Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S - 01

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Toaru kagaku no Railgun S - 01

After much absence, the long-awaited next instalment of Toaru Kagaku no Railgun is back with Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S. Mikoto, a powerful Level 5 esper. While she and her friends are visiting the hospital, a "wannabe radical" kidnaps one of them as a hostage.

I didn’t realise how much I missed this franchise until I watched this episode. I absolutely love the characters (Saten’s weird skirt flipping aside) and so watching them and their antics is no chore. Mikoto, our main character, is a charming combination of feisty and cute. She’s well-meaning and with honest ideals and yet with the competency and power that makes her ideals more than just naive spouting. She was especially cute this episode as she tried to think up a surprise for their friend.

The first half of the episode is devoted to a brief introduction of everyone, and the cute (yet also badass) activities of their daily life. There is some decent build up for future episodes involving the introduction of Shokuhoku Misaki. Shokuhoku is an interesting woman with a rather scary ability. She's the kind of character you’ll either find badass or incredibly annoying. I hope as the series progresses it will be the former. I did like the tension between them, although I’m surprised that no one told them to be quiet when they were arguing in the middle of the library.

The rest is the hospital visit and dealing with the radicals. Standard stuff, but a good introduction (or re-introduction) to the series. If you didn't know already, several people comment about how powerful Mikoto is. We also get a good view of her power, and how our four girls function together. In short, this episode was a good re-entrance onto familiar ground, and great for getting me pumped for the next episode. It was fun and the pacing didn’t lag anywhere.

Touma’s brief cameo at the end was a nice bonus.