To Aru Kagaku no Railgun – Episode 2

Long time no see?

My blood type is O+. If you’re an eligible and willing donor, please contact me asap. I’M IN DIRE NEED OF A TRANFUSION!!!!

Saten doing her daily rounds. Gee, she’s so shameless. ;3

Yummy…

Impressive loot, Shirai!

Too bad Kuroko isn’t the kind who likes to share otherwise she would have made a fortune out of that photo collection.

If there is one who rules over even the soul of Academy City’s 3rd strongest Level 5, it’s the impeccable Dorm Mistress. Break the rules and you’re as good as royally screwed.

VISUAL CHECK!

This incident is a stern reminder one of the biggest misjudgments I made about Kuroko’s personality. Before reading this chapter, her prior image as a dignified individual led me to believe she’s too proud and stubborn to show the genuine sensitive side of her; that she would never expose her weaknesses to anyone, not even to Mikoto. After watching her pour out her true feelings, I was a bit surprised that Kuroko is just like any other normal girl her age – susceptible to childish emotions despite being usually mature when it comes to dealing with more srsbzns issues. Yeah, it might seem this development didn’t do her any favors in that it only made her look like a spoiled crybaby but to me, her personality spectrum just became a little bit wider. :)

That was a sweet back story. Contrary to what Kuroko believed, Mikoto did not forget. It’s nice to see her having her own views on what she considers as important in the commemoration of her camaraderie with Kuroko.

And I just love how she has a way with words. Mikoto may be frustrated with Kuroko’s overzealous nonsense 90% of the time but beneath all that understandable exasperation lies authentic trust, respect and affection for her partner.

PWNED (by accident).

Phwoar… ●REC

Teleportation at its most fearsome.

LOLOL @ Kuroko’s moans. It helps that Arai Satomi is a self-confessed どM herself.

Thoughts
To be honest, I have conflicting opinions about this episode. While it features one of my most loved mini chapters, I’m not sure if moving it forward to a point as early as Episode 2 is such a good idea as this side story is meant to focus on fleshing out Kuroko and Mikoto’s personalities + relationship further after the events of the Level Upper arc. Besides not touching on the Manga’s plot yet, my other main concern was the handling of Kuroko’s character. Having more of her perverted yuri yuri antics is always good but I felt the writers went a bit overboard with her obsessions. Yes, we know she’s overly infatuated with Mikoto but instilling too many of the same gags this early on, let alone for an entire episode, will make her look as though she’s a shallow character who only seems to have Oneesama, sexy lingerie, aphrodisiac and Happy Skinship Time on her mind. I wouldn’t be surprised if some viewers who were introduced to Railgun through the Anime would immediately hate her and pass her off as nothing but an annoying child. Trust the lot who read the Manga, Kuroko is not like that. In fact, she’s arguably one of the most diverse and interesting characters in Railgun besides Mikoto. Then again to prove this statement, the writers will have to adapt and manage the relevant chapters well. After all, my respect for Kuroko only shot up after witnessing her achievements during the Level Upper arc. I suppose it makes her tantrums here a lot easier to forgive.

On the pro side of things, since this episode was based on one of my favorite chapters, I’ll turn hypocrite and say yes, it was still a very enjoyable watch overall. I couldn’t stop giggling at the fanservice they threw at us, whether it’s Kuroko trying to execute “Operation Seduce Oneesama” or BiriBiri panicking over her underwear disappearing (although I could say this only within the security of having read the Manga?). Capitalizing on fanservice is always a smart move as long as it isn’t done excessively. However, as fun as this episode was, I really wish they would move on to the first canon story arc but it doesn’t seem to be the case next episode.