Anime Review: A Certain Scientific Railgun

Extra Sensory Perception (ESP) stories are pretty common, but of course, not all of them are done well. A Certain Scientific Railgun is done pretty well. Masaka Mikoto is a young girl who goes to school in Academy City where 80% of the population are students trying to gain or develop different types of ESPER powers. Some can control fire, others can teleport, and there are mind readers and telekinetics to boot. Mikoto is an Electromaster–she can control electricity, kind of a mini Asian-girl Magneto if you will, and she is one of the very rare high Level 5 ESPERs in the city. She’s nicknamed “Railgun” because of her signature ability to shoot metal objects at incredible speeds. It starts off as kind of lighthearted and fun with some adventurous and action-packed excitement, but as the mystery builds, the tale gets more convoluted and darker. It’s psychological science fiction but also keeps a sense of school girl camaraderie going on. And thank goodness she wears shorts under her skirt, because I’m tired of all the anime where they don’t and it’s just disturbing. -_-