A Certain Scientific Railgun T: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

A Certain Scientific Railgun T: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie Review

A Certain Scientific Railgun T is another exciting installment in the popular franchise. Created by Kazuma Kamachi and Motoi Fuyukawa, A Certain Scientific Railgun T features beautiful animation production by J.C. Staff (Children of the Whales, Daphne in the Brilliant Blue). Produced by Kazuma Miki (The irregular at magic high school, Sword Art Online), Kentarō Hattori (Seraph of the End: Battle in Nagoya, To Love Ru: Darkness), Kozue Kananiwa (Black Butler: Book of Circus, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU), Michihisa Abe (Hi Score Girl, Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko), Noritomo Isogai (Aria the Scarlet Ammo AA, Chivalry of a Failed Knight), Seihiro Asada, Takehiro Nakakura (Engage Kiss, A Certain Scientific Accelerator), and Yūichirō Shiji (Selector Destructed Wixoss, Sirius the Jaeger). A Certain Scientific Railgun T features theme song performances by fripSide (opening), Kishida Kyōdan & The Akeboshi Rockets (ending), and sajou no hana (ending two). Featuring the voice of Rina Satō as Mikoto Misaka.

Misaka is back in action. The journey continues alongside Judgement. The Academy City has reopened to the public. The city and stage has been set for the Daihasei Festival.

The festival occurs alongside a coveted athletic competition. The esper school athletic competition is underway. The games bring excitement and fun for the entire team.

Misaka and her close friends are finding new adventures alongside nostalgic memories. The characters find themselves having a lot of fun and there is so much for them to look forward to. As the school year unfolds, the characters also find themselves engaging in secret organizations and find new surprises with doppelgangers and more.

The character designs by Yūichi Tanaka (My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Climax, Schoolgirl Strikers Animation Channel) are well-done. The designs certainly add something special to the production. A wonderful effort by Tanaka. The results certainly contribute to a more robust production.

The animation is one of the most beautiful qualities of the production. The animation features superb art direction by Kentaro Izumi (Requiem of the Rose King, Demon Lord 2099). The animation style is outstanding. There certainly is a lot to appreciate with the art by Izumi. The style showcases the wonderful artistry of the animation team.

The cinematography by Shingo Fukuyo (The Familiar of Zero: Knight of the Twin Moons, The Melody of Oblivion) makes a huge impression. Fukuyo is a talented cinematographer. The visual sensibilities are impressive. The cinematography certainly provides a sense of wonderment and adds so much to the production.

Featuring a score composed by Maiko Iuchi (Tokyo Ravens, Waiting in the Summer), A Certain Scientific Railgun T has wonderful music. The score by Iuchi is well-done. There is certainly a lot worth enjoying with the score. The music provides a nice backdrop for the action-adventure and the series sense of whimsy.

Written by Shogo Yasukawa (Chivalry of a Failed Knight, Hyperdimension Neptunia), A Certain Scientific Railgun T is well-done. The scripting handles the production well. The writing style offers some good action-adventure for genre fans.

Directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai (anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, Her Blue Sky), A Certain Scientific Railgun T is an entertaining anime. The series has a compelling visual style. The production offers up wonderful action and fans will appreciate the style in spades. Nagai is certainly a talent and fans of A Certain Scientific Railgun T will appreciate the balance of character moments with more action-oriented sequences. The results work well and A Certain Scientific Railgun T is all the better as a result.

A Certain Scientific Railgun T: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Crunchyroll, A Certain Scientific Railgun T is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The release provides a pleasing high-definition presentation. The transfer provides wonderful colors, animation quality, and overall depth. The release provides wonderful depth and detail in the presentation. The encoding by Crunchyroll is well-done throughout, too.

The release provides some nice advantages showcasing the benefits of physical media. Physical media can provide some superior advantages with higher quality video. The transfers on physical media are robust and often have higher video bit-rates compared to streaming video services.

The streaming options usually have lower video bit-rates and more compression. For home theater enthusiasts wanting the best possible option available, the video on disc still offers some distinct advantages. Fans will appreciate these qualities.

A Certain Scientific Railgun T: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (with English subtitles). The release capably reproduces the sound direction by Jin Aketagawa (anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, Bodacious Space Pirates). The soundstage provides excellent clarity and detail. The English language option provides a more expansive audio soundstage with the 5.1 surround sound presentation providing more immersion with emphasis on surround sound activity. The Japanese language audio option includes stereo audio and is still a nice presentation option – even if it lacks some of the finesse of the English language surround sound option.

The Blu-ray release provides excellent lossless audio – one of the best qualities of the release. Physical media fans appreciate the lossless audio encoding. One of the main advantages of physical media is a more robust soundstage compared to streaming video services. Discs can provide higher bit-rates, less compression, and more detail. Streaming services, by comparison, offer more compression to the audio soundstage.

A Certain Scientific Railgun T: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release includes a nicely designed o-card slipcover. The slipcover features unique key artwork different from the artwork underneath the slipcover. The cover-art underneath the slipcover also features additional key artwork. The packaging design is impressive and certainly adds to the quality of the package as a collectable. The box-set impresses and fans will appreciate the value the set adds for fans.

The box-set will certainly look outstanding in hand and on the shelf. Collectors will always be appreciative of more robust packaging designs and emphasis on physical goodies – these aspects important to a good and well-rounded package. Streaming simply pales by comparison when one considers the wonderful value of owning a physical copy to cherish and hold in hand.

On disc supplements include:

Disc 2:

Much More Railgun V (HD, 9:34)

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:32)

Disc 4:

Much More Railgun Vi (HD, 13:54)

Promo Video (HD, 1:45)

Commercials (HD, 00:51)

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:32)

Unfortunately, the supplemental package is a bit sparse. The release could have been a bit more expansive. The set doesn't have as many bonus features as the best box-set releases do. The set provides fewer extras than desired. In the age of streaming, some fans expect more extras when considering physical media purchases. One of the best things a release can provide is a nice set of supplements. The release could have used some audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, cast/crew interviews, photo galleries, art galleries, and more.

A Certain Scientific Railgun T: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A Certain Scientific Railgun T provides more action-adventure and comedic fun for fans of the cult favorite anime series. The series provides some impressive animation and storytelling. Fans of the franchise will appreciate the amount of detail and whimsy given to the production. The saga certainly continues to appeal to franchise devotees.

The Blu-ray release provides excellent high-definition video, lossless audio, and a small assortment of bonus features. Fans of bonus features will appreciate the selection provided on the box-set a little – however, the extras still could have been more expanded for a more well-rounded package. The set provides a nice o-card slipcover, too. Fans who have been collecting the individual sets to date will be pleased with this release. Recommended.