"A Certain Scientific Railgun" is a manga that has been serialized in Dengeki Comic Daioh since 2007 as a spin-off of "A Certain Magical Index". Its official name is "A Certain Magical Index Gaiden, A Certain Scientific Railgun". The first season of the anime aired in 2009, and the second season, "A Certain Scientific Railgun S", aired in 2013. Both seasons are two cours long.
Synopsis of Railgun
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
A city called "Academy City" has a total population of 2.3 million, 80% of which are students. Students in the city learn to develop psychic powers as part of their curriculum, and students are mainly divided by level. There are levels ranging from Level 0 (non-powerful) to Level 5 (esper), and students are constantly studying every day to reach higher levels. A Certain Scientific Railgun is a story that centers around Misaka Mikoto, one of the seven Level 5s in Academy City, and follows her as she takes on various incidents related to the city's darkness.
Overview of the Sisters Arc
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
There was a rumor going around that a Misaka Mikoto lookalike was often seen in the city. At the same time, there was also an incident where money cards with the same value as money were scattered in deserted back alleys. In the midst of all this, Misaka meets Nunozuka, the culprit who was distributing the money cards, and learns about the existence of a clone of himself. He then meets one of those clones, Misaka No. 9982, and they become friends, but he is not told why he was created. Then that night, he witnesses No. 9982 being brutally murdered by Accelerator, the strongest Level 5 in Academy City. This marks the start of a new incident centered around Misaka and her sisters.
Main characters of the Sisters arc
Misaka Mikoto CV: Sato Rina
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
The well-known protagonist of A Certain Scientific Railgun, she is one of only seven Level 5s in Academy City who attend Tokiwadai Middle School, the highest-ranking electromaster and third in Academy City, and is the strongest electric princess, nicknamed the Railgun.
Shirai Kuroko CV: Arai Satomi
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
A first-year student at Tokiwadai Junior High School, the same school as Misaka. She is a member of the Judgment Committee, which maintains peace, and has the ability to teleport at level 4. She worships Misaka Mikoto to the point of insanity and dotes on her. They get along well and are quite good partners.
Misaka Sister (No. 10032) CV: Sasaki Nozomi
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
One of Misaka Mikoto's clones. Although she doesn't show much emotion, as Misaka's younger sister she does have a somewhat childish way of speaking and acting. She is known for using polite language and finishing her sentences with "Misaka will...", for example "Misaka will explain in detail and with great care". There are currently around 10,000 of them remaining, and all of them share information through a medium called the Misaka Network.
Nunotaba Tonobu (CV: Hayama Ikumi)
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
A third-year high school student at Nagatenjouki Academy, one of the top five prestigious schools in Academy City. She is a woman with bulging eyes and a slightly creepy demeanor, and is very particular about etiquette, mercilessly delivering a flying kick to Misaka who speaks informally. She was involved in a plan to create clones, and was researching a field called learning devices. She is outraged that the clones she created are being misused, and secretly works behind the scenes to thwart the plan, making her a secretly good person.
Accelerator (CV: Okamoto Nobuhiko)
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
One of only seven Level 5s in Academy City, he is ranked number one and the strongest. He has the ability to manipulate vectors, and is basically able to match them with reflections, so much so that it is said that even a nuclear weapon cannot inflict a single scratch on him, and he easily deflected Misaka's railgun. He is very particular about the word "strongest," and is helping with experiments that use his sisters to become a being that no one can even stand up to.
Dark Side Team "Item"
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
A dark side team that lives in the dark side of Academy City, this team is made up of four people, led by level 5 Mugino Shizuri. They work well together and ordinary ability users cannot compete. They mainly take on assassination and security requests.
Kamijou Touma CV: Abe Atsushi
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
The main character of the main story, A Certain Magical Index, he has a right hand that can nullify the ability called Imagine Breaker. However, in Academy City, his ability is considered to be level 0. In A Certain Scientific Railgun she only had relatively small appearances, but in the Sisters arc she plays a major role towards the end.
The beginning of the sisters arc
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
Misaka meets Nunotaba, who is scattering money cards in a deserted part of town, and Nunotaba says something meaningful to her: "You're an original." Afterwards, Nunozuka escapes, but Misaka is able to determine which school Nunozuka attends from her uniform and hacks into her school's data. The information he obtains allows him to learn about Nunozuka's past and present. Nunozuka was one of the researchers conducting experiments using the DNA map Misaka had provided, and to find out the truth, Misaka heads to the research institute where Nunozuka once worked. There, he learns that the DNA he provided has been misused in research aimed at mass-producing railguns. However, the research ultimately stalled and was called off. Misaka's relief upon learning this was short-lived.
Meeting with the sisters
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
After learning that the plan to create clones had ended, Misaka was in a good mood, but then a child approached her in the park and they played together, but after saying goodbye, she felt a strange sense of discomfort. As she searches for the source of this strange sensation, she comes across a woman who looks just like her. The girl is trying to rescue a cat that's stuck in a tree, and Misaka helps her, but she won't tell her who she is or what she's doing. After that, she joins forces with him to try to get her to talk, but she can't find out anything interesting, and somehow they end up just playing together, but in the end, she gives him her favorite Gekota badge and they part ways.
Absolute Ability Evolution (Level 6) Plan
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
With only a little information from the clone and Uiharu's help, Misaka arrives at the truth of the incident. The Railgun mass production plan was cancelled, and instead the Level 6 Plan was undertaken. Accelerator was chosen as the only person in Academy City who could reach this level, and it was calculated that Accelerator would be able to reach Level 6 by defeating the Railgun 1,228 times. However, since it is impossible to prepare 1,228 Railguns, clones of Misaka created in a previously failed mass production plan were used as a substitute. Misaka learns that the plan is being carried out so that Accelerator can reach Level 6 by defeating 20,000 of them in all sorts of situations.
Confronting Accelerator
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
After learning of the plan, Misaka rushes to the place where the experiment is currently being carried out. There, she sees the clones who were with her just moments ago being mercilessly killed like scraps. Misaka, enraged by the sight, confronts Accelerator, a Level 5 said to be the strongest in Academy City. The showdown between these two is unexpected. Every attack that the third-placed Misaka unleashes is blocked, and even when she fires her strongest move, the railgun, it is deflected as if nothing happened. Even though they are both Level 5s, the difference in their abilities is enormous. Accelerator says, "It's the same as an eye test. It can only measure up to 2.0, so I'm just content with giving him the same level 5."
Misaka's Encouragement
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
After being completely defeated by Accelerator, Misaka is a little depressed, but because clones continue to be killed and because it's all his fault for donating his DNA a long time ago, he decides to stop the plan no matter what. He decides to destroy all the related laboratories that Nunozuka told him about. The destruction of the related facilities was progressing smoothly, but along the way he encounters a battle with "Item", a dark side team that lives in the shadows of Academy City and is home to Level 5s. He is forced into a difficult battle, but he manages to drive them away. After destroying most of them, Misaka thought he was almost there, but the research did not stop at all and immediately moved to a different location to continue. No matter how many facilities he destroyed, the experiment would not stop.
Misaka's resolve
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
Having done everything she could, Misaka is still unable to stop the plan, so she resorts to her last resort. Making the researchers believe that the calculations they used to make Accelerator reach Level 6 are wrong. He took advantage of his original calculations, which stated that he would reach level 6 if he defeated 1,228 Railguns, and thought that if he were to be easily defeated by Accelerator, he would have to redo the calculations. The calculations were based on the assumption that he could put up a fair fight, so he deliberately lost helplessly to make it seem like he had made a mistake in the calculations, which would at the very least halt his plan for a while. However, that would mean a rematch with Accelerator, who he had been defeated helplessly by the other day, and be killed without a trace.
Appearance of Kamijou Touma
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
When Misaka and the clones were meeting, Kamijou Touma happened to be there as well. Misaka's frustration at the clones still existing, unable to stop the plan, explodes. Kamijo thought it was just a sisters' quarrel, but he noticed that Misaka seemed a little different than usual and felt something was off. Seeing Misaka like that, Kamijo became worried and visited her at the dorm. However, Misaka was not there, so he asked her roommate Shirai to let him in, where he found a paper with an outline of the plan written on it. Kamijo, who knew everything, stood in front of Misaka as she headed towards Accelerator, stopping her. Having accepted all of Misaka's sadness, Misaka began crying as she let it all out, so Kamijo said he would defeat Accelerator himself. If a Level 5 could lose to a Level 0, then it would be even more difficult than a Level 6. So the weakest Level 0 took on the number one Level 5.
Strongest vs. Weakest
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
Kamijo Touma confronts Accelerator, receiving Misaka's thoughts. In the beginning, he was only able to run away and defend against his overwhelming power, but Accelerator also feels something strange about Kamijo. At times it feels as if his abilities are being wiped away, which is understandable, since Kamijo has Imagine Breaker, which can erase all supernatural powers, and as Accelerator approaches to finish him off with his own hands, his field of vision spins, and it takes him a while to realise what has happened, but he has been punched. Normally he is able to deflect everything with his reflexes, so this was almost the first time Accelerator had ever been punched. Unable to accept this, he challenges him to hand-to-hand combat many times, but Accelerator, who is practically an amateur when it comes to pure combat, falls to Kamijou Touma's fists.
End of the incident
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
The plan was thwarted when Accelerator was defeated by Level 0. The remaining unused sisters had been created solely for the purpose of the plan, and with the plan gone, they no longer knew what their purpose in life was. However, having seen Misaka risking her own life to save them, they entrusted Misaka with a wish: that they help her find the meaning of life from now on. Misaka agreed. Kamijo told Misaka that although a life was born because of the DNA he provided, it would never have been born without it, and that she should be proud of it. Hearing this, Misaka was finally able to regain her composure in her heart.
Misaka and Kamijou
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
Until then, Kamijou had been calling Misaka "Biribiri" because of her powers, and Misaka was also always quarrelsome, unable to be honest with Kamijou. However, after this incident, Kamijo started calling her Misaka, and Misaka's feelings for Kamijo grew even stronger. The incident ended with a smile on Misaka's face that Kuroko had never seen before. Unfortunately, we only got to see that smile from behind in the story.
Sisters Summary
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
This was the first time that Misaka, who had been living a relatively peaceful life, stepped into the dark side of Academy City. As they are developing psychic powers, there are many mad scientist-like beings from top to bottom in this city, so something scary happens almost every day. This incident is just one incident in Academy City, but it was a very big and difficult one for Misaka. I remember being quite devastated when I first saw Misaka's crushing defeat at the hands of Accelerator... Anyway, as is typical of Index, the story is difficult and full of technical terms, so if you want a complete understanding, I recommend you read the anime or comics. The sisters will be involved in various stories in the future, so please look forward to their exploits! Thank you for reading to the end.
