[Review] Toaru Kagaku no Railgun [Anime]

[Review] Toaru Kagaku no Railgun [Anime] - Printable Version

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[Review] Toaru Kagaku no Railgun [Anime] - Eminent - Jul 5, 2013

Review and format by Eminent

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun

Notes:

N/A

Summary:

Academy City is a highly developed place in terms of technology. It is said to be 20 to 30 years ahead of the rest of the world, and 80% of its 2.3 million residents are students. The focus of studies here is directed towards esper powers. Misaka Mikoto, one of the top level espers in town, shares a room with Kuroko Shirai, another high level esper who is a member of Judgement, a law enforcing agency composed of students. Both attend Tokiwadai, a private school reserved for the high-leveled and the rich. Kuroko's partner at Judgement, Kazari Uiharu, is a low level esper who studies at Sakugawa middle school. Her best friend and classmate there is Ruiko Saten, a level zero, one who has no esper powers. Together, the four encounter several adventures in the exciting scientific town.

Information:

Episodes: 24
Aired: Oct 3, 2009 to Mar 20, 2010
Genres: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Super Power
Rating: PG - 13
Stream: AnimeFreak • AnimeFTW • AnimeUltima

OP/ED:

OP
Spoiler (Click to View)

ED
Spoiler (Click to View)

Trailer:

Review:

Animation & Audio:

[img]http://i5.minus.com/iWDeSv7zZcNKU.png[/img]

The animation for this series was very well done. It wasn't detailed to the point where I was shocked, but it was definitely a step up from a lot of other shows. The animation style is easily comparable to that of the wonderful show Toradora!.

Both OSTs are pretty upbeat, and gave a new feeling to each battle. They were pretty well done, and provided music that a lot of people would listen to as normal music, not just as background music for an anime. On top of that, beautiful classical-ish music (Think traverse town from Kingdom Hearts) was played during normal activities.

Plot:

The plot in this show was quite a bit of a jump from the main story, Toaru Majutsu no Index. Because this show covered Misaka Mikoto's point of view (Sisters arc), rather than Touma, it was a lot more girly and slice-of-lifey. Although there were quite a few fights, action scenes, and overall problems that the main characters had to face, I still think of this primarily as a slice of life, because it's really no good as an action series.

Despite the fact that it's a slice of life in my eyes, the plot of the show seems to exceed that of Index (Since index just jumped around with no real main story), especially at the end. I wouldn't say it was overwhelmingly powerful, but there was some emotion, there was some action, and everything tied itself together at the end - something which Index failed to do.

Characters:

Misaka "Biribiri/The Railgun/Eminent's Waifu" Mikoto is the best character ever made and is voiced by Rina Satou. It's hard for me to say anything about this character without being extremely biased due to my complete love for her. However, I will say that she was more attractive in Index, because Railgun takes place before that show, and her relationship with Touma hasn't been developed.

Saten Ruiko, voiced by Kanae Itou. Really brings more life to the show. She is upbeat and happy, and her attitude tends to make the viewer happy as well (Except for when she goes into depression mode, that actually bummed me out)

Shirai Kuroko, voiced by Satomi Arai. Is probably the most annoying character in the show. Her voice drives me completely crazy, and she is just an all-around stupid person. Despite that, she's a complete badass when it comes to fighting.

Thoughts:

Overall, I thought this was a pretty decent series. A lot of my opinion about this show is likely biased, due to my love for the main series. Although this side story didn't really hold my attention as much as the original, it did focus a lot on Misaka, so what more can a man ask for, right?

I'm glad that this show kind of got it together in terms of plot, it didn't jump around as much as Index, and when it did, it had an excuse since it's more of a SoL. The characters were all relateable, and most characters had a pretty good background that was explained fairly well. The show was really light, with lots of comedy, a decent amount of action, and really just a lot of cuteness.

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ 7.9/10

MAL Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ 7.96/10

* - Elfen Lied - Jul 5, 2013

Nice review man :D. Could you explain what order I should watch this series of shows in?

* - King~ - Jul 5, 2013

Nice review eminent.

I still have to watch Index, but Railgun is on my to-watch. It's one of my friend's favorite anime so I'm looking forward to watching it.
(Y U NO MENTION fripSide!? ლ(ಠ益ಠლ) )

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Added to: https://hackforums.net/showthread.php?tid=3491251

(Jul 5, 2013 02:31 PM)Elfen Lied Wrote: Nice review man :D. Could you explain what order I should watch this series of shows in?

From one of his other reviews, he said:

(Jun 29, 2013 12:56 PM)Eminent Wrote: Index > Specials > Index II > Rewatch specials > Railgun > Railgun S

but OFC re-watching the specials is optional lol