Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T とある科学の超電磁砲[レールガン]T

2020 winter | Episodes: 25 | Score: 8.2 (99081)

Updated every Fridays at 22:00 | Status: Finished Airing

Type: TV

Streaming: Crunchyroll | Netflix

Synopsis

The Daihasei Festival has begun, and that of course means that Tokiwadai Middle School—a prestigious all-girls' middle school—is competing too. Despite the participation of the "Ace of Tokiwadai," Mikoto Misaka, the other students who are participating are still putting their utmost effort into winning, no matter how impossible the feat may seem against her overwhelming might. However, not all is fun and games. Due to the festival, Academy City opens to the outside world, and various factions have begun plotting ways to infiltrate the city. Misaka appears to be on their radar, and as the festival proceeds, people lurking from the shadows begin to emerge... Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T brings back the Tokiwadai Ace and her friends as they dive deeper into the dark side of Academy City. From terrorist attacks to ruthless underground projects, anything is possible in this city. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Voice Actors

Satou, Rina

Itou, Kanae

Arai, Satomi

Asakura, Azumi

Toyosaki, Aki

News

Reviews

agar815
03/12/2024, 12:30 AM
This series does an incredible job of exploring the following themes: autonomy, identity, the ethics of scientific progress, and personal reality. Misaka Mikoto is naturally a charismatic and powerful protagonist living within a futuristic city and its many dystopian secrets. Her captivation lies within her electrifying abilities as an Esper, and in her personal journey through adolescence. While there is plenty of exciting action throughout the anime, it is Mikoto's inner conflicts that drive the story in a meaningful direction. Her innately positive beliefs regarding the principles and mysteries within Academy City provide a strong dynamic to her character. This is due to her convictions andideals being challenged for the sake of scientific achievement on a consistent basis. She is publicly recognized as the ace of Tokiwadai Middle School for her superior talent, and her humility towards such title gives her an abundance of charm.
KeflaSimp69
06/04/2022, 08:29 AM
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.
Jakuzure_Nonon
04/15/2022, 12:49 PM
Kinda pissed at myself for dropping it so early on though in my defense it was mostly due to lack of time from my part rather than the quality of the show. As I've grown older, manga has become a much more viable guilty please than anime as it takes up significantly less time and it's easier to read a few chapters in your spare time than finishing an episode. That said, I'm glad I finally got around to watching this. ---STORY 8/10--- I found the overall plot to be a lot more solid and interesting compared to, particularly S. They managed to find a good balancebetween serious episodes and more easygoing episodes. The story isn't too complex and it often feels like your average shounen but I like how it consistently manages to raise some interesting questions about morality v. medical advances, this isn't really exclusive to this season though. ---ART 8/10--- The art isn't anything out of this world but it's not bad either and there were definitely some improvements from the previous seasons. My only complaint is the same complaint I've often had with this and many other anime: unnecessary fanservice shots. Hated it in my teens, hate it now in my 20s. It really ruins the experience for me sometimes but I understand that it's an issue that has more to do with the anime industry than this actual show (also, it felt less heavy on fan service than S so I'll let it slide). ---SOUND 9/10--- I love the railgun soundtrack, they're not songs i'd listen to in my free time but they set the tone for the show perfectly. ---CHARACTERS 10/10--- Here's where this show truly stands out. Not only is it a shounen anime composed of a mainly female cast but the way this season explored other characters' wishes and motivations as well as just giving them cute side-plots was what I loved the most about T. As usual, Kuroko always manages to make me laugh with her antics but is also a hero to root for when it's needed from her. I'm happy we got to see a *lot* more of her than in the previous seasons, I am eternally grateful and will treasure the amount of screen-time she got. Not just her though, I was so happy to see two of my other favorite characters Kongou Mitsuko and Shokuhou Misaki unravel this season. All three were the obvious MVPs but I wouldn't call Misaka a weak protagonist either, I'm just very biased. The side plot with Saten in the second half was also very sweet. ---ENJOYMENT 10/10--- VERY HIGH School festival arcs are ALWAYS fun and we got to see a lot of fun combinations I didn't even consider possible. ---OVERALL 9/10--- All in all, the best to aru season of the best to aru show.
robert788
04/15/2022, 01:32 AM
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T (2020) An end to an era. I wish I had watched the entire thing in proper order but I didn't. I will watch this all again in the proper order since I enjoyed this so much with the index series together. I went into this thinking badly of Misaki Shokuhou because of a particular arc but turns out I was wrong and it all made sense. You have a fantastic set of characters in this. The story is a continuation of the previous story and sits before the ending of the index series. It is a really good flow with variousarcs bringing it to a great ending. The art style is great and has top-notch performance. When it drops quality it is on purpose for a comedic purpose. The OP and ED are great, the ost is awesome and the acting is still at the high level the show has been before. This one just really pushes the boat out. The characters are awesome here. You get some of the best shown here, Misaki is awesome, Misaka is great, and the sisters maintain their fantastic stance with the amazing way of speaking and in some real heart moving scenes, especially towards the last episode. In episode 21 you get one of the funniest scenes with Misaki and Misaka. Ryouko Kuriba is an amazing character and really cute too. Lots of cute girls here. The overall ending of this is that it is a 10/10. What a show, try to watch it all in the proper order. Even if you watch index and railgun separately as I did, it is worth it still. You get a great mixture of stories. I do wish the owners would release a box set with the episodes in proper order from all parts of the franchise with all the OVAs too. 10/10.
R_2_R
02/12/2022, 09:06 AM
I've always wanted to like this series so much. I liked the world and the scientific lore of Raildex series, but there are many problems for me with the previous installments. Both Index and Railgun had always had pacing issues with one being too fast and the other being awfully slow. Except this season, which is probably the highest point the Anime franchise has ever come to, so far. When compared to other seasons, the animation is improved which shouldn't be a surprise considering it took 7 years to get a third season but still, much better. The plot & the consistency of it got reallybetter, unlike other seasons where we got some moe SoL moments spread across all over the plot. Now to the main thing. The series still follows same pattern as the previous seasons during their main events. 1. You get introduced to a new character; 2. The new character introduces to the main conflict of the arc; 3. The pre established characters, both main and side characters gets involved in the conflict; 4. Final PayOff. This formula repeats throughout the franchise but each & every arc adds layer after layer which rewards with this intriguing and interesting world, which is the main reason I like this series. The World Building. The series, especially the spinoff Railgun series not only adds characters just for the sake of it but also expands the world with these characters. It's always a delight to watch when such an enormous cast of characters often clash with each other, whether it be coincidental or not. But the main reason previous seasons or entries, while does the same thing they also take too much time to f*ck around with these characters in an SoL setting which isn't bad but it breaks the immersion in the seriousness of the story and characters, which thankfully this season, don't have that much of a problem and gives a full-on ride. One main thing that's different from the previous seasons with this season is that; The characters in previous Railgun series, *blend in* different settings, once being a sci-fi/thriller and other being a comfy SoL but in this season, the characters *drives the plot* instead of blending into a different setting which gives it a lot more consistency and better flow which wasn't achieved in previous seasons and adds a much more serious tone to it. With our usual group of Misaka, Kuruko, Saten & Uriharu, we also got a small introduction to the all the Level 5s. Gunha really stole the screentime as small as it might be and Shokuho cemented herself as the Level 5 Queen, during the Festival Arc. After the Festival Arc, we got some nice interactions between different characters, like the ITEM girls and the main gang, one being the "Bust Upper" episode which was dumb, overused but pretty hilarious with it's own twist. The newly introduced characters also had their fair share of impact. While Kuroko got a good screentime as Judgement, she still felt as annoying as ever. Misaka continued to prove why she works better as a protagonist than Touma, and the rest of the cast are all well explored. The conflict in each arc was very immersive but the highlight of this season is definitely the Festival Arc. The Festival Arc, which started as a small missing case build up into something a lot more and unexpected than it's initial setting was. This arc merged like nearly 15 different characters into one coherent plot with giving enough screentime and development to each of those characters. All other arcs are pretty well rounded too, even if it's just one or two episodes it slowly build each character and make them not just side characters but "memorable" side characters. The final arc also had some interesting philosophy regarding "soul" & "human" with a sci-fi conflict. This is just a nitpick, but while there are like 4 different arcs and the flow of each arc might be smooth but sometimes some arcs don't end properly. The Anime left a few things open without proper explanation even though enough consideration was given and some payoffs like the final "Dream Ranker" arc of the season might have had a spectacular ending but the initial Festival Arc falls in a few places like character resolution and grand finale kinda felt flat and just ended up as a "secret power got revealed" kinda thing (kinda like Episode 19 of Demon Slayer but without the flashback scenes). As I said, I really wished I liked this series because of the interesting world and power mechanics (Science side) it had but couldn't because of how boring the previous installments were. While this season isn't perfect, this is my favorite season in the entrie franchise.
nenosuns
04/14/2021, 06:34 AM
As a massive fan of this series (Railgun being actually my fav anime from all times), I couldn't be more excited to watch this season and it did not disappoint me, as always. The first arc of Railgun T was even better than the Sisters' arc of Railgun S, and that's saying a lot! We got to see more of the characters and their development, including characters with previous no special highlight (like Awatsuki and Wannai) and characters we didn't like at all (like Shokuhou and Frenda). Railgun, as always, brings us those dark sci-fi themes of the scientific part of Academy City, filled with itsgood portion of mystery, plot development, comedy, fluff, a little slice of life, great characters, and the badass fights we all love. One of my favorite parts of this season was the episodes focused on each member of the main quartet and how they deal with certain situations in their own way. Though I might have to say, while the first arc, the Daihaisei Festival arc, of this series, was a pleasant surprise for me and made me anxious for more at the end of each episode, the second arc not so much. Don't get me wrong, it didn't make me enjoy this season any less, but compared to other arcs and the first half of T, the Dream Ranker arc felt somewhat rushed. Though the Indian Poker cards are introduced early in the first episode of the second half, it offers little correlation to the main dilemma of this arc. And when this dilemma indeed starts (the Doppelganger problem) characters and problems that should be an important part of it are introduced quickly, with little to no highlight and the fights are easily solved. Instead of a whole mystery that usually comes with the issue, the whole information is just easily given to Misaka and she just has to go there and beat up the bad guy. Done. I'm not familiar with the manga since I still haven't started it yet, so I'm not sure if it follows the same pace as the anime, but in my opinion the last 5 or 6 episodes could have been paced better. Overall, 9 zaps out of 10, one of the greatest but still slightly underrated animes of the last decade for sure. I'm curious to how the next two arcs of Railgun will be portrayed.
stmwg01
04/03/2021, 09:09 PM
Quick take: Best series of the Raildex universe and consistent from start to end. Good plot and tons of secondary character growth, which is incredibly refreshing. All I can say is, “wow.” T is the best season in all of the Raildex universe and it is consistently good start to end, something every other season struggled with. T has two major plots that, while vaguely connected, are excellent in their own right. Both are entertaining and the smooth transition from one to the other, using the guise of misunderstanding why and how things were happening or coming to be, was well done and enjoyable. Compared tothe others, (Indexes, Accelerator and Railguns) this season is a homerun. The only dock I can take is the ending leaves you to fill in some of the pieces when it jumps a few scenes that could’ve been epic. It’s a bit annoying, but does not detract from the overall story in any way. There are plenty of laughs along the way as well and I appreciate that they aren’t some of the same old jokes. While I like Shirai's attraction to Mikoto, it does get old. Seeing Mikoto interact with some of the supporting characters in funny situations is really nice and refreshing. Art is good, same as the other seasons of the Raildex universe. That means that its not bad, but at times, can leave a bit to be desired. Sound is also the same as well. Characters shine in this season as well. We see growth in supporting characters, which is awesome. Most of the growth in this season are supporting characters and that’s perfectly okay. It gives the storyline and world depth that I felt was sometimes lacking in other Raildex universes. Every character is fun to watch and grow. Seeing many of the supporting characters in situations is very enjoyable as well and makes this season not feel like the same-old-same-old. Overall, this was the best installment in the Raildex universe. The sad thing is that you had to sit through so much to get here. I wish there was the quality, consistency and enjoyment present in this season, present throughout the universe. I genuinely enjoyed watching it start to finish and never felt like I was forcing myself to continue to the next episode Highly recommended because if you like the other seasons, which were good in my opinion, you’ll find this season great. While I typically truncate my scores, I've given this season the bump from 8.6 average up to 9 because I believe it is that much better than the previous seasons.
Daniel_Pezzi
03/17/2021, 10:16 PM
The Toaru franchise continues to be one of my guilty pleasures. The flaws of this show are the same as the franchise as a whole. Weird obsession with sexualization in non-diegetic spots, endless philosophizing and techno babble to make everything seem more serious than it is, and an overall lack of definitive arc for its central characters. That being said, even taking into account that Railgun has always been the strong of the two main series (at least animated), Railgun T presents the best material of the franchise so far. This is especially true in the first 15 episodes which actually manages to tell a completestory that ends in a satisfying, if not lasting, way. The animation and voice acting is solid A tier, its a shame Index does not get this level of care and patience, and the directing is a step up from what you would expect a seasonal show to have. The strength of Toaru has always been in concept and character, and both shine through in T. Mikoto, Touma, Misaki are all the best versions of themselves. Newcomers like Gunha do an excellent job establishing themselves and most of the recurring side characters are handled competently. After the unambiguous win that is the Daihaseisai, Dream Ranker feels like a let down for the final 10 episodes. A manga only arc, it hits the usual beats of a Railgun original arc. Oddly enough, the Dream aspect gets dropped fairly early on, which is sad considering how unique of a concept that was for the series. Transitioning to another "bad scientists abuse power but are souls real?" storyline really hurts the ceiling of the show. It is hard to recommend any aspect of Toaru, either its unique qualities are compelling enough for you to wade through the bullshit or they are not, but the highs presented in T make the investment feel worth it. Misaka is still best girl, although Gunha is coming for that spot. Score: Strong 7 to Light 8
_q_48
11/06/2020, 09:24 AM
After 7 long years of waiting, we finally got a new season of railgun, probably the best since the start of this series. Tl;dr: great anime, watch it. Spoilers at the end . Story 10/10: The plot is great, start out as some small fun things that eventually turn into a big scheme that shows us that dark side of this city. Although there are still some niche plot point here and there (such as the part in the park where they know that a big incident will happen but still lets people in normally) but overall the story is executed fluently, the flow of the story doesn'tfeel too slow or too fast, each episode has something to do with the plot no matter how small, and those small things combined help us know more about all the characters of this story. There are some mysteries that aren't developed in this story as well, i hope that means we will get a new season soon, because i've already read the manga and novel over and over so many times. Art 10/10: Great traditional anime art from the 2000s, drawn in a more careful way, animations are fluid, overall great. Sound 9/10: I rate it 9 simply cuz they always make Kuroko's voice actor use a really annoying voice for this character, always hate it since the first series. Character 9/10: All the characters in this anime is portraited really carefully, all sides of their personality is shown throughout the story, even small characters feel important enough so that we don't forget them, each and every character in this anime has some memorable part about them, even the ones that doesn't get much scene. Enjoyment 10/10: i enjoyed this a lot, recently no much anime make me cry but this one manages to make me shed a few tears, i feel happy for the characters as well. Overall 10/10: Great anime, below are some spoilers, stop reading if u dont want spoils. Basically the thing i liked the most was the humane factor of this anime, Dolly and Doppelganger are the characters i liked the most, not because their personality, but because of their story, they were created by the inhumane researchers, but they somehow never became inhumane like their creators, instead they chose different paths. The part where Dolly was reunited with her 2 friends made me cry too, it was my favorite part of this anime.
fazzizle
10/03/2020, 03:34 PM
Railgun is just a fun show. There is nothing else to it really. The characters are not very deep in general but every once in a while you can see what makes them tick. The show isn't overly dramatic and its certainly got a lot of lighthearted elements that make it comfy to watch. The second season was darker and bit more exciting but this season hit a lot of the high points such as insane fights/powers and cool plot points covering the dark side of their city. The show is tightly focused on its goals and doesn't let itself get out of control with theplot or events in a way that would rely on Deus Ex Machina consistently. Railgun mostly bails herself out of situations with deliberate attempts. When people help her, its for a reason related to their background or relationship and not because they were in the right place at the right time. At the end of the day, the creators know people like it when Misaka pops off and she definitely does.
cameronrb24
09/29/2020, 10:56 PM
(Note: I didn't watch any Index and I skipped fillers in the first 2 seasons of Railgun) Quick Thoughts: Suprisingly enjoyable. I think the character development this season fixed a lot of their weaker points (Kuroko especially) and I liked most of the new additions as well. Story: This season can be split into 2 arcs: The Daihasei Festival and Indian Poker. It's mostly told from Misaka's perspective, but there are a few episodes where she takes a backseat to other characters like Kuroko or Saten. This works well in that allows dedicated development for important side characters while also given different perspectives on the main story. The pacingis good as well, I think first arc ended a bit abruptly but that's it. The ending was pretty typical; sort of SoL in feel and made sure to give every relevant character some screentime. Art: The animation quality seems about the same as previous seasons. There a few moments of awkward looking cgi, but it's solid overall. It looked like a lot of effort was put into the more climatic action scenes. Character: Many characters were introduced this season, and I think they did a good focusing on the more important/story-relevant ones. Misaka gets a good amount of development. We see her tone down her stubbornness a bit through some of the relationships she forms, comes to terms with her issues with the dark side a academy city, and the final arc helps display growth in maturity by drawing parallels with previous arcs. Side characters see some improvement as well. Kuroko for example is much less of nuisance/horndog (though that change isn't entirely her doing). I think the characters I had the most issues with were some of the antagonists and Touma, to a lesser extent. Many antagonists had reasonable motives, but there were a few, like Gensei Kihara, who were too stereotypically villain, maniacal, and evil. For Touma, it may just be a lack context since I skipped Index, but he seems like a deus ex machina incarnate. I found his interactions with the rest of the cast were repetitive as well. Enjoyment: I found season 3 really enjoyable overall. It may be something I return to if and when I watch the Index series, just to see if I actually missed anything. If you liked the last 2 seasons I'd imagine you would enjoy this as well: less filler and more focused while still maintaining a good balance of action and comedy.
Fadedboar
09/26/2020, 07:05 PM
For Fans of the Toaru series. That's what this season is. 2018's Index III managed to fail adapting the highlights of the original novel series with the possible exceptions of DRAGON and WW3 which were where the season slowed down a little and had about a cour of remaining episodes to at least try to do something. But despite that, Kamijou Touma's story, along with the stories of the other 2 MCs from the series, was not adapted well into an anime. Railgun T seemingly does the same thing as Index III, and adapts far more source material into a season than it's first 2 installmentsdid. But this time the amount of material approached is manageable enough to cover in 25 episodes, 1 less than Index III. And while Index NT and Railgun Astral Buddy aren't quite confirmed yet they have both been teased now that Railgun itself is nearly caught up and are almost certainly happening. And Accelerator s2 could happen, but seems unlikely unless the series needs another in-between installment between 2 full length seasons. But back to Railgun T, it's a surprise that between JC Staff's recent output and the current events in 2020, that this is what finally ends up being the highlight of the Toaru adaptions so far. As for the 2 arcs, Daihasei starts off as a sequel to the corresponding arc in Index II. As shown in the OP, Touma does make a notable appearance. And no, there isn't any romantic development given that this is really behind the novels timeline wise. But we see a threat to Mikoto and the appearance of Misaki, who is both 10/10 waifu material and also one of the more complex characters in the series so far. And yes, she's really in Mikoto's class. And yes, there is a certain level-bending occurrence towards the end, enough to need the well known nullification power of Imagine Breaker to stop it. For the second, Dream Raker is a more episodic arc that basically is a short arc with a young esper, a prequel to Index III which explains some the back/story to a certain character's meltdown. Sadly though, #1 villain does not appear, nor does our hero. The final part of Dream Raker, surrounds a happening rather similar sounding to the name of the second OP, and involves an interesting science side plot. And make sure to watch the Accelerator spinoff since it's also referenced here. As for art, it's JC Staff playing their rare A game (Danmachi s1, Index 2, Railgun S, Heavy Object), with animation being solid except for looking a bit static in non-action scenes. But the action animation is so excellent that it's hard not to overlook the rest. As for sound, it's good as expected and doesn't have the strange sound direction from Index III where BGM was overplayed and punches sounded too loud for a series were the MC wields his right hand as his main weapon of mass destruction. And both OPs are solid, though the first one spoils a bit too much. Overall, a great season that will satisfy anyone willing to watch a Toaru anime after Index III. And now to put down my keyboard and wait for Index NT and Railgun Astral Buddy.
DNGlist
09/26/2020, 04:26 AM
plus point for JC Staff in making action anime My expectations were high, because the railgun series was in the hands of JC.Staff had good progress, but I didn't expect it to be this good. First, it is clear that the graphic improvements are very visible, indeed the range from Railgun S to Railgun T is 7 years, no wonder the upgrade is very visible in the graphics. I am waiting for the bluray, I hope the bluray version can be brighter, because the Railgun coloring is a little dull like foggy for the TV version. There are no complaints for the song, all the railgun opening byFripside must have entered my playlist, the ending songs are also nice to hear, I am the one who appreciates singers by not skipping to the end while watching, the sound effect is better than the railgun S presenting. frenda rocket sound effect, metal pounding, bomb explosion, and don't forget to thank you for returning the imagine breaker that was changed to index 3 Story, no complaints. Even though there were some cut scenes especially in the dream ranker arc, it didn't spoil the story. The rest of the manga is accurate because I also follow the manga I still ask why JC staff and T railgun crew prefer "manual drawing" for the touma dragon strike? Meanwhile, they made a very impressive CG in the last arc Dream Ranker battle. Actually I hope that dragon strike is made in CG to make it look more real, especially the scales "because dragons have scales", for example, it can be seen in the elder centipede One Punch man 2 made by JC Staff. but what I see, Touma's dragon form is a bit stiff, dull in coloration, and his movements don't show that "it's big" isn't a bad thing, but I expected more of this. I am very satisfied with the Railgun T, it can really treat the disappointment of the index 3, and the anime version of the accelerator which is not good in my opinion, is very stiff. I hope that after this, Kadokawa, JC staff and all the crew involved in the Toaru project can maximize the Index NT, because that's a good story material from the Toaru series. If handled properly, it is not impossible that this series will equal or better than the Fate Series in Ufotable's hands.
Cosmic_Penguin
09/26/2020, 01:09 AM
There's nothing happier in the anime world when you get a sequel of the very first TV anime series that you have finished, containing the no. 1 favorite anime character of all time, and the production team poured everything, every heart, every effort to ship out arguably the best season overall of a huge, long running series over a decade after its first anime adaptation, under some of the worst production environment one could face and a completely knocked out airing schedule with the most start-stops I have ever seen. Allow me to paraphrase one review of a certain 10/10 rated game released in June thisyear: "Railgun T is a masterpiece worthy of its predecessors. Taking strides forward in nearly every way, we have even more well-written characters like the seductive Misaki Shokuhou stepping into the spotlight and carries the long awaited, much required and hugely promising sequel in a manner that feels like the culmination of everything that’s made To Aru’s blockbuster storytelling so memorable since the original Index back in the good old golden days of 2008. It delivers a layered, emotionally shattering story in 2 big arcs as heart gripping as the famous Sisters Arc of Railgun S, on top of continuing excellent world building and surprisingly well done action animations that improves the last season’s setting consistency with eliminating half-baked original arcs while integrating a bit more of Index’s deeper story themes and yet still keeping Slice Of Life/comedy scenes as funny as they can. But while Railgun T is a thrilling adventure that long since have transpired friendship and evil scientists, it still makes time for a stunning, nuanced exploration of the strength and fragility of the human spirit. The Leader of all Light Novels has one of its best comebacks in one of the generation’s best anime produced." Continuing the outstanding character development of Railgun S 7 years ago, both major arcs this season continues tons of growth for our main cast, new characters and even minor ones who didn't had much time to even tell their own stories. The plot continues to be as heart gripping as ever from start to finish, and while it's probably too much to ask for yet another landmark moving scene a la that one in Railgun S' Sisters arc, we saw quite a few poignant moments this time around that are just as emotional. And this season went away with one of the major problems in the last two seasons - anime original arcs that have weaker than usual plots/character development and even settings contradicting the main series (see Railgun S Silent Party arc for a big example). Only major problem I can find of Railgun T is the animations which unfortunately suffered some drop in quality from Railgun S, however anyone who know about studio JC STAFF and the history of To Aru will know that it is a miracle that it's still *that* good with the all-star production team during Railgun S a one-off phenomenon. Indeed with JC STAFF overloaded in recent years, not to say 2020 pandemic production disruptions, I would never thought I can see still consistently quite good animations across all 25 episodes (considering the production schedule was in literal chaos early this year). Never mind that excellent animations popped up in the climax of both big arcs, that fight in episode 24 being one of the best I've seen this year! I don't know if we will see a 4th Railgun season in the future, especially with the major crash of the latest season of its parent series and the lukewarm response to the other spin-off anime series of To Aru. There's also the problem that there's probably only enough source material to make another 12 or so episodes within a year or two. But with this season ending up as one of my favorite TV anime of all time (tied with Madoka Magica), I simply hope that this series will keep on delivering in the future. Maybe even help out A Certain Magical Index with a re-born in the anime world. Railgun T is my Anime Of The Year of 2020, and I'm proud to say that.
LegendAqua
09/25/2020, 12:13 PM
Tatsuyuki Nagai loves Railgun and boy does it show... Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T leaves off where from the second season with the Daihasei Festival arc that brings Misaka and her friends into the Dark Side of Academy City... All things considered Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T does a perfect job in giving us new characters and developing throughout this season and making us like them, be it if they are friends or rivals to Misaka whilst developing Misaka at the same time and that just made LA love Railgun T even more. Railgun T brings into light of Misaki Shokuhou voiced by Azumi Asakura, one ofMisaka's rivals of Tokidaiwai School and throughout this arc we more or less see her rivalry towards Misaka but also sees both Misaki and Misaka grow together through what the Dark Side of Academy City has in store for them. Of course since this is Railgun, Touma is also in the mix considering the timeline of Railgun T and all and what transpires through the Daihasei Festival arc becomes something huge (as expected from the To Aru series). Though ALOT of stuff happens in the Daihasei Festival arc, two things happen that made LA change LA mind, that being Misaki isn't all that bad, it's mainly because from the previous seasons, through Misaka's perspective we just saw Misaki as just a snarky trickster ojou rival to Misaka, but the Daihasei Festival arc gave out more about her, fleshed her out to the point of LA balling LA's eyes out to the resolution of the events of the Daihasei Festival arc and that was just a key to getting Misaki to being LA's 3rd favorite waifu of the To aru series because of this arc, the other being that we get to see Misaka's hatred for the higher ups and the Sister Project manifest in a different way in this arc thus developing both Misaka and Misaki through this arc which LA just LOVED. Of course Kuroko, Saten and Uiharu does get their own episodes after the Daihasei Festival arc, where there is the emergence of "Indian Poker", cards that let you experience people's dreams as well as an app that tells of when people got injured or "will die". Through the interim of this arc to the Dream Ranker arc, Saten also bumps into Fre nda of ITEM and even becomes friends of the sorts as well as an ambush of Yumiya of SCHOOL converging into something big happening come the Dream Ranker arc, but LA put this as a pin in the review as the interaction of Saten and Fre nda was quite interesting, heck Misaka even bumps into Kinuhata in the look for "Bust Upper" card as well in the interim which was also interesting, this also at least much like not looking at Misaki at face value, that ITEM ain't that bad either in terms of villiany...heck if you think ITEM is bad, SCHOOL and Scavenger are soo much worse. The Dream Ranker arc, deals with "Indian poker" a new craze going on in Academy City where it lets the holder of card have dreams and thus learn things from others, however things gets crossed when we learn of the originator of Indian Poker thus leading into Misaka bumping into Scavenger and worst, an experiment gone wrong with Misaki in tow to stop another Sister-like project. This arc at the start does deal with some minor situations with Misaka's group of Kuroko and Saten but afterwards, this arc goes into full gear once Scavenger is introduced and MAN, this arc doesn't mess around with the stakes and the main "villain" of this arc and it's another Level Upper situation in a grander scale with Misaka needing to stop the main villain. Dream Ranker arc really was something else especially with the fight against the major villains of the arc was something to behold similar to Daiheisei Festival arc's fights. Nonetheless the Dream ranker arc is just as good if not close to Daiheisai Festival arc in terms of greatness for Railgun and Dream Ranker arc is also GREAT because of the good amount of interesting interactions with the Railgun cast with other groups, ala Fre nda with Saten and Misaka with Kinuhata to Misaka with Scavenger of all groups. The animation done by JC Staff was AMAZING, right down to the fight scenes and sometimes the batshit crazy moments of Railgun T, JC Staff once again outdid themselves with the animation, the slick updated character designs, the beautiful backgrounds, the awesome battles and the comedic hijinks and timings of the animation done to T. LA will say it again but JC Staff outdid themselves and LA will say under the guidance of Tatsuyuki Nagai made it so. Bravo JC Staff. The voice cast was once again amazing as well, most are returning voice cast from Railgun's previous seasons as well as Index and Accelerator but nonetheless the voice cast of Railgun T was amazing, from Rina Sato's down pat thundereness of Misaka Mikoto, Satomi Arai's crazy yandereness of Kuroko, the down to earth but ordinary yet extraordinary luck of Saten of Kanae Ito and the shy but calculating nice girl of Uiharu of Aki Toyosaki. Some major props also to Azumi Asakura of the sly but devilishly femme fatale ojouness cadence of Misaki Shokuhou. The voice cast, LA could talk forever but LA will once again limit it to MVP's and those easily goes to Rina Sato and Azumi Asakura, they were just soooo good this season. Railgun T delivered to everything LA wanted from another season of Railgun T and then some, great character development ACROSS the board from Fre nda, Misaka, Misaki, Mitori, Kuroko, Saten, Uiharu EVERYONE did their part be it good or evil characters and really fleshed out To aru's universe even more, add to the GREAT detail in it's animation and stella voice casting as always from JC Staff and Tatsuyuki Nagai. LA LOVED Railgun T and all it's characters and this season was by all means another step up from Railgun S, not that S was bad either, but man T brought it's SSS game and then some. Now if only Index had the same treatment.....
Marinate1016
09/25/2020, 09:39 AM
By now, you know what you're getting out of Railgun. Slice of Life moments with the girls mixed with amazing action sequences and uncovering the mysteries of Academy City. Railgun T brings us back to the world of Toaru after a less than stellar 3rd season of Index and offers a return to form for the famed series. Railgun T takes everything that Railgun 1 and S had and cranks it up a notch, in the best possible way. This season really does a great job of developing both Misaka and Misaki as well as laying the ground work for future events in the universe.Over the course of 25 episodes, there was genuinely never a dull moment. You can tell which of the 3 Toaru series JC staff favours more, as quality has always been consistently excellent with the Railgun series.This season is no exception. Awesome fight scenes with movie like quality down the stretch, beautiful art and an amazing OST adding atmosphere to scenes. Another great job by the production staff. Overall, Railgun T has to be the strongest entry in the Toaru series so far to date. It's got everything we've come to know and love about Railgun, but better. A must watch for any fan of the series and I'd argue any anime fan in general. Railgun T gets 9 zaps out of 10.
gaussian_
09/25/2020, 09:32 AM
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.
ACasualViewer
09/25/2020, 06:57 AM
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.
Stark700
09/25/2020, 06:31 AM
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 characterthis 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.
lt_wassile
09/25/2020, 06:31 AM
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

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T とある科学の超電磁砲[レールガン]T

2020 winter | Episodes: 25 | Score: 8.2 (99081)

Updated every Fridays at 22:00 | Status: Finished Airing

Type: TV

Streaming: Crunchyroll | Netflix

Synopsis

Voice Actors

Satou, Rina

Itou, Kanae

Arai, Satomi

Asakura, Azumi

Toyosaki, Aki

News

Reviews

agar815
03/12/2024, 12:30 AM
This series does an incredible job of exploring the following themes: autonomy, identity, the ethics of scientific progress, and personal reality. Misaka Mikoto is naturally a charismatic and powerful protagonist living within a futuristic city and its many dystopian secrets. Her captivation lies within her electrifying abilities as an Esper, and in her personal journey through adolescence. While there is plenty of exciting action throughout the anime, it is Mikoto's inner conflicts that drive the story in a meaningful direction. Her innately positive beliefs regarding the principles and mysteries within Academy City provide a strong dynamic to her character. This is due to her convictions andideals being challenged for the sake of scientific achievement on a consistent basis. She is publicly recognized as the ace of Tokiwadai Middle School for her superior talent, and her humility towards such title gives her an abundance of charm.
KeflaSimp69
06/04/2022, 08:29 AM
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.
Jakuzure_Nonon
04/15/2022, 12:49 PM
Kinda pissed at myself for dropping it so early on though in my defense it was mostly due to lack of time from my part rather than the quality of the show. As I've grown older, manga has become a much more viable guilty please than anime as it takes up significantly less time and it's easier to read a few chapters in your spare time than finishing an episode. That said, I'm glad I finally got around to watching this. ---STORY 8/10--- I found the overall plot to be a lot more solid and interesting compared to, particularly S. They managed to find a good balancebetween serious episodes and more easygoing episodes. The story isn't too complex and it often feels like your average shounen but I like how it consistently manages to raise some interesting questions about morality v. medical advances, this isn't really exclusive to this season though. ---ART 8/10--- The art isn't anything out of this world but it's not bad either and there were definitely some improvements from the previous seasons. My only complaint is the same complaint I've often had with this and many other anime: unnecessary fanservice shots. Hated it in my teens, hate it now in my 20s. It really ruins the experience for me sometimes but I understand that it's an issue that has more to do with the anime industry than this actual show (also, it felt less heavy on fan service than S so I'll let it slide). ---SOUND 9/10--- I love the railgun soundtrack, they're not songs i'd listen to in my free time but they set the tone for the show perfectly. ---CHARACTERS 10/10--- Here's where this show truly stands out. Not only is it a shounen anime composed of a mainly female cast but the way this season explored other characters' wishes and motivations as well as just giving them cute side-plots was what I loved the most about T. As usual, Kuroko always manages to make me laugh with her antics but is also a hero to root for when it's needed from her. I'm happy we got to see a *lot* more of her than in the previous seasons, I am eternally grateful and will treasure the amount of screen-time she got. Not just her though, I was so happy to see two of my other favorite characters Kongou Mitsuko and Shokuhou Misaki unravel this season. All three were the obvious MVPs but I wouldn't call Misaka a weak protagonist either, I'm just very biased. The side plot with Saten in the second half was also very sweet. ---ENJOYMENT 10/10--- VERY HIGH School festival arcs are ALWAYS fun and we got to see a lot of fun combinations I didn't even consider possible. ---OVERALL 9/10--- All in all, the best to aru season of the best to aru show.
robert788
04/15/2022, 01:32 AM
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T (2020) An end to an era. I wish I had watched the entire thing in proper order but I didn't. I will watch this all again in the proper order since I enjoyed this so much with the index series together. I went into this thinking badly of Misaki Shokuhou because of a particular arc but turns out I was wrong and it all made sense. You have a fantastic set of characters in this. The story is a continuation of the previous story and sits before the ending of the index series. It is a really good flow with variousarcs bringing it to a great ending. The art style is great and has top-notch performance. When it drops quality it is on purpose for a comedic purpose. The OP and ED are great, the ost is awesome and the acting is still at the high level the show has been before. This one just really pushes the boat out. The characters are awesome here. You get some of the best shown here, Misaki is awesome, Misaka is great, and the sisters maintain their fantastic stance with the amazing way of speaking and in some real heart moving scenes, especially towards the last episode. In episode 21 you get one of the funniest scenes with Misaki and Misaka. Ryouko Kuriba is an amazing character and really cute too. Lots of cute girls here. The overall ending of this is that it is a 10/10. What a show, try to watch it all in the proper order. Even if you watch index and railgun separately as I did, it is worth it still. You get a great mixture of stories. I do wish the owners would release a box set with the episodes in proper order from all parts of the franchise with all the OVAs too. 10/10.
R_2_R
02/12/2022, 09:06 AM
I've always wanted to like this series so much. I liked the world and the scientific lore of Raildex series, but there are many problems for me with the previous installments. Both Index and Railgun had always had pacing issues with one being too fast and the other being awfully slow. Except this season, which is probably the highest point the Anime franchise has ever come to, so far. When compared to other seasons, the animation is improved which shouldn't be a surprise considering it took 7 years to get a third season but still, much better. The plot & the consistency of it got reallybetter, unlike other seasons where we got some moe SoL moments spread across all over the plot. Now to the main thing. The series still follows same pattern as the previous seasons during their main events. 1. You get introduced to a new character; 2. The new character introduces to the main conflict of the arc; 3. The pre established characters, both main and side characters gets involved in the conflict; 4. Final PayOff. This formula repeats throughout the franchise but each & every arc adds layer after layer which rewards with this intriguing and interesting world, which is the main reason I like this series. The World Building. The series, especially the spinoff Railgun series not only adds characters just for the sake of it but also expands the world with these characters. It's always a delight to watch when such an enormous cast of characters often clash with each other, whether it be coincidental or not. But the main reason previous seasons or entries, while does the same thing they also take too much time to f*ck around with these characters in an SoL setting which isn't bad but it breaks the immersion in the seriousness of the story and characters, which thankfully this season, don't have that much of a problem and gives a full-on ride. One main thing that's different from the previous seasons with this season is that; The characters in previous Railgun series, *blend in* different settings, once being a sci-fi/thriller and other being a comfy SoL but in this season, the characters *drives the plot* instead of blending into a different setting which gives it a lot more consistency and better flow which wasn't achieved in previous seasons and adds a much more serious tone to it. With our usual group of Misaka, Kuruko, Saten & Uriharu, we also got a small introduction to the all the Level 5s. Gunha really stole the screentime as small as it might be and Shokuho cemented herself as the Level 5 Queen, during the Festival Arc. After the Festival Arc, we got some nice interactions between different characters, like the ITEM girls and the main gang, one being the "Bust Upper" episode which was dumb, overused but pretty hilarious with it's own twist. The newly introduced characters also had their fair share of impact. While Kuroko got a good screentime as Judgement, she still felt as annoying as ever. Misaka continued to prove why she works better as a protagonist than Touma, and the rest of the cast are all well explored. The conflict in each arc was very immersive but the highlight of this season is definitely the Festival Arc. The Festival Arc, which started as a small missing case build up into something a lot more and unexpected than it's initial setting was. This arc merged like nearly 15 different characters into one coherent plot with giving enough screentime and development to each of those characters. All other arcs are pretty well rounded too, even if it's just one or two episodes it slowly build each character and make them not just side characters but "memorable" side characters. The final arc also had some interesting philosophy regarding "soul" & "human" with a sci-fi conflict. This is just a nitpick, but while there are like 4 different arcs and the flow of each arc might be smooth but sometimes some arcs don't end properly. The Anime left a few things open without proper explanation even though enough consideration was given and some payoffs like the final "Dream Ranker" arc of the season might have had a spectacular ending but the initial Festival Arc falls in a few places like character resolution and grand finale kinda felt flat and just ended up as a "secret power got revealed" kinda thing (kinda like Episode 19 of Demon Slayer but without the flashback scenes). As I said, I really wished I liked this series because of the interesting world and power mechanics (Science side) it had but couldn't because of how boring the previous installments were. While this season isn't perfect, this is my favorite season in the entrie franchise.
nenosuns
04/14/2021, 06:34 AM
As a massive fan of this series (Railgun being actually my fav anime from all times), I couldn't be more excited to watch this season and it did not disappoint me, as always. The first arc of Railgun T was even better than the Sisters' arc of Railgun S, and that's saying a lot! We got to see more of the characters and their development, including characters with previous no special highlight (like Awatsuki and Wannai) and characters we didn't like at all (like Shokuhou and Frenda). Railgun, as always, brings us those dark sci-fi themes of the scientific part of Academy City, filled with itsgood portion of mystery, plot development, comedy, fluff, a little slice of life, great characters, and the badass fights we all love. One of my favorite parts of this season was the episodes focused on each member of the main quartet and how they deal with certain situations in their own way. Though I might have to say, while the first arc, the Daihaisei Festival arc, of this series, was a pleasant surprise for me and made me anxious for more at the end of each episode, the second arc not so much. Don't get me wrong, it didn't make me enjoy this season any less, but compared to other arcs and the first half of T, the Dream Ranker arc felt somewhat rushed. Though the Indian Poker cards are introduced early in the first episode of the second half, it offers little correlation to the main dilemma of this arc. And when this dilemma indeed starts (the Doppelganger problem) characters and problems that should be an important part of it are introduced quickly, with little to no highlight and the fights are easily solved. Instead of a whole mystery that usually comes with the issue, the whole information is just easily given to Misaka and she just has to go there and beat up the bad guy. Done. I'm not familiar with the manga since I still haven't started it yet, so I'm not sure if it follows the same pace as the anime, but in my opinion the last 5 or 6 episodes could have been paced better. Overall, 9 zaps out of 10, one of the greatest but still slightly underrated animes of the last decade for sure. I'm curious to how the next two arcs of Railgun will be portrayed.
stmwg01
04/03/2021, 09:09 PM
Quick take: Best series of the Raildex universe and consistent from start to end. Good plot and tons of secondary character growth, which is incredibly refreshing. All I can say is, “wow.” T is the best season in all of the Raildex universe and it is consistently good start to end, something every other season struggled with. T has two major plots that, while vaguely connected, are excellent in their own right. Both are entertaining and the smooth transition from one to the other, using the guise of misunderstanding why and how things were happening or coming to be, was well done and enjoyable. Compared tothe others, (Indexes, Accelerator and Railguns) this season is a homerun. The only dock I can take is the ending leaves you to fill in some of the pieces when it jumps a few scenes that could’ve been epic. It’s a bit annoying, but does not detract from the overall story in any way. There are plenty of laughs along the way as well and I appreciate that they aren’t some of the same old jokes. While I like Shirai's attraction to Mikoto, it does get old. Seeing Mikoto interact with some of the supporting characters in funny situations is really nice and refreshing. Art is good, same as the other seasons of the Raildex universe. That means that its not bad, but at times, can leave a bit to be desired. Sound is also the same as well. Characters shine in this season as well. We see growth in supporting characters, which is awesome. Most of the growth in this season are supporting characters and that’s perfectly okay. It gives the storyline and world depth that I felt was sometimes lacking in other Raildex universes. Every character is fun to watch and grow. Seeing many of the supporting characters in situations is very enjoyable as well and makes this season not feel like the same-old-same-old. Overall, this was the best installment in the Raildex universe. The sad thing is that you had to sit through so much to get here. I wish there was the quality, consistency and enjoyment present in this season, present throughout the universe. I genuinely enjoyed watching it start to finish and never felt like I was forcing myself to continue to the next episode Highly recommended because if you like the other seasons, which were good in my opinion, you’ll find this season great. While I typically truncate my scores, I've given this season the bump from 8.6 average up to 9 because I believe it is that much better than the previous seasons.
Daniel_Pezzi
03/17/2021, 10:16 PM
The Toaru franchise continues to be one of my guilty pleasures. The flaws of this show are the same as the franchise as a whole. Weird obsession with sexualization in non-diegetic spots, endless philosophizing and techno babble to make everything seem more serious than it is, and an overall lack of definitive arc for its central characters. That being said, even taking into account that Railgun has always been the strong of the two main series (at least animated), Railgun T presents the best material of the franchise so far. This is especially true in the first 15 episodes which actually manages to tell a completestory that ends in a satisfying, if not lasting, way. The animation and voice acting is solid A tier, its a shame Index does not get this level of care and patience, and the directing is a step up from what you would expect a seasonal show to have. The strength of Toaru has always been in concept and character, and both shine through in T. Mikoto, Touma, Misaki are all the best versions of themselves. Newcomers like Gunha do an excellent job establishing themselves and most of the recurring side characters are handled competently. After the unambiguous win that is the Daihaseisai, Dream Ranker feels like a let down for the final 10 episodes. A manga only arc, it hits the usual beats of a Railgun original arc. Oddly enough, the Dream aspect gets dropped fairly early on, which is sad considering how unique of a concept that was for the series. Transitioning to another "bad scientists abuse power but are souls real?" storyline really hurts the ceiling of the show. It is hard to recommend any aspect of Toaru, either its unique qualities are compelling enough for you to wade through the bullshit or they are not, but the highs presented in T make the investment feel worth it. Misaka is still best girl, although Gunha is coming for that spot. Score: Strong 7 to Light 8
_q_48
11/06/2020, 09:24 AM
After 7 long years of waiting, we finally got a new season of railgun, probably the best since the start of this series. Tl;dr: great anime, watch it. Spoilers at the end . Story 10/10: The plot is great, start out as some small fun things that eventually turn into a big scheme that shows us that dark side of this city. Although there are still some niche plot point here and there (such as the part in the park where they know that a big incident will happen but still lets people in normally) but overall the story is executed fluently, the flow of the story doesn'tfeel too slow or too fast, each episode has something to do with the plot no matter how small, and those small things combined help us know more about all the characters of this story. There are some mysteries that aren't developed in this story as well, i hope that means we will get a new season soon, because i've already read the manga and novel over and over so many times. Art 10/10: Great traditional anime art from the 2000s, drawn in a more careful way, animations are fluid, overall great. Sound 9/10: I rate it 9 simply cuz they always make Kuroko's voice actor use a really annoying voice for this character, always hate it since the first series. Character 9/10: All the characters in this anime is portraited really carefully, all sides of their personality is shown throughout the story, even small characters feel important enough so that we don't forget them, each and every character in this anime has some memorable part about them, even the ones that doesn't get much scene. Enjoyment 10/10: i enjoyed this a lot, recently no much anime make me cry but this one manages to make me shed a few tears, i feel happy for the characters as well. Overall 10/10: Great anime, below are some spoilers, stop reading if u dont want spoils. Basically the thing i liked the most was the humane factor of this anime, Dolly and Doppelganger are the characters i liked the most, not because their personality, but because of their story, they were created by the inhumane researchers, but they somehow never became inhumane like their creators, instead they chose different paths. The part where Dolly was reunited with her 2 friends made me cry too, it was my favorite part of this anime.
fazzizle
10/03/2020, 03:34 PM
Railgun is just a fun show. There is nothing else to it really. The characters are not very deep in general but every once in a while you can see what makes them tick. The show isn't overly dramatic and its certainly got a lot of lighthearted elements that make it comfy to watch. The second season was darker and bit more exciting but this season hit a lot of the high points such as insane fights/powers and cool plot points covering the dark side of their city. The show is tightly focused on its goals and doesn't let itself get out of control with theplot or events in a way that would rely on Deus Ex Machina consistently. Railgun mostly bails herself out of situations with deliberate attempts. When people help her, its for a reason related to their background or relationship and not because they were in the right place at the right time. At the end of the day, the creators know people like it when Misaka pops off and she definitely does.
cameronrb24
09/29/2020, 10:56 PM
(Note: I didn't watch any Index and I skipped fillers in the first 2 seasons of Railgun) Quick Thoughts: Suprisingly enjoyable. I think the character development this season fixed a lot of their weaker points (Kuroko especially) and I liked most of the new additions as well. Story: This season can be split into 2 arcs: The Daihasei Festival and Indian Poker. It's mostly told from Misaka's perspective, but there are a few episodes where she takes a backseat to other characters like Kuroko or Saten. This works well in that allows dedicated development for important side characters while also given different perspectives on the main story. The pacingis good as well, I think first arc ended a bit abruptly but that's it. The ending was pretty typical; sort of SoL in feel and made sure to give every relevant character some screentime. Art: The animation quality seems about the same as previous seasons. There a few moments of awkward looking cgi, but it's solid overall. It looked like a lot of effort was put into the more climatic action scenes. Character: Many characters were introduced this season, and I think they did a good focusing on the more important/story-relevant ones. Misaka gets a good amount of development. We see her tone down her stubbornness a bit through some of the relationships she forms, comes to terms with her issues with the dark side a academy city, and the final arc helps display growth in maturity by drawing parallels with previous arcs. Side characters see some improvement as well. Kuroko for example is much less of nuisance/horndog (though that change isn't entirely her doing). I think the characters I had the most issues with were some of the antagonists and Touma, to a lesser extent. Many antagonists had reasonable motives, but there were a few, like Gensei Kihara, who were too stereotypically villain, maniacal, and evil. For Touma, it may just be a lack context since I skipped Index, but he seems like a deus ex machina incarnate. I found his interactions with the rest of the cast were repetitive as well. Enjoyment: I found season 3 really enjoyable overall. It may be something I return to if and when I watch the Index series, just to see if I actually missed anything. If you liked the last 2 seasons I'd imagine you would enjoy this as well: less filler and more focused while still maintaining a good balance of action and comedy.
Fadedboar
09/26/2020, 07:05 PM
For Fans of the Toaru series. That's what this season is. 2018's Index III managed to fail adapting the highlights of the original novel series with the possible exceptions of DRAGON and WW3 which were where the season slowed down a little and had about a cour of remaining episodes to at least try to do something. But despite that, Kamijou Touma's story, along with the stories of the other 2 MCs from the series, was not adapted well into an anime. Railgun T seemingly does the same thing as Index III, and adapts far more source material into a season than it's first 2 installmentsdid. But this time the amount of material approached is manageable enough to cover in 25 episodes, 1 less than Index III. And while Index NT and Railgun Astral Buddy aren't quite confirmed yet they have both been teased now that Railgun itself is nearly caught up and are almost certainly happening. And Accelerator s2 could happen, but seems unlikely unless the series needs another in-between installment between 2 full length seasons. But back to Railgun T, it's a surprise that between JC Staff's recent output and the current events in 2020, that this is what finally ends up being the highlight of the Toaru adaptions so far. As for the 2 arcs, Daihasei starts off as a sequel to the corresponding arc in Index II. As shown in the OP, Touma does make a notable appearance. And no, there isn't any romantic development given that this is really behind the novels timeline wise. But we see a threat to Mikoto and the appearance of Misaki, who is both 10/10 waifu material and also one of the more complex characters in the series so far. And yes, she's really in Mikoto's class. And yes, there is a certain level-bending occurrence towards the end, enough to need the well known nullification power of Imagine Breaker to stop it. For the second, Dream Raker is a more episodic arc that basically is a short arc with a young esper, a prequel to Index III which explains some the back/story to a certain character's meltdown. Sadly though, #1 villain does not appear, nor does our hero. The final part of Dream Raker, surrounds a happening rather similar sounding to the name of the second OP, and involves an interesting science side plot. And make sure to watch the Accelerator spinoff since it's also referenced here. As for art, it's JC Staff playing their rare A game (Danmachi s1, Index 2, Railgun S, Heavy Object), with animation being solid except for looking a bit static in non-action scenes. But the action animation is so excellent that it's hard not to overlook the rest. As for sound, it's good as expected and doesn't have the strange sound direction from Index III where BGM was overplayed and punches sounded too loud for a series were the MC wields his right hand as his main weapon of mass destruction. And both OPs are solid, though the first one spoils a bit too much. Overall, a great season that will satisfy anyone willing to watch a Toaru anime after Index III. And now to put down my keyboard and wait for Index NT and Railgun Astral Buddy.
DNGlist
09/26/2020, 04:26 AM
plus point for JC Staff in making action anime My expectations were high, because the railgun series was in the hands of JC.Staff had good progress, but I didn't expect it to be this good. First, it is clear that the graphic improvements are very visible, indeed the range from Railgun S to Railgun T is 7 years, no wonder the upgrade is very visible in the graphics. I am waiting for the bluray, I hope the bluray version can be brighter, because the Railgun coloring is a little dull like foggy for the TV version. There are no complaints for the song, all the railgun opening byFripside must have entered my playlist, the ending songs are also nice to hear, I am the one who appreciates singers by not skipping to the end while watching, the sound effect is better than the railgun S presenting. frenda rocket sound effect, metal pounding, bomb explosion, and don't forget to thank you for returning the imagine breaker that was changed to index 3 Story, no complaints. Even though there were some cut scenes especially in the dream ranker arc, it didn't spoil the story. The rest of the manga is accurate because I also follow the manga I still ask why JC staff and T railgun crew prefer "manual drawing" for the touma dragon strike? Meanwhile, they made a very impressive CG in the last arc Dream Ranker battle. Actually I hope that dragon strike is made in CG to make it look more real, especially the scales "because dragons have scales", for example, it can be seen in the elder centipede One Punch man 2 made by JC Staff. but what I see, Touma's dragon form is a bit stiff, dull in coloration, and his movements don't show that "it's big" isn't a bad thing, but I expected more of this. I am very satisfied with the Railgun T, it can really treat the disappointment of the index 3, and the anime version of the accelerator which is not good in my opinion, is very stiff. I hope that after this, Kadokawa, JC staff and all the crew involved in the Toaru project can maximize the Index NT, because that's a good story material from the Toaru series. If handled properly, it is not impossible that this series will equal or better than the Fate Series in Ufotable's hands.
Cosmic_Penguin
09/26/2020, 01:09 AM
There's nothing happier in the anime world when you get a sequel of the very first TV anime series that you have finished, containing the no. 1 favorite anime character of all time, and the production team poured everything, every heart, every effort to ship out arguably the best season overall of a huge, long running series over a decade after its first anime adaptation, under some of the worst production environment one could face and a completely knocked out airing schedule with the most start-stops I have ever seen. Allow me to paraphrase one review of a certain 10/10 rated game released in June thisyear: "Railgun T is a masterpiece worthy of its predecessors. Taking strides forward in nearly every way, we have even more well-written characters like the seductive Misaki Shokuhou stepping into the spotlight and carries the long awaited, much required and hugely promising sequel in a manner that feels like the culmination of everything that’s made To Aru’s blockbuster storytelling so memorable since the original Index back in the good old golden days of 2008. It delivers a layered, emotionally shattering story in 2 big arcs as heart gripping as the famous Sisters Arc of Railgun S, on top of continuing excellent world building and surprisingly well done action animations that improves the last season’s setting consistency with eliminating half-baked original arcs while integrating a bit more of Index’s deeper story themes and yet still keeping Slice Of Life/comedy scenes as funny as they can. But while Railgun T is a thrilling adventure that long since have transpired friendship and evil scientists, it still makes time for a stunning, nuanced exploration of the strength and fragility of the human spirit. The Leader of all Light Novels has one of its best comebacks in one of the generation’s best anime produced." Continuing the outstanding character development of Railgun S 7 years ago, both major arcs this season continues tons of growth for our main cast, new characters and even minor ones who didn't had much time to even tell their own stories. The plot continues to be as heart gripping as ever from start to finish, and while it's probably too much to ask for yet another landmark moving scene a la that one in Railgun S' Sisters arc, we saw quite a few poignant moments this time around that are just as emotional. And this season went away with one of the major problems in the last two seasons - anime original arcs that have weaker than usual plots/character development and even settings contradicting the main series (see Railgun S Silent Party arc for a big example). Only major problem I can find of Railgun T is the animations which unfortunately suffered some drop in quality from Railgun S, however anyone who know about studio JC STAFF and the history of To Aru will know that it is a miracle that it's still *that* good with the all-star production team during Railgun S a one-off phenomenon. Indeed with JC STAFF overloaded in recent years, not to say 2020 pandemic production disruptions, I would never thought I can see still consistently quite good animations across all 25 episodes (considering the production schedule was in literal chaos early this year). Never mind that excellent animations popped up in the climax of both big arcs, that fight in episode 24 being one of the best I've seen this year! I don't know if we will see a 4th Railgun season in the future, especially with the major crash of the latest season of its parent series and the lukewarm response to the other spin-off anime series of To Aru. There's also the problem that there's probably only enough source material to make another 12 or so episodes within a year or two. But with this season ending up as one of my favorite TV anime of all time (tied with Madoka Magica), I simply hope that this series will keep on delivering in the future. Maybe even help out A Certain Magical Index with a re-born in the anime world. Railgun T is my Anime Of The Year of 2020, and I'm proud to say that.
LegendAqua
09/25/2020, 12:13 PM
Tatsuyuki Nagai loves Railgun and boy does it show... Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T leaves off where from the second season with the Daihasei Festival arc that brings Misaka and her friends into the Dark Side of Academy City... All things considered Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T does a perfect job in giving us new characters and developing throughout this season and making us like them, be it if they are friends or rivals to Misaka whilst developing Misaka at the same time and that just made LA love Railgun T even more. Railgun T brings into light of Misaki Shokuhou voiced by Azumi Asakura, one ofMisaka's rivals of Tokidaiwai School and throughout this arc we more or less see her rivalry towards Misaka but also sees both Misaki and Misaka grow together through what the Dark Side of Academy City has in store for them. Of course since this is Railgun, Touma is also in the mix considering the timeline of Railgun T and all and what transpires through the Daihasei Festival arc becomes something huge (as expected from the To Aru series). Though ALOT of stuff happens in the Daihasei Festival arc, two things happen that made LA change LA mind, that being Misaki isn't all that bad, it's mainly because from the previous seasons, through Misaka's perspective we just saw Misaki as just a snarky trickster ojou rival to Misaka, but the Daihasei Festival arc gave out more about her, fleshed her out to the point of LA balling LA's eyes out to the resolution of the events of the Daihasei Festival arc and that was just a key to getting Misaki to being LA's 3rd favorite waifu of the To aru series because of this arc, the other being that we get to see Misaka's hatred for the higher ups and the Sister Project manifest in a different way in this arc thus developing both Misaka and Misaki through this arc which LA just LOVED. Of course Kuroko, Saten and Uiharu does get their own episodes after the Daihasei Festival arc, where there is the emergence of "Indian Poker", cards that let you experience people's dreams as well as an app that tells of when people got injured or "will die". Through the interim of this arc to the Dream Ranker arc, Saten also bumps into Fre nda of ITEM and even becomes friends of the sorts as well as an ambush of Yumiya of SCHOOL converging into something big happening come the Dream Ranker arc, but LA put this as a pin in the review as the interaction of Saten and Fre nda was quite interesting, heck Misaka even bumps into Kinuhata in the look for "Bust Upper" card as well in the interim which was also interesting, this also at least much like not looking at Misaki at face value, that ITEM ain't that bad either in terms of villiany...heck if you think ITEM is bad, SCHOOL and Scavenger are soo much worse. The Dream Ranker arc, deals with "Indian poker" a new craze going on in Academy City where it lets the holder of card have dreams and thus learn things from others, however things gets crossed when we learn of the originator of Indian Poker thus leading into Misaka bumping into Scavenger and worst, an experiment gone wrong with Misaki in tow to stop another Sister-like project. This arc at the start does deal with some minor situations with Misaka's group of Kuroko and Saten but afterwards, this arc goes into full gear once Scavenger is introduced and MAN, this arc doesn't mess around with the stakes and the main "villain" of this arc and it's another Level Upper situation in a grander scale with Misaka needing to stop the main villain. Dream Ranker arc really was something else especially with the fight against the major villains of the arc was something to behold similar to Daiheisei Festival arc's fights. Nonetheless the Dream ranker arc is just as good if not close to Daiheisai Festival arc in terms of greatness for Railgun and Dream Ranker arc is also GREAT because of the good amount of interesting interactions with the Railgun cast with other groups, ala Fre nda with Saten and Misaka with Kinuhata to Misaka with Scavenger of all groups. The animation done by JC Staff was AMAZING, right down to the fight scenes and sometimes the batshit crazy moments of Railgun T, JC Staff once again outdid themselves with the animation, the slick updated character designs, the beautiful backgrounds, the awesome battles and the comedic hijinks and timings of the animation done to T. LA will say it again but JC Staff outdid themselves and LA will say under the guidance of Tatsuyuki Nagai made it so. Bravo JC Staff. The voice cast was once again amazing as well, most are returning voice cast from Railgun's previous seasons as well as Index and Accelerator but nonetheless the voice cast of Railgun T was amazing, from Rina Sato's down pat thundereness of Misaka Mikoto, Satomi Arai's crazy yandereness of Kuroko, the down to earth but ordinary yet extraordinary luck of Saten of Kanae Ito and the shy but calculating nice girl of Uiharu of Aki Toyosaki. Some major props also to Azumi Asakura of the sly but devilishly femme fatale ojouness cadence of Misaki Shokuhou. The voice cast, LA could talk forever but LA will once again limit it to MVP's and those easily goes to Rina Sato and Azumi Asakura, they were just soooo good this season. Railgun T delivered to everything LA wanted from another season of Railgun T and then some, great character development ACROSS the board from Fre nda, Misaka, Misaki, Mitori, Kuroko, Saten, Uiharu EVERYONE did their part be it good or evil characters and really fleshed out To aru's universe even more, add to the GREAT detail in it's animation and stella voice casting as always from JC Staff and Tatsuyuki Nagai. LA LOVED Railgun T and all it's characters and this season was by all means another step up from Railgun S, not that S was bad either, but man T brought it's SSS game and then some. Now if only Index had the same treatment.....
Marinate1016
09/25/2020, 09:39 AM
By now, you know what you're getting out of Railgun. Slice of Life moments with the girls mixed with amazing action sequences and uncovering the mysteries of Academy City. Railgun T brings us back to the world of Toaru after a less than stellar 3rd season of Index and offers a return to form for the famed series. Railgun T takes everything that Railgun 1 and S had and cranks it up a notch, in the best possible way. This season really does a great job of developing both Misaka and Misaki as well as laying the ground work for future events in the universe.Over the course of 25 episodes, there was genuinely never a dull moment. You can tell which of the 3 Toaru series JC staff favours more, as quality has always been consistently excellent with the Railgun series.This season is no exception. Awesome fight scenes with movie like quality down the stretch, beautiful art and an amazing OST adding atmosphere to scenes. Another great job by the production staff. Overall, Railgun T has to be the strongest entry in the Toaru series so far to date. It's got everything we've come to know and love about Railgun, but better. A must watch for any fan of the series and I'd argue any anime fan in general. Railgun T gets 9 zaps out of 10.
gaussian_
09/25/2020, 09:32 AM
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.
ACasualViewer
09/25/2020, 06:57 AM
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.
Stark700
09/25/2020, 06:31 AM
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 characterthis 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.
lt_wassile
09/25/2020, 06:31 AM
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

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T とある科学の超電磁砲[レールガン]T

Fourth Season of 'Toaru Kagaku no Railgun' Announced

North American Anime & Manga Releases for June

North American Anime & Manga Releases for March

Summer 2020 Simulcast List [Update 9/15]

Additional Cast Announced for 'Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T'

Anime Postponements Due to COVID-19 Outbreak [Update 2/5]

Spring 2020 Anime Postponements Due to COVID-19 Outbreak [Update 1/14]

Winter 2020 Simulcast List [Update 2/1]

Third 'Toaru Kagaku no Railgun' Season Announces Additional Cast

Winter 2020 Preview

PV Collection for Dec 9 - 15

Third Season of 'Toaru Kagaku no Railgun' Airs in January 2020

TV Anime Adaptation 'Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator' Announced, 'Toaru Kagaku no Railgun' Receives Third Season

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T とある科学の超電磁砲[レールガン]T

Fourth Season of 'Toaru Kagaku no Railgun' Announced

North American Anime & Manga Releases for June

North American Anime & Manga Releases for March

Summer 2020 Simulcast List [Update 9/15]

Additional Cast Announced for 'Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T'

Anime Postponements Due to COVID-19 Outbreak [Update 2/5]

Spring 2020 Anime Postponements Due to COVID-19 Outbreak [Update 1/14]

Winter 2020 Simulcast List [Update 2/1]

Third 'Toaru Kagaku no Railgun' Season Announces Additional Cast

Winter 2020 Preview

PV Collection for Dec 9 - 15

Third Season of 'Toaru Kagaku no Railgun' Airs in January 2020

TV Anime Adaptation 'Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator' Announced, 'Toaru Kagaku no Railgun' Receives Third Season