A Certain Scientific Railgun
A Certain Scientific Railgun is a series that is adapted from a spinoff manga of A Certain Magical Index. It’s not adapted from the original Light Novel itself. The series focuses on Misaka Mikoto, who’s the “Railgun” from the original series. A Certain Scientific Railgun continues to follow the dynamics of the original series as it also involves many arcs. But is the sequel better than the original one? Let us tell you in our in-depth review!
Academy City is known for its well-trained and skilled espers, and one of them is Misaka Mikoto, who can manipulate electricity. She’s ranked third and is also known as “The Railgun” in the Academy City. Misaka notices the increasing crimes all around the city and deludes that they have to do something with a device called “Level Upper” that increases the esper level of its user.
As time passes by, we learn that the device is much more complicated and dangerous than it appears to be, and the Academy city is not as glamorous as it looks. Now, Misaka must unveil the mystery behind the mysterious device with the help of her friends.
The story is enjoyable and has the potential to be a decent anime series. However, much like the original series, the plot is flawed. The flow of the story is all messed up, and it constantly jumps from one focus to another. We got a bit confused about the events that were happening because we were not given enough information about them and the focus shifted on something else abruptly.
With each new arc, a new character is introduced that has nothing to do with the conflict that happened at the start. But somehow, that character is involved with the conflict that occurred at the beginning. The creators have tried hard to make the episodes less predictable, but they are too predictable for us. The execution of the plot has a lot of flaws, and that’s what disappointed and confused us.
We also never got to see a climax as there were so many twists that were never untangled before moving on. It was very predictable for us that the characters are not going to get hurt. That was the least of our worries while watching this anime. We all knew that the end would be well, and there would be no killings or blood. That’s precisely what happened.
Another problem with the plot is the incorporation of fillers between the arcs. The plot loses its pace and grace when it shifts from the original story to the lighthearted fillers. Although the pacing of the arcs is just terrible, the overall pacing of the complete story is quite good. If we look at the whole picture, it fits together perfectly. The arcs just contribute to the decent pacing of the entire series.
We also notice some light fan service going on. However, it’s not glaring at us and being too obvious. The main focus is still on the characters and their everyday hardships. Overall, the story of this series is not much different than that of the original series. It can only offer that much while incorporating a slice of life elements and science/magic ingredients in the series as a spinoff.
Let’s move onto the characters now. It will not be an exaggeration if we say that the characters are the heart of this series, even though some characters feel like they’re copy-pasted. However, Mikoto’s character is undoubtedly an interesting one.
Despite being one of the top three students of the Academy City, she’s not stuck up or anything. She’s pretty humble and very identifiable. She’s a tomboy, which is very common in the world of anime. However, we get to know that there’s a reason behind her being like that. She does not follow that basic anime standard for a character. Even though she’s pretty intense, we can’t always say that she’ll win in all situations. That alone makes the series very fierce because of her presence.
Another character is Kuroko Shirai, who’s the best friend of Mikoto. Shirai loves Mikoto, and that is a little annoying. However. Her personality is much deeper than it seems on the surface.
Kazari Uiharu is not your typical “moe” girl but is very similar to other characters. Her character is very two-dimensional, and she cares deeply for her friends and loved ones.
Ruiko Saten is the most relatable character out of all three in the series. As she’s a level 0 esper, she finds it hard to fit in with her group of friends and also feels like she’s insignificant to society. She makes many mistakes, but she’s the only character that we can understand and relate to.
Overall, the characters in the series are pretty decent, and there’s some effort put in this department that paid off well.
We don’t have much to say about the animation as it is no different than the original series. We also don’t have much to complain about since it’s pretty decent. The characters are designed well, and the overall vibe is good. The action scenes are also very decent. Overall, the animation is excellent and is one of the more substantial aspects of the series.
The opening and ending theme songs are very catchy as compared to the original series. There’s even a special ending song for episode 12 that we dare not spoil for you guys! You should see it for yourself. The visuals are excellent, and the background themes get you all pumped up.
A Certain Scientific Railgun is no different than the original series, but it has something better than the original series itself. The story is enjoyable but not too good as it did not keep us at the edge of our seats. If you want to watch something more lighthearted while following the same premise of the original series, then you should watch “A Certain Scientific Railgun.”
