「やくそく」 (Yakusoku)
“Promise”

Well might’ve spoken too soon last week when back to back Railgun was upon us, but honestly credit where credit is due: J.C. Staff got this arc finished. No matter the shenanigans of Corona-chan, Railgun persevered until a suitable stopping point, and while another delay until July 24th is really disappointing, at least we have plenty to look forward to in the summer. Dream Ranker is upon us after all, and nothing says satisfaction like a triumphant return to typical Railgun.

After all the fighting and denouement last episode, you’d expect some levity for the final parts of Daihasei, and indeed that’s what we received. Just not with the characters you probably expected. Mitori and Misaki were the stars of this show, not only revealing some further backstory on the tragedy which is Dolly, but also acquiring some surprising (yet welcome) redemption I expect a few probably didn’t see coming. Mitori after all is not what you’d call good at face value, but her gradual endearment towards Dolly and care for the girl is undeniable, and open willingness to help Misaki track down her sister and give her some taste of normalcy a fitting end for the objectives she started her vengeance for. While hindsight shows Mitori naïve and wrong to place blind trust in a man only out for his own maniacal vision (I doubt she ever thought Gensei used her as much as she believed she was using him), there’s no denying her heart was in the right place, and in the end, got the conclusion she was actually yearning for. What can I say, cute always wins.

As for Misaki we got some equally eye opening switcheroos courtesy of unhindered emotions. Although Misaki is unlikely to be a changed person after crushing Gensei (Misaka certainly knows), her trust issues definitely don’t extend to Dolly, and, in a way to Mitori as well. Both girls share a bond with Dolly few with either see or understand, and while Misaka could easily come close, her relationship with the Sisters isn’t the same just due to the sheer number of them. Each Sister is their own person, but Dolly is unique for being the first, only knowing of (to our knowledge) Mitori and Misaki, and lacking the gestalt connection linking the Sisters together. In a sense it’s a little like Accelerator and Last Order, though you damn well know the guy will never admit it. It’s a nice touch to see a vulnerable Misaki though, and reinforces the fact that no character in Railgun or the Indexverse is ever really two dimensional once you get down to brass tacks. Everyone, from protagonist to antagonist, has their quirks and desires, and many often buck what one would expect for their particular role. They may not be the most elegantly developed, but as Misaki shows, you can be sure there’s more going on under the hood than first apparent.

How that carries on into Dream Ranker everyone can guess (or read up upon), yet you can be sure the principle won’t be changing too much. Best stay tuned boys and girls, for while Railgun might be taking a two month sojourn, this season’s fun and games are yet to come.

 

Preview

28 Comments

  1. A very touching reunion admittedly brought a tear to my eye however this does not improve a certain “detail” of last week This sentimental conclusion involves several characters with whom we live throughout the arc, however Touma is nowhere to be found. Many argumented say that Touma take minor role in all this, BUT in fact its intrusion was what solved a problem that had no solution and we really cannot deny it. I honestly feel the Touma character is totally disconnected from this arc, in general I feels that he only appears to fight the “final boss ” of the arc, practically it’s living plot device.

    Stain
    1. It’s basically Touma’s role at this point, even in Index; he serves to smash his fist into someone’s face in order to solve a problem that seemingly became too unwieldy for the author to tackle with other characters. Well, that and letting Misaka’s dere side come out every now and then for a bit of tomboy crushing lol.

    2. I’m not so sure i agree with your implication that the solution to this arc was a deus ex machina. I think that phrasing, or at least that implication gets thrown around a lot without much consideration as to whether the situation being criticized can accurately be labeled as such.

      sonicsenryaku
    3. Touma was bad even to Touma fans this arc. Imagine people who like Railgun exclusively lol. He was so out of place and the whole season was just flat to me, I like Railgun because it isn’t Index, I’ve never once thought “You know what Railgun needs? Magic hands deus ex machina Touma!”

      Alice
  2. Actually I have now some sympathy for Mitori.
    I find the entirety of Academy City quite appaling due to all the dark and inhumane experiments lying under the glamour of schools and windmills.
    As it is, either “good side” will take over or either outside world will destroy Academy City feeling thratened, or, the “dark side” experiments will destroy the City itself. We got close to one point with WW2 arc, and close to naother here….

    ewok40k
    1. They didn’t straight up make Misaka #1 most wanted after she blew away dozens? of their illegal facilities during the Sisters Arc either. I think they found out fairly quickly from the characteristics of each attack that was most definately Misaka behind them yet they did nothing but bring ITEM in. They could have had her arrested but would have risked their entire experiment being exposed.

      Lyfe
      1. There’s also a measure of acceptable loss involved. Considering the entire city is based on research, it’s not too difficult relocating experiments at a moment’s whim, especially when you have the backing of the governing board. When labs are a dime a dozen it could just be easier letting some get wrecked (and preemptively set them up them as sacrifices) than having to deal with Misaka and explain away her disappearance.

        1. Also, while labrat espers are dime-a-dozen, level 5s are not so expendable as others…
          Hence people like Accelerator or Meltdowner are given “repairs” after their near-death experiences.
          Experiment this time was rogue by even Academy City standards, I dont think Governing Board would like to see both themselves and city devoured by black hole of sorts….
          I wonder what happened to Kihara Gensei after he had been interrogated by Misaki?

          ewok40k
  3. I feel a bit conflicted.
    From an emotional standpoint, this was a wholesome conclusion to a very strong arc. It made me sympathetic to Mitori’s plight. But unlike Misaki it didn’t “redeem” her as she still deserves punishment for trying to kill Misaka’s mother.
    Of course you could argue that if someone like Accelerator who killed dozens of ppl got turned into a sort of anti hero, why not her as well?
    Also, the existence of Dolly’s sister felt a bit like a last minute cop out in order to give “team Misaki” a good end and help to form them in future hero characters. Wonder whether this is simply an adaptation issue.

    Anyways, while the constant breaks hurt a bit the flow of the arc, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Misaki is a great addition to the cast and I hope to see a a lot more of her in the future. Mental Out spin-off when.

    boingman
    1. Oh agreed the girl is not redeemed overall considering what she’s done, but in terms of her objectives she can at least start personally moving on and accepting her fate given Dolly is still technically living. I doubt she’ll become an anti-hero like Accelerator, but it’s not unlikely she turns good given her whole purpose has now been fulfilled.

      Also the Dolly clone does seem a little convenient, however her appearance and treatment is similar in the source material so it’s not an adaptation issue, just typical Indexverse 😛

  4. “Alright! Time to ride this week’s Railgun T train!” (*Reads news on ANN that episode 16 is delayed to July 24*)

    As Joseph Joestar would say, “OH NO!” (Also, good grief. My anime watchlist this season is pretty much reduced to Princess Connect! Re:Dive and Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise season 2–and the latter has delays of its own. While the second half of Rick and Morty season 4 should tide me over, I dunno for how long.)

    Anyway, on to the episode:
    – So that’s how Mitori got her twintail hairstyle… Minor detail aside, t’was nice to finally see her full backstory with Dolly (which also fills some of the gaps from Misaki’s own backstory with Dolly quite nicely). Though at the same time, after seeing what Mitori had to go through (especially that part where she’s locked up and forgotten/had her records erased by those crooked researchers), I feel like a heel for wanting more (lewd) fanart of her.
    – With that out of my system, the information Misaki gleaned from Gensei that Dolly’s memories were transferred to another clone felt like it came out of left field. But that information does provide the impetus for Misaki and Mitori to find her. (Cue the heartwarming reunion.) And speaking of the Mental Out esper…
    – Guess this is proof that Shokuhou Misaki still has a heart.
    – Had a chuckle at Misaka Imouto subconsciously sensing the memories of Dolly.
    – Hooboy, more Kuroko, Saten and Uiharu reaction faces to fill my anime screenshot folder… XD

    NGL, it’s gonna be painful waiting for Railgun T‘s next story arc in anime form, but with J.C. Staff managing to finish this arc despite the delays, they do deserve their well-earned respite (including a respite from worries about COVID-19, if that’s possible).

    Incognito
    1. I’m really curious to see how many anime studios go out of business because they’re not working. You could argue the money from the Production coms could cover wages, and thats true for short time. But if you’re a studio thats not doing any sort of work for months I would imagine you’ll be on the brink.

      They also wouldn’t have the $$$$ from any Blu Ray or DVD sales if they’re not making any episodes. And foreign licensors may not be as quick to throw cash at shows if they have no idea when they’re going to air. I would imagine for Funimation they would want to license things upcoming that they could stream like now, not months? away.

      Lyfe
      1. Well, if there are anime studios that will see their “stonks” rise (to borrow a certain meme), it’s definitely those studios that managed to finish most of their production ahead of this season. (And I’m a bit concerned that Princess Connect! Re:Dive might not be one of them. Haven’t seen any news regarding that on ANN’s list of Spring 2020 anime with completed productions.)

        As for anime DVD/Blu-Ray sales (and I’m looking at the JP market for now, where physical media is still a thing), I do wonder if it’s possible to (pre-)order a DVD/Blu-Ray volume of an anime online and have it delivered to one’s home over there? I’m predicting that the regular brick-and-mortar anime stores selling physical media won’t see much foot traffic in the coming months thanks to physical distancing, so delivery services (and pre-order bonuses/exclusives) might be the way to go. (To say nothing of online streaming.)

        Incognito
  5. What’s gonna happen to the rest of spring and the summer seasons with everything happening. Already a bunch of shows are on “hiatus” but there are gonna start running out of things they had ready before March pretty soon.

    Void
    1. Honestly no one knows, there has been precious few updates on suspended series for a while now. I expect a lot of the shows will reappear eventually given their use as promotional material, but as Lyfe mentioned above loss of revenue and studio bankruptcies could seriously throw a wrench into things. Couple that with inevitable virus-induced summer delays (Higurashi’s sequel and Haikyuu are the latest ones) and we are in for a few fun seasons at minimum.

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