A review of the A Certain Scientific Railgun S anime
First released: April 2013 Version reviewed: TV
For a series set in a near-future, science-driven city, the second season of A Certain Scientific Railgun (now with the “S” suffix) certainly paints a dim view of science and scientists. All of them barring the “good” one are shown as bespectacled loons with no regard for human life and a casual relationship with morals.
Academy City is lovingly rendered and plays host to the ongoing adventures of Mikasa Mikoto - the titular “railgun” - and her cohorts. Split roughly into two interlocking stories, the plot follows an experiment to advance a top level esper - those with varying X-Men like super powers - beyond anything seen before, and a spurned scientist’s attempts to demonstrate that even with their powers, espers are just as powerless as those without.
If the hairs on the back of your neck stand up when Mikoto launches the titular railgun for the first time, no further evidence will be needed to understand that Toaru Kagaku no Railgun is a breed apart. Even when a large part of it is peppy storyline is fruitless meandering, the climaxes of the two main narratives tickle all the right areas of the brain for those looking for something different from the magically imbued children genre. The series is funny without using fan-service, touching without being saccharine and poignant without being overbearing - a grab-bag of amusing antics with a smattering of potent character-lead drama and, contrary to the title, maintains a pleasant disregard towards science.
Fast, brutal and free of the pace-killing monologues which are so often interspersed, these fights are the crowning achievements
Set in the same modernist city as its predecessor, Toaru Majutusu no Index (A Certain Magical Index), Academy city's primary form of law enforcement is the volunteer service, "Judgement". A key member of the 7th District's branch is Kuroko Shirai, a skilled teleport user who also happens to be the room mate of Mikoto Misaka, one of only a few fifth level ability users in the city. When an urban legend of a method to artificially increase one's ability level turns into fact, the number of petty crimes within the city's multitude of districts increases; more worrying however is the torpid state users fall into after limited use. A lugubrious researcher could be involved with the dissemination of the "Level Upper", but it is only the tip of a larger plot though, one which could well tear apart Academy city and those who reside within it.
