4 stars for this engaging and fun fantasy tale.
A Certain Scientific Railgun S is a spin off from A Certain Magical Index, created by Kazuma Kamachi, made by the studio J.C. Staff (Golden Time, Shimoneta) and directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai (Toradora!). It is the second series, set in Academy City during the events of A Certain Magical Index II.
The story this time centres around Mikoto Misaka (Brittney Karbowski – Jormungand), a fairly important character and rival of Touma Kamijou (Micah Solusod – Brothers Conflict) in A Certain Magical Index.
Misaka is a Level 5 Esper, ranked 3rd most powerful in all of Academy City, where she lives and studies. She attends the prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School, where she is known as “Railgun” due to her highly destructive Esper ability of controlling and using electricity (poorly judged attacks have been known to take out power to the entire city). Academy City is extremely technologically advanced and is home to many students, all working towards controlling and improving upon their Esper powers.
This series continues the story of Misaka and her friends Kuroko Shirai (Alison Viktorin – Barakamon, Ping Pong: The Animation), Kazari Uiharu (Cherami Leigh – Erased, Coppelion), Ruiko Saten (Brina Palencia – Snow White with the Red Hair) and Erii Haruue (Carrie Savage – Guilty Crown).
They face old enemies in the form of Accelerator (Austin Tindle – No-Rin) and Misaka’s past comes back to haunt her in the form of clones, created when she was tricked into giving samples of her DNA map as a child. She and her friends must try to put a stop to these experiments in order to save her sisters and Academy City.
It is a rare thing to find a spin off that is as good as the series which spawned it, but this one certainly is. There is an ongoing storyline, but a lot of the episodes do stand up as separate entities and the antics of the four friends are very entertaining and at times quite moving.
It is a bit less self important than A Certain Magical Index and I found it much easier to get into. Well worth sticking with this one as it gets better and better as it goes on.
Highly enjoyable and well worth adding to your collection.
“I just don’t have any patience for people who would rather hurt others instead of facing their own reality.”
A Certain Scientific Railgun Complete Season 2 Collection is available to buy now on Dual Format DVD and Blu-ray.
| Director | Tatsuyuki Nagai |
| Author | Kazuma Kamachi |
| Genre | action, fantasy |
| Starring | Brittney Karbowski, Austin Tindle, Alison Viktorin, Cherami Leigh, Brina Palencia |
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