To Aru Kagaku no Railgun

Description

The To Aru Kagaku no Railgun side story is based on Kamachi's original story set in Academy City, a city where about 80% of its 230,000 citizens are students. The story deals with the adventures of Misaka Mikoto, one of the Level 5 psychics in the To Aru Majutsu no Index light novels.

Action, Comedy, Science Fiction, Shoujo-Ai, Supernatural

24 episodes + 2 special (season 1)

Misaka's Superpower! Level5

Review

Story - 3 (Average)
The story takes place in Academy City where a majority of the students study to acquire their paranormal powers (they become known as Espers). Everyone has a special power of their own and they are graded on the scale of Level 1(being the weakest) - Level 5 (strongest). The main character, Misaka, is a pretty famous person in the school as she is one of the few Level 5 being able to manipulate electric current and blasting it at a high velocity which is the reason why she's acquired the nickname Railgun. The other support main character is her partner Shirai who works for an organization called Judgement, which works odd jobs in solving citizen problems to solving larger cases that are a threat to the city.

The story flow is more of a roller coaster as it switches from the everyday lives of the girl and their friends to the more exciting bit of solving cases that threat the safety of the City. The fighting scenes can be pretty cool and interesting to watch as you want to see what everyone's power is and the many ways they can manipulate it. As you get further, the story also starts to build up for the main focus in which they try to stop a serious threat... the typical end of the world kind (except in this case, the end of their city instead lol).

If you really love the characters though (as I did) then you'll mostly be hooked the whole way through.

Music/Sound - 5 (Great)
The introduction songs are great :D and so are the ending songs. Even though Shirai's voice sounds a bit weird at first.. it does seem to fit her personality. ;p

Art/Animation - 5 (Great)
The graphics look really nice, smooth, and shiny. Love it!


Character - 5 (Great)
I think they did a really good job on developing the characters. You get to learn a lot about the four friends Misaki, Shirai, Uiharu, and Saten where you'll obtain a very good sense of what they are all like, how they would probably act, or what they believe is important. Even some of the minor characters have their spotlight for one episode so you can know a bit about them too. I really enjoyed this anime because of the characters :) .. you can feel that the four friends are very close. I love the Misaka-Shirai pair too lol (yes there is yuri.. but it's not serious, as it seems to be used more for comedy than an actual romance). Oh and this anime's main cast is full of girls.. there is only one minor guy that doesn't even appear much.

Humor - 5 (Great)
I thought the comedy was very good, it made me laugh and smile a lot as I watched. Especially how Misaka is constantly fighting off Shirai's perverted advances lol. Saten and Uiharu also have funny quirks of their own, in that Saten is oddly always having to check that her friend wears her underwear everyday. Misaka seems like such a serious person and yet she loves cute/childish things. The character reactions are also incredibly funny since they use a lot of exaggerated looks and noises. I'll have to say that the most comedic character in this anime would have to be Shirai :P she is such a panther! I think Misaka puts up with Shirai because she knows that despite her perverseness, Shirai has many other good qualities that make her a great friend. So she probably just accepts Shirai the way she is, warts and all lol.

Misaka compliments Shirai.. which encourages her

Shirai unexpectedly hops onto Misaka's lap making a ruckus

Overall - 4 (Good)
It's a good anime to watch if you like to watch supernatural powers and some fight scenes! Mostly if you're interested in watching about the lives of a group of girls getting close and having fun. If you're a yuri fan you'd probably like this too. Most likely, if you enjoy the comedy in the first episode then you'll end up enjoying the series!

Gunslinger Girl 2: Teatrino

Description

When the Social Welfare Agency investigates the disappearance of an operative, their inquiry leads them right into the lair of their rival, the Five Republics. The assassin Triela infiltrates the hostile organization, but her search is cut short when she finds herself staring down the barrel of a gun...

Action, Science-Fiction

13 episodes

Review

Story - 3 (Average)
The story in the 2nd season of gunslinger girl is definitely more interesting and better. Like the 1st season, it still focuses on accomplishing missions, but there is a greater goal to the story as well. Along with the previous two bombers there is a new antagonist, Pinocchio, who is loyal to Cristiano (leader who is part of the terrorist organization known as RFR which the government is targeting). When Tietra encounters Pinocchio(who is also a skilled assassin) she fails to take him down .. from then on, she swears that she would not lose to him the next time as she trains harder. As the story progresses, you will get a sense that somehow the government and terrorists are somewhat alike, perhaps even the people.

Will the terrorists get away, or will the Fratello units accomplish their mission? Will Tietra win against her rival the next time she encounters him?

Music/Sound - 5 (Great)
I really liked the intro and ending song :).. they also added a nice melody for the times when someone is reminiscing about something.

Art/Animation - 5 (Great)
If you watched the first season, you'll notice that the art/animation has totally changed. However, it still looks great, just a bit more cutesy, and less shiny than the previous. :) (I did like the first artwork more though!). There's also much more action in this series.

Character - 5 (Great)
The character development is still great :) You get some more info about some of the girls and handlers.. but this time, they seem to focus more on Triela's character and the terrorist bombers Franco, Franca, and Pinocchio. After learning about the terrorists more and their background.. it even made me feel a bit more sympathetic to them. I wasn't sure which side I was cheering for anymore ;p since I liked all the characters so they did a great job on that. It was sad to see the fratellos and the terrorists go against each other! Triela and Pinocchio are the star characters in this season though. Oh and Pinocchio's name has a lot of symbolism to what his character is like and where he came from.

Humor - 1 (Bad)
Same seriousness as the previous season.

Overall - 4 (Good)
If you enjoyed the previous gunslinger girl, then you definitely need to watch this one! It's a great continue as it adds onto everything from the last season and more. You can still watch this as a stand-alone though since they give flashbacks of the past and you won't miss anything (since the previous season was mostly about the fratello relationships). Having knowledge season 1 will just make your viewing of this even better :) because you have a sense of what all the characters are already like and get to learn more about them.

Gunslinger Girl

Description

Officially, the Social Welfare Agency is a government sponsored corporation that's in the business of saving lives. At least, that's the ruse. In reality, it's an agency on the fringe of technology. They give terminal patients another shot at life using cybernetic implants. This conditioning process then shapes the patient into an efficient machine for handling all of the government's dirty work.

They've been given a second chance at life, but at what cost?

Action, Science-Fiction

13 episodes (325 minutes)

Review

Story - 1 (Bad)
The story is basically about a secret organization that conditions children into becoming skilled assassins. Each child must take orders from their handlers and protect them at all costs, even if it means their own life. There isn't really much of a story to follow as it revolves more around the characters backgrounds and relationships than reaching an actual goal. There are several missions the girls take on though that they try to accomplish and the action is pretty good :) but other than that.. I don't think there was an actual goal of a greater cause. Maybe just considering if these child cyborgs are perfect weapons or not..

Music/Sound - 5 (Great)

Art/Animation - 5 (Great)
There is a lot of violence and blood during the missions. The graphics look really nice, smooth, and shiny! All the girls look cute/adorable as well.

Character - 5 (Great)

I think they did a really good job developing the characters since I'm guessing that was their main focus ;p. You get to learn about each of the girl's past, how they feel in the present, and the issues they deal with. The relationship between them and their handlers are also explored pretty deeply and you get to compare how they all differ from each other. Although, Henrietta's character will be examined more closely than the others so you will really get a sense of what she's like. These girl's stories can be very sad :( so you might want to have some tissues handy! Because they do such a great job at developing the characters, you'll really start to question the morals of the organization and if the girls are really just weapons of destruction, merely tools to be used, or are they just normal girls? How should they be treated? What about the handlers? and perhaps other questions will pop into your mind as you continue to watch.

Humor - 1 (Bad)

I don't think they used humor at all. If you're looking for something funny, this isn't it. It's a serious anime even though ;p it's about a bunch of little girls with weapons lol.

Overall - 4 (Good)

If you don't mind an anime that focuses on character story and relationships then you may enjoy this. Especially if you want to see little girl assassins in action! And want to find out more about them. :p