Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S (A Certain Scientific Railgun S)

Mikoto Misaka and her friends are back, investigating rumors across Academy City. Soon, Mikoto discovers something terrifying: horrific experiments are taking place throughout the city, involving the murder of thousands of espers. Moreover, these espers are far from just ordinary people: they are clones of Mikoto herself. Feeling responsible for their treatment, she sets off to put an end to the experiments; however, the forces opposing her are much more dangerous than she anticipated, and Mikoto finds herself up against some of the most powerful espers imaginable.

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S continues the story of the Railgun as she desperately fights to put an end to the inhuman experiments that she believes she helped cause, her life dragged deep into despair in the process. There's never a dull moment in Academy City, but no one ever said all of them would be pleasant.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Edit

Background

No background information has been added to this title. Help improve our database by adding background information here.

Episode Videos

Edit

Related Anime

Adaptation:	Toaru Majutsu no Index Gaiden: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun
Parent story:	Toaru Majutsu no Index
Prequel:	Toaru Kagaku no Railgun
Spin-off:	Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S: Motto Marutto Railgun
Other:	Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S: Daiji na Koto wa Zenbu Sentou ni Osowatta
Sequel:	Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T

Uchida, Maaya
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Cook, Justin

Producer

Nakayama, Nobuhiro

Producer

Kananiwa, Kozue

Producer

Matsukura, Yuuji

Producer

Edit

Opening Theme

	1: "sister's noise" by fripSide (eps 2-16)
	2: "eternal reality" by fripSide (eps 17-23)

Edit

Ending Theme

	1: "sister's noise" by fripSide (eps 1)
	2: "Grow Slowly" by Yuka Iguchi (eps 2-4, 6-10, 12, 13-16)
	3: "stand still" by Yuka Iguchi (eps 11, 14)
	4: "Links (リンクス)" by Sachika Misawa (eps 18-22, 24)
	5: "Infinia (インフィニア)" by Sachika Misawa (eps 23)

More reviews

Reviews

Sep 30, 2013

Loki0830

Recommended

So you want to see a review of the latest installment of the raildex universe, To Aru no Kagaku no Railgun S? Then you'll have to make it through this paragraph first.

Second paragraph now. Look around, enjoy yourself, try to find anything of interest. Alas, nothing to note is in sight. Best to carry on to the third paragraph.

Third here, and what's going on? Surely I wouldn't spend 3 entire paragraphs in an attempt to be witty?

Fourth paragraph, and I clearly would.

After enduring that horrible joke, let me save you some time and cut straight to the point. This review will consist of 4 parts: ...

Open

Gift

Sep 28, 2013

Stark700

Recommended

In this world, there are some people who excels in certain things more than others. These might be anything in the field of academics, sports, games, etc. For a particular middle school girl though, she is already know for being a prominent level 5 esper who excels in academics, her electromaster abilities, and is even given the nickname the 'Railgun' for her signature attack. Thus, begins the story of a certain girl, the one and only Misaka Mikoto of the Railgun.

Finally, the series debuted in Spring of 2013. I was waiting for this ever since watching the spinoff of the first season, A Certain Scientific ...

Open

Gift

Nov 15, 2014

DreamingLily

Recommended

While the second installment of the Railgun series picks up almost directly after the conclusion of the first series, A Certain Scientific Railgun S goes for a different kind of approach thematically and in terms of emotional appeal. Overall, there is a larger focus on the troubles of Misaka Mikoto herself. S1 gave a pretty even amount of screen time to all four of our main characters, so she was not put entirely into the spotlight before, but now she leads this show head on following the events that take place during the sisters arc.

The first episode is what one would expect from watching the ... pilot episode of a returning show. We're given a broad overview of the events that took place before, and a warm up to the characters that were previously introduced. An interesting event that took place was the introduction of the psychic level 5 Misaki, called the Queen of Tokiwadai. She seems like quite the interesting character with enough power to control an entire library full of students. She leaves Misaka with an open-ended threat, hinting at a possibility of a later confrontation. Just from this one episode, we are able to immediately note the positive change in production values. The sky fall scene in the later part of the episode was a pleasure to see given how good the visuals were.

Compared to S1, the art and animation has gotten even more captivating. The shots, angles, and overall direction were things worth marveling at. At times, especially during the sisters arc, the quality of the episodes resembled that of a well directed movie. The background art is always intricate and detailed. The great ost choices also amps up the general intensity and mood of the show.

"What would you do if you suddenly met your clone?" The question is thrown at Misaka, but it is something that is hard to answer truthfully until you actually come face to face with the situation.

The Atmosphere in the sister's arc feels completely different from any of the previous arcs. There is less of the day to day scenario type of feel you get from the first series. There is a lot more buildup and momentum, and the episodes follow in more logical, developed arcs. The transition from episode to episode flows more smoothly and the series is divided primary into two arcs.

Misaka's power is shown to be even more powerful than it appeared to be in the first series. She is able to hack into and control anything electronic which is a pretty op power given the different possibilities you can achieve with that level of utility. In the sister's arc, Misaka distances herself from the other girls and tries to become self-reliant. Now that the background is all set, we are introduced to some of the deeper, more pressing issues of Academy city. The fifth episode of the show deserves my utmost praise because of how well it was adapted. It was one of the most gripping episodes I've seen in the series, and the end sent a chill straight up my spine. I was not entirely expecting the drastic change in tone but it was a pretty pleasant surprise. Accelerator is as intriguing of a character as ever and his voice acting is superb. The entire episode felt like a standalone movie complete with its own unique ending theme. It honestly made me feel an urge to tip my hat to the producers for their excellent work.

Naturally, while a very mentally stressed Misaka is out running around and trying to save the sisters, her friends become very concerned. The ost does bring out some tingling emotions at times. Kuroko's feelings do eventually reach Misaka, but she is still unwilling to drag anyone else into "her mess".

The action scenes throughout the show are seriously well played with smooth, eye opening animation. I rather liked the appearance of tomboy/ponytail Misaka during her raids on the different labs. This is the first time we get to see more of a full out battle between two level 5's of similar skill level, and overall, the battle ended up feeling really solid in production. While the meltdowner does not have some of the utilities that Misaka's power has, her beams are powerful enough to disintegrate most objects on contact. From the battle we can see that esper powers do in fact, have a limit. After using her powers and getting beat around so much, Misaka feels weak in the knees as an aftereffect and is extremely exhausted. I've always wondered why Kuroko didn't teleport around all the time for everything(she complained about running around all day for judgment work), but it makes sense if an overuse of her powers would result in a physical toll. While most espers seem to be lacking in terms of hand-to-hand combat, they do seem to have good reflexes and manage to dodge most things that come their way. ITEM seems like an interesting group of characters to keep around, and I hope to see more of them in the future.

The meeting between Misaka and a memory-less Touma works as a nice change of pace. Misaka's clone has such a cute personality and creates some comedic scenes. As more time passes though, Misaka gets more and more emotional as she accumulates pent up anger. Her breaking down in front of Touma is done with even stronger feelings than in Index given all the buildup. The final battle's action sequences were great as usual and accelerator's personality is as refreshing as ever(those epic screams are pretty nostalgic). Touma's ability feels more mysterious here given the lack of explanation. Just imagine them adapting Index with the same great quality.

While most of the show focuses on the sisters arc, the last 8 episodes focuses on the "silent party" arc. Immediately, there is a return to a more "cute" feel, but it was nice to see the four of them all together again. I don't particularly dislike Haruue, but I was glad to hear that she was moving out because she always felt a little extra in my opinion. There is a 4's a group, 5's a crowd feeling. Kuroko's personality is as strange as ever, and Ruiko's personality is also as interesting as ever. It was pretty amusing when she tried to inquire about the recipient of Misaka's cookies. Academy city seems like such a great place to live. There seems to be just the right amount of danger, security, and excitement.

With the new arc, Misaka finally decides to consult with her friends about the new issues. It is a bit sudden, but it's tied in with the plot I guess, especially since it was impossible for her to do so during the sisters arc. In a nutshell, this arc is about the group trying to save Febri, a tiny artifical loli girl who sustains her life off lollipops. Apparently esper compatibility is mostly determined from birth(the case with little Misaka proves this), and they are able to tell very early on whether or not you can be a powerful esper. There seem to be a lot of bonker scientists in academy city who are affiliated with the "underground of academy city". As usual, they are portrayed as skill-outs who crave power. The issue here is pretty coincidental but understandable given that it is an anime original arc. I had mixed thoughts watching this arc but it wasn't too bad of a watch.

While it was interesting to see so much of academy city united(people and resources) for the final arc, the fight is dragged out for a pretty long time. The mass fight wasn't bad but it had substantially less intensity compared to previous fights. Similar to S1, it seems that the producers have a habit of continuously playing the opening themes throughout the final battles. My final thought on this arc would be that it was not nearly as "dark" as they had tried to make it sound with phrases like "I ask you once again, are you sure you want to face the darkness of this city?"

The show ends with some pretty nice closing scenes complete with all of the characters introduced throughout. Overall, the show is fairly action-packed complete with stunning visuals. There's never a dull moment in this city after all.

My score: very good 8/10

Open

Gift

More stacks

Interest Stacks

Age rating changed

by eblf2013

42 Entries · 25 Restacks

Full Toaru Series Release Order

by OniNori

9 Entries · 10 Restacks

Index/Railgun Watch Order

by tishhu

11 Entries · 10 Restacks

More recommendations

Recommendations

More news

Recent News

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

The Toaru Majutsu no Index stage at the Dengeki Bunko 25th Anniversary Aki no Dengekisai event on Sunday announced a TV anime adaptation of Kazuma Kamachi and Arata ...read more

Oct 7, 2018 2:19 AM by Vindstot | Discuss (111 comments)

Q4 2016 Anime & Manga Licenses [Update 12/23]

In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of anime and manga licensed in the fourth quarter (Oct-Dec) of 2016. Fall anime which were licensed before the ...read more

Sep 30, 2016 2:11 AM by Snow | Discuss (44 comments)

More discussions

Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Jun 14, 2013	332 replies	by FZREMAKE »» 9 hours ago
Poll: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S Episode 9 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - Jun 7, 2013	240 replies	by FZREMAKE »» 10 hours ago
Poll: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S Episode 14 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Jul 12, 2013	326 replies	by Onaniu »» May 29, 10:43 AM
Poll: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S Episode 5 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - May 10, 2013	346 replies	by Onaniu »» May 29, 9:59 AM
Poll: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S Episode 15 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Jul 19, 2013	316 replies	by Kuara »» Apr 27, 1:28 AM

Recent Featured Articles

In Numbers: The Best Anime of the Decade

What's the #1 anime of the 2010s? Which year was the best? What studio had the most hits? We have the answers to all these questions and more!

by Shymander

583,321 views

Top 20 Best Anime of 2013

The world of anime in 2013 was a whirlwind of quality. Some of the most popular shows in recent history came out this season, giving anime a massive popularity boost overseas. We've collected the top 20 anime of 2013, based on their MAL scores. Are your favorites on the list?

by MoxieWriter001

1,303,492 views

Recommendation Collection

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Episode Videos

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Misaka, Mikoto

Shirai, Kuroko

Saten, Ruiko

Uiharu, Kazari

Accelerator

Kamijou, Touma

Shokuhou, Misaki

Last Order

MISAKA 10032

Seivelun, Frenda

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Episode Videos

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-