A Certain Scientific Railgun (2009-2010)

[とある科学の超電磁砲]

Director: Tatsuyuki Nagai
Studio: JC Staff
Starring: Rina Sato, Satomi Arai, Aki Toyosaki
Episodes: 24

Synopsis:
Mikoto Misaka, the celebrated Level 5 esper of Tokiwadai Middle School known as 'the Railgun', gets caught up in all manner of incidents in Academy City.

Impressions:
I actually started my experience with the To Aru franchise with A Certain Scientific Accelerator. Curious to learn more about the characters and setting, I went to A Certain Magical Index, but I didn't really like either Touma or Index and I wasn't prepare to go on a 74-episode odyssey with a pair of lead charas I don't like, so I switch over to this spinoff series. I like Misaka far more. Kuroko's schtick can get annoying really quickly (and to a lesser extent, Saten's antics with Uiharu), but I found myself minding less as the series went on. From my observation, a lot of the fandom seems to be split between those who favor Index and those who favor Railgun. Though I may go back later and give Index another shot, for the time being, you can count me squarely in the latter camp. The setting is fairly interesting and there are some creative concepts with the esper powers. The core plotline is pretty good and if you like the characters, the more slice-of-life padding should be enjoyable as well. The third act involves some rather unnecessary holding of the conflict ball, but other than that, I was overall satisfied with my experience. Give it a watch.

Rating:
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