6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Misaka Mikoto, a middle-school girl with an amazing and highly-destructive ability to control electricity, is one of the top level espers in Academy City, a highly developed town populated by students with supernatural abilities. Mikoto, along with her three unique friends, encounter various strange phenomena and eccentric people through their action-packed adventures in this exciting scientific town.
Starring: Rina Satô, Satomi Arai, Aki Toyosaki, Kanae Ito, Kana HanazawaAnime | 100% |
Foreign | 92% |
Comic book | 25% |
Action | 19% |
Supernatural | 12% |
Sci-Fi | 11% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Seven-disc set (3 BDs, 4 DVDs)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Spin-offs can typically have a hard time outshining their progenitors, or even maintaining the same general level of quality as whatever
original property sparked their creation. The history of film and television is littered with spin-offs that either sputtered or only fitfully lived up
to the potential of their “parent.” Television has never been very shy about offering near rabbit levels of procreation when it comes to spin-
offs. The small screen is such a brutal marketplace that whenever anything hits big time, often the first thought of producers or network
honchos is, “How can we parlay this into something else?” Warner Brothers had a virtual assembly line of spin-offs when it first
broke into television in the late fifties, with both westerns and private eye shows, some hardly discernable from each other, populating the
airwaves. CBS filled much of its mid-sixties schedule with shows that had at least a tangential relationship to one of its oddest hits, The
Beverly Hillbillies. A couple of decades later, NBC didn’t want to let the cash cow that was Cheers simply fade into the sunset,
and so gave birth to Frasier. Arguably, only a few shows, like Hillbillies “Bizarro world” outing Green Acres and
Frasier itself were able to match (and perhaps even top) the creativity of whatever show inspired their births. Anime is a somewhat
different territory, of course, and it’s a genre that tends to often play like an animated version of one of those stereotypical menus from a
Chinese restaurant of yesteryear, where you’re urged to “take one from Column A, one from Column B,” and so on. There are a number of
(sometimes patently odd) subgenres within anime, and the resulting labyrinth has led to a rather large number of similar properties through
the years, including both traditional spin-offs and shows that may feel like spin-offs due to so much shared content, even if they’re
not officially linked to another series. A Certain Scientific Railgun labels itself as a so-called “side story” to A Certain Magical Index, but in many ways it’s a more
involving, complex achievement than its sibling (and/or parent).
For those wanting a bit of information on A Certain Scientific Railgun's anime sibling, information can be found in our A Certain Magical Index: Season One
Blu-ray review and A Certain
Magical Index II: Part 1 Blu-ray review .
A Certain Scientific Railgun is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Funimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The design aesthetic of this series is very much in line with what I described in the A Certain Magical Index: Season One Blu-ray review, with a kind of minimalist approach the keeps the show from ever popping in any over the top way. Instead, a decently sharp image is helped by largely consistent line detail and good character designs (though Mikoto and Kuroko are virtually interchangeable from a facial standpoint, with only their hairstyles providing an easy differentiating point). As with its parent series, A Certain Scientific Railgun exploits shades of blue very well, and moves slightly beyond that end of the spectrum to delve into purplish tones quite a bit of the time as well. Somewhat soft looking at times (in much the same way that A Certain Magical Index was), A Certain Scientific Railgun is solid but a bit modest looking.
Again as with A Certain Magical Index , A Certain Scientific Railgun offers both an English dub in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and the original Japanese language track in Dolby TrueHD 2.0, and again as with its progenitor, the 5.1 track significantly improves the immersion in battle scenes, with things like the crackle of electricity or the rush of Mikoto's "railgun" projectiles being much more vividly presented. Voice work in both versions is excellent. Fidelity is excellent as well, and dynamic range is very wide. There are no issues with dropouts, pops or other damage.
Disc One:
- Only My Railgun (1080p; 1:32)
- Level 5 (1080p; 1:32)
- Dear My Friend (1080p; 1:32)
- Real Force (1080p; 1:32)
It may be "only" anime, but A Certain Scientific Railgun proves that spin-offs don't necessarily need to be only a faded carbon copy of their original. This kind of prequel (albeit one that spills over into the main timeframe of A Certain Magical Index) nicely mixes more traditional shōnen elements with the somewhat complex mythology of Academy City and its esper powered students. The interplay between Mikoto and Kuroko provides some of this series' most outré elements, but there's some more down to earth butt kicking on display as well. Technical merits are very strong, and A Certain Scientific Railgun comes Recommended.
Season 2 / とある科学の超電磁砲S / Toaru Kagaku No Railgun S
2013
Season 3 / とある科学の超電磁砲[レールガン]T / Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T
2020
Season 3 / とある科学の超電磁砲[レールガン]T / Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T
2020
To aru majutsu no Index
2019
劇場版 とある魔術の禁書目録 -エンデュミオンの奇蹟-
2013
コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ / コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュR2
2006-2008
Anime Classics
2011-2012
Classics / Stray God / ノラガミ
2014
はたらく魔王さま! / Hataraku Maou-sama!
2022
Anime Classics / フルメタル·パニック!
2002
S.A.V.E.
2009
X/1999 The TV Series
2001-2002
2015
ソウルイーター
2008-2009
2010-2011
2022
ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキス
2018
トップをねらえ! 劇場版
2006
2014-2015
1991-1992
2013
Volumes 1-10
2006-2012
2003-2004