Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S

Mikoto Misaka and her friends are back, investigating rumors across Academy City. Soon, Mikoto discovers something terrifying: horrific experiments are taking place throughout the city, involving the murder of thousands of espers. Moreover, these espers are far from just ordinary people: they are clones of Mikoto herself. Feeling responsible for their treatment, she sets off to put an end to the experiments; however, the forces opposing her are much more dangerous than she anticipated, and Mikoto finds herself up against some of the most powerful espers imaginable.

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S continues the story of the Railgun as she desperately fights to put an end to the inhuman experiments that she believes she helped cause, her life dragged deep into despair in the process. There's never a dull moment in Academy City, but no one ever said all of them would be pleasant.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Misaka, Mikoto Main

Satou, Rina Japanese

Shirai, Kuroko Main

Arai, Satomi Japanese

Saten, Ruiko Main

Itou, Kanae Japanese

Uiharu, Kazari Main

Toyosaki, Aki Japanese

Accelerator Supporting

Okamoto, Nobuhiko Japanese

Kamijou, Touma Supporting

Abe, Atsushi Japanese

Shokuhou, Misaki Supporting

Asakura, Azumi Japanese

Last Order Supporting

Hidaka, Rina Japanese

MISAKA 10032 Supporting

Sasaki, Nozomi Japanese

Seivelun, Frenda Supporting

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Ueda, Yasuyuki Producer

Nakayama, Nobuhiro Producer

Kananiwa, Kozue Producer

Reviews

Feb 21, 2025

HeIuna

Recommended

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 and that separates Misaka from her friends in a crucial way. 

Railgun S shows the academy city's first and the fourth level 5s which gives a good contrast between Misaka who is the third level 5. Misaka experiences the dark side of Academy City for the first time by seeing what the city has done. She also fights against other level 5s who live in totally different world. Misaka soon is in a situation where her powers aren't enough and she is too deep to ask help from Kuroko or others. Misaka develops during the story, learns from others, and becomes stronger. That kind of development isn’t in Railgun 1 because in it Misaka handles everything with her overwhelming power. 

The Manga original arc in Railgun S is the same as Index anime’s third arc in season one. In Railgun S the arc is shown from Misaka’s perspective but also accompanied by Touma's perspective. In Railgun S the end fight is much better and more loyal to the original light novel fight that they both are fundamentally based on. In Index the third arc is covered fastly, but in Railgun S there is left time to feel the feelings and it is also easier to follow when the storytelling is slower and shows more content and connections between the events. The later arc which is anime original complements the first arc, makes the story more whole entity and creates continuous development for Misaka during the season

Railgun S has an interesting story and Misaka goes through extreme situations. Still, the story is light and funny by showing what kind of world Misaka's friends live in. All comes together when Misaka is forced to decide whether she will proceed on her own or ask for help from her friends and make her friends experience the bark side of the academy city. 

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Mar 21, 2021

stmwg01

Mixed Feelings

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 scenes felt like a direct copy and the next didn’t. I can’t say that either show should’ve skipped the arch as they are important to both Misaka and Kamijou's development, but I would’ve liked to see the sequences and dialogue play out more closely. What was nice was the internal dialogue you got from each character in their perspective stories. More of that would've also been welcomed. With the amount we get, it feels more like a missed opportunity. Ultimately, if you're watching both Index II and Railgun S, you may want to opt to skip the Accelerator arch of Railgun S.

The other two archs were really good. I would’ve felt this was a superior season to the first, but the Accelerator arch overshadowed the other two. Since it depends on the order you watch the universe, I'm not going to count the plot itself as a negative, however, pacing isn't good and that is completely bizarre as the Accelerator arch only runs 6 episodes. If you asked me before looking it up, I would've claimed it ran at least half the season. Unfortunately, pacing seems to be a recurring problem with the Raildex universe, but it was a bit more prevalent in Railgun S. The final arch felt noticeably rushed while the Accelerator arch seemed incredibly long. The only one that felt well paced was the first, the Shinobu arch.

Animation remains the same. Not the best and in some cases feels a bit rushed and unpolished. Nothing terrible, but I've seen better. Sound also remains the same.

Character is a bit tricky. I think they lost a little pizzazz since the world and characters have already been built, but all the interactions feel genuine and natural. I think a drawback might be that I find most main characters very likeable. It makes them feel a bit bland in terms of development. I would also say that some characters like Shinobu, especially after her character development, deserve more screen time and are seemingly tossed away like a rag. So, the issue of introducing characters then having them feel unused returns, but isn't nearly as bad as the first season of Railgun.

My enjoyment of Railgun S suffered due to the Accelerator arch being a carbon copy of MI2's plot and feeling extremely long compared to the others. It unfortunately made the middle arch a bit tedious to sit through. I think pacing was poor and really contributed to my diminishing enjoyment. The show is worth a watch, but consider watching the first arch (ep. 1-11) before MI2, then watching MI2 and finishing the final arch of Railgun S (ep. 15-24).

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Feb 16, 2020

Abbeyland

Not Recommended

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!

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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