Sequel to A Certain Scientific Railgun S
Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Action, Drama, Psychological
Age-Appropriateness: 15+ (Violence, profanity, suggestive themes, partial nudity)
Platforms: Hulu, Crunchyroll, Funimation
Episodes: 25
TheAwersome Rating: 8.2 / 10 (I genuinely enjoyed this)
Premise: The Daihasei Festival has begun, and Tokiwadai Middle School—a prestigious all-girls’ middle school—is competing too. Despite the participation of the “Ace of Tokiwadai,” Mikoto Misaka, the other students who are participating are still putting their utmost effort into winning. However, not all is fun and games. Due to the festival, Academy City opens to the outside world, and various factions have begun plotting ways to infiltrate the city. Misaka appears to be on their radar, and as the festival proceeds, people lurking from the shadows begin to emerge…
Join Misaka and her friends as they dive deeper into the dark side of Academy City. From terrorist attacks to ruthless underground projects, anything is possible in this city.
TheAwersome’s Thoughts: Well, hey, I genuinely enjoyed just about all of this installment! Something I really like about most Railgun installments in general is how much side characters get to shine. And not just in the SAO way of “throw away everybody but Kirito and introduce a brand-new cast each arc,” but Uiharu, Saten, Kuroko, Kongo, and others each get meaningful screentime and mini-arcs that show solid character development and exploration. That’s to say nothing of the equally interesting newly introduced characters (with a few exceptions for villains). This isn’t just a story about the big top ranked powerhouse, or even a “let’s watch the side characters try until Goku has to come save them.” It’s part of the true charm of Railgun; while esper abilities keep things fresh and interesting, lower-powered and un-powered characters play just as much of a role in the story. That, and there’s a lot of great psychological questions.
TLDR: The best of “A Certain” series.
Chronology: Takes place after Railgun S, before Index III. That or in a different timeline or something, not really sure.
We get more of the dark side exploration which is fun and interesting! Fights are really good (especially the ones with side characters, yay Kongo!), and I got very invested. Still has some flaws, mega-god power always seems to exist, cities seem to get razed all the time, not without boob jokes and a very small portion, but a portion nonetheless, of casual harassment.
You’ll likely enjoy this if you enjoyed:
At a Glance Anime 
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