DVD Corner

A Certain Scientific Railgun Parts 1 and 2 DVD Reviews

“A Certain Scientific Railgun” pales in comparison to “A Certain Magical Index.”

Based on the manga of the same name, “A Certain Scientific Railgun” is a spin-off to “A Certain Magical Index” and is set in the same time period. Also like ‘Index,’ ‘Railgun’ is set in the technologically advanced Academy City where students study to become espers. In the 12 episode part 1, we are introduced to the main characters Mikoto Misaka (the electric powered level 5 esper with a railgun attack) and her pals Kuroko (A judgement/public safety employee and the roommate of Mikoto), Kazari (Kuroko’s co-worker), and Ruiko (Kazari’s friend). Viewers can also expect to see stories revolving around: friendship, stopping criminals/espers (like Miho the taserer, a pyrokinesist, and Trick the light distorter), the girls saving citizens, Kuroko perving out over Mikoto, cross-over cameos from “A Certain Magical Index,” Kuroko and Kazari’s past, Judgment member Mii, a person responsible for setting off graviton bombs, Mikoto becoming a member of Judgement, Anti-Skills (police officers), questions involving esper level powers, a mysterious Level Upper who can move asphalt, a Level Upper (and a Level Upper Network), people in comas, the mysterious AIM specialist Harumi Kiyama and a fetus creature connected to her known as AIM Burst.

In part 2 (which contains episodes 13-24), the main storylines involve: The girls modeling for a swimsuit catalogue, special motivational classes (featuring more cameos by “A Certain Magical Index” characters), an esper attacking gang called Big Spider, a skilled red haired man, Mii’s past and her connection with a mystery man named Wataru, a random filler episode focusing on Tsuzuri (an Anti-Skills member), a romance between a dorm supervisor and a teacher, festivals, a new transfer student named Erii, city wide devastating poltergeist events, the “not what she seems” Therestina (the head of the Multi Active Rescue Squad), Banri (a telepathic friend of Erii and a former student of Harumi), the Ability Crystal Program (won’t spoil this), and Harumi’s search for a cure (which continues from season 1).

After seeing “A Certain Magical Index,” I wasn’t thrilled with the show overall, but I admired the storytelling structure. Rather than focusing on one story arc, ‘Index’ had a wide variety of storylines and characters. In the spin-off “A Certain Scientific Railgun,” there are a number of story arcs, but most of them tie-in to one storyline. Unfortunately, the story, characters, humor, and well, mostly everything about ‘Railgun’ is forgettable.

After the first episode, it’s clear that ‘Railgun’ barely resembles its predecessor at all. While ‘Index’ had humor, the storylines were darker, more intricate, and more adult. ‘Railgun’ does get a bit dark in certain episodes (mostly with the Harumi centric episodes), but there is an excessive amount of cartoony humor, pervy fanservice, sappy friendship plots, bickering characters, and absurdly over-the-top story arcs (namely the Level Uppers power mumbo jumbo and the sloppy and convoluted Harumi storyline). In some respects, the show often feels like “Scooby-Doo” mixed with “Sailor Moon” as the powerful teen girls investigate crimes/mysteries and team-up to fight the evildoers.

I had hoped the show would improve in part 2, but alas, ‘Railgun’ gets even worse as it progresses. While the story arc with gang piqued my interest, everything prior to and after that arc fell flat. The biggest problem is that there are a lot of filler episodes in part 2 as we see stories focusing on several random characters (ala the teacher and the dorm supervisor). Sure, there’s characterization here, but very little of it furthers the story.

As the season nears the end, a new story arc does emerge in episode 20, but it falls apart in the end thanks to an overload of mech action and fight sequences, MacGuffins, and a predictably happy ending.

Video/Audio:

The first 24 episodes of “A Certain Scientific Railgun,” which are presented in widescreen, look like a standard anime. Nothing really stands nor is it the most visually exciting show, but it’s professionally done.

These sets contain English Dolby Digital 5.1 and Japanese Stereo tracks. The English dub is satisfactory as the voice acting isn’t too overdone like it can be with certain Funimation releases. The Japanese track lacks the 5.1 punch, but it’s arguably stronger in terms of voice acting.

“A Certain Scientific Railgun” Part 1 Extras:
* Trailers for “A Certain Magical Index,” “Tenchi Muyo!: War On Geminar,” “Baka and Test,” “Okami-San And Her Seven Companions,” ‘Summer Wars,” “LASTEXILE-Fam, The Silver Wing-,” “Aria The Scarlet Ammo,” “Rosario + Vampire,” “Toriko,” and Funimation.com.
* Commentary on episode 3 by Brina Palencia and Cherami Leigh. The two giggle, joke around, discuss voice acting, and have very little to say about the show overall.
* Commentary on episode 6 by Brittney Karbowski and Alison Viktorin. Different commentators, more of the same empty commentary.
* Textless opening and closing songs.

“A Certain Scientific Railgun” Part 2 Extras:
* Trailers for “Tenchi Muyo!: War On Geminar,” “Shakugan No Shana,” “Baka and Test,” “A Certain Magical Index,” “Fairy Tail,” “One Piece,” “Bamboo Blade,” “Toriko,” “Rosario + Vampire CAPU2,” and Funimation.com.
* A talkative, but bland commentary on episode 17 by Jad Sexton, Kara Edwards, and Martha Harms. The three mainly chat about characters and voice acting.
* 2 textless opening songs and 2 textless closing songs.
* A U.S. trailer for “A Certain Scientific Railgun.”

* Commentary on episode 24 by Zach Bolton, Colleen Clinkenbeard, and Anastasia Munoz. Lots of laughing and lots of character discussion.

Summary: Watch “A Certain Magical Index” instead of “A Certain Scientific Railgun.”

June 16, 2013 - Posted by nicklyons1 | DVD review | A Certain Magical Index, A Certain Scientific Railgun Part 1 DVD Review, A Certain Scientific Railgun Part 2 DVD Reveiw