Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T

Have you ever seen yourself in a scenario where you take the likings of the sidekick instead of the main character? Where you’re more hooked into the story and whereabouts of a secondary figure in the show instead of whoever plays the lead? Certainly, it has happened to all of us at least once in our lifetime and, if you are this deep into this series, it’s obvious that it’s not your first time experiencing this, as we all know what has to be known: Misaka Mikoto is the real deal. After 7 years of drought, the third installment of the series premiered in January and neitherthe tremendous drop in production quality observed in JC Staff during the past few years (essentially taking Index III into consideration) nor an enormous hiatus due to a global pandemic could stop Railgun T to deliver. The third season continues the story in a time where the Daihaisei Festival has begun, focusing as is customary by now, on the “Ace of Tokiwadai”: the one and only Misaka Mikoto, as Misaka and her friends dive deeper into the dark side of Academy City (A.C. for short), facing all kind of dangerous situations where, consequently, both the future of A.C. and their lives are at stake. Railgun T continues with a storyline loaded with a repertoire of dark, powerful metaphysical and moral symbolism (as it was in the Sisters’ arc) but without backtracking in its goofiness and light-hearted characteristics which has made this show so enjoyable and “easy to watch” during the past years. In addition, when we add the action-packed philosophy that the Railgun franchise has had for the majority of its existence, as well as its quirky and free-spirited pace, we come up with the perfect formula that have given them great recognition over the past couple of years -taking out of the picture that Silent Party arc which was dreadful enough to leave us a sour taste for a bunch of years- and has helped the storyline of the series to get better and better with each season, making a clearer bigger picture of the Toaru universe, especially the scientific one, a.k.a, the one related to Misaka Mikoto and her endeavours. Speaking about symbolism, Railgun never ceases to amaze me on how they’ve been able to both keep posing topics laden with meaning during the past few years and build on these topics to create an interesting and enlightening story; topics like the true meaning of humanism, the onto-epistemological dualism of body and soul or the paradigm of “the end justify the means”, all this while tempering the impact of their message, taking into consideration there position as a light-hearted show. What I would like to point out is the subtle difference I’ve noticed in the development of the story, especially throughout the first course of the season. Up until now, I had not seen a particular interest in the writers on trying to make things a little bit more intriguing, nonetheless, this season had a more courageous approach, as they used plot devices such as foreshadowing, making a fool of the viewer (e.g: letting us think that <x> or <y> had good or bad intentions intentionally when it was the other way round) or plot twisting, making the viewer much more attached to the evolution of the story and the characters which participate in it, what, in my opinion, are enough facts to affirm that their storytelling has been taken to a whole nother level. Another thing that this season has done great is in displaying contrasts properly. Let me explain. Do you realise how difficult is it to mesh two characters that are THAT different (Misaka and Shokuhou) and make them complement each other properly so that the series can go on? And I’m not speaking about power-related complementation, which is quite the easy task -I mean, they’re both Level 5 espers, it can’t be that difficult-, I’m talking about the fact that season T mainly revolves around their interaction, around their synergy -which, by the way, brings a little of life to the anime-, in spite of the circumstance that these two have wildly conflicting origins, personality and history. As a matter of fact, they create a proceeding where Shokuhou has no choice but to place enough trust on Mikoto in order to be able to tell her some of her secrets and indirectly ask Misaka for help. As a result, we’ve all been witness to a much more organic show, something that was lacking on preceding jobs related to the Toaru universe, which felt much more systematic, somehow more worried on adapting correctly the source material instead of worrying on making a good, complete, entertaining show. The main cast was as great as ever: Misaka being as badass as she has accustomed us, Kuroko not being as tiring as she is thanks to the notable decrease in “Onee-sama rants” and Saten being her usual self, giving a different point of view in a group so plunged into an atmosphere os esper powers that sometimes forget to live an “joyful, ordinary life”. Additionally, let’s not forget about the coherent characterisation -at least for once- of side characters such as Kongo, Frenda, the Scavenger crew or even Shokuhou, giving them the proper screen-time and character development, leading to a much more complete series that uses its not-so-valuable characters for something more that comic relief gags (full-time job of Kongo-san until this season) or "damsel in distress" situations for the main cast to shine with their craftiness and might. Backtracking a little bit, speaking about production and animation quality and knowing what studio was in charge of this season (as it was in s1 & s2), I am quite sure I wasn’t the only one who was in fear of yet again another disappointment after the embarrassing position in which the JC Staff crew have put themselves during the last few years (with magnificent works such as Index III, OPM s2 or the lately Accelerator powerpoint presentation which, as a matter of fact, was alright due to the fact that both Accel.’s character and voice actor are god-tier); however, it’s rather obvious that even JC Staff knows how important the Railgun franchise is for their survival. It's pretty clear that, due to its popularity in Japan and in the Occidental world, the studio has in mind that they are pretty much obliged to get it right, as Toaru Kagaku no Railgun is their spearhead in today’s highly competitive anime-production environment. For that reason, JC Staff has made sure that the quality of the animation in Railgun T is off the charts, especially taking into account the expectations before the series began airing, knowing all the problems they faced with this anime due to production and pandemic reasons. Fluidity and choreography looked amazing -especially during fight scenes-, sakuga animation was carried out amazingly well (for instance, both openings and that episode 14 climax was just top-notch artwork), camera rotations and 3D movements were executed to perfection, backgrounds were depicted amazingly well, characters were drawn great...hell, even the use of CGI wasn’t creaky at all and led to one of the best animation scenes of the entire series! By the same token, music has had a leading role in the success of this season. The sound director has done a marvelous job in both the composition -even though some tracks are not new- and the use of music throughout the season, enhancing the different emotions that were on display during different moments, whether it was hyping up the moment when a fight was taking place, magnifying the sense of urgency, intensifying the feeling of anguish...yet, one of the best part of this music section was in both the Openings and Endings (having the first OP in mind while writing this), as fripSide delivers yet again with that “final phase” banger. Guys, spin-off’s work, and this is a good example of it; Railgun T comes up with a great mix of symbolism, light-hearted moments, great characterisation and action-packed eye-catching sequences that will not cease to amaze you during the whole course of the series; so if you’re not watching Railgun yet...WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? “Someone places a hurdle in front of me, and I can’t rest until I’ve jumped over it.” – Mikoto Misaka

Preface: A Certain Scientific Railgun has always been JC Staff’s favorite and most profitable series to adapt, the bias is quite real and very noticeable when any season of Railgun is compared to a season of Index or the new Accelerator anime. As expected, despite all the failures JC Staff recently had and even with the global pandemic that occurred while this was airing, Railgun T is still by far the single best thing made by JC Staff in years, not counting movies. This review will expand on why the anime adapt for Railgun T blows the other Toaru adapts out of the water andwhat fans of the Toaru series can expect from it. Story: 9 The story for Toaru Kagaku No Railgun T is largely a page by page faithful adapt of the source material along with some of the usual head canon this specific director just can’t resist adding. The additions this time though, unlike with Nagai space in the silent party arc, did not detract from the story and even added meaningful characterization. This story takes place fairly early in the timeline of the series during the Daihasei festival in season 2 of index, and slightly after the events of the Sister’s Noise project in Railgun S. It appears that Silent Party was largely forgotten although there were passing references to Kongo launching a space shuttle into the stratosphere. The story primarily consists of 2 arcs, the first being the extremely popular Daihasei festival arc and the second being the Dream Ranker arc, both of which were adapted really well. This review won’t go into deep spoiler territory to much, but it’s worth mentioning that the Daihasei festival arc was adapted nearly perfectly. From the early games, to Kongou and her friends confronting a mercenary, and Misaka’s amazing temporary partnership with Misaki, everything was done perfectly. It did hit a few snags here and there, especially with how long the truck scene was and the recap in episode 13 which delayed the finale and made it somewhat anti-climactic. Overall, the Daihasei festival arc was a 9/10 adapt for the story and any source reader should be satisfied with how the story was brought to life. As for the dream ranker arc, it’s worth noting that the arc had a series of excellent mini arcs within it that the audience might find to be, some of the best side character highlights, and general slice of life moments animated this entire year. Kuroko’s mini arc with the precog boy had very little Misaka in it despite her being the title character, yet despite this it was an incredible arc showcasing how cool Kuroko can be when she’s not injured or infatuated with Misaka. The Bust Upper arc was absolutely hilarious, Misaka and Kinuhata fighting over the card and then teaming up together to obtain it was great, the introduction of more index characters like Hamazura was also nice for the index viewers, the references in the dream were also a nice touch. The arc with Frenda might just be my favorite Toaru side arc in general, Frenda’s cute more human side was explored and the viewers learn that Saten and her actually had interesting interactions and a friendship that did not involve the main cast. The way it was masterfully tied into the battle royale arc with the rank 2 and his team getting some exposure and the 1 week time skip was also great. The main meat of the arc itself was perfectly handled, no complaints at all on the exposition of Kuriba and the cyborg’s rationalization on why they wanted to get revenge on humanity. Misaka’s first “kill” was also handled in an impactful way, overall a 9/10 story adapt. Art: 8 Well the art isn’t bad at all and is significantly better than honestly anything else JC staff has made since Railgun S, this includes dozens of other anime aired between the 9 year wait between these 2 seasons and includes the other Toaru adapts as well. Kenichiro Aoki is the lead animation director for this season and thankfully it appears he happens to be one exceptional animator. The fight scenes actually had great choreography and strategy for example the fight between Kuroko and Mitori which involved a teleporting girl fighting a terminator rip off. The use of teleportation in such a strategic manner and figuring out how to beat a liquid metal monster was great, and the final moment between Kuroko and Mitori was definitely intense. As for the major fights, there was plenty of Sakuga, with Gunha fighting Misaka being animated so well that it could compete with shows from top studios like Bones or WIT, the detail and composition were among the best out of all shows aired in early 2020 and late 2019. The background art was reused a lot, but it doesn’t really detract from the show, if anything there is no reason to constantly remake art for the exact same setting, and it captures the feeling of the city from season 2 quite well. The character designs are also recycled but that’s fine, it’s a series with 7 installments now, there is no reason to significantly change anything. At some points the art style did noticeably look a bit dry or bland, such as the lightning effects during the end stage of Misaka’s transformation and the dragons scene, but my expectations were already set so low for JC staff that anything above CGI lightning and CGI dragons were already acceptable regardless of how they looked. Frenda fighting Rakko has some of the best fight choreography in the season the episode aired, if it was not for a certain martial arts anime airing in the same season as this arc it likely would have been the best. The fluid gunshots, explosions, and environmental damage combined with the camera angles was truly enjoyable and set the bar for fights during the summer anime season. In the dream ranker arc the iron sand kaiju was quite the spectacle, even if the kaiju and its opponent used some CGI, it was very well integrated and barely noticeable, the iron sand effects were especially beautiful. The battle between Misaka and the cyborg, leading up to the kaiju fight, was also very well executed with some of the best lightning animation in anime, and one of the best looking railgun shots from Misaka due to how perfectly drawn the impact frames were. Overall, there are no complaints about the art or the animation, both of which were top tier for all arcs this season. The sound: 8 The openings for Toaru related anime are always good, no exception, the first OP did sound a bit to much like the older openings but between the lyrics and visuals it was still quite good. The soundtrack is the same as prior railgun seasons but I won’t complain about that, the OST from before was great. Sound effects have been brought back to the original ones as well which is a huge improvement over season 3 attempting to throw in all sorts of new effects that don’t match the atmosphere of the series. Characters: 9 Misaka is more than just a tsundere side character and this anime perfectly illustrates how deep her character goes and her underlying motivations. We learn quite well that Misaka actually hates the city and how its run but she loves the civilians and her friends so she puts up with it despite feeling like a human lab rat. We also get to learn more about how much she cares about her friends and how easily someone as good as her can quickly turn to threaten to crush her opponents like insects if someone takes them away, Misaka might be a hero but she is a teenage girl first and foremost. Overall I quite enjoyed this new side of Misaka that was shown during her transformation and the aftermath when she comes to terms with her feelings towards the city, I also quite enjoyed her development in the dream ranker arc and her killing another being for the first time even if it was nonliving. Now the level 5s in general also got some development, we got to see an entirely new character and we also got to enjoy watching one of the fan favorites get fleshed out in the anime. As far as the new characters it’s important to mention how great Misaki was and how well she was adapted into the anime, she started off as a cold manipulative sociopath that the audience will hate, but her redemption arc was amazing. From Misaki demonstrating a lelouch level of athleticism to her backstory on why she cares about the clones and dislikes Misaka for allowing the cloning project to occur, Misaki’s character became quite fleshed out. This was a far cry from her original appearance in Railgun S where she simply came off as a bitch during the 5 min she was on screen. As for Misaka’s friend group, Kuroko is still an over the top lesbian with lots of fan service and annoying behavior, but she does keep the atmosphere light and amusing, and she definitely has her badass moments like when she fought Mitori. Kuroko is a well-rounded character and excellently complements Misaka and the gang. Saten and Uiharu are more of the usual, it was interesting seeing how Uiharu coped with knowing that she unintentionally betrayed her friends when Misaki brainwashed her, and Saten meeting a certain protagonist was hilarious as well. Saten also got a significant side arc with Frenda which explored her personal relationships more and made it clear that the characters in this series have interesting and eventful lives even outside of their teams and interactions with the protagonist. Overall the characters were excellent, as they are in the source material, the fans of the series will be glad to know that they were done justice, a solid 9/10 for characters. Enjoyment: 9 If you are a fan of anything Toaru related you will love this season of Railgun, if you are a fan specifically of Railgun this season might even live up to Railgun S for you. Now I wouldn’t consider it as good as the sisters noise arc, both the Daihasei and Dream Ranker arcs were equally good 9/10 arcs while Sisters Noise was a perfect 10, I believe that the consistently good arcs mean a lot and make the overall viewing experience much more enjoyable. Even if you are not a Toaru anime fan I would still recommend this anime, it has great action, visuals, characters, and a well-executed story, it is an incredibly enjoyable adapt and has redeemed JC Staff to me and hopefully to you as well. Overall: 9 I give this show a 9, it was exceptional and it is absolutely worth a watch if you are a Toaru fan, I know you likely have been let down by the Index 3 or Accelerator adaptations, but you can rest assured that this specific installment will be worth watching. This is the best out of the 3 new additions to the Toaru anime franchise and hopefully it gets another season soon as I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Few anime are lucky enough to get two seasons, much less a third, especially when those seasons are spread out across more than a decade's time. There are numerous advantages to a long-form story in terms of ability to develop characters, flesh out the world, and create a complex plot, but there are as many if not more disadvantages. It takes true skill to maintain interest in a story without haring off after half-developed ideas and winding up in the swamp of plot holes and retcons. I'm glad to say that Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T is a shining example of theadvantages of the long-form anime, taking the momentum from the former seasons without sacrificing it in the least. This season of Railgun features two rock-solid plot arcs. The first arc is quite tightly plotted up to the point of resolution, with relatively high tension after the first few episodes set the scene and refresh us on the characters. While the action throughout this arc is well-done, it really shines in giving enough screen time to characters like Kongo Mitsuko and Shokuhou Misaki that we've met previously who haven't really had the time to be fully developed. The second uses a more meandering approach to give us more time with out main cast, in a way tying three mini arcs together with some nice slice-of-life moments to build up to another satisfying climax. As before mentioned, what really makes Railgun shine at this point is the fact that it has had the time to build solid characters. Although the series does have a relatively large cast, the series has effectively remained focused on the key characters so that personality has time to really develop. This has especially paid off here, where finally characters are able to stand firm on their own foundations free of the gimmicks that served in place of solid character development in the cast (Kuroko and Kongo really benefit in this department, with Saten benefiting to a lesser extent.) The villains also remain interesting, though perhaps a little less compelling than some of the villains we've met in past seasons. One way that Railgun has facilitated this type of excellent character growth is by not always placing the characters in constant strife and battle. These characters have real lives and personalities precisely because we get to see the moments of their everyday life. They certainly have a propensity for encountering major problems, but the fact that these problems are interrupting their normal life instead of normal life interrupting their problems makes the characters feel much more grounded. This leads in to the fact that Railgun also manages to really capitalize on its excellent setting in this season. Railgun in this season develops to the point that I can say that it is the best superpowers anime out there in my book. It has a believable method for superpower development, it has a satisfying variety of powers, and the society seems to have developed in sync with superpowers in a believable way. When the least believable part of the world-building is the fact that every goes to school in some giant school city, you know that they've done the superpowers aspect right. Tack on to this world-building villains that motivations other than simply dominating the world and a place in the cast for those without significant powers and you have an absolute gem. I also have to mention that the one thing Railgun has consistently done well is allow characters to win battles with their brains instead of their brawn. Yes, this show definitely features characters that are by no means weak, but that goes for both the villains and the heroes. But in the end, the key to winning the battle is by coming up with a smart application of powers instead of simply being gifted a power boost by the gods of trying hard. This approach makes for much better storytelling, since the writer has to make enough effort not to plot themselves into a corner, and it allows characterization to take place during conflict, as we watch characters solve problems on the fly. This aspect above any other is why this superpowers anime is at the top of my list, since this is the heart of doing superpowers correctly. I've also got to give a nod to the quality of the animation this season. Yes, there were delays in production due to the coronavirus, but those delays were used well, as the animation quality remained superb. In particular, there were three excellent battle scenes over the course of the series that were especially well done, both in terms of animation and in terms of the storytelling of the battles. J.C. Staff may be better known for quantity than quality, but this season showed that they can really hit it out of the park when they want to. In the end, this season really captured the essence of Railgun. Great action with characters well seasoned by appropriate splashes of slice-of-life. Characterization done well across the spectrum, from the heroes to the villains. Battles where characters succeed by thinking smarter instead of just "leveling up." Stellar animation, great OP's and ED's, really, what more can you ask for? This third season has finally come to an end, and all I can think is that I'm already excited for the fourth, however distant it may be.

Railgun T starts of a BANG this season. It's really great seeing finally another Level 5 being involved. Tho instead of one we get two. Sadly the first arc Misaka is used by the antagonist but at the first arc she has to deal with her friends being manipulated or hurt. Masaki I thought from Railgun S to be a villain type character in the future considering how much power she has, but we see a side we didn't expect to see from her in Railgun T. She immediatly became one of my favorite characters and came in clutch at the end. Also some lower level charactersget some really good fight scenes. Regarding the other main characters, this may be a very weak season for many. Kuroko and Uriharu are hardly doing anything, but they aren't useless. Saten may be the most useful of the three. In the second arc Misaka and Masaki would team up to stop a doppelganger. This is my favorite part even if the story isn't as amazing and deep as the previous. Misaka Mikoto is a complete badass and shows why she is one of my favorite characters. The Scavenger are introduced, who were shafted in A Certain Accelerator, and came in clutch teaming up with Misaka. The members of Scavenger have great personalities with Naru being my favorite. The leader would also get a good character arc which I thought was cute. She was really dark in Accelerator and had a pathetic moment when they lost. If you are a A Certain Railgun fan, it may not be as great as Railgun S, but its still fire. You are missing out on how BADASS Misaka can be and Masaki actually being involved.

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