"A Certain Scientific Accelerator" is the second spin-off of the science-fantasy series "A Certain Magical Index", the first being "A Certain Scientific Railgun". As the name implies, it focuses on Accelerator, the resident anti-hero of "Index" and the top-ranked esper in Academy City. While in terms of visuals and sound design, "Accelerator" is just as impressive as its parent series "Index" and sister series "Railgun", it unfortunately falls a little short in the areas that truly matter, though it's still well worth watching, especially if you're an Accelerator fan.
Story (8/10):
The series is set some time after episodes 18 and 19 of "Index", when Accelerator saved the young Misaka clone Last Order almost at the cost of his life. He survived, but only due to being treated and being linked up to a giant network that allows him to function normally. As a result, however, his once invincible powers, which allow him to control vectors, have taken a hit, and he's now only able to use them for about 5 minutes at a time, after which he then has to recharge. One day, he ends up running into a terrorist organization called Disciplinary Action (DA for short), people with a twisted sense of justice who control mysterious, experimental machines with the ability to control the dead. At the same time, he encounters a mysterious woman who introduces herself as Esther Rosenthal. As it turns out, DA's ability to control the dead is something that was taught by her, something she deeply regrets as they are now using their newfound power for their own selfish purposes, and so she has made it her mission to stop them. What's worse is that their plans appear to threaten the entire world, and their plans involve Last Order somehow. While Accelerator may not care much about the world, he DOES care about Last Order and has made it his personal mission to protect her out of atonement. Ultimately, this unlikely duo teams up to stop DA before they can cause any real damage.
As far as pacing in the franchise goes, "Accelerator"'s is some of the best. While it does take 2 episodes to get to the main plot, from there, we gradually learn more and more about Esther and DA and how she ended up getting involved with them. It also provides a rare case of both the Magic Side and Science Side having equal focus in a story arc, with Esther representing the former and DA representing the latter. One thing I didn't like about "Railgun" much was that it completely ignores the Magic Side and focuses exclusively on the Science Side, which was a little disappointing as one of the main draws of "Index" as a whole is its magic vs. science theme. As such, it's a good thing that "Accelerator" doesn't suffer from the same problem (if you even considered that a problem, of course).
Unfortunately, while the story is great as a standalone tale, in the grand scheme of things it feels kind of irrelevant, as one must wonder where Touma, Index and Mikoto were during this world-ending catastrophe. Notably, the only main character of the franchise to appear is Accelerator himself, while Touma, Index and Mikoto don't get so much as a cameo, which is especially jarring considering Touma had an important role in "Railgun" and Index appeared every now and then. Additionally, the fact that the events of the series are never even mentioned outside of it means that it's a foregone conclusion that there will be no long-term consequences as a result of DA's actions, which keeps the stakes from being as high as they could have been. The length of the season is also notably shorter than others, being only 12 episodes long as opposed to the usual 24-26. As such, the Necromancy arc ends up being the only one we get, though it is still ultimately a good story that manages to bring things to a satisfying conclusion. One last thing I should note, however, is that you should definitely watch the first season of “Index” beforehand, since otherwise you won’t know exactly who Accelerator is, what he did in his past and how he ended up as Last Order’s guardian.
Art & Animation (9/10):
As with all entries in the franchise, “A Certain Scientific Accelerator” is animated by J.C Staff. Normally, that would be nothing to get excited about, but with them consistently producing fantastic visuals for both “Index” and “Railgun”, it’s a different story here. The characters and environments are as well-drawn and detailed as they’ve always been and the various power effects are consistently a joy to witness. It doesn’t have any particularly standout visuals in comparison to the other entries in the franchise, but it doesn’t really need to. After all, why fix what isn’t broken?
Sound & Dialogue (9/10):
“A Certain Scientific Accelerator”’s soundtrack isn’t exactly the most memorable, with no particularly standout tracks that come to mind, but it certainly fits the tone of the series very well. The opening “Shadow of the Light” is brilliantly atmospheric and the ending theme “Parole” isn’t bad either. The voice acting is excellent; Austin Tindle tackles his role as Accelerator with his usual energy (by which I mean he nails everything to do with the character) and the series contains a number of fresh new talents like Amber Lee Connors (who voices Esther), Adam Gibbs and Kate Bristol. All in all, the sound design is one of the show’s greatest strengths, not that I would have expected anything less.
Characters (7.5/10):
Since the series is set before the second and third seasons of “Index”, Accelerator is still stuck in his belief that he’s a villain, outright calling himself “the bad guy” and scoffing at anyone who says that there’s good in him. Of course, as the saying goes, actions speak louder than words, and he consistently shows himself to be a far better person than he’s willing to admit, going out of his way to help people and even showing mercy to certain enemies. Hell, the whole reason he gets involved in the plot is because the DA are after Last Order, whom he clearly cares a lot for despite finding her really annoying. However, while a handicap was inevitable given how utterly broken his powers are, I couldn’t help but feel that he was still pretty much invincible even in spite of it, as he tears through pretty much everything with ease and I can’t remember any time when it felt like he was in danger. Of course, it doesn’t help that him surviving is a foregone conclusion, but even with that knowledge, he often doesn’t even NEED five minutes to defuse a conflict, so the limits on how often he can use his powers does little to even slow him down. This is especially notable when you compare him to Touma and Mikoto, both of whom are FAR from invincible and face genuine challenges in their respective stories. All of that being said, Accelerator’s abilities make him destroying everything in his path highly entertaining in its own right and he’s overall a very likable, well-rounded and interesting character.
Then there’s Esther, who doesn’t appear in either “Index” or “Railgun” and is a new character created for “Accelerator”. I would overall say that she ranks among some of the better characters in the franchise, having both a strong, likeable personality and a very well-developed backstory, where we learn various things about her family and bloodline and what led her to her actions in the present day, though I certainly won’t spoil anything. In a way, she feels a lot like Accelerator, in that they’re both trying to make up for something they did in the past, though the fact that Esther never learns what Accelerator did and his general attitude means this similarity is completely lost on both of them. Interesting as she is, however, I did find she could be rather annoying in the second half, where she starts calling Accelerator her master and demanding to be his disciple. She doesn’t even do it because he saved her life or anything. She just witnesses his immense power and suddenly decides that she has to learn from him, with him reacting pretty much how you would expect. Even so, this wasn’t nearly enough to break her character for me, and she overall remains consistently likeable and sympathetic throughout, even if she admittedly doesn’t have much to contribute in the badassery department.
Aside from these two and Last Order, the series doesn’t really have that many characters of note. There are a few heroic characters and villains that return from the other shows, but they don’t contribute all that much to the plot or are just obstacles for Accelerator to deal with. The members of DA aren’t all that fleshed out either, with most of them having no real characterization beyond their twisted sense of justice. The main villains, on the other hand, are very fleshed-out and surprisingly sympathetic, particularly as their history with Esther is revealed, with the relationship between them proving to be a lot more complicated than you would probably expect. No spoilers, of course, as it’s best that you see it for yourself.
Enjoyment (8/10):
If there’s one thing that separates “Accelerator” from both “Index” and “Railgun”, it’s that it’s a lot darker and bleaker. While a lot of you probably guessed that would be the case since the protagonist this time around is the ruthless, crazy Accelerator, the reasons go beyond just him, between the story based around necromancy, machines powered by corpses, surprisingly dark backstories and some truly horrific imagery. It’s quite possible that there’s more here than some may be able to handle, especially those with a sensitive stomach, though I personally think it doesn’t overdo it.
Overall:
“A Certain Scientific Accelerator” should definitely appeal to any longtime fan of “A Certain Magical Index” and “A Certain Scientific Railgun”, as it easily succeeds in delivering everything I’ve come to expect from the franchise, though some may be put off by the shorter length and bleaker tone. And if you’re one of those people who just doesn’t like Accelerator (who are actually more common than you would think), then you’re better off just skipping this entry in the franchise completely.
Score:
8+9+9+7.5+8=41.5/50=8.3/10
