To Aru Kagaku no Railgun Manga - Chapters 18-25
What perfect timing! A new scanlator has taken the wheel from the presumably defunct Hidoi group, and released a spate of new chapters for the superlative seinen manga, To Aru Kagaku no Railgun. More specifically, a whopping 9 chapters in the space of 3 days were released, providing emergency relief for dire Railgun fanboys such as myself. With the mediocre anime adaptation failing to meet the standard set by the manga, I was really missing the highly entertaining and compelling manga. Anonymous, once again you have my humble gratitude, whoever you may be!
But the best thing is that these chapters have exceeded all my expectations for the portrayal of the sister’s arc, and blown the manga’s previous standards of storytelling out of the water. The sense of fascination the story inspires when Misaka is gradually exposed to the sinister ‘sisters’ program, unto which she was an unwitting donator, is gives way to the intensity of the events that unfold when she confronts the cruel Accelerator and amoral scientists responsible. This arc is a thrilling combination of action and excitement, as accelerator violently dismembers and destroys his clone victims, and a emotional connection as Misaka wrestles with her intangible sense of guilt and repulsion at the abuse scientific ethics. The plot is thematically layered and at times thought provoking, much more so than I felt the Index anime ever achieved. But at the same time, it sprints forward at an unrelenting pace. The result of all this is a story arc that is not just entertaining but also totally enthralling, with its moments of intrigue, violence and poignancy.
One of my favourite aspects of this new arc is the development it has given to Biri-biri, because it has really dragged her to the mud and stretched her to a tether. Unlike the previous arc, where she was more aloof and on top of things, this time it’s a deeply personal affair and far more dangerous with the presence of the nigh untouchable Accelerator. We’ve seen Misaka in a new light, both utterly dejected and now a renegade on a vendetta to bring down the people behind this morbid experiment. She’s proven her strength of will and maturity here more than she ever did walking around town frying delinquents. But it’s not just Misaka either, her ‘imouto’ clones are a really interesting bunch, whose quirky dialogue and behaviors often hint at a sentience beyond the lifeless script they’ve been programmed with. I think the way that their humanity is only subtly suggested is a real strength of this story because it doesn’t hit you over the head with a “killing clones is bad!” message. The only downside to this focus on Biri-biri is that the other characters have been pretty excluded, but I’m inclined to say that’s a good thing. Kuroko was starting to steal the show last arc, so this arc was well-timed to remind me of just how great a character Misaka is!
What I really think is a shame is that this manga is going to have to tie in with the resolution to this arc that we’ve already seen in the Index anime. In that case, Touma steals the limelight and culls the level-6 project single-handedly (no pun intended). It made sense when Touma was the main character, but it’s just going to feel like a let-down here because this is really a story of Misaka’s. It would be so much more satisfying seeing Misaka overcome adversity to crush the project, as she has resolved to do. Well, I guess I should have faith that this manga will be able to pull it off well.
I admit I haven’t read vast quantities of manga, but I feel very strongly that this is an exceptional manga series that deserves a wide audience and much prosperity to come. The art quality, especially the character designs, are awesome, and the way its composed and paced makes it deeply compelling and also unpretentiously entertaining.
Here come da spoilers.
Do those chapters wrap up the Sisters story line? Reason I ask is that it was wrapped up in “Index”, and Touma is the one who did it. I’m curious to know if they borrowed that same ending, created another ending, or simply left the story line hanging.
iirc touma dosnt know of the sisters yet.
oh, and i think hidoi was supposedly going to wait for full volumes, but the new scanlator was at least two anons from 4chan, one translating and one editing, the threads were very good reads
Ah finally a release! The railgun manga has got to be the best thing come out of the To Aru series, it even made me like Touma who I found rather annoying before.
I hope the Anonymous group will continue on to release the chapters on a monthly basis along with the raws. The story is really picking up.
I’m sure the Railgun manga will cover more of the reaction Misaka has to Touma’s intervention. Like an internal conflict etc. I want to see more of that, since the Index series, as accurately as I recall, kind of just… ‘ended’ it there and then. Misaka reverts back to her moe self… so hopefully with the manga and anime focusing on the Railgun lass, we’ll see how she combats the internal conflicts she has following Touma’s white knight routine.
Longhaul
>>hidoi was supposedly going to wait for full volumes
Yeah, that’s what I heard too, but the latest volume has been out for a while and there wasn’t any activity from them. Anon is much more efficient ^^
Steve:
I assume that the sisters arc will be wrapped up in this manga, and probably in the same manner as it was in the Index anime. The manga has been consistent with the rest of the franchise so far (as far as I can tell). And yeah, as Longhaul said, we’ve not yet reached the stage where Touma knows about the whole experiment. From memory, the papers Misaka had in the latest chapter, marking out the target labratories and such are what Touma finds when he’d under the bed in the Index anime. At least I’m sure we’ll get to see the same resolution from a different perspective.
>>The railgun manga has got to be the best thing come out of the To Aru series
Ain’t that the truth.
Frantz:
Yeah, I really hope they give plenty of focus on the conclusion of the story from Misaka’s emotional perspective.
Did anyone notice that the three girls that have been recruited to defend the labs from Misaka in the latest chapter have appeared before? I might have to go back and check this, but they appeared during the climax of the Level Upper arc, where they were shown overhearing Uihara’s music broadcast in a cafe. I’m pretty sure that’s where I’d seen them before..
Yeah the mercenary girls are from volume 3 chapter 15. That is, exactly the scene you just described! lol nice one man. It took me a while to figure out where I saw them, but the beret girl definitely triggered a de ja vu moment for me.
Sorta feel bad that I haven’t even read this manga after you said so many good things about it, but it definately sounds worth the time reading, and I’ll probably try it out soon.
Mm, do try it!
I reckon you’d like it.
The four girls are all part of a team called ITEM, and are very familiar to readers of the index novels. I’ll avoid any spoilers about them, but let’s just say Misaka would be hard pressed fighting all four of them, especially considering her condition right now. Chapter 26 can’t come soon enough.
excellent.. I’m getting more excited!