A Certain Scientific Railgun S – 08

Explosives Expert vs The 'Railgun'

Frenda Seivulun looks quite innocent here...

This week, underground esper group ITEM make their flashy entrance in style, taking out an armed unit of 'Men in Black' unscathed. Led by Academy City's 4th strongest Esper, Mugino 'Meltdowner' Shizuri, this mean bunch of girls receive the mission to stop an unknown attacker from destroying facilities involved in the Level 6 Shift Project. Regardless of the clients goals being good or bad, they will take the job, as long as there is a hefty pay check at the end.

Hidden explosives, no fair!

Since the unknown attacker they're up against is the 'Railgun', Misaka Mikoto, we're in for quite a large slice of action. Lurking in the shadows, Frenda launches multiple explosive attacks on the unsuspecting Misaka, and the situation escalates once the little terrorist openly reveals herself. As Frenda so finely put it herself, the people she kills were born to be killed by her, implying she has a few screws loose. But this raises the moral implication that links back to the Level 6 Project, with thousands of Sister clones dying for the sole purpose of one esper attaining Level 6. Are the lives of people so inconsequential that they can be discarded, in order to achieve a cause?

"That won't work, I can float in the air, sucker!"

With an all out battle erupting between Frenda and Misaka, the concept in itself is crazy, especially considering we have a powerless Esper up against a Level 5. However, our bomber girl manages to push Misaka to her limits, utilizing her explosive expertise, albeit in a rather cheap manner. I have to say, considering Frenda had a virtually unlimited supply of bombs (in the folds of her clothes, from thin air, and up her skirt...), precognition to the confrontation, exceptional planning intellect, and the time to prepare, the way Misaka came out of it lightly was rather 'electrifying'. Kudos to Frenda for being able to stay on par with the 'Railgun', though she's half the woman Misaka is.

"What's that I can see on the ground?"

Towards the end of the episode, a glimpse into Mugino's powers are given, as the 'Meltdowner' completely blows through a wall with impunity, almost roasting Misaka in the process. Needless to say, as another Level 5 is introduced into the fray, things will begin to heat up, or should I say, Meltdown (Hahaha, pardon the pun). Another focus in this episode was Shinobu's return, with the scientists inviting her back to work on the project. I have the feeling this is the best chance Shinobu will get to directly hinder, or totally trash the project, though I doubt that'll happen without a few hitches preventing her from achieving her goal (as shown in the next episode preview).

That's right, entrances are made, through the wall

Flashbacks were in store, particularly during the more powerful moments in the episode. I found myself pondering on the striking resemblance between ITEM's nihilistic philosophies, and the ruthless, sacrificial goals of Academy City's upper echelons. Misaka snaps at Frenda, with her emotional reaction to Frenda’s comments about people being born to die emphasizing the running theme on the Sisters' fatalism (subjugation to fate), bringing up a wide array of interesting questions in light of Misaka's determination to save them from their fate. Sure, she perceives the situation as something which started with her careless decision, and feels an overriding sense of responsibility to sort everything out, but to actually take any sort of action, while refusing to involve her friends is incredibly admirable, almost bordering on stupidity (since they would always be there to help her out if she just asked). Seeing how things panned out into the inevitable conflict between Misaka and ITEM, I wonder how different Misaka's predicament would be if the rest of Judgement were involved.

This yandere will screw you over...

In conclusion, this was another shocking episode, with Railgun S continuing to ride on a streak of lightning. Hopefully, every single of the remaining episodes to be able to deliver the same quality, and impact we've seen so far. From the looks of it, I see Touma and Kuroko joining in due to OP spoiler, and highly anticipate any future developments from Railgun S.