Comments on: Railgun – A Humble Sidestory Becomes an Epic

By: The Typical Idiot Fan

The Typical Idiot Fan — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 08:58:24 +0000

I’m with Sorrow. I don’t think it’s just the smaller cast that does it. Sure, giving more time to characters will inevitably bring about more about who they are, but there still has to be meaningful interaction for it to work. I can think of several anime where the cast is hardly plentiful, but the characters are painfully boring and bland. It’s probably also no coincidence that most of those anime are done by Bee-Train.

As one of the aforementioned non-Index-seers, I’m enjoying the hell out of Railgun. I don’t have the distraction of needing to compare the two shows. Hell, from what I’ve heard of Index, I’m fucking glad for that. Index sounds like a convoluted mess, plot wise. I get to have the unique perspective of viewing Railgun on it’s own merits. I have my beefs, mostly with the “scientific” aspects of it, but overall it’s just a really fun show.

Kuroko, btw, has surprised me. As a batshit insane lesbian I figured her schtick would get old after a while but it really hasn’t. Probably because she’s actually given time to be something else. Kuroko takes her duties at Judgment seriously, treats her friends and comrades with respect, and kicks some ass when needed. She does have a bit of an arrogant tone to her at all times, but that, too, is not without it’s development. Seeing her wig out over Misaka is fine as long as you look at it as her just getting away from her everyday situations, because there are plenty of times where she can love her “Oneesama” and not go ballistic.

By: Shadowmage

Shadowmage — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:07:23 +0000

I agree that the characters were better simply because they were less common and more compelling than the various archetypes thrown around in Index. To me, Kuroko is the character who keeps the show interesting to watch simply because she is insane.

By: Sorrow-kun

Sorrow-kun — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:39:44 +0000

@Topspin
I’m happy to let it be filler-ly because those episodes were entertaining, which is more than I can say for a lot of Index’s arcs. So yeah, I’m not completely convinced. I really do think that Railgun’s characters are better, but like you say, it definitely helps that they actually stick around and don’t disappear randomly.

By: Topspin

Topspin — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:09:54 +0000

Railgun beats Index simply because it focuses on one story, although it’s just as ludicrous as the ones from Index (it feels too filler-y at the start, though). If Index kept only it’s main plots and left the rest of the short stories as OVAs, then it would have serviceable.

The characters in Railgun are no better or worse than Index, but at least it has a small enough cast that you don’t have to wonder where X went or why Y is now a good guy. Plus it’s always fun to see Kuroko kicking some ass. Misaka is more boring this time around, and feels like Touma’s stand-in towards the end (though cuter, and less expo).

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