Secret Santa Review: A Certain Scientific Railgun (70%)

railgun
It really isn’t quite this sort of show, actually.

My anime fandom has two touchstones, Evangelion and Honey and Clover, and that should clue you in to the sort of stories that I enjoy. A Certain Scientific Railgun, which was handed to me as part of the Reverse Thieves‘ Secret Santa project, is the sort of title that I would normally avoid. My thought was: it’s about yuri fanservice; it’s more oriented toward action rather than drama; it features the kind of fan pandering that peaked at the time the show aired (2009-2010) that I generally disdain. (Though, looking back at my first impressions at the time, I wasn’t that put off by the first episode. It was more what I heard later that discouraged me from following up.)

Fast forward three years later, and I’m ready to expand my horizons, put aside some old prejudices, and give a different sort of show a chance. Out of the three titles that were suggested to me—the other two were Aquarion EVOL and Sora no Woto, both of which I’d seen and in the latter case wrote about extensively)—I chose the show I was least likely to watch on my own.

So what did I think?

In short: A Certain Scientific Railgun was better than I expected, but I wasn’t expecting much. It’s competently directed in spots, reasonably paced when it’s not indulging in filler (which is often, unfortunately), and has a few decent cliffhangers. The action animation is frequently impressive, befitting its high budget. Aside from some of the milieu/world, however, there is little originality to the plot, and most of the characters fall flat. It is, really, a glossy but ultimately average anime series. It’s the equivalent of a second-tier Hollywood summer blockbuster spinoff; the X-Men Origins: Wolverine of anime.

***

mikoto-pose

There’s actually an old-fashioned action anime story buried beneath the yuri and filler. The best parts of Railgun tell that story, about experiments done on children going out of control with a scientist facing a moral dilemma and the need to atone for her actions—to stop the ultimate baddy from taking over. Shades of Akira and other classic sci-fi anime lurk here, with an almost late 1980s-1990s approach: big robots, thunderbolts and lightning courtesy of our human railgun Mikoto, and highways and trucks being ripped apart and thrown. Not to mention pulsing globules of monstrous flesh forming in the middle of cities. The storytelling approach and the outcome couldn’t be more different, of course, but the homages seem clear. And for someone like myself whose fandom teeth were cut on this sort of show, the feeling was familiar and even occasionally welcome. It was like watching something like Saber Marionette J or Burn Up again; not because the plots or characters are similar, but the feeling was. This is bread and butter type of anime.

Tatsuyuki Nagai, the series director, did the best he could with the material. I was most impressed with the way plot threads and hints, even from supposed filler episodes, made their way into the main story. His talent for managing multiple characters and pacing them evenly also showed, especially when all four leads are out doing different things. In the few moments of introspection given to the characters (particularly Saten, Dr. Kiyama, and Mikoto), we see flashes of the Nagai of Ano Natsu and Toradora. When the characters ruminate on whether Academy City is truly a meritocracy, what it means to be a certain Level, and who gets left out in such a system—the show rises above itself. Dr. Kiyama’s backstory episode, and the way it tied into the final episode, was handled with the sort of deftness and emotional sincerity that I expect from Nagai. It made the otherwise predictable ending feel stronger than it actually was. He even manages to sneak in some of his trademark yearning romance, albeit in compressed form, in the two episode arc about the Big Spider/Skill Out gang.

Quality villain dialogue.
Quality villain dialogue.

The show suffers most when it bows to stale comedic conventions and refuses to let the female leads grow beyond their typecast characters. Kuroko eventually proves her professional competence and dedication, but before that, her yuri slapstick antics only made me laugh a little before becoming simply irritating. Mikoto, the nominal protagonist, is the most straightforward and balanced character, but has few distinctive traits other than her love of cute things, wearing shorts under her skirt, and her powers. She’s likable but bland, and she’s the same at the end as she was in the beginning. (Compare with her doppelganger, Mai of Mai Hime. What does Kuroko see in her?) Saten, apparently a fan favorite, has a few moments given her status as a Level 0—she gets some touches of the Nagai treatment in the unusually quiet coda to the first arc—but not nearly as much as the conflicted and haunted Dr. Kiyama, who steals the show as the most complex and interesting character. (Her “undresstress” quirk seems altogether disconnected from her character.) The de rigeur swimsuit episode attempted to do something different with its shifting settings and relative lack of camera ogling*, but felt oddly paced and disjointed. Perhaps the worst offender was a single episode in which the girls attempt to matchmake their dorm matron: a cliche anime sitcom plot that felt willfully anti-climactic and emotionally unresolved by its end, because the episode has to end in the way it does for it to fit the type.

Nagai has only directed one other series with two cours, Toradora, and Railgun could have been a more propulsive series had it only been one cour. Much of the second half especially could have been cut without doing much damage to the plot, as well as the first few episodes, which did not leave the best impression until the story actually started. This is a plot rather than character-driven series, because the characters are mostly too flat to carry the story without the Big Baddy Threatening the City While Cackling and Overexplaining Her Plans. It’s a plot that we’ve seen many times before too, offering few surprises, but at least it would have been fast paced and the sleek action sequences—anime is a visual medium after all—would provide excitement.

Instead, we have a loosey, sometimes funny, sometimes actiony series. It’s neither more nor less than the sum of it parts; it’s essentially a grab bag of various anime elements that cohere somewhat when the main story is being told. I did enjoy watching Railgun, because it’s undeniably fun at its best. It’s like a lot of anime that way; not everything is a Kaiba or a H&C or Hyouka or, to use a better piece from Nagai’s repertoire, an Ano Natsu. Nor does everything have to be. It wouldn’t be fair for me to dismiss it out of hand, but it wouldn’t be fair for me to put it alongside my favorites either.

Railgun, in other words, is ok.

Rating: 70%—average.

*Granted, the standard for anime when it comes to camera ogling/male gaze is, shall we say, exceptionally low cut. But Nagai’s beach/swimsuit episodes are usually more tame than most and often contribute meaningfully to the story. See Ano Natsu‘s beach arc for one good example.

This post is part of the Reverse TheievesSecret Santa Project, where anibloggers anonymously suggest shows to other anibloggers for review. Tomorrow we’ll find out who suggested this series to me. Railgun is legally available in the United States by streaming on both Funimation and Hulu.

Author: gendomike

Michael lives in the Los Angeles area, and has been into anime since he saw Neon Genesis Evangelion in 1999. Some of his favorite shows include Full Metal Alchemist, Honey and Clover, and Welcome to the NHK!. Since 2003 he has gone to at least one anime convention every year. A public radio junkie, which naturally led to podcasting, he now holds a seminary degree and is looking to become Dr. Rev. Otaku Bible Man any day now. Michael can be reached at mike.huang@animediet.net. You can also find his Twitter account at @gendomike.

6 thoughts on “Secret Santa Review: A Certain Scientific Railgun (70%)

  1. 70%? How can that be!!! My favorite show is only C-? You’re a tough grader.

    This show is totally awesome, it’s the embodiment of ultimate female friendship that we dudes can never achieve, and this is one of the shows made me really wish I was born a girl. For Saten, she is the reason this show excels, while the city itself was built to produce super elite people with scientific R&D, she represents regular underachieving folks like us, and the final episode clearly gives us hope that it’s okay not to be gifted. Because she wasn’t gifted, she was able to help save the children! Anime for have-nots, Saten elevated this anime to the art for lumpen-proletariat. Anime nowadays tends to focus on characters already born with special abilities, so this was really refreshing.

    Kuroko is awesome. She is the comedian in Railgun, I mean the seiyuu of Kuroko is really excellent, that kind of intense spitting fire style, is indeed amazing and funny. Mikoto is a typical tsundere, the way she acts in front of Toma is just…I screamed to that with platonic orgasm. And Saten sexual harassing Uiharu, a genius computer geek with a mild personality. Comedy gold!

    I’ve seen Nagai Tatsuyuki animes, Tora Dora, AnoHana, AnoNatsu, and so far Railgun is the best directed one. I wouldn’t give a grade usually, but if I must, Railgun is at least over 9000!

    Anyway, Merry Christmas!

  2. Hooray! You reviewed Railgun! I wasn’t to sure if you would like it, but I noticed on Mal you had a lot of “super powered-ish” themed anime so I figured it would be a nice thing to add xD

    Yeah I can echo those themes of “this might be a yuri series” because I thought the same thing going into it originally and I did drop it after the first 3 episodes, but twitter and everyone else I mentioned it to was like you got to finish it! After that I feel in love with it especially with certain characters like Saten? For a girl with no powers she holds her own when the time comes and I loved that about her and I suppose it helps that I do enjoy listening to Kanae Itou’s voice <3

    Misaka on the other hand holds a special place for me because her character sort of revolved around helping patients with various muscular diseases which is something I have irl and I think they mention it in either Railgun or Index? I forget which but I always thought whoa! That is really cool. Besides that I just like her powers, but lightning power isn't anything new after all there are lots of similar characters like her running around in other anime…

    Kuroko was annoying yes but she has some of the best comedic moments xD

    Nice grade!

  3. Railgun is ANIME. It’s like the bread and butter of today’s anime. All artsy fartsy shows aren’t, and that’s a fact of Japanese fandom life. That said, Kuroko’s seiyuu is a genius given her role, and I love yuri so it’s always a cliffhanger to me whether Kuroko will get to molest Mikoto successfully or fail. I mean, sure, we all know it’s FAIL, but the tension is there.

    As for grading? It’s absolutely not a master grade series, but the production value and the voice acting for me makes up for whatever lacks you mentioned. I’d give it 82% out 100%. It’s no match for Toradora, which is fun to watch with a great plot and excellent characters (read: Kugyuuuuuuu and Hocchan), but for me it ain’t that bad.

  4. I’ve watched a few episodes of Railgun and its better then I thought it would be, I may review it on my blog.

    I’m up to the part were Misaka has all these clones which is something you don’t see too often in anime not counting clones like the clone jutsu in Naruto.

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