"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
"The story of a certain town, of certain girls"
"Academy City" is a town with a total population of 2.3 million, 80% of which are students. The students in the city have a curriculum in which they learn to develop psychic powers, and are primarily divided by level. Levels range from Level 0 (powerless) to Level 5 (psychic), and students are constantly studying every day to reach higher levels. A Certain Scientific Railgun is a story that centers around Misaka Mikoto, a railgun who is one of only seven Level 5s in Academy City, as she takes on various incidents related to the city's darkness.
A brief introduction to the Absolute Ability Evolution (Level 6 Shift) Plan
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
This is a plan for Accelerator, the strongest Level 5 in Academy City, to reach the uncharted territory of Level 6. The plan uses clones as opponents, based on calculations made by Academy City's supercomputer, the Tree Diagram Designer, to allow Accelerator to gain combat experience in various situations and grow.
People involved in the Absolute Ability User (Level 6) Project
Misaka Mikoto CV: Sato Rina
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
The 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.
Misaka Imouto (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. She doesn't show much emotion, but as Misaka's younger sister, she does have a somewhat childish way of speaking and acting. The roughly 20,000 individuals that have been created are shared through the "Misaka Network" and communicate with each other.
Nunotaba Shinobu (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 has bulging eyes and a slightly creepy appearance, and is very particular about etiquette, mercilessly kicking Misaka who speaks to her in a casual manner. She originally belonged to a research institute and was involved in a plan to create clones, developing a device called the "Testament."
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 his vector manipulation is basically based on reflection, so much so that it is said that even a nuclear weapon cannot make a single scratch on him, as 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.
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.
It all started with the mass-produced ability users (radio noise) project
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
This was an experiment conducted when Misaka Mikoto was still a child, and Nunozuka Toshin also participated in this project as an external staff member. Although it was a coincidence, this plan was also the beginning of the entire Level 6 project, and was also known as the "Railgun Mass Production Plan." A researcher was lied to about helping people, believed it, and skillfully extracted a DNA map from Misaka Mikoto. Using her DNA map, the researcher used genetic manipulation to mass-produce Level 5s, which are not easily born, in other words, to mass-produce Railgun clones.
The collapse of the mass-produced ability user (radio noise) plan
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
Based on the calculations made by the Tree Diagram Designer, researchers were creating a clone of Misaka Mikoto, but in the final stages, the Tree Diagram came up with the answer that they could only create a being with less than 1% of the strength of the original. While Misaka is a level 5 railgun, it turned out that they could only create defective electricity (radio noise) of level 2 to 3. As a result, the project was halted and frozen.
Rumors about Misaka Mikoto's look-alike
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
Then time returns to the present, and Misaka Mikoto, who has no idea that a clone of her was about to be made in the past, goes about her days as usual. Then, one day, she hears a series of strange stories from her students and acquaintances at school. The story was that she had found herself in a place where she shouldn't have been. She looked so much like her that anyone who witnessed it mistook her for Misaka. Do doppelgangers really exist? I didn't really think much about it at the time.
Encounter with Nunotaba Toshin
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
When money cards are being found randomly in deserted alleyways and other places, and such incidents are occurring frequently, Misaka overhears a conversation between some delinquents. They say that they have seen the culprit distributing the cards and have found his hideout, so they will attack and steal the cards. Hearing this, he tracks down the location of the person distributing the cards. When he goes to the location he heard about, he meets Nunozuka Toshin, a woman who is powerless but pretends to have a false ability called "life interruption critical", and skillfully uses her eyes and words to defeat the delinquents without getting hurt. Then, Nunozuka tells him one very meaningful word. "You're an original." When he asks her about it, he is told part of the clone plan, and Nunozuka runs away.
Misaka Mikoto knows the truth on the surface
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
Misaka is concerned about Nunozuka's words, and seeing that the uniform Nunozuka was wearing is from Nagaten Jouki Academy, she uses her powers to hack into the school's data. From the data, Misaka learns that Nunozuka had been active in the field of biological psychiatry since childhood, and had worked at a research institute for a while before returning to school at Nagatsuka. Misaka then breaks into the research facility where Nunozuka once worked and looks at the data from that time. He is irritated to learn that clones were actually being created and that the DNA map he provided in the past was a lie to create clones, but later learns that only defective products could be created and the plan was canceled, and he feels relieved that there were no clones of him after all, it was just a rumor.
Meeting with the clone sisters
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
Having been convinced that the experiment had been cancelled, Misaka Mikoto was more excited than usual, but then she noticed something strange. When Misaka heads towards the direction of this strange feeling, she finds a girl who looks just like her. The girl doesn't answer any of Misaka's questions, but simply tries to help a cat that's stuck in a tree in front of her. Misaka helps rescue the cat in an attempt to get some information, and then tries to join forces with her, but she doesn't get any valuable information, and the only thing she manages to get is a passcode that seems to be related to the plan. In the end, she gives the girl a badge of Gekota, her favorite character, and they go their separate ways.
Misaka learns of the Absolute Ability Evolution (Level 6 Shift) plan
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
In the end, no information was extracted from the girl who seemed to be a clone, and with Uiharu's help, Misaka was able to get the only clue she could find out - a passcode - and when she asked for her help, she discovered a shocking plan. It was a plan to make Accelerator, the most powerful user in Academy City, Level 6.
The Full Story of the Absolute Ability Evolution (Level 6 Shift) Plan
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
The answer that the designer of the tree diagram came up with to make Accelerator level 6 was "It was calculated that if Accelerator were to take 250 years of the normal timetable, he would reach the absolute ability." However, the researchers naturally put this answer on hold as it would take too long, and looked for another way, having the tree diagram calculate the calculations for special cases. The next answer they came up with was "By preparing 128 different battlefields and killing 128 Railguns, Accelerator would evolve into the absolute ability." However, of course, it is not possible to prepare 128 Misakas, so they came up with the idea of reusing the clones they had created in the past. By entering the clone data and recalculating, it was discovered that "By preparing 20,000 different battlefields and preparing 20,000 sisters, the same result as above could be obtained." Misaka learns that 20,000 of her clones have been created in order to bring Ippo Touko to level 6.
Misaka's angry struggle
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, who had spent a short time with her clone, was brutally murdered, and in anger at the terrible sight, confronts Accelerator. The two are Level 5s, said to be the strongest in Academy City, but the outcome is unexpected. Every attack that Misaka, who is ranked third, unleashes with all her might is blocked, and even when she fires her strongest special move, the railgun, it is deflected as if nothing happened. Though they are both Level 5s, the difference in their abilities is enormous. Accelerator says, "It's like an eye test. It can only measure up to 2.0, so I'm just content to be a Level 5."
To stop the plan
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
Realizing that there is no hope of victory for Tokamachi, Misaka turns his attention to research institutes, destroying all the laboratories that may be involved in this research. Along the way, they have a hard time due to interference from dark items, but Misaka, feeling guilty about the clones that were born from the DNA he provided, is determined not to let any more of his clones be killed. Then, after destroying most of the research institute, he learns that the facilities and data have been transferred faster than he imagined, and that the plan can be resumed immediately in another location. He realizes that the speed of action is not the power of a single research institute alone, but the cooperation of the entire city, and despairs when he learns that the entire city is his enemy. As a last resort, he tries to destroy the Tree Diagram, the supreme computer of Academy City that calculated the calculations for this plan, but the Tree Diagram has already been destroyed by someone. (Index from the main story is responsible)
Last resort
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
In order to stop the plan, Misaka decided to make it seem like the calculation itself was wrong. She fights Accelerator to make him believe that if he defeats her 128 times she can reach level 6, and that the calculation itself is wrong, and believes that if she is killed instantly and unable to do anything, the calculation can be redone, she risks her own life to challenge Accelerator, but is stopped by Kamijou Touma, the main character of the story, who has learned of the plan. And if Misaka loses, she will be able to prove that Accelerator is not the strongest, and will be able to believe that the calculation was wrong. And so she goes to put an end to this plan.
The End of the Plan
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
Thanks to the efforts of Kamijou Touma, Misaka Mikoto, and Misaka Imouto, it was a tough fight, but somehow Level 0 Kamijou Touma managed to defeat the strongest Level 5 Accelerator. With this, this awful plan succeeded in keeping around 10,000 Misaka Imouto alive, and came to an end. Misaka felt guilty for not being able to protect half of the clones, and for being the cause of the clones being born, but Kamijou told her that if she hadn't provided her DNA, they wouldn't have been born in the first place, and that it was thanks to her that they were in this world, and Misaka Imouto thanked her, and in the end, Misaka smiled as the plan came to an end.
Summary of the Absolute Ability Evolution (Level 6 Shift) Plan
Source: A Certain Scientific Railgun ©Kamachi Kazuma/Fuyukawa Motoi/ASCII Media Works/PROJECT-RAILGUN S
As you would expect from the Index series, it's a very nasty and disgusting plan. Even so, even though it's a spinoff, the main protagonist's efforts made it a very amicable ending scenario. In the anime, this episode makes up almost the entire first half of the second season of A Certain Scientific Railgun, so if you're interested, be sure to check it out. Thank you for reading to the end.
