To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S - 15

Immediate reaction: Please get rid of the director for Index, and replace him for Railgun's director: Tatsyuki Nagai. Honestly, despite being one of the greatest moments in all anime, I've come to understand Index completely rushed (hence ruined) this scene in the anime. I had come in ready to get bored by the endless deja vu, and disappointed due to the lack of new material. Suffice to say, Railgun S outclassed Index by lightyears, and took me to a completely new world. If one thing's certain, it's that the Plasma scene was 100x better than the original, as shown below.

It doesn't take a chump to guess which one is which

With that said, it’s just testament towards the effort they’ve put into Railgun S this time round, compared to how well animated the source material was originally (in Index). Because despite the fact that most of these scenes are repeats of ones in Index, there have been some notable additions and redraws of particular scenes (such as how the plasma was depicted this week and the bridge moment in last episode), which combine with Misaka’s added perspective to give a truly complete experience. Arguably, this can be said to be a kind of HD + Director’s Cut w/ added scenes variant of the Sisters’ Arc in Index, and there are just few words to describe how if you’re going to do something like this, here's the way to do it.  Needless to say, I relished every moment, and hold the episode itself in high regards (episode of the season so far for me).

 I just can't get enough of this Falcon Punch

Accelerator seemed rather amused at the idea that a Level 0 would dare challenge the strongest Level 5 in Academy City, having already crushed numerous others aiming for his title of strongest along the way. While this may have been a joke with any other Level 0, this is Touma Kamijou we're talking about here. Still, taken to extremely ridiculous lengths when Touma is still injured from Misaka's onslaught of high voltage electricity. Anyway, he wades into more trouble, highly predictable given his bad luck.

Touma Punch > Falcon Punch

Touma wipes the smug grin off Accelerator's face, made even more amazing by the fact he's not aiming to become the strongest like Accelerator believes. Touma truly desires to protect the lives of the remaining Sisters, as well as Misaka Mikoto, that he would put his own life on the line. Any normal man would've been long dead; a mangled broken corpse (had they taken everything Accelerator had to dish at them). Despite being aided by the Imagine Breaker, it is no mean feat to come out with that sort of conviction, and continue fighting for your beliefs in the face of such adversity. He is indeed our knight in shining armour, albeit more importantly so to Misaka Mikoto herself.

Shoryuken! (I think I've had enough of stealing from fighting games)

On the other hand, Accelerator can be seen as greatly envying Touma, craving for the wholesomeness of being a 'hero' like Touma, even to the point that he declares himself evil because he believes he cannot reach towards that path of light. I won't spoil too much, but if you've watched Index, Accelerator comes to the good side after meeting one person who changed the entire world around him. Sure, though he becomes a goodie, this doesn't mean he entirely loses out on his streak of badassery, or inner darkness. Just saiyan.

“KEKEKKEKEKEKEKUKKUKEKEUEKUEKEUKEUEKKEUEKGAHAGAHAHAGHAGAHA
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” – Accelerator

Everything they did this week reeks of a deeper meaning compared to Index. Ranging from the initial response to Touma’s intervention (“Don’t go!”) to the great moment where she responds to Misaka, despite not being able to comprehend the emotional meaning (yet allowing it to invoke an emotional response), and the bit with the turbines at the end… everything here really just culminates all the development from the previous weeks to demonstrate that they’re indeed alive, and they’re not puppets to be trodden on like insects. The MISAKA sisters are blatantly ignoring the experimental guidelines to help Misaka stop Accelerator right here and now. To say that this scene gave me chills is an understatement, and again, the added detail into Accelerator’s plasma this time around really just adds to the atmosphere (quite literally).

'I...do not understand... I don't understand what you're saying, but...
for some reason, those words... rang in my heart' - Misaka 10032

I really like how this episode made it clear that Accelerator created the plasma not to take out Touma, but that he had just lost it to the point where he was generating enough power to eliminate everything within a couple mile radius due to his frustration. The first season of Index did not make this clear enough, and so it seemed accelerator was just stupidly wasting time creating plasma when he could have easily thrown something at Touma to kill him. Ultimately, it’s just another great week of Railgun S, and one filled with some of the best elements this series has to offer: Sci-fi action, the beauty of friendship, subtle storytelling, and a soundtrack that really matches the atmosphere of the scenes it’s used in. Don’t forget though, the fight’s not yet over, and next week’ll really be something to watch. Can't wait for the resolution, and until next time, it's the lights out for Railgun S.

Left: To Aru Majutsu no Index
Right: To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S