Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Ahb9_0
A Certain Scientific Railgun S — Review
Introduction
Welcome to Railgun S, where the pacing is consistent, there are no episodes built around scenarios I've seen a million times in anime and cartoons, no scenes of Saten lifting Uiharu's skirt every five minutes, no stupid, repetitive interactions, and no episodes whose irrelevance to the overall story you can predict from the outset.
(This review covers only the main-story episodes, not the filler. I mean, is there any sane person who cares about filler in 2026? I also won't discuss Index because I haven't watched it.)
--- Storytelling
Storytelling is one of Railgun S's biggest strengths and one of its most significant improvements over the first season. To highlight this improvement, I'll break it down into several factors.
1. Impro…
Read at the sourceAnimablisher
First things first,
for people wondering: Should you watch Railgun (Toaru side story) before Index (Toaru main story)?
Personally, I think not.
You've probably seen people glazing the hell out of Railgun, treating it as the superior Toaru series.
Such claims are valid. However! I do not think Railgun is a "replacememt" for Index.
The reason is simple, really:
"The author's intention."
You CAN watch Railgun without Index, but you'll be missing out on many important details that might cause Railgun to come off as "badly-written" in some aspects. Trust me, you will be able to appreciate Railgun WAY MORE if you experience Index before it. More on that later.
So, what even is "Railgun S"?
What happens in Railgun S?
Railgun S is the second season of Toaru Kagaku no Railgun. And oh boy... A LO…
Read at the sourceHeIuna
Arc to arc, episode to episode it's hard to stop watching this anime. Railgun S includes one manga original arc and one anime original arc. With that, Railgun S covers amazing character development and unexpected storylines.
In the story, we get the opportunity to see Academy City through Misaka's eyes. Judgment duties are covered and the life of normal students is shown. The story doesn't get boring even when it covers the basic life of Academy City because, at the same time, Misaka fights against corruption on her own, thinking that by doing it she will protect the normal lives of her friends. The story is multilayered and compared to the first season Railgun S contains a lot more action and the story is more complex. Misaka's responsibilities as a third level five esper become clearer…
Read at the sourcerobert788
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S (2013)
The first thing is first, 2013?! what a great anime to have aged so damn well. Secondly, the sisters are just the best as usual with the way they speak especially.
The story is a continuation of the main story and can be slotted into the index series at various points if you want proper order. I watched it after watching all of the index shows and it still works.
The art as I said has aged very well and is a super thing to watch considering its age.
The OP and ED are fun and the sound is great for it's age. The voices of course with Shirai and the sisters are phenomenal.
The characters you can still care about and you really understand many situations and have some introduced early for what can only be expected as a later upcoming thing.
I especi…
Read at the sourcelongdhonghong
Look, the first 16, 17 episodes were excellent. A deviation from the format from the first season. I liked how it was a little bit dark and brooding, and really highlights the burden that Mikoto has to overcome. And the final fight for that arc was super. My only big complaint is that any injuries was shrugged off dragon ball style, but whatever, it's fantasy.
But oh my hell. The latter part of this season sucked so hard. I was actually upset trying to finish. I did not give a crap about the stupid febri febreeze arc. I did not watch this anime for the girls to take care of some random kid. And the last episode with all the judgements come together is where I draw the line with my suspension of disbelief. I think the author really dropped the ball with this arc. I loved the occasional ki…
Read at the sourceLionzero
I did not review Season 1 of Railgun. So here goes. It was fantastic and a great set up for this world.
OK Boom! Season 2.
SO! My favorite story of Index was the Sisters Arc where it focused on Mikoto Misaka and her clones. Cool. It was a very interest plot that lasted for like 2 or 3 episodes. Sad! I wanted more of that. It was something they really could expand on and I could sink my teeth into!
*Introducing Scientific Railgun S* What! An anime where about 16 episodes of the 24 episode run time is dedicated to the Sisters Arc from Misaka's perspective? You mean it greatly expands on it and even redoes some scenes to make it flow better than Index!? SOLD!
The other arc involved is the Silent Part arc. It isn't as bad as many make it sound. Just comparatively to the first part of this…
Read at the sourceCountermax
Uno de los mejores arcos que nos puede dar el anime en general, se merece por lo menos entrar al top 50.
En historia no se queda corto ya que como dije tiene el mejor arco de toda la saga de toaru y también uno de los mejores en el anime en general
En personajes nos da a una protagonista que se hace querer tanto por su pasado como la evolución que lleva a cavo en el anime y el villano principal 10/10 ya que se ase odiar por como es pero si te vez las demas temporadas de los otros animes de seguro se vuelve tu personaje favorito
en gráficos le doy un 10 ya que se nota como le pusieron esfuerzo al mejor arco dándonos unas peleas excelentes gráficamente
Read at the sourcestmwg01
Quick take: In Railgun S, were treated to three really good storylines and good character interaction with the same animation quality from previous seasons. Pacing issues return and if you're watching the entire Magical Index universe, there are some episodes you may want to skip.
For reference, my watch order was Railgun-MI-MI2-Railgun S.
The issue: Railgun S and Magical Index II overlap. This normally wouldn't be an issue as I actually like seeing the same events from a different character’s eyes. However, Railgun S and MI2 portray the dialogue and sequence slightly different when it comes to the Misaka Clone/Accelerator arch. The overall plot isn’t different, but if you’re binging the shows, you’ll notice the slight differences. I personally found this bothersome especially when some…
Read at the sourcecat-enby
While "Toaru Kagaku no Railgun" (or "A Certain Scientific Railgun") is not what most—myself included—would consider a S-tier anime, it still remains one of my personal favourites due to the show's warm atmosphere and, albeit largely reliant on stereotypes, nevertheless rather lovable cast; both of which really grew on me over the first season's 24 episode runtime.
The second season of "Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S", henceforth referred to as "Railgun S", contains much less of the sweet and sunny energy that imbued Academy City in its predecessor. Instead, the show instates a rather grim but surprisingly sophisticated storyline as its placeholder—namely, the Sister Arc.
For anyone who has already seen the first season of "Railgun"s parent show, "Toaru Majutsu no Index" ("A Certain Magical In…
Read at the sourceKurtisAA
Holy bajeez.
I can count on one hand the amount of times any show, game, or book I've seen/read has shot up THIS much in quality between releases.
The animation is fine, but it was always, the music is great, but it was always. What Railgun S does is give you an intensely gripping plotline to follow that changes characters, alters the narrative of the world in a big way, and remains consistent in quality throughout the season. The cast of characters were...fine, I guess, in the first season, but I would have never believed you if you told me I'd be so attached to Misaka (the main character) and to be visibly panicking whenever something potentially dangerous was going to happen. I would have laughed if you told me that these writers could introduce a character at the beginning of an epis…
Read at the sourceRyhzik
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun season two takes the series a significant step in the right direction. While season one wasn't bad, I thought it had some architectural problems that detracted from the potential of the show. It has room to grow, but I can confidently say I enjoyed season two and am excited to see what the future holds for Toaru Kagaku no Railgun. (For brevity's sake I will avoid rehashing basic elements of the series in this review, as this is not the first season.)
Season one was primarily episodic with a few short narrative arcs spread throughout. Season two reverses the proportionality and is primarily narrative driven (there are two arcs) while allocating a few episodes at the beginning of each arc to a more episodic style. I think this was a good change as it allows for deepe…
Read at the sourceAbbeyland
While I mostly enjoyed Season 1 of this show, Season 2 has been a walk in the desert. Mikoto Misaka went from badass in the first season to a weak, weeping and depressed bore in the second. The whole clone story is a boring mess and they keep introducing side characters who are stronger than Mikoto. Not just stronger but WAY WAY stronger. Despite her being the third strongest of the seven Level 5 espers.
It's bad writing. Stay true to your characters. Don't make your hero suddenly weak - after having spent the entire previous season to show her strength - just to beef up the evil guys and create artificial drama. Obey the rules of the world you built!
Read at the sourceDearyDarling
I'm glad to have met the characters, the world itself wasn't all that interesting, but all-in-all I'm just so glad to be done with this. Was it good? Sure, okay, yeah, tell you what? It was good done wrong? Like a roller coaster at a snail's pace wouldn't be much fun but it's still, technically a great roller coaster? Structurally? That's how I feel about Railgun. It had loops and turns and drops and swoops in all the right places and I liked all the folks on the ride, but, telling this story this slowly made all those things tedious.
Read at the sourceRayReynolds
As I mentioned in the review of his prequel, Railgun works better as anime, because the studio has more freedom do it, a much simple plot, continue with the same slice of life formula with isolated facts that leave clues for future events, only here we can see the true potential by adapting a much more serious plot arc such as the sisters' arc, much better executed than in Index even with better atmosphere and animation, it also works better because we can see the facts from the point of view of Mikoto being a character naturally involved in the matter for being something that concerns her and not only introduced because: "her good will makes her wanting to help whoever is there" anyway the best development does Touma's intrusion so much more enjoyable, anyway it would be better if it was…
Read at the source71
Academy City.
The city which presents itself as a place which will lead countless esper youths into a better tomorrow, as well as give them a proper environment to develop their abilities, both academic & PSI.
However, as night falls upon the city, its true nature slowly begins to unravel itself. This "true nature" is one filled with a large quantity of crime, crime rings, rebellious drop-outs turned criminal after being rejected by the world of science, and above all...
...experimentation.
What kind of experimentation you may ask? Cloning. Specifically, mass-produced clones, all made for the single purpose of being killed off by one man, so that a team of sleazy scientists could play God as they saw fit.
And at the source of this mass-production is just an ordinary, plain, 14 year old…
Read at the sourcesketchbook017
The story plot is great and it clearly shows what happened between the characters.And it shows the cruelty or our world, Not that i experienced it " But the thing is that when i watched this anime all over and over again i wished that this anime has a romanced genre. Sure it's already great but it will be even exciting if Misaka and kamijou are lovers .My point is that the majutsu series Main heroine Index is not really that cute or something , Her character is too Flat or still stay's the same and she's a big glutton. Well that's really cute most anime girls are really cute when they are really gluttony or something .And my conclusion is that Misaka is really Cuter and better than Index.
And I'm sorry for the fact that I'm not really good at Review's at a anime series hahahha.But i just…
Read at the sourceOVERPOWERED99
STORY - 9
ART - 9
SOUND - 9
CHARACTER - 9
ENJOYMENT - 9
Illuminating against a dark secret, the electricity flowing through a coiled wire induces a powerful electromagnet. This is the attractive force that gives rise to a significant and amazing sequel titled Railgun S. A sequel that has darkened the story for the better.
The revamped expansion of the Sisters Arc from Index now reveals a greater impact while implementing its own semi-theoretical science. This is a poignant story about the pain, suffering, care, and kindness triggered by one of the most controversial subject science has made possible. That is, the cloning of humans. Through a branched exploration of human values, this season gets you to feel personalized and deeply embedded by its ideas. With the Sisters, it questions whe…
Read at the sourceTirta_Firdaus
This “+S” title continues the story of its predecessor with a different approach. Welcome to the dark side of Academy Town. And welcome to the wonder of friendship that shines side to side with that darkness.
Story : 8/10
Despite the essence of the story is very much a same thing with season 1, this anime took a different way to tell the story. Almost to the very end of this “+S” title, we are given quite a look toward the dark side of the town where the characters live. This darkness is the very consequence of the existence of the town itself.
In a way, we can say that this anime’s story is more dynamic than the previous season. We can feel all sort of emotions throughout this anime – the MC struggles, being humbled, feels despair, cries, and develops very well. The MC starts to think…
Read at the sourceshonenSHAOLIN
In anime, the greatest way to improve your series is making change. This anime kept the things that needed to be kept intact, while changing the overall mood and theme - drastically. That's where my love for this show began.
Let's recap. The original Railgun was a very light-hearted, fluffy, innocent show with a smiley scene around every corner. Even during battle sequences. Railgun S... is not like that. It's not a bad thing, however. It's good to mature a series with the audience. This series is far bloodier, more emotional and introduces a new band of characters while simultaneously retaining the original ones. The story becomes far more suspenseful with the introduction of Accelerator and ITEM, whose intentions escalate the plot and intensify the darkness factor.
This is one of tho…
Read at the sourceanand891996
Ah, Another series focused on Misaka Mikoto and her exploits in Academy City. Oh the Joy.
I binged watched both seasons of this series (curiously, I watched Railgun before I watched the Index series), so when I came to this immediately after finishing season 1, I was expecting something along the lines of a light hearted Slice of Life series similar to season one, meandering but still interesting. The first two episodes did nothing to change that impression.
And then, the SISTERS arc began.
Now, I won't spoil the story for you guys, But the story takes such a DARK turn between episodes 3-5....and then you wont be able to stop all the way to 16. The plot is so riveting, so focused, so INTENSE.
In season 1, all we really saw of Mikoto's powers was her Railgun (which in itself is amazing), a…
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