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EP. REVIEW: A Certain Scientific Railgun T


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Anneyuno1



Joined: 20 Jul 2019
Posts: 68
PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2020 2:43 am Reply with quote
@OH&S The real problem with Powers like Touma’s is that become narrative crutches serving to advance things at the expense of logic and suspending disbelief. The nonsense is the nature of it is not delimited and is unpredictable, breaks the serie , does’t it seem to have a risk of use, nor does it seem to be uncontrollable since it was able to controled dragons to destroy the sphere without damaging misaka, it is exactly the same problem that the sharingan had in naruto or Ichigo in bleach with multiple DNA. The author can inventing new things according to the need of the script and that really destroys any type of tension which is serious considering that this is an action-oriented series
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OH&S



Joined: 15 Jul 2013
Posts: 306
Location: Sydney, Australia
PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2020 7:55 am Reply with quote
Key wrote:
We'll have to agree to disagree on that, as the scene you're describing didn't stick in my mind at the time at all. I've gone back and rewatched bits and pieces of the first series over the last couple of years as reference for plot callbacks for the recent series, but never that part, so I'm going to make a point to do that sometime before next episode. As much as I got pissy about it earlier in this post, I usually do appreciate when a series buries foreshadowing like that which is only evident on a second view.


Honestly, Key, I think you're good for the rest of the Railgun season. Aside from cameos from Index/Accelerator characters and one LN-only character you won't need to constantly reference other parts of the series to get through the next arc. The Daihaseisai Arc is probably Railgun at its most interconnected with the novel side of things; Sisters Arc not withstanding.

Quote:
You have some valid points in the text that followed this statement, but my "dense" label still stands, as even in calmer times, when he doesn't have immediate stressors, he's oblivious to indicators that numerous people around him pick up on. And I am far from the only person who has had this opinion about Touma over the years. Guess we'll also have to agree to disagree about how fair this label is.


Oh, I didn't mean to imply that your opinion was unique on this; quite the opposite. I just feel like life has never been normal or calm enough for him to even begin noticing other people's feelings towards him. Kamijou's self concept is pretty poor in the early series. I suppose there may be some overall truth to Kamijou being dense but its not something strictly limited to romance but a deeper character flaw of not recognizing that the things he does makes him have a special place in the hearts of the people he saves and the people around him (talking strictly platonic here). This is related to the identity crisis I mentioned earlier and is dealt with later in NT.

Quote:
Then I hope NT does eventually get adapted because I'd like to see how this plays out. (I'm following enough other novel series right now that I don't have time to get into all of that.) Through Index III and the Railgun content so far, he's not shown that he gives her much special value or trust - at least not compared to what he gives anyone else, anyway.


This much is definitely true. By the end of OT, the relationship between Kamijou and Misaka is very one-sided with Misaka essentially being sidelined. But despite we love lain's lengthy rebuttal; I'm still stubbornly holding onto the firm belief that Misaka now occupies a unique position in Kamijou's life different to the other main girls. I guess time will tell if I'm the crazy one because there's still room for growth on her end and there's a new series of novels that'll continue for the next decade.

That said, while its still possible, an adaptation of NT scares the hell out of me. Those novels are an order of magnitude more convoluted than the original series. And any attempted adaptation would result in a headache an order magnitude greater than Index III. I don't want Project Index's filthy hands touching it. The disillusionment of the production company model of the anime industry is very real.

Quote:
Oh, and if I haven't made this clear before, I do appreciate your regular dialog on the franchise over the years, OH&S. Always good to have an authority around who can pinpoint where all the pertinent details are.


Let me reciprocate and say that I've always enjoyed reading your reviews for this franchise over the years. Even though my personal views on the series might be more closer to Kim's, I've never really disagreed with anything you've had to say (even if it was painful to hear) except maybe about the Silent Party Arc?? --that seems like it was ages ago now. It was a bit regrettable that there was a lot of extra knowledge from the main series required to properly interpret and keep track of things in this most recent arc but that's hardly your fault; manga readers had literal years to contemplate things before the arc began publishing (and it took 3.5 years to fully publish). Things should be a lot easier to follow from now on.

I guess to finish off this reply I'll leave with some random musings about stuff in the series:
  • People seem to generally be attracted to Saten's character (which is fine) but the real treasure of the Railgun side characters is Kongou Mitsuko. Such a delightful character.
  • Despite the Railgun anime's insistence of portraying Uiharu as some frail timid character, it should be evident by now that she's the secret badass of the quartet; what with her 1337 hacking skillz and badassery when confronting the #2 Kakine. Seriously, her pure hacking skills are on par with Misaka's using her ability.
  • I've said before Kamijou only appears in Railgun when the MCs are unable to relieve the built up stress and tension themselves. The converse is also true: if the MCs are able to handle things by themselves then Kamijou has no business being there. As of now he hasn't reappeared in the Railgun manga but that hasn't stopped the manga's repeated worship of him.
  • Speaking more on Kamijou and Imagine Breaker (IB), the dragon motif is now self evident but there's plenty of more instances in the novels covered by Index III that point to something not quite right about the assumption that IB simply negates magic and esper powers. In Avignon, that definition is directly challenged by Tsuchimikado when he rightfully suggests that if the assumption about IB negating magic was true, then he would kill people with just one touch as their soul would be negated. Or the planet would be destroyed as the ley lines would be endlessly negated. That none of these things happen suggest there's something more subtle at play. A more specific description would be that IB restores harmony to a supernatural system by normalizing its abnormal values. But what is the significance of this clarification? Also Terra says IB's power should extend further from Kamijou's hand so ther's some more foreshadowing there.
  • There are ninjas in this series. I really needed to get that out of my system... there's seriously warring ninja clans and hidden villages in this series (though I guess that's technically true for the Amakusa as well).
  • Did you know Kamijou has precognition (more specifically referred to as Premonition Perception)? It doesn't appear to be an esper power but its definitely confirmed to be an actual thing and is the real reason why he's been so successful in the series. Its the direct reason why Misaka can never seem to hit him with lightning (he reacts before she fires). Accelerator is the first person to reason that he must have this ability during their rematch and is a strong part of the reason why Kamijou's victory in that fight in the novel was almost surgical and calculated. Unlike their first fight, he properly earned that second victory. A shame it was cut from Index III... Mad The earliest evidence of this ability in the light novels is in his fight with Vento where its once again handwaved away. But when you go back and reread it, the intent is so transparently obvious. A lot of the stuff in the early novels is like that on reread.
  • There's a fan favorite theory that #6 Aihana Etsu's real identity is Kamijou Touma's school friend Aogami Pierce (a nickname used to describe him like its his actual name and literally translates to blue hair and piercings). There's no direct evidence of this, of course, but its really hilarious to think about. Still a fun theory to this day and one I'm secretly hoping is true.
  • Both of Kamijou and Misaka's parents have met each other outside of Academy City. Their mum's have become good friends after the Daihaseisai Arc. Their dad's have come across each other on their international travels. Misaka's dad in particular seems to be a big player in the world with a direct line to Aleister Crowley himself. This isn't really a spoiler: its in a novel that'll never get adapted and a character that still hasn't really done anything.
  • Out of all the concepts that were introduced in the early series the only one that hasn't been returned to in a roundabout way are the vampires of the Deep Blood Arc (and probably never will). Go figure.
  • And lastly, you remember that messy Endymion movie? Turns out that the key concepts introduced or vaguely referenced in that movie might be crucially important to the future of the series such that the Endymion tower and event have been retroactively made canon. Which is a headache without the equivalent novel form of the story because some of those concepts are downright nonsensical in the way they were portrayed in the film. But given that its Kamachi, there's almost guaranteed to be an interpretation that does make rigorous sense and fits with the established lore. Just great...


@Anneyuno1: laughs in Kamachi Laughing Mate, you are in no position to claim that something in the series is nonsensical, or breaks the series especially after your original post about Touma which set me off. The way Kamachi has structured his series long term storytelling, foreshadowing and worldbuilding is more akin to One Piece than Naruto or Bleach (incidentally OP is the one series that I adore more than Raildex). The point being, IB's true explanation is likely one of the first things he thought of when creating the franchise rather than something on the fly. With all of the clues and observations throughout the entire franchise, by the end of NT, Kamachi basically listed all of the key points in bullet form and was practically asking us to solve the puzzle before he eventually reveals it himself in due time.

Its kinda like the When They Cry VN series (another favorite of mine). The first half of the series consist of almost increasingly nonsensical murder mysteries and scenarios that are impossible to make any leeway in towards solving because all of the needed clues haven't been presented. Until right at the halfway point, where the author has given all of the needed clues for someone to reach the possible correct answer and solve all the mysteries. That's currently the point at where the series is at right now.
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2857
PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2020 8:41 am Reply with quote
Key wrote:
unless it's being used to set something else up.


I hope that something else is the astral buddy anime. I particularly liked it's idea of having spers that have a level 5's power output but are not level 5s for reasons.
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Key
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Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2020 9:03 am Reply with quote
OH&S wrote:
  • People seem to generally be attracted to Saten's character (which is fine) but the real treasure of the Railgun side characters is Kongou Mitsuko. Such a delightful character.

I'm one of those people who consider Saten his favorite supporting character, even though she has a propensity for getting in trouble that makes "Danger-Prone Daphne" look cautious by comparison. But yeah, I can see the appeal of Mitsuko after this arc. She genuinely impressed me, and the scene with Mikoto visiting her in the hospital is arguably this most recent episode's storytelling high point.

And while I'm not as much of a fan of Uiharu, she's always struck be as being tougher and more reliable than what she might appear.
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Zaiu



Joined: 30 Apr 2020
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2020 5:22 pm Reply with quote
OH&S wrote:

[*]Did you know Kamijou has precognition (more specifically referred to as Premonition Perception)? It doesn't appear to be an esper power but its definitely confirmed to be an actual thing and is the real reason why he's been so successful in the series. Its the direct reason why Misaka can never seem to hit him with lightning (he reacts before she fires). Accelerator is the first person to reason that he must have this ability during their rematch and is a strong part of the reason why Kamijou's victory in that fight in the novel was almost surgical and calculated. Unlike their first fight, he properly earned that second victory. A shame it was cut from Index III... Mad The earliest evidence of this ability in the light novels is in his fight with Vento where its once again handwaved away. But when you go back and reread it, the intent is so transparently obvious. A lot of the stuff in the early novels is like that on reread.


I personally think Precognition as it's talked about in the western fanbase is a bit overhyped, for example. It isn't actually cut in Index III, the only thing that's really cut is Accelerator's theory, spoiler[which is fine because you get a more reasonable explanation AND showcase of it instead of the Accelerator one where you are even showed the weakness of it.] in NT, really all it boils down to is that Touma can read his opponents in battle due to habits or as it's called, involuntary movements which is actually a skill that exists in both other series and real life. Also, one thing to keep in mind is that spoiler[according to Touma he could never beat certain opponents, like Tsuchimikado if they went all out on him, which means his ability to predict can be surpassed by his opponents being better fighters than him. Unfortunately for people like Accelerator, that isn't the case.]
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SilverTalon01



Joined: 02 Apr 2012
Posts: 2401
PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2020 6:22 pm Reply with quote
OH&S wrote:
@SilverTalon01: That’s not fair bringing up Accelerator and his spoiler[powers gained by accessing the third tree, Clonoth]. I will concede that maybe I wasn’t giving Misaka’s death ball a fair rap; it probably falls into the same class as Accelerator’s black wings and Fiamma’s Holy Right: sufficiently large or powerful supernatural phenomena that Imagine Breaker can’t immediately negate. I do think that Kamijou could have tackled it differently knowing the death ball’s real strength but at this stage he had not mastered his disruption abilities or know that there exist phenomena he could even do such a thing to. I agree that the focus of that scene was definitely the almighty strength of the dragons; who we already know could BTFO Fiamma rather effortlessly.


Hmm, maybe I am reaching here, but I actually think they're basically the same.spoiler[ Accelerator just went all the way to the end of the process. Mikoto had the halo and magical features so I feel like she was going that way (except she was going to self destruct first).] What I was going for before was that iirc Accel spoiler[is still counted among the level 5s even after achieving silver wings and creating the 3rd tree].

As for the attack strength, I think it was above the black wings and at least the like 20km sword though not full power Fiamma himself. A lot of the attacks that IB doesn't negate iirc are described how they hurt the rest of Touma's body, but I don't recall any actual damage to the IB hand itself for those cases. That said, I find your explanation that he simply knows better than to go all in against attacks that powerful after having his entire hand destroyed here to be reasonable as well.

OH&S wrote:
@we love lain: Regarding Misaka’s relationship, I don’t feel like I’m exaggerating given what I know of future developments. By the end of NT, I feel Misaka has become just as important of a pillar in Kamijou’s life as he is to her. It’s a wholly unique kind of pillar/relationship than with Index and spoiler[Othinus]; but also adding its not like one pillar trumps the other. I don’t want to discuss this further because I’m at the very least entitled to my opinion on this.


I have zero idea where his romantic interests are (if he even really has any for any of the girls), but I think that is definitely the case as well.

Key wrote:
We'll have to agree to disagree on that, as the scene you're describing didn't stick in my mind at the time at all. I've gone back and rewatched bits and pieces of the first series over the last couple of years as reference for plot callbacks for the recent series, but never that part, so I'm going to make a point to do that sometime before next episode. As much as I got pissy about it earlier in this post, I usually do appreciate when a series buries foreshadowing like that which is only evident on a second view.


I agree with you. Something about that entire arc of the anime made it very forgettable. On top of that, I think because it was the 2nd arc, the normal range of events wasn't established. Sure in hindsight, the dragon does stand out, but I think Index throws enough at you pretty quickly where it can easily get lost. I didn't remember the dragon until around when the final OT volume came out and people were bringing it back up on the forums due to the potential tie in to the end of the final fight.

OH&S wrote:
That said, while its still possible, an adaptation of NT scares the hell out of me. Those novels are an order of magnitude more convoluted than the original series. And any attempted adaptation would result in a headache an order magnitude greater than Index III. I don't want Project Index's filthy hands touching it. The disillusionment of the production company model of the anime industry is very real.


You know they will try to put the entire spoiler[Othinus] arc into a 2 cour season if they do... Too much of a disaster waiting to happen. The production effort for Index just isn't up for that, and I don't see them signing off on giving it the SAO Alicization arc treatment. I'll take a Railgun 4 though.
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2857
PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2020 7:03 pm Reply with quote
offt, 2 cour ?
you can bet your pants they will try to put that arc in one coeur.


about dragon, while there is the devil acception in christianity, the other acception (leviathan) is that dragon are being that can't be defeated by humans, just god and that god put them there so huanity would never forget that. That fits touma's right hand better I think.
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Zaiu



Joined: 30 Apr 2020
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2020 8:35 pm Reply with quote
I don't think a NT adaptation is as hopeless as you guys make it seem, it's pretty obvious that the producers involved for how Index III got treated got both called out and left out to dry. Going forward it wouldn't be unusual to expect things to be in Miki, Kamachi and the Director's hands rather than someone on top who wants to stuff as many thing as possible.
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Renasviel



Joined: 24 Oct 2015
Posts: 143
PostPosted: Tue May 19, 2020 12:58 am Reply with quote
Key wrote:
-snip-
Not really sure what your issue is then. I mean, I can't just *know* you've watched everything, for one, which is why I covered as many bases as I could. No smarmy "insinuation" at all lmao.

At the very least, it seems like your recollection of earlier events was somewhat hazy, in which case a refresher rewatch was probably called for, no? You can hardly blame the series for picking up little loose threads from much earlier, which is arguably a strength, because you forgot about them. You don't need to be a superfan, but the point is that those things are in there and do exist, and complaining about it feeling like an ass pull because one doesn't remember it makes just about no sense to me.
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SilverTalon01



Joined: 02 Apr 2012
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PostPosted: Tue May 19, 2020 6:30 pm Reply with quote
Zaiu wrote:
I don't think a NT adaptation is as hopeless as you guys make it seem, it's pretty obvious that the producers involved for how Index III got treated got both called out and left out to dry. Going forward it wouldn't be unusual to expect things to be in Miki, Kamachi and the Director's hands rather than someone on top who wants to stuff as many thing as possible.


Based on a comment in an interview, I think Miki's hands were one of the problems... He specifically called out how he wanted to see Fiamma in season 3 if it were to happen. If you're looking to him to apply the breaks, I think you're looking in the wrong spot.
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Zaiu



Joined: 30 Apr 2020
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PostPosted: Tue May 19, 2020 7:36 pm Reply with quote
SilverTalon01 wrote:
Zaiu wrote:
I don't think a NT adaptation is as hopeless as you guys make it seem, it's pretty obvious that the producers involved for how Index III got treated got both called out and left out to dry. Going forward it wouldn't be unusual to expect things to be in Miki, Kamachi and the Director's hands rather than someone on top who wants to stuff as many thing as possible.


Based on a comment in an interview, I think Miki's hands were one of the problems... He specifically called out how he wanted to see Fiamma in season 3 if it were to happen. If you're looking to him to apply the breaks, I think you're looking in the wrong spot.

That's not really how that works, infact if Miki said we needed to see Fiamma in the third season, then we wouldn't need to go further than OT16 or OT18 for that purpose. Also, if Index 3 went the way Nishikori wanted to adapt it then we'd stop short of WW3 just really starting, which would also again let Miki see Fiamma within that season.

We already know from a recent interview that a producer "insisted" that they adapt that many volumes, we also know they had to treat it as a now or never thing so they didn't really have any choices because of pressure production wise
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Stiles



Joined: 21 Oct 2014
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PostPosted: Tue May 19, 2020 8:28 pm Reply with quote
SilverTalon01 wrote:
You know they will try to put the entire spoiler[Othinus] arc into a 2 cour season if they do... Too much of a disaster waiting to happen. The production effort for Index just isn't up for that, and I don't see them signing off on giving it the SAO Alicization arc treatment. I'll take a Railgun 4 though.

I'm of the belief that this anime and Accelerator are the reasons that Index didn't get the Alicization treatment. When T finishes airing, the To Aru franchise will have had a total of 64 standard length anime episodes in about two years time.

Sixty-four. Those side story episodes should've went to Index first. We can't say they didn't have the money or the means, the pieces were there, they just split the quality between three different branches.

Index suffered so we could get Railgun and Accelerator, one that wouldn't really have been any worse off waiting for just a little longer and one which we didn't need.

Now granted, since they decided to plow ahead anyway, I will agree that yes, they should've stopped at volume 19, or perhaps at 18. Then they could've gone on break for however long and then come back to finish out God's Right Seat a year or two later.

We know from a certain interview that they originally wanted to start in at NT1 and skip God's Right Seat entirely, which would've completely ruined the flow of the anime. It seems to me that they chose this path to get to NT sooner rather than later, so I can't imagine that NT isn't getting announced in October, which is when the next event is to be held with a lot of the lead character seiyuu's present. Assuming that goes forward as planned, but this is 2020 we're talking about.

But yeah, I also wouldn't be surprised if Index has to wait a bit longer either and nothing is announced this year. Given that Imaginary Fest is a thing, I seriously doubt that NT isn't announced relatively "soon." Wishful thinking, I know.

Look, I'm more positive than negative about Index III, but I wasn't satisfied with it either. At least now they have a perfect blueprint of how NOT to make NT. All they need to understand is that they don't need to plow through all the material in a two-cour season. Split the spoiler[Norse Gremlin saga] in half and flesh it out like a Railgun adaptation.

With side story out of way, maybe they'll finally be able to focus on the main branch and make it awesome like it should be.
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Izanagi009



Joined: 20 Oct 2014
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PostPosted: Wed May 20, 2020 7:38 pm Reply with quote
OH&S wrote:

@Izanagi009: Let’s start with an off-topic point of agreement: Kaguya-sama might just be the greatest rom-com manga I’ve ever consumed. Its truly a series where I don’t have a single negative thing to say about it and there are no bad chapters. I’m glad the series has an anime adaptation that gives its material justice. Not sure why you’d be comparing its romantic chemistry to a heavily plot and action-oriented sci-fi magic fantasy battle series like Index but to each his own, I guess.

Now to the more disagreeable point about the climax, I’m on two minds about this. Consuming the Railgun anime in a vacuum, I absolutely understand how annoying (and potentially deflating) this would be for the viewer. It came out of nowhere; asspull; deus ex machina; Misaka needs to be saved again; boy character saves the day again; yada yada. I get it; these dragons are practically the eagles from the Lord of the Rings climax...
...
...
...but only in a Railgun vacuum.

Knowing that Railgun does not exist in a vacuum, I cannot for the life of me understand how you expected things to end any other way and be disappointed in this revelation/outcome. After Shokuhou and Kuroko did their part, all that was left was for Kamijou to negate the transformation and end the incident. What were you expecting? A more climactic negation? What’s more climactic than the unexpected WTF spectacle of 8 friggin dragons flying out of a severed arm, each with their own specialized designs, colours and abilities eating away a god-like transformation in a science-fiction series while also tripling as a confirmation of a decade old theory, a further revelation of the absolute core mystery of the franchise and the gazillion implications it has on the speculation of future events as well as the characters who witnessed it!? These are nothing remotely similar to the LotR eagles. Please tell me. This criticism of the climax is genuinely alien to me. I’ve never come across such a thing in the 5+ years since this chapter was published.


I bring Kaguya sama up because for all the people that ship Misaka/Touma, there isn't any real chemistry compared to Kaguya sama's writing and direction with character interactions. I don't want to hear "it's not in the LN" as an excuse either. The point of adaptation is to modify and improve on the source material when possible and the Touma/Misaka relationship is painfully lacking.

As for the Railgun existing in a vacuum or not, here's the thing. A show's presentation and execution must stand up on it's own. While yes, the connections to Index proper are fascinating, ultimately, the visual execution of the dragons and the diffusion of the situation is lacking. In addition, they really did cut out a lot of surrounding fight content that would have made the struggle more apparent and thus, Touma's win more earned.

As for the little twitter post made, I don't like that type of thing. People rag on J.K. Rowling when she adds or alters stuff within the story after the fact. The fact that we had to be told the abilities of the dragons and not shown in the majority of the LN or manga properly is an issue.
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OH&S



Joined: 15 Jul 2013
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PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2020 8:29 am Reply with quote
Oh geez. I've said enough about Index III, so I'm not gonna repeat myself or say any more.

@Zaiu:
  • Precognition: Fair enough. I probably should have been specific about how it worked. But it always surprises me how much Kamijou can do with it when the information seems so redundant. Ex. Read’s facial expressions; can suddenly parry the black wings better than a Level 5. Or just how much info he actually takes in and acts on. Ex. During the final exchange with Vento.
  • NT adaptation: My worries lie with the first 4 volumes. I just can’t imagine how they’d go about animating them even if the team was competent. Animating NT requires the team to think well ahead and think outside the box in order to determine how to convey all of the required information to the viewer in an entertaining way. I was hoping Index III would be a trial run but we all know how that turned out... Please just leave NT8-11 be.


@SilverTalon01:
  • Level 6 Shift: You know, I can’t really find an argument against that reasoning. spoiler[We know that esper powers are rooted in the concepts of Thelema. Does achieving Level 6 equate to crossing the Abyss? I feel like Kamachi would have specified if that was the case. But then again, Accelerator can now counter MGs. So maybe...]
  • Shipping: Thank goodness, someone can back me up. I can say with absolute certainty that Kamijou currently has ZERO romantic interest in the girls around him. He’s still waiting for his non-existent dorm-manager onee-san to appear. But its also apparent that anyone who goes ahead and actually confesses to him would have a high probability of success.
  • Dragon Strike from Index I: Admittedly, the arc was forgettable in the long run but the Dragon Strike still stands out with how much Atsushi Abe hams it up in that scene. Maybe that scene left a stronger impression on me because of the LN illustration.


@Izanagi009:
  • Kaguya-sama comparison: Again, I just don’t see what the utility is in that comparison. Of course, Kaguya sama’s romantic chemistry is leaps and bounds above Kamijou and Misaka; that’s what the entire manga is about. And Index isn’t even a romance series. It’d be like comparing a baseball series like MAJOR to one baseball match in any of KEY’s works and saying “MAJOR handled baseball better”. “You don’t say.” As for whether Kamijou and Misaka have enough of a relationship to ship; clearly, they do; and people have shipped characters more passionately with less material (see Naruto’s legendary Hall of Anal Devastation). Now please stop talking about shipping. I hate talking about shipping. Also, your points about adaptation in this context have flown over my head.
  • Dragon Strike Climax: Sounds like you have more of an issue with the anime’s execution rather than the development itself. Which is not totally unfounded. The Dragon Strike is pretty striking in the manga. Ideally, they would have made room in Episode 13 by removing the flashback and OP/ED to squeeze in the Dragon Strike then have Episode 14 focus on the denouement and epilogue. But alas, we’re currently in a pandemic. Hopefully they can further improve the scene in the BD release as well as fix up some the colours of the dragons. Alternatively, they could have adapted Liberal Arts City before the Daihaseisai Arc and made room for more anime-original scenes with Kamijou and Sogiita’s fight against Misaka. Unfortunately, we don’t live in that timeline.
  • Extra twitter details: While the J.K. Rowling comparison is hardly adequate as the LN and the manga are both still ongoing, I’m not going to dictate whether you should like this method of revealing info about the franchise. I don’t think the twitter revelation itself is a big deal. Why? Because for all of the details given (which are amusing to know), the majority of them are superfluous for the story; they were revealed because they were superfluous to the story. The important thing is not the abilities themselves; it’s merely the fact that they all have different abilities.


On that note, some more amusing twitter info from the Railgun manga editor about the dragons. So the editor responded on Twitter to a hilarious joke image concerning the Dragons made by an English fan that I can’t post here for spoiler reasons (but its really hilarious). The response was related to something he posted years ago. When the Dragon Strike chapter originally serialized, only the original dragon was shown; with the rest of the dragons hidden in a silhouette. Then the collected volume released and revealed the full 8 dragons. At the time, the editor released what was assumed to be original drafts and concept design sof the dragons and there were designs for 16 dragons with 8 of them going unused. [Image1] [Image2] [Image3]

This entire time, the understanding was that the extra designs were scrapped/rejected. But now, what the editor seems to be implying in his most recent tweet is that the 7 extra dragons came out only when the first dragon couldn’t deal with Misaka’s death ball by itself; and if the 8 couldn’t deal with it, then all 16 dragons would have come out to get the job done. Which means that there are at least 16 uniquely designed dragons within Kamijou; each with their own abilities. That’s just plain mental. He also said that there’s a very good reason behind why the dragons have the great number of varied abilities that they do. Which was exactly what I said should be the main takeaway from this extra revelation.
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Yuma39



Joined: 30 Apr 2019
Posts: 8
PostPosted: Mon May 25, 2020 6:12 pm Reply with quote
OH&S wrote:




This entire time, the understanding was that the extra designs were scrapped/rejected. But now, what the editor seems to be implying in his most recent tweet is that the 7 extra dragons came out only when the first dragon couldn’t deal with Misaka’s death ball by itself; and if the 8 couldn’t deal with it, then all 16 dragons would have come out to get the job done. Which means that there are at least 16 uniquely designed dragons within Kamijou; each with their own abilities. That’s just plain mental. He also said that there’s a very good reason behind why the dragons have the great number of varied abilities that they do. Which was exactly what I said should be the main takeaway from this extra revelation.

just a little correction, they're 17 dragons
the 1st dragon is numbered 0, the editor said in another tweet that they're 17
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