A Certain Scientific Railgun S [Anime Review]

This series is the sequel to A Certain Scientific Railgun, a series set in the same world as A Certain Magical Index (which also has a sequel). I'm not certain, but I think the Japanese title sounds better. Ignoring the morass of complex kanji (とある科学の超電磁砲), it reads as Toaru Kagaku no Rērugan.

 

Oh, the looks you'd get doing this on the street.

See, like I said. The Japanese title is better than the English title. I tossed it into Google translate and got junk in return. So I threw it in piece at a time, the words I knew. I got "It is a Railgun of Science." I supposed there was probably a little detail I did not get concerning the use of 'toaru' so I went to Jim Breen and searched it. Yup, 'toaru' means 'a certain.'  I use this blog to teach myself some Japanese... it is not merely to inform you, dear reader, of my opinions.

Railgun meet the main character from Index, again.

4.5 out of 5 stars

"Misaka has been shot," says Misaka with a feeling of shock.

I actually think that after watching this, I need to go back and watch Railgun and Index over again. I'm going to link (HERE) to my original review of the first series. I was not very flattering to it... but I am beginning to think that it was because so much of the awesome content was moved back into the S part of the series. So perhaps I was too judgmental on the first one. After all, I did buy both parts of S. 

Railgun S is a much harder hitting, and more emotional,
series than the first Railgun. It is far darker as well.

This part of Railgun contained a lot of the stuff I was looking for in the first part. This contains the darkness that the first one was missing (if memory serves. See? I do need to go back and watch again.) This is the dark half of the anime. Slaughter and cruelty, on a mass scale. There are also some interesting bits of societal commentary - views on the idea of the haves and have nots. It's not a particularly deep side commentary, it might have deserved more time. However the main story arcs are very strong, very powerful. The main running themes are family, friendship, and responsibility. Yes, they are common themes... they are after all themes - common story telling motifs. The way to tell a good story is all in the how. That is where this shines, you can really understand the pain that the characters go through. It is not all pain, they do include some fun comedy, and failed attempts at yuri.  

This was a far better anime than the first series. Again, I feel I may be judging the first series a with a touch more cruelty than I should. They do not seem to be meant to stand alone. The world of Index and Railgun are one and the same. I need to go back and watch them all.

Still if you are a fan of the work, have watched the first Railgun (and Index), this series is certainly worth watching. This might even stand on its own, but I cannot attest to that very easily. I know too much about both of the prior series.  

Get this, watch this... but do it after you have seen the first Railgun, and preferably, Index.
 

Click to see how the series line up.