The idea of Railgun getting another anime adaptation is more than a blessing. Despite the 7 long years of waiting, we are once again greeted by another installation of the Raildex franchise. Being a spinoff of the original Index series, Railgun is no pushover when it comes to being a show of its own identity. Based on the manga, Railgun T is a breakout show of 2020.
Without further ado, we are reintroduced to Misaka Mikoto, the level 5 Esper, aka the Railgun of Academy City. She’s still the electrifying Misaka we all know from the previous seasons so don’t much expect change about her character ... this season. She’s already an established character and at this point really needs no more character development. However, Academy City itself is constantly changing every day and there are events that influences the city greatly. One such event is the Daihasaei Sports Festival, a chance for the city’s citizens to compete in friendly competition. The level 5 espers are appointed as representatives although the event itself gets chaotic. Misaka plays the role of not an enforcer but as a protector. It serves her right as someone who genuinely cares about the welfare of the city. Similarly, she is devoted to protect her friends from the darkness of Academy City. That’s the Railgun we all came to know from day one.
The darkness in Academy City never ceases to disappear and in this season, you’ll witness plenty the machinations from the science side. Misaka gets entangled once again into a deeper conspiracy that also involves Level 5 Esper, Shokuhou Misaki. These two never really see eye to eye but in this season, the two become unlikely allies to solve a bigger mystery. The season’s storytelling ties in together all the themes of the franchise and with Misaka and Misaki working together, they discover some unsettling revelations. One of the biggest projects of Academy City still revolves around the Misaka network and the concept of an esper to reach level 6. Misaka herself unknowingly becomes a catalyst after her emotions boiled up. It allowed the scientist Gensei to take advantage and trigger her powers even against her will. We also have to understand that level 6 itself is more than a power level but rather representing the divine state. What Gensei is trying to achieve goes beyond the realm of a human ability. But luckily, we have certain characters disrupting his dark dreams. If there’s anything viewers can learn from the Railgun franchise is that while there’s darkness, there’s also light. The light represents characters such as Touma, level 5 esper Gunha, and even Misaki.
The heavy drama aside, this season also has its ways to find fun and that includes pairing up certain characters together. Almost like fate, Touma encounters Saten for the first time and they bond over something simple as a good luck charm. Later on in the show, Saten also makes friends with Frenda, and despite their short time together, they form a formidable team. Misaka herself learns the importance of having friends and that the bonds they form is stronger than any esper power. Because let’s face it, one of Railgun’s prominent theme is friendship and ways for characters to connect with each other no matter how different they are. Whether it’s Misaka and her circle of friends or fellow espers, every episode shows that bonds are important. The more I watched this season, the more I see the direction of the story, one in which it always finds its ways to be truthful with its themes.
Consisting of two different arcs, the second half of Railgun introduces the Dream Ranker Arc with the concept of Indian Poker. It is a type of technology that can record dreams with individuals being able to experience them in the shape of cards. The creator, Kuriba Ryouko, is an intelligent girl who managed to create such technology. And as you can imagine, Indian Poker can be deadly when used in the wrong hands. In the right hands however, it can also be a helpful tool for characters such as Kuroko to protect Academy City’s citizens.
With a full 2-cour of 25 episodes, I’m very pleased to see how polished this season came to be. From the very first episodes, it knew what the audience wanted and wasted no time to get to the meat of the story. Focusing on the science side also gives an in-depth look at the lives of different espers, some who live like normal folks, while others engage in dangerous experiments. Ryoko is one such example where she even makes a clone of herself to achieve her goals. It goes on to say that some espers are willing to do anything regardless of the risk at hand. Misaka knows the dangers of experiments as she herself had been a subject to them. By fighting against the darkness of Academy City, she does her best to make their society a better place for everyone.
Watching Railgun T taught me that spinoffs can work wonders with the right set of characters, storytelling, themes, and overall selling itself as what it is. Since its previous seasons, we have an established cast with a poster girl who can be relatable in many ways. From the two main story arcs of this season, we learned even more about the science side of Academy City. It’s spinoffs like Railgun that serves as an example to be great on its own. It doesn’t need to be carried by its main show and in fact, I’d say with easy confidence that this season is a must watch for any fan of the Raildex universe.
Alternative Titles Synonyms: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun 3, Toaru Kagaku no Choudenjihou 3, A Certain Scientific Railgun 3 Japanese: とある科学の超電磁砲[レールガン]T Information Type: TV Episodes: 25 Status: Finished Airing Aired: Jan 10, 2020 to Sep 25, 2020 Premiered: Winter 2020 Broadcast: Fridays at 22:00 (JST) Licensors: Funimation Studios: J.C.Staff Source: Manga Theme: Super Power Duration: 24 min. per ep. Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity) Statistics Score: 8.161 (scored by 93,383 users) 1 indicates a . Ranked: #4312 2 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #1044 Members: 231,848 Favorites: 3,285 Available AtResources |
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