To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S - Episode 9 Discussion / Poll

[Kanon]

Great action once again. I didn't expect Mugina to be a level 5, the fourth strongest at that (right behind Mikoto). The tired Mikoto is in quite a pinch. Looking forward to next week's episode. Fights between level 5s are always exciting.

[Primary Consult]

ITEM = amazing... Especially the teamwork to force Mikoto into a position where she couldn't dodge the beam. I also loved how the team thinks Mugino is acting uncharacteristically nice, but then she reveals her main motivation is a 1v1 with Railgun.

How I know this episode was done well: I couldn't even tell that anything was anime-original (I haven't read this part of the manga since I marathon-ed it at the end of Railgun Season 1). So whatever it was flows pretty naturally.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by dniv

It would also help if we could have a discussion thread of the anime for novel readers... something I asked for a while ago...

Just use the Anime Spoilers & Speculation thread and place any Index novel spoilers in clearly-marked spoiler tags, or use the Manga thread for Index novel readers. Either one is fine, but anime episode threads are not. Creating a separate "Railgun Anime Speculation for Index Novel Readers" is a bit obsessively split in my view.

[SilverTalon]

I was torn between an 8 and a 9. However (and I'm not faulting this episode specifically) it really bugs me that

Spoiler for Comparison to the Manga:

the anime seems to sell her short. She appeared to be in near top form when she entered the building which makes it seem like Item is doing a far better job than they really are so far. In the manga, when she was on the rooftop before she entered the building Frenda was in, she was already so tired she was having trouble walking. The anime to me made it seem like she was fine when she entered, but her exhaustion at the end was from Frends and dodging around for a bit.

Item's 'accomplisments' seem far less impressive when you consider that their target was exhausted enough to have trouble walking before they did anything at all to her.

[kache]

Awesome episode.
Can't to see the rest of the fight animated!

[CJ_Walker]

Originally Posted by GundamZZ

Yet, they show one of the most overused anime cliche: The "stomach punch" would knock a person to a state of unconsciousness.

A strong enough stomach punch can knock the wind out of you (make you unable to breathe) long enough that you will fall unconscious.

[Destined_Fate]

Shame that Shinobu failed... Wonder if this is the last time we'll see her as Saiai implied that Shinobu would most likely be killed or have everything taken away from her but her life.

As for the fighting, Mikasa really was like a spider. Was awesome seeing her doing all those crazy tricks in this episode.

Saiai also loves saying Super- a lot.

[Sumeragi]

I can see where all the budget went into.

[Destined_Fate]

Yes, it was used to make Mikoto Misaka into Spiderwoman!

I have a feeling we'll get a short cooldown after this Arc before Sisters Arc picks back up.

Can't wait to see how Touma will look when he first appears officially in Season 2 of Railgun!

[dniv]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

Just use the Anime Spoilers & Speculation thread and place any Index novel spoilers in clearly-marked spoiler tags, or use the Manga thread for Index novel readers. Either one is fine, but anime episode threads are not. Creating a separate "Railgun Anime Speculation for Index Novel Readers" is a bit obsessively split in my view.

Ok, I see what you mean. I didn't realise we could do either of those things That helps a lot. Sorry for being picky. I just thought those options weren't available because they weren't in the case of light novel spoiler speculation based on the railgun manga. This makes more sense.

Thank you very much

I guess it was also a different situation because the events of the manga affect the LN's while this is just an adaptation and not really that original at that.

It makes sense to me now, thanks.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Nice, the way they made Takitsubo.

I still can't get over how boyish they made Saiai though...kinda weird feeling.

[Hamster]

Seeing as how dark the dark side can get I wonder what will become of Shinobu.

Will they dissect her and sell her organs?
Will they use her as a slave scientist under threat of death?
Will they keep her in solitary confinement for the rest of her life?

[leukrota]

Originally Posted by Hamster

Seeing as how dark the dark side can get I wonder what will become of Shinobu.

Will they dissect her and sell her organs?
Will they use her as a slave scientist under threat of death?
Will they keep her in solitary confinement for the rest of her life?

I would go with number too, except that death would be something she might take in such situation. So I say under threat of unspeakable mental torture. Or perhaps with emotional manipulation. Or even mental wiping/rewriting. One thing we can say is that the dark side can be very resouceful.

Well, whatever it is, I personally hope they do tell the story.

[monir]

I don't remember enjoying any of the To Aru series this much. It usually comes across as if I'm watching filler, overbearing (Touma) and/or annoying (Touma, constantly and the onee-sama girl at times). Railgun was merely a sideshow from the way it prescribed itself in first series as far as I was concerned.

So this focused approach to enter a specific deliberation is very surprising and I'm enjoying it so much. Even the action in the last two episodes resonate with that intense focus. I've always suspected that Misaka is a wasted character, and her exposition thus far in this shows how good her story is.

I screamed, "nooooo" at the abrupt end to this episode. That's how quickly the time went. Two level 5 duking it out is already an awesome thing. And when one of the 2 has a purpose behind a desperate endurance, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.... *rubs hands together*

As far as I'm concerned, this season of Railgun beats out everything thus far in the To Aru franchise in terms of storytelling and the emotion injected into it along with projecting it back to the audience. Episode 6 set it up beautifully! And now the show reaping the fruit of great storytelling.

[SQA]

Originally Posted by Hamster

Seeing as how dark the dark side can get I wonder what will become of Shinobu.

Will they dissect her and sell her organs?
Will they use her as a slave scientist under threat of death?
Will they keep her in solitary confinement for the rest of her life?

She's too smart and too useful to too many projects, so it's probably just some mental changes. Though we don't know if she has friends in high places or not. She might come out relatively fine. Plus, we're still assuming she isn't an Esper. We really don't know. She could have a limited trick up her sleeve to get away.

[freeofgreed]

Originally Posted by Azure King

Can someone explain to me what meltdowner power is?
at first thought, i was thinking lazer... but then plasma...

Her ability basically turns electrons into a special state of matter and the plasma is a result of the intense heat generated from it.

9/10 episode

Again a really good episode, there was a lot of padding in this episode but I feel as though (aside from the beginning, which was pretty slow) it benefited the episode more than it hurt it.

[Traece]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

I can see where all the budget went into.

Indeed. It's wonderful.

Originally Posted by monir

I screamed, "nooooo" at the abrupt end to this episode. That's how quickly the time went. Two level 5 duking it out is already an awesome thing. And when one of the 2 has a purpose behind a desperate endurance, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.... *rubs hands together*

These combat-heavy episodes have been absolutely fantastic. It's such a pleasure watching her work. Even the first season of Railgun was interesting to me, and fun to watch, but this season has been surprisingly more enjoyable to watch based almost solely on these episodes. From these forums I got the impression that ITEM is supposed to be a really big deal in the Railgun story, and I can see why.

More than anything though, I just can't wrap my head around Frenda. Every time she's on screen I can't help but think: "She's so stylish..."

[Ilidsor]

Finally had time to watch the episode and just wow. That was so well done. Mugino was just perfect. I have waited so long to see her animated and that was just so well done. The fight was animated so perfectly as well, it was gorgeous.

My only minor gripe is that Takitsubo used pills instead of a powder. It just doesn't have the same "drug-addict" look to it. Hopefully Index III does it properly.

Overall 10/10 and I can't wait for the next one.

[GundamZZ]

Originally Posted by freeofgreed

Her ability basically turns electrons into a special state of matter and the plasma is a result of the intense heat generated from it.

9/10 episode

Again a really good episode, there was a lot of padding in this episode but I feel as though (aside from the beginning, which was pretty slow) it benefited the episode more than it hurt it.

To me, it looks like changing atom's property. When Mikoto throws the metal object to her, the object disappears before her hands. It's as weak interaction or strong interaction. If we can verify her actual power, it may be faulty. The show doesn't look like it's following actual physics laws. There is one thing for sure. As the battle goes on, the factory space becomes infinitely large.

[Ihaxlikenoob]

Originally Posted by Ilidsor

My only minor gripe is that Takitsubo used pills instead of a powder. It just doesn't have the same "drug-addict" look to it. Hopefully Index III does it properly.

Probably not, they'll stick to pills now; rule of thumb is that the less discrepancies there are the better.