To Aru Kagaku no Railgun - OVA Discussion / Poll

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by Fandal

Minor index spoiler

Spoiler:

This episode reminded me of a certain episode in Index where Touma was desperately fighting for someone's life while certain part of the cast was taking a bath without a care in the world. That and this episode was a painful.

Well it's neither their fault when said person doesn't tell anyone their plan.

Which is why I'm complaining that despite all her power, Mikoto is the one that everyone seem protective of. How are you going to tell a story if the main heroine doesn't get into the thick of things?

[Primary Consult]

Wow I guess this got eclipsed by Index II 4, surprised there isn't more posts...

I was kindof surprised they used Touma's Index sound effect for Imagine Breaker instead of the new one they created for Railgun. Glad though that was the only sound effect they 'reverted', Kuroko's teleport is much improved in Railgun from its Index counterpart.

As for the ep itself, outstanding! I was worried that when the mystery was revealed it would be a punchline like marker-girl of ep 3, boy was I pleasantly surprised.

The ED visuals were completely low-budget, but I can forgive that since they provided extra minutes of actual episode instead.

At first I disliked the OP but then I realized what they were going for. It had a reverse-anachronism feel capturing moments similar to ones people actually used 8mm cameras for: groups of friends being silly with lots of waving. Since Railgun's theme is friendship it works.

[Masked]

Originally Posted by Shinji103

Not to mention that this and city-wide coma-inducing brain networks with freaky fetus-looking monsters aren't exactly in tune with the "slice of life" theme that the fans keep trying to say Railgun follows.

It alternates from genre to genre depending on how thin they have to spread it due to contract demands.

At first I disliked the OP but then I realized what they were going for. It had a reverse-anachronism feel capturing moments similar to ones people actually used 8mm cameras for: groups of friends being silly with lots of waving. Since Railgun's theme is friendship it works.

The thing is it looks like they animated it decently and then put an effect on it, must be annoying to animate that and then make it look lq.

[Joe_fh]

Originally Posted by Shinji103

Not to mention that this and city-wide coma-inducing brain networks with freaky fetus-looking monsters aren't exactly in tune with the "slice of life" theme that the fans keep trying to say Railgun follows.

Well (sadly) imho it leans a lot towards the "slice of life theme" when it has the potential to be so much more than that. Yet most fans prefer it to become even more of a "slice of life" anime...go figure.

[Pyromania]

So while Touma is out risking his neck in various plot lines which could result in countless wars between the various factions of humanity, Misaka is out catching low level scientists who just want simple revenge.

Ouch, the difference between the plot line of Index and Railgun right now is staggeringly huge. Misaka is so far behind Touma right now it's not funny anymore.

If the former is exemplified by Index ep 4 and the latter is this OVA, I'll take the OVA any day of the week. I mean, you could just say "lol no one is as powerful as Goku" if you are talking about SERIOUS BUSINESS.

Anyways, fun times. An all around good display of the cast and what makes them so enjoyable. Special mention goes out to the scene in the end where Uiharu just enjoys her cake while casually condeming Kuroko to some shock therapy. Uiharu is a devious little flower-girl.

My only real complaint is how they were inconsistent with Mikoto's power. In the Manga, Mikoto clearly thinks nothing of a stun grenade impairment due to her extrasensory power. It isn't as if she developed it between this ep and the Sisters arc either... She is clearly shown to possess it in her fight with Multi-Skill Kiyama. Pretty minor gripe though.

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by Primary Consult

Wow I guess this got eclipsed by Index II 4, surprised there isn't more posts...

Well, there is more to talk about when it comes to IkaMusume-san's anime.
Also, in general, OVA threads never really seem to grow as much as normal episode threads.

But don't worry! It'll be snowing in the Summer before Railgun loses in popularity.

[kyosak]

Damn... Need more Kuroko...!
This show needs another TV season!

[giorno]

Originally Posted by Fandal

So while Touma is out risking his neck in various plot lines which could result in countless wars between the various factions of humanity, Misaka is out catching low level scientists who just want simple revenge.

Ouch, the difference between the plot line of Index and Railgun right now is staggeringly huge. Misaka is so far behind Touma right now it's not funny anymore.

it's the anime fillers fault. Consider that the manga only has had 2 arcs so far, the level-upper and the sister arc...i wouldn't say Mikoto doesn't get involved in some serious shit(heck, there's even a side story in which she gets involved in a battle between the american military and a magical organization), it's just that there isn't as much material about her as there is about Touma, and she's just a side character in Index

[germanturkey]

yeah, i would much rather have another season of railgun than the garbage that is index. characters are better and likable, story is more straightforward, not to mention technology > religion.

plus the OVA was awesome. it had everything that made the series good condensed into half an hour. Tsundere Misaka, masochistic Kuroko, Saten, Uiharu, and a bath scene.

[zaeraal]

well its 10/10 from me

opening 11/10, very well made, song was likeable, animation + setting i liked more than those 2 from the normal series.
(though i didnt understand why in top science city they used an old type of camera)
ending - song was again ok, but the animation.. well poor, static recycled images.. uh 6/10
story - YES it is an ova and has a story and on top of that very good one. All of the characters was included and had their role, thought they could have changed the setting - story starts with mikoto, is about mikoto, ends with mikoto. But no other complaints, 10/10.
animation quality of episode 10/10, no complains.
voices - 10/10 no complains.
Enjoyment - it was not boring, not rushed, not too slow and can be rewatched. 10/10
emotional involvement - considering this is an ova not writed by autor, the characters acted acording their roles. (must point out uhiaru scary scene, saten caring side, kuroko perverted side ) 10/10
originality - simply great and considering this is an ova, even better. they showed where mikoto gets her coins, name of the 1st from the top 5 AC schools (nagaten jouki) a close look of saten room. 10/10
the bathing scene evyrone pointed out before the ova came out was also nice.
and saten was there 10/10.

overall - 9,666, rounded to 10.

[darkchibi07]

Originally Posted by kyosak

Damn... Need more Kuroko...!
This show needs another TV season!

It's more likely it will. It did do much better in sales than Index!

[Yui Is My Wife]

I'm a sucker for the opening, personally.

I am one of those people old enough to remember using an 8 milimeter handycam, and literally cutting (with scissors) and putting together (with glue) stuff of friends mucking around at the picnic on a sunny afternoon in the cool darkness of a garage.

Expensive though film may be, and you can't just rewind and "tape over" them like you can do by the 1990's onwards, this is the sort of thing you generally used the 8mm to record: irreplaceable happy times with your friends in golden silence.

Well done, JC staff, for encapsulating the warmth of friendship in with this stylistically marveolous "Wonder Years" opening, which captures how magical the joy of childhood is when filtered through literal nostalgia.

[Himeji]

Originally Posted by Syntron

Im so happy i could cry. Railgun is back. Badass Mikoto, naughty Kuroko, skirtflipping Saten and moe Uiharu. The story was quite okay, but its the characters that make Railgun special. I just need to point out the OP. Not a single explosion or fast cut, still epic. Even Touma is bearable when he is interacting with Mikoto.

Yes, it was nice to see Railgun back for a moment. Besides the above, the bath scene was also definitely worth mentioning
We got good Saten shots there, but sadly nothing much of Mikoto
Only the ED was a bit of a let-down with its static images... oh well.

Anyway, overall it deserves a 9/10 from me.

Originally Posted by Syntron

This will definitely help me enduring Index II. But i shall bash that one in another topic.

Yes, there's still a disturbing lack of Mikoto in Index II
She's totally marginalised, even though she does prominently appear in the OP.
Sometimes snotty Index really isn't the same.

Originally Posted by germanturkey

yeah, i would much rather have another season of railgun than the garbage that is index. characters are better and likable, story is more straightforward, not to mention technology > religion.

Agreed. I wouldn't call Index II garbage, but it indeed has nothing on Railgun.
Boldened important part

Originally Posted by germanturkey

plus the OVA was awesome. it had everything that made the series good condensed into half an hour. Tsundere Misaka, masochistic Kuroko, Saten, Uiharu, and a bath scene.

That's pretty much it.

Originally Posted by zaeraal

story - YES it is an ova and has a story and on top of that very good one. All of the characters was included and had their role, thought they could have changed the setting - story starts with mikoto, is about mikoto, ends with mikoto.

qft
While the story and the characters were already nice as is, you can never have too much Mikoto.

[zaeraal]

Originally Posted by Himeji

While the story and the characters were already nice as is, you can never have too much Mikoto.

i have to disagree on this one, its not good for story/anime/manga when you have 1 character and he/she is doing nearly everything, gets all main battles for him/herself and has always the most screentime. People will just get bored with a character like this. No mather how cool that character can be, its just tiring after a while.
I mean, just look at the curent shows and you can clearly see there are many characters with many roles and each of them has their own stories, screentime etc..

Spoiler for fut. characters:

And if you look at the manga, the next arc is completly about mikoto, without any other character helping or even being involved. And then you have the original misaka, misaka clones, misaka full tuning, misaka worst, misaka loli (last order), i am just waiting for misallerator or something like that xD

So i hoped for something centered more on other characters, maybe we will get 4 ovas and each of them centered about different character (* is crossing fingers and praying). that would be pure win.

[Dart]

Uiuharu is actually a pretty evil character, isn't she?

[bloppyblue]

I love Railgun more than Index, but I really didn't like this OVA.

I liked the storyboarding a lot but I found the plot really uninteresting and I was hoping for some epic fight at the end. For some reason, it felt like none of the four main characters had enough screen time.

[Miraluka]

Originally Posted by Himeji

Y
Yes, there's still a disturbing lack of Mikoto in Index II
She's totally marginalised, even though she does prominently appear in the OP.
Sometimes snotty Index really isn't the same.

This is the so-called fanservice. So, don't get too surprised about it, lets say that they replaced Saten's cameos with Mikoto's .

[Kamonichan]

I really like this OVA, but at the same time, it was painful watching Mikoto being driven slowly insane. That kinda thing makes me really uncomfortable, but I'm glad that it was resolved. The resolution was kinda rushed, almost an episode of Scooby-Doo, "It's not a ghost, it's Old Man Willis!"-feel. They just explained it all for you in 30 seconds. Ah well. More Mikoto is always good. More Mikoto electrocuting Kuroko is even better. Thank you, Uiharu. Thank you.

[ahelo]

I thought this episode was great. REALLY MISSED RAILGUN.

They really should have more of the Railgun staff in Index because they do the action scenes better (Comparing this OVA's action scenes and Index II episode 4's). The directing is also a lot better in Railgun now that I notice it. Not complaining though cus I like the Raildex fandom as a whole (imho though Railgun is better) and more=better.

[Yui Is My Wife]

1) Who else got the feeling that the Railgun staff took a cue from K-On Second Season's second-opening in the "ametuer video style" of their opening?

2) I got a feeling the guy who choreographed the Kurozuma vs Big Spider Gang battle in Railgun Season 1 is (A) responsible for the ferocious and organically choreographed/animated battle of Index Season 2 EP4 (B) is himself an experienced Martial Artist who actually knows what he's doing.