygen (first vaguely unique thing I could think of) to make someone suffocate.\\
+It //is// established in とある that your level will be increased if you demonstrate enough creativity or whatnot in how you utilize your ability. A Level 2 can be bumped up to Level 3 if they are equally capable in combat to a Level 3 and doesn't necessarily require them to actually demonstrate a power level equal to a Level 3. This does get confusing when you factor in abilities that are obviously useful (Tsuchimikado's) used by people who are obviously good in combat (Tsuchimikado) still getting classified as a Level 0. Tsuchimikado is also pretending (and not pretending) to be a moron, so it's possible he's being mis-classified.
 === Belief ===
 This is the one I'm actually leaning towards. Most espers just don't believe they could have abilities.\\
 Some will disagree using Saten-san as an example. I will point out that //wanting// something and //believing// you will one day have it are two different things.\\
 So, in my opinion, the majority of Level 0s may simply think they will never have abilities. This results in a fairly weak personal reality and with barely noticeable abilities.\\
-Although this doesn't quite answer how you get more powerful as an esper.
+Although this doesn't quite answer how you get more powerful as an esper.\\
+----
+I am temporarily adding onto the above, before I bother re-writing parts of the article. The most likely answer to ‘how you get more powerful as an esper’ is that it requires a better understanding of the laws of physics you are changing. This is why Misaka appears to be an expert on electro-magnetism: it's not that she has chosen to for the purposes of making her power more versatile, but rather a specific requirement.\\
+How exactly that ties into belief I'm not 100% sure. A guess I'm formulating as I write this is that getting a better understanding of the laws of physics could lead people to think ‘huh, I can do a whole lot more!’ which has the effect of strengthening their personal reality. A kind of virtuous cycle. Of course, if that's the case, that would technically mean it's possible to de-level: or, after learning more about what you can manipulate, you start to lose confidence in your belief in your own abilities, leading to a weakening of your personal reality (because you can’t currently change x, or feel as if it's too complicated or whatever; ‘The more I know the more I'm aware of what I do not know.’). Assuming that is true, it could also be that part of the ‘improving’ process is learning to ignore doubts regarding your personal reality. My memory is betraying me right now, but I don't think there's an example where an esper doubts their own abilities (there are cases where an Esper feels powerless //despite// their abilities) and it seems to me that espers have complete confidence in them.\\
+Basically, this shit is weird and complicated and it's probably a waste of time unless you're thinking about doing stuff with the TTRPG.
+Being a bit of an idiot, I noticed something else. This is vaguely similar to the alchemist and his abilities. Well...more like scarily similar. The alchemist also manifests his own reality which replaces real reality, just that it's //slightly// different. Kinda fits into the whole theme of science being a grotesque reflection of magic.
+Just happened to remember something I shouldn't have forgotten in the first place. But Musujime Awaki may be an example of a character who experienced a ‘de-level’ which may actually be evidence in favor of my theory (so says my ego). Her deal is that she had the potential to become a Level 5 and the first teleportation-based Level 5((:fn:>Although I get the prestige of getting your hands on a Level 5 for a power that doesn't exist...literally all the Level 5s have unique powers, so I'm not sure if this point of emphasis makes any sense to emphasize as toaru chooses to emphasize.)). However, she ended up having an accident during this push, that left her permanently stunted. Now, it should be noted she was and remains a Level 4, so it can’t //exactly// be said she de-leveled. However, power progression in Academy City isn't linear((:fn:>downright confirmed in Railgun, but I'll have to either confirm my notes or expand them, which'll be //fun//.)). A Level 5 is significantly more powerful than a Level 4, to a point where you can’t really compare the two. So Musujime Awaki may have been on the higher end of Level 4, only to drop to a mid-point. She didn't specifically fall from Level 4 to Level 3 (that would have been a far more significant decline in power), but she still isn't as powerful as she was in her peak. And her trauma resulted in her no longer being capable of improving.
+However, if this is how power progression actually works in とある, then that raises the question of how de-leveling doesn't result in a downward spiral. Logically, if you //see// your powers no longer being as good as they were before, then you'd lose even more confidence in them, which would only make them weaker.
 === M a t h ===
 Another possibility is the mathematical abilities of Espers. Essentially, if you're better at math, you'll be a stronger Esper.\\
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 Note: I mysteriously and suddenly remembered that the 'Level-Upper' is a thing. The Level-Upper works by synchronizing the brain waves of the Espers, allowing them to leverage their calculations in a network of others. They explicitly state that it's calculation ability. The issue here is that this still doesn't make sense for the simple fact that it's too obvious an answer.\\
 I also suddenly remembered Accelerator's computer.
+----
+Another temporary addition onto the above. A guess I am formulating is that it's still somewhat tied to belief, but that belief lowers the mathematical burden. So as you gain more confidence in your abilities, the math presented to you gets easier. This may explain how the Level Upper works via leverage if the key is belief.
 ==== Hamazura ====
 He is incredibly lucky and this is even noted in the story. He is so lucky that he ends up disrupting the plans of a certain individual.\\
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     * Mental Out -> 心理掌握 -> メンタルアウト -> mentaru auto; しんりしょおあく -> shinri shōaku -> 'Psychological Control'
     * Radio Noise -> 欠陥電気 -> レディオノイズ -> redio noizu; けっかんでんき -> kekkan denki -> 'Flawed Electricity'
+==== Mage: The Ascension ====
+I noticed something, in that parts of it read suspiciously similar.\\
+That's all I'll say now, so I'll leave it there, but with a link to where I'm [[1d6>Mage:_The_Ascension|getting this]].
 ===== Trivilinks =====
   * [[https://toaru-project.com/|Official Website]] - Kinda?
   * [[http://toarumajutsunoindex.wikia.com/wiki/Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index_Wiki|The Wikia]] - Surprisingly decent
   * I decided to start working on this article exclusively to test the ruby plugin. I wish I was joking.
-{{tag>anime light_novels manga otaku}}