Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S Episode 11
とある科学の超電磁砲（レールガン）S
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Mikoto is amused by Touma’s misfortune over losing ¥2000 in a certain vending machine, but she gets irritated by his apparently having forgotten all of their previous encounters. She uses her abilities, combined with a roundhouse kick, to get him free, random beverages. He runs off, fearing getting in trouble and is pursued by Mikoto along with all the drinks. Meanwhile, Kuroko is having afternoon tea (with desserts) with Saten and Uiharu where Saten speculates that Mikoto has a boyfriend, explaining her being absent every night and her reluctance to talk with Kuroko. Uiharu loves this explanation. The vending machine alarm causes Kuroko to leave to investigate, figuring she knows what caused it.

Mikoto gives Touma a beverage, saying that her kohai would love to be given a beverage from her. Touma doesn’t believe such a shoujo manga scenario would happen, but then Kuroko shows up, loudly calling for her oneesama. Kuroko is horrified to see Mikoto sitting with Touma, but decides to go super formal and introduce herself to him. Kuroko’s inference that Touma is Mikoto’s boyfriend angers Mikoto, who launches an attack. Kuroko teleports to a nearby street light. As Mikoto rails at Kuroko, Kuroko decides that Mikoto needs to develop a resistance to guys like Touma lest Mikoto end up with someone worse. Feeling Touma is a safe guy, Kuroko takes her leave.

Touma is amazed that someone actually uses “oneesama” in the context Kuroko does when one of the Misaka clones shows up, addressing Mikoto as oneesama. Mikoto is horrified and takes the clone aside to have a chat, where she’s devastated to learn that all her efforts to stop the Level 6 Shift project have been in vain as an experiment has just concluded. She angrily sends her clone away, then feels bad for lashing out at her “sister”. Meanwhile, Touma is taking his beverages home, when he accidentally drops them and is assisted by another Misaka clone. That night, Accelerator kills another clone and recalls how he got drafted into the Level 6 Shift project.

Mikoto hacks information, learning that there are 183 facilities contracted to do the Level 6 Shift project. In her horror at this discovery, she realizes that with all of the cameras and satellites watching Academy City, there’s no way that the city couldn’t be involved in this, especially since her own acts of destruction have been covered up. Mikoto returns to her dorm room to ponder how she can possibly go about bringing the experiments to an end. Kuroko worries that Mikoto’s return to depression is because of Touma and she’s not happy. Mikoto asks what Kuroko would do if it turned out Mikoto was doing bad things. Kuroko assumes she’s talking about the vending machine and chastises her accordingly. However, Mikoto understands that Kuroko would arrest her over her planned actions. Mikoto decides she can live with that.

Thoughts/Review:

This episode was adapted from volume 6, chapter 31 (all), chapter 32 (first half), and chapter 37 (roughly six pages).

Changes to the original manga story involved a minor cut when Saten and Uiharu met Kuroko. Another minor cut came from Kuroko coming to a certain vending machine, then seeking out Mikoto. The flashback sequence of when Touma met Mikoto was added, as was the fight between Accelerator and one of the Sisters.

I am curious why the flashback to Accelerator’s recruitment was moved to now. In the manga, it is part of an extended flashback that happens in a later fight when Accelerator finally meets a challenge.

During intense story arcs like the Sisters arc, it is always good for the writer to allow the audience to catch its breath. As such, I rather enjoyed Kuroko’s horror at the mere prospect that her beloved oneesama would be spending the night with a man. Indeed, Saten and Uiharu’s fueling the fires come off so much funnier in the anime than the manga.

For the fun of it, I did go back and watch A Certain Magical Index episode 10, which featured Kuroko’s encounter with Mikoto and Touma. While the basic story is the same, there are some interesting differences, making me wonder how the novel version of the story went. For example, in the Index anime, Kuroko says Mikoto is ditching supplemental classes to meet Touma, implying Kuroko encountered them by chance. Kuroko’s introduction to Touma in the Index anime is much less formal.

Another significant change is the tone of things when Misaka Imouto arrives at the scene. In this series, Mikoto is horrified by this, then ends up leading her clone away by the hand. In Index, she’s angry by this, then puts her arm around her clone’s shoulders and leads her away. I figure the original novel’s (volume 3) tone is properly reflected in the Index anime, but then modified to more accurately reflect Mikoto’s shock and horror in both the Railgun manga and anime.

One unfortunately loss in both the original Railgun manga and this episode is the explanation of Touma’s memory loss. I certainly applaud J.C. Staff for putting in a flashback showing how Touma and Mikoto met, but if one’s only exposure to the franchise is the Railgun anime/manga, it isn’t going to make sense why Touma suddenly can’t remember Mikoto.

Still, the episode was a good one as the table is now set for the next phase of the Sisters arc. I’m looking forward to seeing it.