To Aru Kagaku no Railgun – 12
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Summary:
Not only are Mikoto’s attacks against the fetus ineffective, it also starts to grow in size. She’s eventually forced to run from it, and it turns its attention elsewhere, continuing to grow as the Anti-Skills open fire on it. Kiyama meanwhile has regained consciousness, and after seeing what’s going on, she feels that the network is out of her hands and that she won’t be able to save those children. Uiharu, however, tells her not to give up, so Kiyama explains to the girls that they’re up against what she calls an AIM Burst where 10,000 people’s AIM dispersion fields acted as catalysts to create this subconscious monster. With Uiharu placing her faith in Kiyama, the scientist reveals that they can stop the monster by destroying the network, and Uiharu realizes that they can use the Level Upper treatment program. She thus heads to the Anti-Skills truck while Mikoto fights to keep the monster busy.
With the Anti-Skills help, Uiharu has the music file of the treatment program broadcast all over Academy City. The first noticeable effect Mikoto sees is that it stops the monster’s regeneration, so she proceeds to fry it with her electricity. To her surprise, it gets back up, and Kiyama instructs Mikoto to look for the monster’s core. At the same time, Mikoto starts to hear the voices of the 10,000, including Saten’s. After getting Kiyama to back off, Mikoto first uses her electricity to burn the monster, and she then finishes it off with a railgun blast that destroys the core. In the aftermath, Kiyama is taken into custody by the Anti-Skills, but she tells Mikoto and Uiharu that she’s not giving up on the children. Kuroko also arrives and reveals that the Level Upper users have all woken back up, so Uiharu heads to the hospital and finds Saten on the rooftop. Seeing Uiharu’s injuries, Saten apologizes and has realized that she was on the verge of losing something more important than an ability, but she proves that she’s okay now by lifting Uiharu’s skirt again.
Preview
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And here I thought last week’s episode was good – this was one was even better. It almost goes without saying that the battle scenes were awesome, but you’d think that in such an action heavy conclusion episode, there wouldn’t have been as much emotion as in the Kiyama’s background story from last week. It was definitely there though: I loved how Mikoto spoke to Saten and the others in the monster right before she fired at its core, and then the slow, English version of the ED, SMILE -You & Me-, playing over the final scene made for a great end to the episode and to the story arc. The song made this feel like it could have been a series finale, and it was perfect for the Saten and Uiharu moment. I’ve even gotten it stuck in my head now.
Having said all that, I did think that using the opening song during the final part of the battle created a bit of sensory overload (in a bad way), but I guess it worked to give that battle and the episode as a whole that special feel. Their explanation for how the monster came to be also tested the limits of believability, but I think that’s partly because the whole concept of AIM dispersion fields is still kind of like voodoo to me. In any case, I’m curious now about Oohara Sayaka‘s new character since she appeared briefly after the battle. The kind of camera focus they put on her seems to imply that she’ll play a significant part in the episodes to come. Next week appears to be a swimsuit episode though, so I’m not expecting too much right away.
December 18, 2009 at 6:34 pmChen^2
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Great episode, the action was amazing.
December 18, 2009 at 6:36 pmPw3age
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http://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Railgun/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Railgun%20-%2012%20-%2019.jpg
Biribiri is angry. Can’t wait to watch.
December 18, 2009 at 6:38 pmDiabolikul
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NO TOUMA???
http://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Railgun/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Railgun%20-%2012%20-%20Large%2018.jpg
this makes up for it though lol
December 18, 2009 at 6:40 pmAnonymous
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Why the freakin’ HELL you want Touma involved?!! This is Misaka’s show now; let her be the hero!!!
December 18, 2009 at 7:00 pmMearex
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that thing…. i think with out it’s hands it would look like something
http://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Railgun/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Railgun%20-%2012%20-%20Large%2013.jpg
December 18, 2009 at 7:04 pmOrphen
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so Kiyama did not give the first concrete clue to Mikoto about the sisters?
December 18, 2009 at 7:19 pmmagnumslinger
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http://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Railgun/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Railgun%20-%2012%20-%20Large%2031.jpg
Who else was reminded of Kazakiri Hyoka when they saw this?
December 18, 2009 at 7:20 pmSomeKindaNick
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@Orphen: wait for next arc. The sisters will shortly be revealed.
December 18, 2009 at 7:22 pmLonghaul
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so does the core look familiar
December 18, 2009 at 7:23 pmYufankun
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As much as I love my Mikoto and Touma interactions, I have to agree with Anonymous here, it’s getting kind of annoying with people clamoring for more Touma when he’s not even the main character here. That said I don’t see JC staff withholding him much longer now with anime original content on the horizon…
December 18, 2009 at 8:12 pmpierce
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I don’t know why they would leave out some of the things that Kiyama said in the manga after the battle, so I will put this in spoiler. Show Spoiler ▼
Anyways, I didn’t enjoy this episode as much as I thought I would. I guess inserting the OP during the battle was just too cheesy for me.
December 18, 2009 at 8:29 pmTJ
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Wasn’t as good as I hoped it to be. Action was a bit dragged out compared to the manga, and the OP was not really the right song to use in the climax of the battle.
December 18, 2009 at 8:56 pmChris
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Touma Touma Touma!!!!!!!!!!!
December 18, 2009 at 9:08 pmajt
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This looks epic! Can’t wait to watch after my stupid exams.
I want to see Touma, he makes Mikoto all flustered!
December 18, 2009 at 9:15 pmNoName
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It was a nice arc, now i’m expecting an amazing Accelerator
December 18, 2009 at 9:21 pmXelloss
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I can’t wait for the next part my second favorite anime characters comes back… right vectors.
December 18, 2009 at 9:38 pmsynkronized
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That’s a good way to tie up the arc. Only bummer is Kiyama didn’t discuss how she came about her research and foreshadow things to come. Oh yeah the whole Touma AWOL during the cameo moments was kinda annoying. But hey they’re more minor plot gripes than game breakers.
I thought Railgun was a 13 episode run, not a full season. Anyone know off hand?
December 18, 2009 at 11:20 pmLevi
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I desagree with you OMNI putting aside that the OP as a insert song made anticlimatic the fight, not epic, they skipped some characters from the collective mind from the fetus, one of them was a LVL5!!! well nothing in special coming from someone who said that the third season of ZnT was good DX.
December 18, 2009 at 11:36 pmSplash
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I like Touma too but he belongs in his own series. Folks should stop whining for Touma every week. This is Mikoto’s show hence the name in the title “RAILGUN”. That way when he occasionally appears its something special. Wouldn’t mind seeing Index and the other cast members from that show occasionally make an appearance but keep the focus on the 4 main girls.
December 19, 2009 at 12:06 amOmni
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synkronized: It’s 2-cour, and based on the DVD listings of 3 episodes per volume, likely 24 episodes. Index was 24 as well.
Levi: They’ve already shown that they’re not going to follow the manga to the letter, and looking at this episode as just an anime episode, it was very well done. I’m not going to say whether it was better or worse than the manga because a person’s judgment on this sort of thing is more often than not biased by what they viewed first. Also, I never said that ZnT’s third season was good. It had its ups and downs, and I definitely remember more downs than ups.
December 19, 2009 at 12:26 amEclipse
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Did anyone else notice the I.T.E.M. team at a diner when the anti-level-upper song was being played? The blonde girl with the berret and her friends that are appearing in the latest manga right now get a quick cameo.
December 19, 2009 at 12:39 amewok
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lol @ evul Kuroko photoshoooting in previev…
December 19, 2009 at 12:42 amsynkronized
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The only gripes I have about this and the source material are this:
Kiyama – Regardless of how you feel about following source material, foreshadowing is always good for adding a natural flow to a story.
In Touma’s case it’s just plain fun. Having watched Index, seeing the parallels between the series makes the whole universe feel larger and more alive. Again it’s good story telling when you can make it feel that the world exists outside these character’s experiences. That and Touma x Mikoto interactions are so fun, why not watch it?
Thanks for the response Omni, I was puzzled by it since anime news network and the railgun site didn’t mention past 13. There’s certainly enough material to go past 13 episodes, just the whole fact this arc fit neatly in its own shell for the 12 episodes gave that vibe I guess.
December 19, 2009 at 12:59 amJay
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lack of Touma = lack of watch.
December 19, 2009 at 1:04 amkhalis
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@Eclipse
ITEM appeared in the diner in the manga, too. They even had a brief conversation.
It’s a shame that it had to be so rushed.
December 19, 2009 at 1:41 amAnimeniac
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railgun is railgun but i want touma show up once more…or maybe my guest is right he will show up in the accelerator/sisters arc since he can finish that freakish fetus right away wit his right hand.
PS. but i cant take the image of a huge bulging body burst and every organs leak outs after being destroyed by imagine breaker
December 19, 2009 at 2:29 amNeo_NMO
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OMG cute mikoto
she seems like levels more cuter in that pic than ever… divine, mg and myself think it’s a combination of the tentacles, the hair and the pose
December 19, 2009 at 3:39 amNebs
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I miss Akari already. ;;_;; We didn’t get nearly enough of her.
December 19, 2009 at 3:40 amNebs
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Whoops, wrong post. =b
December 19, 2009 at 3:44 amAiras
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Think guys…
Why is it the number of people affected by Upper Level is exactly the same as the number of Sisters remaining? Maybe it was all a greater plan and upper level was just the beta testing?
December 19, 2009 at 7:46 amewok
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hmmmm, in the labs of Science City there could be paralell teams working on different approaches to AIM networking… In WW2 Manhattan project took 3 paralell paths to the bomb – 2 variants of uranium enrichement and one plutonium production…
December 19, 2009 at 8:24 amappztetra
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where’s Touma? T_T
December 19, 2009 at 8:26 am7
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Best ep ever!
December 19, 2009 at 9:47 amExia
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I would have been fooled if this was the series finale, but I’m happy that the show must go on!! Taking a beach break wouldn’t be too bad either.
December 19, 2009 at 9:52 amEspada
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cant wait for the sister saga
December 19, 2009 at 10:19 amRi
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What is it with people and Touma this and Touma that. If you want him so bad, go watch Index. This is RAILGUN!! R-A-I-L-G-U-N
Other than that, love the epidose^-^
December 19, 2009 at 10:23 amChaos2Frozen
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“Their explanation for how the monster came to be also tested the limits of believability, but I think that’s partly because the whole concept of AIM dispersion fields is still kind of like voodoo to me.”
To put it very simply, it’s the combine power of all 10000 espers put together and given a ‘conscience’, we’ve heard of this before back in Index.
Kiyama calls it an AIM Burst, but you might know of it as an Angel.
December 19, 2009 at 11:08 amMichael Chandra
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“What is it with people and Touma this and Touma that.” Simple. He’s supposed to be in there for short scenes, that are also relevant. Instead he’s conveniently left out, thus making this more a separate thing and less a parallel thing. Why they leave him out, I don’t know, the scenes with him that were left out were rather nice. Such as Biribiri her Touma radar picking him up and him sighing about first that magician this morning, now this.
And yes, I frequently rewatch the last episode of the Alchemist arc because it’s totally awesome.
December 19, 2009 at 11:24 amLero
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Accelerator fuck’n where???
Hell! the director skipped the foreshadowing about the sisters arc :S… and that song…. was too cheesy
*facepalm*
December 19, 2009 at 11:31 amendlesstalez
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hi sorry if im being clueless here, but can someone please tell me how many episodes this anime has? issit 14 or issit 24? thanks a lot!
December 19, 2009 at 11:31 amLevi
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@Airas: No, its the opposite. Thats of the reasons why Aleister denied Kiyamo to access Tree Diagram.
December 19, 2009 at 1:41 pmakani
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Show Spoiler ▼
Other than that, I think this really was a great episode.
How long is Railgun going to be? Only 13 episodes? I was looking a bit forward to her point of view of the Sisters arc and Accelerator but I guess it isnt even finished in the manga yet…
December 19, 2009 at 2:37 pmIsland Esper
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The ending scared me it really felt like the end, glad is still going up to 24!!!
The scrolling cast while the girls greet each other kills some of the passion.
Kiyama should escape if she gets into the hands that blocked her access to three diagram; they are going to fry her brain.
Is too easy no one got side effect from using lever upper I wanted Saten to have something else to lift Uiharu skirt. Another unsolved mystery Uiharu’s flowers. Give me more railgun
December 19, 2009 at 3:40 pmJason Isenberg
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Okay, now in my case. A lot of people wanted to see Touma in this episode, I for one wanted to as well. Maybe come out of nowhere and save Uiharu perhaps from those attacks but he would also say “You think I wouldn’t come and help you guys? Now finish that thing off!”. To me, that would make it so much more kick ass having someone give off a boost of morale haha. Either way, the OP for the battle scene against that monstrous fetus was awesome.
December 19, 2009 at 3:42 pmsynkronized
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Don’t know if anyone noticed this but I think Kiyama did tell Misaka the hint about the sisters, but it was off screen. During the ending credits Misaka looks pre occupied by something. Add to that the sudden scene jump from her KO’ing the beast to Kiyama being lead off, it’d make sense they’re holding off this detail till after the fanservice episode to keep a solid pace.
December 19, 2009 at 5:05 pmmice
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This needs a brain, urgent.
December 19, 2009 at 5:41 pmAeikozz
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this felt very Mai Otomeish..
December 19, 2009 at 5:41 pmviral
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akani: So what if the manga isn’t there yet? If i know correctly, the anime is adopting the light novel, not the manga.
December 19, 2009 at 5:47 pmviral
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Oh, and I’m actually looking forward to the next episode. It looks like they will use the same swimsuits they used on this official art:
http://chan.sankakucomplex.com/post/show/622076/
December 19, 2009 at 6:31 pmYufankun
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@Synkronized
Maybe, but I’m not getting my hopes up too much… Though who’s to say that even if the next arc is anime original it’ll be bad, the original author is involved after all
December 20, 2009 at 5:21 amKinny Riddle
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Great acoustic version of the ED, and in English to boot.
Uiharu and Saten sure has grown considerably in my eyes, they certainly have earned their right to be main characters besides the two original Index-verse characters Mikoto and Kuroko.
Chaos2Frozen, you think the same as I do. :) As I remarked last week, the angel halo reminded me of Evangelion’s Angels, and now with a core as its weakness, the resemblance goes even further.
An excellent end to the Level Upper arc. Though it remains to be seen whether they’ll maintain such standards as they enter the next manga arc after a few originals, starting with bikini episode next episode. (Very looking forward to drooling at Saten-san’s bikini. :) )
(BTW, does anyone know whether the series going to take a Christmas/New Year break for now and resume in January?)
December 20, 2009 at 9:30 amStarshade
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Man, I got to watch the episode only now. I’m not so against the OP song playing at the climax, but I am slightly disappointed to note that the song didn’t increase in volume as the fight ended. But if what I know is right, the song ‘only my railgun’ was composed for the anime exclusively, correct? The lyrics playing at the part fit the current situation almost too, too well. I loved that part.
Having said that, I’m still disappointed that the animators continued to remove fascinating references to A Certain Magical Index and to the Sisters’ arc. Yeah, yeah, it doesn’t mean the anime lacks or something (though I do like the manga better, partially because of the drawing style), but you know. Inserting those stuff would have made a nice touch. See, they connected the Index opening and the Railgun opening by using the footage where Touma passes behind Mikoto, right? I was expecting to see a lot of such references, but I got the opposite result.:P
Looking forward to this anime continuing, but I have to say, what a pity that the anime is now halfway over.T^T I wish they could make it some six arcs or something. Speaking about that, is there no plan to continue animating Index again? The storyline has progressed much further. I wanted to see Accelerator return and the second-level and so on.
December 20, 2009 at 10:15 amakani
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@viral: Ah, I see. I didn’t know Railgun started off as a light novel series, I just thought it was manga only and the manga wasn’t finished with the Sisters arc yet as far as I could tell.
So, how many episodes is the anime going to be? 13 or 26? Because if it’s 26 I will be very very happy. :D
December 20, 2009 at 11:15 amewok
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Girls spoke about end of arc in the ending, so presumably we will have another arc for full 26 episodes after possible 13th episode R&R at the beach… and I like the idea!
December 20, 2009 at 11:25 amkhalis
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@Jason
Touma is busy getting his ass kicked by Kanzaki right about now.
@viral
Railgun is a manga. There are a few light novels, but they come much, much later in the timeline; you’re thinking of Index.
December 21, 2009 at 2:15 amsamu
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That was a very good episode. I liked the opening song being played during the Mikoto’s big fight; even though I had a feeling that if it was going to be used, this fight would be the one. I liked how Kiyama was surprised at how much Mikoto held back her power in their fight. It showed that Mikoto doesn’t have the desire to kill to take control (well, maybe with Touma it’s different). I hope Kiyama escapes too, since the old doctor and his cronies would torture/kill her to obtain the information to recreate the level upper. And the acoustic ending song was cool; a fitting conclusion to this arc.
December 21, 2009 at 3:12 amewok
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Well, don’t worry about Kiyama-sensei, I feel she will be as hard to keep behind bars as Irenicus from Baldurs Gate 2 – or for cRPG illiterates, as Hannibal Lecter…
December 21, 2009 at 3:32 amtenkaichi
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http://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Railgun/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Railgun%20-%2012%20-%2032.jpg
Pointless post: This is a Plantronics (Discovery 640) bluetooth style headset. I have it, nice detail! :D
http://www.plantronics.com/north_america/en_US/products/cat1150057/cat1150057/prod29780004
December 21, 2009 at 5:57 ambrianleung8912
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saaaateeeeeeeeen is baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack ^-^
December 22, 2009 at 5:39 amAsdf
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Need Touma in there to turn it into a love comedy/harem.
December 24, 2009 at 10:53 pmLevi
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@Island Esper: Tree Diagram was destroyed in the night of the same day.
@viral:No, the episodes 13-16 are original anime materia a.k.a fillers.