Odds are that you’ve heard of Sword Art Online if you have any interest in anime. Before Attack on Titan came along, it was basically the most hyped anime to come out. It went viral instantly and suddenly everyone knew about it and really enjoyed or disliked the anime. It’s only natural that I would see it at some point and the plot sounded like a lot of fun. The show got off to an incredible start, but the ending was incredibly awful. Time to see what happened!
The plot revolves around a kid who goes into an virtual video game by putting on a headset. It’s like the Oculus Rift, but a tad more futuristic. Once he enters the game; Kirito realizes that he cannot get out. The programmer decided to get rid of the log out function and the only way to escape this place it to complete the game. If a player died in the game world, then they will die in the real world as well. Luckily, Kirito played the Beta version, but will that be enough for him to complete the game on his own? Either way, the rest of the players will be trying to head for the goal as well and the minions are not unlimited so they may have to fight for EXP. Let the games begin!
Arc 2 takes a different route as the SAO nightmare is not over. Some of the players never returned and Kirito is forced to head into a dangerous video game in order to tie up loose ends from the first arc. He’s going to do whatever it takes to make things right again and he is helped by his sister. Kirito and Suguha do not know that they are teaming up in the virtual world and just assume that it is a stranger. (Despite Kirito not even bothering to change his real life design from his online one…) No matter, they just need to complete the game!
During these two arcs we still manage to have some time for filler and the pacing can get a little rough. While some episodes may technically not be filler in the first arc, they definitely feel that way. We get a multi parter about a mystery that wasn’t very interesting and we even take time to see Kirito take a day off from saving the world. There’s also a random quest so that Kirito can get a new sword. Some of these plot points come back in a big way and others don’t really need to return. It can also make the story a little harder to follow because the timeline keeps jumping all over the place. Episode 8 may take place after 6 but before 7 and it boggles the mind. It can be complex in a good way, but it can also feel a little out of place. Kirito will be mopping the floor with everyone in one episode and then getting beaten up with ease in another.
Kirito is a pretty good character and his voice actor in the english dub did a terrific job. It’s easy to root for Kirito because he’s such a noble character and he always wants to help. He does have some iffy moments that detract from his coolness such as his ungraceful effort in helping Asuna get away from her bodyguard and the whole romance angle seemed to take him down a few pegs. He’s typically at his most hardcore when he’s alone. He was awesome during the first few episodes and he was pretty likable in Arc 2 as well. He’s pretty unforgettable and he finishes the show looking pretty good. He’s not going to be the greatest protagonist out there, but he’s good enough.
Asuna can be a little disappointing in this show. I’ve heard that she’s a whole lot better in the novels so I guess we’ll see about that, but her role in the anime isn’t great. She gets to fight the final boss of Arc 1 in a sense, but she doesn’t do well. She’s a high ranking member in the army, but she still needed help to get away from one of the underlings and we rarely get to see her fight any of the opponents. She has some good fight scenes, but they’re typically just against minions or she’s just supporting Kirito’s attacks. She needed a bigger role and it doesn’t help that her Arc 2 role is pretty sad. So, Asuna isn’t a bad character, but she’s not as tough as I had guessed.
Sugou is terrible and he’s the main villain of arc 2. His picture that’s shown above really depicts how awful he is. The creator of Sword Art Online technically destroyed many more people and basically committed genocide, but he’s still more likable than Sugou. He still had some dignity and humanity left in him. Sugou crosses all of the lines that he can and I’m just glad that the anime didn’t feature any puppies for him to try and kick. He’s pretty despicable and you can’t even appreciate him as a villain. His reasons are all very petty and he’s a very sad person. He single handily managed to drag Sword Art Online down with him towards the end of Arc 2, which shows how awful he is. He may be the worst final boss that I’ve seen in a long time!
Heathcliff is the big general of the army in Sword Art Online. He can fight, which is a step up from most of the commanders that you may be used to seeing. He is an excellent fighter as it turns out and he is one of the only guys who can give Kirito a challenge. I can’t say that I really liked him, but he wasn’t a terrible character. He doesn’t really have honor when it comes down to a fight though and that’s where he loses major points for me.
Skull Reaper and Gleam Eyes are only two of the epic enemies that appear in Sword Art Online. Arc 1 definitely had some fun opponents and I give the anime props for giving them a horror feeling. The backround music was perfect for when Gleam Eyes appeared and Skull Reaper’s design can give anyone chills. I also liked a Phantom that attacked the heroes in one of the episodes and his stats were off the charts. The heroes really didn’t stand a chance against him. It’s rare that we get to see monsters act as big bosses anymore so it was fun to see them.
Suguha is the main heroine of the second arc and I can’t say that she was terribly likable either. In a sense, she’s similar to Asuna in personality, but she’s not as powerful. This doesn’t bode well for her and she doesn’t really get any big fights in the show. She has magical abilities, but they aren’t good against the stronger enemies. She also has a lot of drama in her human form and I could have gone without that subplot. Just tell Kirito that they will have to be rivals and leave it at that. She can fight pretty well in the human world which is good. If not for her subplot, Suguha was actually a decent character. I’m sure that she’ll bounce back for the sequel.
Yui became a main character once she appeared early on during Arc 1. She’s not a bad character although she doesn’t really add anything to the plot. She does provide Kirito with someone to talk to at times so it is a good way to advance the plot without monologing to one’s self for no real reason. Yui has some pretty impressive abilities that help out the heroes as the show goes by. She jokes around a lot with Kirito and friends, but ends up coming through when it counts.
There are other characters that I could mention like Grimlock and Sigurd, but they don’t really feel major enough to warrant their own sections. Even the red haired guy from episode one vanished for a long time before briefly reappearing. Kirito also joined a squad during one of the earlier episodes but I can’t say that they were super likable. They should have listened to his expert advice! (Still an emotional scene though) There are plenty of characters in SAO, but I can’t say that most of them are likable. The bartender is a nice guy and he’s probably the best from the minor supporting characters.
So, what happened to the show? Sword Art Online’s first episodes were awesome and I was probably going to give it a low end 8 or a very high 7. Unfortunately, that’s when the random mini arcs popped up to give us some romance and a really boring mystery. A lot of the episodes didn’t really feel like they had a point. I only liked it when they’d work towards getting up the tower and Kirito’s epic fight against Heathcliff. That being said, it was definitely still a decently high 7. The arc also ended on an epic note and that’s where the series should have ended.
Then…arc 2 came along to blow the show up. If you thought that Guilty Crown imploded towards the end..then you need to see this show to see how you truly mess up an anime. I actually did not mind the beginning of the second arc…for a few seconds. Once the plot started and we find out what Asuna’s fate is…things quickly went down. The villain gets away with just about everything and Kirito can’t stop him. (Which is the main problem. We get that villains are evil because they’re the villains, but we don’t need to see how evil they are. After a certain point, it just makes the villain completely unlikable. I also prefer when the hero is able to stop the villain before maximum damage can be done. In this case, the villain lasted too long and accomplished too many of his goals) Kirito should have brought a camera and sent proof to the police between matches or just knocked him out and locked him up until he can get proof. (I realize that the second option isn’t feasible, but Kirito needed to do something!) Instead, it’s back to the gaming world.
The actual game is pretty interesting and it’s visually better than the Tower from the first game. Flying is a nice addition and Kirito even got to keep his level ups, which means that he’s still very powerful. Unfortunately, that’s when Suguha’s subplot comes into play and we get some plot twists about how related they are. Making matters worse is Asuna’s subplot, which we keep seeing over and over again. We know that she has absolutely no hope, but the anime keeps on showing this to us until it’s burned into our memory. Kirito’s plot was pretty good, but we can’t ignore the subplots.
Things went to ground zero during the final episodes as the main villain got two octopus assistants that were pretty awful. There was also a very unnecessary plot twist about some of the other players from SAO who weren’t able to get out in time. Time to give the show a dark twist eh? How did the police not notice this? Finally, Kirito meets up with the villain and things don’t go very well. It’s time for Kirito to realize how powerless he is and the scenes are cringe worthy. After that, we get to see Kirito’s super rage moment as he sadistically takes the villain on. Finally, the online game ends!!!! The final episode definitely leaves off on a happier note, but Kirito must be crazy.
After those two traumatic experiences..I’d never go into a virtual world again. I don’t know how they’re still legal after those two huge controversies and unless someone needs his help; Kirito should stay in the real world. In that respect; I definitely didn’t care for the ending. I was just relieved that Arc 2 was over. I really hope that no future SAO arc is that bad. The first one was amazing and the second one was downright awful, which means that they basically cancel out as far as the rating goes. Luckily, this isn’t an unusual thing. Soul Eater, Accel World, Samurai 7, Railgun S, Guilty Crown, Naruto (to an extent. Like 50+ filler episodes in a row…..) and many more have suffered the same fate. Sword Art Online’s just happened to be a little more drastic than the average show, but it can always bounce back. The sequel does show a lot of promise and adding guns to the mix could be nice and exciting.
The animation in Sword Art Online is also impressive and you can tell that they put a lot of effort into the show so that it would look good. The fights are always very flashy and exciting to watch and the show feels new. I have a feeling that it’s one of those shows that will never really look old. It’ll age pretty well and 20 years from now it’ll still be able to match up. Everything from the character designs to the backgrounds look very good.
Again, I have to stress how great the fight scenes were. The one thing that I really did enjoy in the second arc of Sword Art Online was the fight scenes. Kirito’s match against the Red group’s commander was excellent and his final battle against thousands of flying minions that came out was spectacular. Arc 1 also had it’s share of incredible fights. They’re some of the highest budget fights that you’ll see out there and they have the right amount of flashiness to coincide with the swordplay. The music just amps up the epicness for these scenes and Kirito is a solid protagonist to root for. All of these factors result in really great action scenes.
Unfortunately, SAO does have some fanservice. It’s mainstream so it’s probably expected that they would add some, but it’s still sad. It’s not a whole lot, but the small scenes to add up. They typically involve Kirito and Asuna or just Asuna. The scenes typically come out of nowhere and some are practically there just so that they can have the stereotypical scene where the main heroine gets jealous. The scenes will likely make you wince, but that’s the effect that they always have so it’s not surprising!
Sword Art Online’s soundtrack is very good. It has some very nice theatrical sounding themes in it. The fight against Glimmer Eyes started with a great theme and even Kirito’s quick assault against the guy with the shield had a good fight theme. There are mainly 2-3 action themes that I liked in the first arc and another 2-3 in the second. The show definitely excelled in this area and the soundtrack deserves 5 stars.
It’s time to finish up the comparisons to Accel World. Now that I’ve finished both, I can safely say that Sword Art Online feels higher quality. They definitely put more budget into it and the soundtrack/animation really show this. That being said; Accel World rules the school when it comes to fight scenes. Nothing can stop Silver Crow’s big fights. They’re fast, epic, and awesome. They’re some of the best fights in anime history and you won’t be forgetting them anytime soon. Combat Animation goes to Accel World. Overall animation goes to Sword Art Online. Soundtrack goes to Accel World. It’s tough, but Accel World takes the slight edge here. Both of them die out in Arc 2, but Accel World’s wasn’t nearly as drastic. So, it wins in Arc 2 and Sword Art Online wins Arc 1. Overall, Accel World wins. Still, Sword Art Online had the better main character, which helps to even the odds. Accel World ended up being the better show for me, but they both do a good job of showing how tough it can be to have games with such high stakes. (Accel World deserves a sequel!)
Overall, Sword Art Online is a tragic tale of an anime that ascended to great heights and then lost itself in the blink of an eye. The soundtrack and animation are terrific and I really enjoyed Kirito as a main character. His english voice actor is currently my favorite as he even passed Ichigo’s. I highly recommend watching the first arc and by then it’s hard to stop without finishing. Just be prepared for disappointment as you start the second arc. No matter how bad and unrelated to the title of the show you may think it is…it’s worse! Getting rid of the second final episode of the series would have bumped the show up to a 6 and just getting rid of the Asuna subplot in Arc 2 would have jumped it to a 7. Ah well, these things happen and I have much higher hopes for the sequel. (Guns vs Swords…the ultimate question!) On that bright note….I’m off!
Overall 5/10
Update. This is the kind of series that gets worse and worse as you remember it. It’s been a little over a year since I reviewed the title and would give it more of a 1-2 thanks to just how bad the ending is. Seriously, this is one show that you Do not want to watch!
The first Railgun show was pretty fun and one would likely expect the sequel to be even better. Luckily, this is the case with Railgun S and it amps up the stakes in every way. That can be a good thing for some and it may be too different for others. All I can say is that action fans will definitely approve! Time to see why Railgun S is so great!
The first Railgun show was very lighthearted and I’d call it a slice of life with some action. Railgun S has two arcs and the first one is complete action with some drama and emotional moments. It’s a lot darker than anything we saw in the first show and the violence is also heightened. The best part about this is the fact that most of the fanservice has been eliminated from the show, which is terrific! The second arc goes back to Railgun’s roots and the show becomes a lot happier once again. After the amazing first arc this may be a disappointment, but it’s still fun.
Before the first arc begins, we get a quick stand alone episode where Misaka gets to show off her abilities and she takes down some villains. After that, the arc quickly starts and it takes up most of the series. When Misaka was a little girl, some researchers took some of her DNA and they decided to illegally clone her. They want to create a Level 6 fighter that can surpass all others. They approach the world’s strongest Esper, Accelerator, who accepts their terms since he wants this power. He has to destroy 20000 clones of Misaka to unlock level 6. Accelerator isn’t fazed by this and the massacre begins. The clones are to fight him in one on one battles and they don’t mind the fact that they will be destroyed since it’s just what they do.
The real Misaka finds out about this and decides to stop Accelerator, but she has no chance in a physical fight. She will have to destroy all of the facilities in the city so that the researchers cannot continue their experiment. The problem is that these researchers have hired a group of powerful Espers to take Misaka down…and one of them is another Level 5! Misaka has never faced such a large scale fight before and (since her friends won’t help at all) she may need the help of Academy City’s strongest Level 0….Touma! This arc was awesome and I’ll continue to talk about it in the later parts of the review.
Arc 2 lowers the stakes so it’s more of a happy mystery, but things still get tense at times. Febri is a mysterious girl that the heroes find in the park one day. There’s something off about this occurrence and meanwhile, some scientists want to defeat the Espers. They’re mad because they are some of the smartest students around, but nobody wants to recognize their true greatness. To get back at them, these students are going to use their mecha army to wreck havok on the city and destroy everyone. Looks like a job for Misaka and pals!
It’s a little hard to try and make Arc 2 exciting because it really wasn’t. A lot of it didn’t make a whole lot of sense and it was hard to take the villains seriously after seeing someone as powerful as Accelerator. Arc 2 also didn’t contain as many fights as Arc 1 and none of them were quite as epic. Ah well…that’s why we have Arc 1!
For example, my favorite part of the series was the gauntlet against ITEM. It even surpasses the Accelerator climax because it’s 2-4 episodes of nonstop action and battling. (Technically Accelerator vs Touma is just one fight after all) The ITEM group really gave Misaka a challenge and it was awesome. It helps that I love the new villain group trope and I had been wanting to see another Level 5 do battle. We got to see Misaka’s determination in that battle as she fought well past her energy limit and she had to think of inventive ways to use her abilities so that she could walk out of there alive.
Misaka is just as likable as in the first show, but we get to see more of her abilities in this show. As I mentioned in my previous review, there wasn’t really anyone that could be a challenge for Misaka. Her electric abilities were too much for her opponents and until we saw the only two Espers in the world who could defeat her; that didn’t seem like it was going to change. Luckily, we got some great fights in Arc 1 so we got to see what Misaka could really do. She’s easily one of the strongest Electric users out there and she’s proven that she can hold her own show as well as Touma…maybe even better.
Touma continues to prove that he’s the perfect side character. As a protagonist he ranged from cool to downright awful. As a side character in Misaka’s show, he’s always awesome. I didn’t really think that he could look better in this show than in the last one, but I quickly changed this view. Touma got a pretty cool cliffhanger where he clenches his fist for no real reason, but things get epic once he joins the fray. He’s decided that he’s going to take down Accelerator so that he can save the clones (One of which became his friend) as well as Misaka. To do this, Touma is going to have to enter the ultimate fight. The Strongest Level 5 vs the Weakest guy in the world. If all characters were as cool as Touma, then the world of media would be much different.
Railgun S continues to have great characters as Accelerator is introduced. Misaka is a perfect main character; Touma is the perfect side character, and Accelerator is the perfect villain. It’s impossible to sympathize with him and you really can’t wait until he’s defeated. I actually became a pretty huge fan of him in Index and he’s my favorite character in the franchise, but for now we’ll have to settle for liking him as a villain. If I were just counting this show, he would be under Touma and Misaka. He’s an incredible villain, but you really can’t root for him while he’s destroying everybody. Accelerator succeeds as a villain because his abilities are very hard to overcome and he’s also very confident. Unlike other villains, Accelerator can back up his tough talk.
Frenda is one of the members of ITEM and she’s the first one to challenge Misaka. She’s actually pretty good at hand to hand fighting, but she specializes in medium to long distance attacks. She can plant her dolls at key areas and then set them to explode once the opponent gets near and triggers the trap. She’s essentially like Batman in the fact that prep time greatly helps her fighting capabilities. She’s one of the better members of the group even if her abilities can’t really stack up in a one on one fight.
Mugino is basically the leader of ITEM when they’re in the field. She is a level 5 and her ability allows her to shoot powerful lasers that can go right through steel walls. She can also use them defensively to protect her from all incoming attacks like Gaara’s Ultimate Defense. She’s definitely a powerful opponent although I’m sure that Misaka would be more than a match for her if they fought on equal terms. Mugino is a decent character, but her abilities are great so I’m glad to have her on the show. Hopefully she gets another fight at some point.
Kinuhata (Super strength) and Riko (Telepathy) don’t get to do a whole lot in the show so it’s harder to talk about them. Riko can sense where an opponent is by their AIM fields so she’s good to have in a group. Unfortunately, that also means that she wouldn’t do very well in a one on one fight. She’s a decent character, but her natural abilities just aren’t that great and she has to augment them artificially. I have a feeling that this won’t help her in the long run. Kinuhata is the most interesting member and she could present a challenge to some of the heroes. Her ability seems to make her body impervious to injury to the point where she can block bullets. It’s not absolute, but a stone wall defense like that is pretty great in a fight and she’s also very fast.
Shinobu is a researcher who was involved in the cloning operation that was taking place in Academy City. She didn’t mind them at first because she thought of the clones as inorganic. They weren’t really alive and they didn’t have emotions because they were linked through a network. Eventually, she realized that they were just as real as normal people and she made it her life’s goal to save them. Unfortunately, she is only a mere mortal and that’s not good in this show. She looks very bad in Arc 2 and her plans don’t really help in Arc 1 either. She has good intentions, but her methods are pretty ineffective and I really didn’t care for her. She just wasn’t that likable.
Kuroko doesn’t get a particularly large role in this show. She’s as unlikable as ever, but the show also gives her a subplot where she decides that she won’t try to find out what Misaka is up too. (Misaka is going around blowing up government facilities to stop the experiments) The show plays it off as a good thing and Kuroko gets to show Misaka that she trusts her judgment and everything. Misaka even indirectly asks Kuroko if she would try to stop her if Misaka did something to wreck the city. Kuroko said that she would and Misaka had to leave her out of her plans. (Although she already had been)
The problem is that Kuroko should have tried to find out what Misaka was up too. Misaka definitely could have used some backup in her fight against ITEM and having Kuroko along would have helped a lot. A true friend would have made sure that Misaka was okay. Especially after Misaka kept coming home with injuries and fatigue. This is just one of the many reasons as to why I don’t like Kuroko and it’ll be hard for her to bounce back from these moments.
Kongou gets a slightly larger role in this show than the last one. She still doesn’t get along with Kuroko that much, but she does get along with Misaka. Along the way, Kongou has pretty much joined the main characters as one of the mainstays for the battles. In Arc 2, she’s around for most of it and she joins in the help Febri. She also finally gets to use her abilities a lot and we see that she can make things launch. (If she hits a truck, then it will zoom forward with rocket power) She’s a decently likable character, but she would never become one of my favorites due to her personality. She’s a nice person, but she can’t show it since it would wreck her image. Ah well, at least she tries to help out.
Saten, Uiharu, Banri, and Harrue don’t really get to do much in this series. They’re around as supporting characters of course, but you likely won’t miss them as the episodes go by. If you liked them in the previous show, then you likely still will. If you didn’t like them before; I don’t see why you would change your mind here. Saten can still be inconsiderate of Uiharu and I can’t take her seriously. That’s part of why the climax in the second arc felt forced and there were a lot of moments that were cheesy. Things shouldn’t have turned out so well for the heroes once these 4 got involved. I’m not going to mention the villains from Arc 2 because they are barely characters. They’re just generic scientists who don’t realize that they are outclassed and they want to make other people as sad as them. (They also get an extremely cheesy moment in the last minutes of the final episode, which was pretty laughable)
While I did mention that Railgun S is a lot more violent than the original Railgun, it’s mainly due to a few select scenes. They all take place in the first arc and the second one really has little to no violence. Accelerator is able to blow people up by making contact with them and he does this to one person, but a security camera shields the viewer from seeing this. Someone’s leg is also taken in another scene and those are really the two big violent moments. The leg yank is easily the most disturbing scene since it’s pretty unexpected. This isn’t anything to turn you off from the show though because aside from those two episodes, the violence is minimal. The whole first arc is dark, but not necessarily violent. There is a lot of action so the heroes/villains get injured, but nothing really graphic aside from those moments.
Luckily, this also meant that there was no time for fanservice. The anime still manages to sneak some in once in a while, but it’s a dramatic step down from the first series. I’m glad that they did this and it makes the rest of the anime easier to appreciate. Fanservice sucks the life out of all anime and it forces you to drop some of the all stars like Gurren Lagann and Bleach down a few pegs. Hopefully the next show in the Railgun franchise can continue with this.
The soundtrack in Railgun S is excellent! I liked Railgun’s soundtrack, but Railgun S takes it to a whole new level. The ending theme when Misaka goes off to fight Accelerator in their first round was incredible and it felt like something that you would hear at the theater. The battle music was also a lot more intense and the overall soundtrack was phenomenal. The two openings were pretty fun, but opening 1 was definitely the best since it had a lot of action to go alongside the fun music. We even got some fake foreshadowing to trick the fans and I always like that because it gives us hypothetical battles. Railgun S definitely hit it out of the park with the music and the final episode gets some guest star music from the first show. That episode was filled with music that kept on playing right after that others.
Not to be outdone, the animation is also a few steps up from Railgun. I can now say that the animation looks pretty incredible. The character designs are effectively the same, but they’re more streamlined, which helps for the fights. Touma’s fight against Accelerator stands out as well as Misaka’s gauntlet against ITEM. Even scenes with less stakes like Misaka’s Railgun against the villains in the first episode looks really good with this animation. Great animation can definitely make a fun show even better.
One of the big questions that may be brought up is whether Railgun did better with the dark toned part of the franchise or if it should have stayed happy and chipper. I’ve never been a fan of everything being grim and that’s one of the enjoyable factors of the first Railgun. Every episode was pretty happy and there was really no dark moments in the show. We had some sad moments, but things tended to work out by the end. Still, that couldn’t last since part of the plot for this series was how Misaka would have to combat the darkness of Academy City. The first arc of Railgun S is dark, but it’s done in a pretty decent way. It’s not gritty for the sake of being gritty and there is still some hope for the heroes. (Although Misaka’s friends don’t help in this) This arc was the best in the franchise so Railgun S definitely succeeded with this huge tone shift. Now, if the whole show had been dark like that, it could have gotten a little dicey. It’s a lot harder to keep a show interesting and good with a dark tone. It’s easy to slip up at some point and just make things too dark with excessive violence or unnecessary sob stories as the series gets longer and longer. That’s why it’s best to just have an arc for it and then it can be a masterpiece like this one.
That’s why I’m glad that Railgun’s light moments stick around. Unfortunately, this also means that they try to play up the friendship angle and it doesn’t work in this case. Aside from Kuroko, Misaka’s main friends are all very weak and they shouldn’t be able to help out. Arc 2 tries to show how helpful they can be, but it was very cheesy. They decide to hold off thousands of robots along with the rest of the students, but they should have been mowed down. The robots were way too powerful for them and realistically there should have been heavy casualties. In that case, it was definitely all right for Misaka to proceed on her own. Every time she has to clue the rest of the characters in; Misaka has to slow down in her investigation. I’m not opposed to telling the other characters and I believe that Misaka should have told Kuroko back in arc 1. Of course, Kuroko may have told the police and that would have wrecked things so it was a gamble either way.
So far, it probably sounds like Arc 2 was downright awful, but it was still all right. There weren’t a whole lot of stakes, but that’s because it had a more personal feel. Mainly, one girl’s life was at stake, but that’s still enough to get Misaka and the gang involved. Eventually, the scope of the threat got larger, but the heroes were already set. I do like the concept of every Esper in the city joining forces to stop the villain, but it could have been executed in a cooler way. All of the insert songs give the scenes a sense of epicness, which helps to overshadow the inaccurate moments. I just don’t think that things would go so smoothly for the heroes. I also wasn’t a fan of the fact that Misaka needed some help against the army of robots since they didn’t seem so impressive.
The first Railgun show rekindled my interest in the franchise and this one rose it to new heights. Railgun S managed to surpass the two series from the main branch of Index and that’s pretty rare. Usually, spinoffs don’t end up beating the main thing. It’s a pretty good feat for Railgun S and it shows that spinoffs always have a shot. (Unlike the Rock Lee show) Railgun S defeats most of the anime that I’ve seen recently including Sword Art Online, Guilty Crown, Gurren Lagann, and Accel World among others, but it does get defeated by another anime that I’m currently watching. What is that anime? Well, you’re going to have to wait to find out. All I can say is that it’s one of the best anime of all time!
Overall, Railgun S is an incredible show. I’d easily say that it’s one of the better anime that I’ve seen. (I would have said one of the best, but that’s stretching it just a little bit since it loses to DBZ, multiple Digimon shows, Naruto (multiple shows), etc) The animation is top notch as well as the soundtrack and we have some really great characters to root for and against. I still can’t get over how epic and awesome Touma was in the climax of Arc 1 and Misaka is a character that everyone can look up too. She had to make the tough call to fight the whole city and she did everything that she could to save the clones. With characters as heroic as this, it’s hard to go back and watch something like Avengers Assemble! The show also expands the universe a little more while throwing in some more plot points for the future. (Academy City is still evil and another one of the Level 5s seems to have some beef with Misaka) I highly recommend this anime to all readers because it appeals to many different crowds. If you want a dark tale revolving around conspiracies and a lone hero against all odds; it’s time for Arc 1. If you want heartwarming tale about friendship, and second chances with some fun action scenes; then it’s time for Arc 2. Either way, it’s a win/win situation! I definitely can’t wait for the sequel to come.
Overall 8/10
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