Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「dual existence」by fripSide
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「天賦夢路 (ドリームランカー)」 (Doriimu Rankaa)
“Dream Ranker”
Patience may indeed be a virtue, but damn was it hard waiting for Railgun to return. After several intermittent stops and starts and then one disappointing (if understandable) delay, we are finally back to finish what should’ve ideally completed last season, and I for one couldn’t be happier. From the fun of blondes and tsundere clones to a made-for-Saten special, Railgun is properly back on track.
With Railgun having went on hiatus right at the end of the Daihasei arc, there was thankfully no real need for catchup as Dream Ranker got started this week. We got the appearance of all major players, the first taste of what this batch of episodes will all be about, and more than enough humour to help us all forget about the nuisance that is delay. Needed some testy Misaka tsuntsun-isms to round the day out? Have that aplenty. Wanted Misaki to do the usual and bring everything back to the true measure of status? Got you there fam. Thought Kuroko wasn’t Kuroko enough? Oh you won’t be disappointed. Hell even Saten did as Saten does just to confirm Railgun hasn’t lost its way. Personally all my love goes towards Misaki’s groupie Hokaze Junko though, because nothing says perfection like unintentionally setting up catfights between a pair of stubborn level fives. Gekota certainly approves.
On the more serious side, the titular focus of this arc was also revealed with Dream Ranker. Besides the fun which trading card fantasies and softcore pornos elicit, the biggie is naturally the existence of S-Rank people capable of providing, shall we say, tailored dreams and a dream transfer system which you know did not definitely arise from suspicious circumstances. Couple it with an accident predictor app (obviously Saten would find it first, because Saten), Kuroko running across its elementary schooler inventor Shaei, and Shaei outright asking for help, and it’s not too hard seeing there’s yet another bit of Science-side fun and games set to wreak havoc.
It’s anyone’s guess just what ties all these pieces together right now, but at least we can be confident knowing we won’t have to wait as long as before to start deconstructing the mystery.
ED Sequence
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ED: 「青嵐のあとで」 (Seiran no Ato de) by sajou no hana
Preview
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Dream Ranker is structured somewhat differently than other railgun arcs, and I’m curious to see how people will react to the format. Also, I knew the OP would spoil scavenger appearing, but it caught me quite by surprise in the manga. I didn’t care for them in the Accelerator manga, but found them endearing in Railgun. So if anyone came out of the Accelerator anime disliking them, give them a chance here.
Also for anyone who has forgotten, at the start of the ep when Junko questions Mikoto about how she plans to get a certain strap that “a girl can’t hope to get on her own”, that is indeed the set of pair straps that Mikoto gets with Touma back in Index II, and which reappear in Index III, particularly for the finale, as Mikoto finds Touma’s strap in the waters of the arctic after the fall of the star of Bethlehem.
Just when I thought on how that card can be misused, they showed someone doing exactly that. XD
Uncontrolled precognition is both a blessing and a curse. Can be great, like you MIGHT know what will appear on your next test. But can be real rough when it’s about something bad. The good thing about this setting is that they give the capability of validating the information and opening up the possibility of doing something about it. A good thing for the ones with those abilities. Have to wonder about inevitability though. If the bad things happens no matter what you do, there’s a chance of ending up like Okabe Rintaro.
On a less serious note, Kuroko actually responds to being called a hentai. The fact that she acknowledges it, is….. not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.
At this point I think Kuroko is just finally embracing what she’s known herself to be all along. After all, if she’s true to herself then obviously it’ll make it easier to convince Misaka to be true to herself and embrace Kuroko with open arms – or at least as Kuroko imagines it 😛
Hm, I wonder how much of this episode was anime original, referring to Misaki and Junko. I know that the latter has her own spin off manga, so might this be the setup for a possible anime adaptation? Anyways, I hope that unlike Railgun S, Misaki will still play a role in later episode instead of disappearing after episode 01.
They honestly don’t have time for anime original stuff. They’ve got to be pretty focused to cover the rest of dream ranker. The only addition I can think of is Junko actually saying her name. She wasn’t actually named until Astral Buddy.
From memory this was like three and a bit chapters of material this episode.
Pretty much this, unlike Railgun S this arc will have precious little anime-original-wise given how much material there is to adapt from Dream Ranker.
There was no Anime original content here aside from Junko telling Misaka her name, which didn’t happen in the Manga. She was a long time one of the nameless girls. and her name was only later revealed. So we called her the “drill hair girl” or “ringlet curl girl”. Well after getting her own Spin-off Manga she couldn’t remain nameless and we got her full name
The dream sequence reminds me of an episode of Prisma Illya where Rin gets bamboozled into becoming Luvia’s maid. 😛
Except that one was voluntary (money needs must), this sequence was far more coercive XD
Voluntary or no, both have a haughty blonde tawawa terrorizing a less-endowed tsundere maid. 😀
Actually expected a “Noblewoman’s laugh” from Misaki watching that scene, but sadly there was none. (Ohohojousama YouTube channel: “Aw, man…”)
I don’t fancy Shokuhou’s voice actress (Azumi Asakura, mostly known for Asia Argento from DxD and Yukiho from Idolmaster) as capable of belting out a good “Ohoho” like Luvia, much less legendary ones like Naga the Serpent. 😛
Eh, good point. If anyone in Railgun could pull off an “Ohoho” laugh, it’s definitely Kongou Mitsuko.
Railgun‘s back… All right!
Ah, Aogami Pierce… He of the boundless taste in women, fetishes, and an imagination that rivals (if not surpasses) Rule 34 artists. One of my favorite fictional male degenerates alongside Issei Hyoudou, Kazuma Satou and the Interspecies Reviewers. Shame that Mikoto and Misaki were close by and overheard his (lewd) conversation with his fans…
Other thoughts:
– All those facial expressions… (*Clicks tongue*) NOICE.
– Seeing a still alive (at this point in time) Frenda in the opening credits, also nice.
– That middle-schooler “Dark Side” group that Accelerator curb-stomped (yet spared) in his series (Scavenger)… What’s their role in this story arc?
– The return of the Tokiwadai dorm master… XD
– LOL, poor Junko.
– Indian Poker Cards… Besides being used for vividly lewd dreams, can they possibly be used for other shady, more sinister stuff (stealing personal info, gaslighting, the like, or worse)?
– Accident/crime prediction… Man, that’s some Minority Report or Psycho-Pass -level s**t. Though I can’t help but wonder if there’s someone (or heck, a “Dark Side” group) eager to exploit Shaei’s ability.
Is this gonna be like last season and be focused on one punch man coming to rescue his damsel in distress again? Because honestly last season was pretty much enough to make me want to wipe this series from my memory so if I’m gonna be disappointed I’d rather wait until Railgun starts being Railgun again to keep watching.
Nope no Fist of Justice in this arc, it’s all Railgun this time around. Mind you Misaka won’t be the major focus, but she also will not be a damsel in distress in need of rescue by Touma.
But a part of it will set up an Arc in Index and another very short part deals with the aftermath of an Index Arc, which will not be explained. So I don’t know how happy you will be with it
https://randomc.net/image/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Railgun/To%20Aru%20Kagaku%20no%20Railgun%20T%20-%2016%20-%20Large%2014.jpg
I waited YEARS to see this image in anime. Thank you.