A Certain Scientific Railgun - 02

As I mentioned in the post about the first episode, I find the perverted lesbian character type off-putting, but despite that, I greatly enjoyed this episode. And it didn't even have much in terms of action, which is the part that really appealed to me in the first place. No, this episode was focused purely on Shirai and her attempts to seduce Misaka, and it was executed very well.

 

 

The episode does begin by introducing a new plot point and some action off-screen. There is a male student who is capable of resisting Misaka's attack completely, as evidenced by the scorch marks in the alley where she confronts him. They seem to already know each other, since she was clearly chasing him who was deliberately running away. Maybe it's something already established from A Certain Magical Index. Anyway, he seems to be the same guy as the one who walks by Misaka in the OP, so he's sure to return. I wonder if he's one of the other 6 level 5s alluded to in the first episode.

The rest of the episode is dedicated to Shirai and her grand delusions about her relationship with Misaka. What made this work was how the episode balanced the serious and wacky aspects of this perverse relationship. Most of it was good old fashioned over-the-top old fashioned cartoon fun. I particularly enjoyed the scene in which Shirai shows off her impressive collection of nightwear to Uiharu and Saten. Shirai's voice actor (Satomi Arai) did a very good job, I thought, of showing off that character's insanity and obsessiveness with the delivery of her lines. Almost too squeaky at times, but fitting with the character.

 

The show sometimes felt like it was in danger of becoming too serious, but each time, it brought it back by making the seriousness the part of a larger gag. At the same time, the intermittent mentions of the more serious aspects of Shirai and Misaka's friendship helped us to get a better feel for it by the time the episode ended. And even though the episode started to get too sappy near the end, it fortunately ended on a down note, with Shirai (enjoying) being electrocuted by Misaka after stealing her underwear via teleportation.

 

Notes

• Here is the post on Random Curiosity about this episode.
• The whole roommate situation somehow reminds me of Maria Holic. In that, why is one of the parties consenting of the situation? And why aren't the dorm parents knowledgeable enough to take care of it? It seems that most problems in high school anime could be solved with proper adult supervision.
• Speaking of things that confuse me, I don't understand Saten's thing with looking at Uiharuh's panties. Is that something explained in the original series?