A Certain Scientific Railgun T 09
とある科学の超電磁砲T

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

Mikoto overcomes a guard and steals his uniform. Then she blasts her way into the building. Meanwhile, Misaki uses her ability to cause the guards inside to fight each other as well as to provide herself bodyguards. Back at Judgement, Kuroko discovers KOUZAKU Mitori, leading her and Uiharu to head to the Judgement HQ in order to perform further investigation.

Since Saten isn’t allowed there, she returns to the Daihasei Festival. She sees Touma, whom she doesn’t know, looking for a good luck charm as part of a scavenger hunt event. She initially ignores him. However, sometime later when she’s eating takoyaki, she finds he’s still attempting to get a charm. As such, she gives him hers and arranges to have it returned.

At Judgement archives, Kuroko and Uiharu discover that Mitori is reported as dead. The archivist provides them with a conspiracy theory. This leads Kuroko to suspect Mitori was after Mikoto. Elsewhere, Mikoto is disguised in the guard’s suit, but a suspicious manager finds her. They encounter Misaki, so Mikoto fries the manager, who was about to pull a gun on her.

Meanwhile, Saten discovers the factory that came up in Kuroko’s and Uiharu’s research. She goes in, but is captured by the girl she had encountered earlier, Xochitl. She is going to let Saten go, but one of Mitori’s metal clones interferes. Xochitl confronts Mitori with the knowledge that Mitori is betraying MEMBER, causing Mitori to retreat. Xochitl then escorts Saten out of the building.

Misaki receives a report that Gensei has been captured. However, Misaki quickly discovers that Gensei is actually a man in disguise. Gensei has left a message for Misaki in the man’s memory. Misaki freaks over this and leaves with Mikoto following. Elsewhere, Keitz is tending Imouto when the building comes under attack.

Thoughts/Review

The fun has just begun with A Certain Scientific Railgun T 09. Though the series does keep shifting things, making the simultaneous movement of the three stories different from the manga, it is still a good adaptation.

Changes to the Source Material

The chapters covered in A Certain Scientific Railgun T 09 are the remaining, unadapted pages from chapter 56, the remaining, unadapted pages from chapter 57, all of chapter 58, and the first part of chapter 59. (Updated: A flashback moment in chapter 61 was also used here.) Here are the things that changed.

While the episode shows the infighting among the guards due to Misaki’s Mental Out ability, the episode does not show a similar thing happening with the research scientist in the building. Nothing major is lost here, but the scene does show that Misaki wasn’t just about controlling the security forces.

The scene at the end of the episode showing Keitz and Imouto was an anime original. However, I don’t mind it because I think the source manga  kinda lost track of these two for a bit. So this scene reminds the audience that they are there AND gives us a glimpse of what is going on with them. (Update: Blog reader Cordon reminds me that this scene was actually taken from chapter 61, but done as a flashback. So moving the scene to here is actually a good thing.)

The other changes come from sections of the chapters being shifted to the previous episode. Normally I don’t like this, but I see that the anime adaptation wanted longer segments for Kuroko and Uiharu’s investigation as well as Saten’s adventures.

One Trick Wonder Boy Appears!

While I knew Touma would show up in this series, I forgot that he had an encounter with Saten. We get to see that in A Certain Scientific Railgun T 09. I have to say, it is one of those rare times that the one trick wonder boy didn’t annoy me. He just comes off as a normal teen boy, desperate to get an item for the scavenger hunt.

I don’t remember how Touma returns the charm to Saten. I do know why Touma is in the story. So I’ll refrain from commenting more until that moment arrives. 😜

Saten Troubles

I’ve never been a fan of the one character that always gets into trouble. Although I like Saten as a character, the Railgun series always has her getting into trouble of one kind or other. And in A Certain Scientific Railgun T 09, Saten is used yet again in that role.

Still, I get why she gets used this way. And for this episode, it allows us to see Xochitl again as well as Mitori, whom Kuroko and Uiharu are investigating. I guess Xochitl shows up in Index III, which I’ve not watched yet. I don’t know where else she shows up. So I’m lost as to the connection she apparently has with Saten.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Since I’m mega behind, let me wrap up my review of A Certain Scientific Railgun T 09 with some final thoughts.

• I admit, I loved Mikoto’s bodyguard look. Her nailing an adult male her size in order to steal his uniform is a stretch. But she looked awesome, so I let that slide. 😛 (Update: Blog reader Cordon recalls that in the manga, Mikoto had a side remark about her finding the suit in a locker room.)
• I also like seeing Misaki and Mikoto working as a team. That’s fun.

In the end, A Certain Scientific Railgun T 09 is a fun, enjoyable episode. And the fun is only beginning. And thanks to blog reader Cordon for providing some extra bits in this piece!