When compared to other seasons, the animation is improved which shouldn't be a surprise considering it took 7 years to get a third season but still, much better. The plot & the consistency of it got really better, unlike other seasons where we got some moe SoL moments spread across all over the plot. Now to the main thing.
The series still follows same pattern as the previous seasons during their main events.
This formula repeats throughout the franchise but each & every arc adds layer after layer which rewards with this intriguing and interesting world, which is the main reason I like this series. The World Building. The series, especially the spinoff Railgun series not only adds characters just for the sake of it but also expands the world with these characters. It's always a delight to watch when such an enormous cast of characters often clash with each other, whether it be coincidental or not. But the main reason previous seasons or entries, while does the same thing they also take too much time to f*ck around with these characters in an SoL setting which isn't bad but it breaks the immersion in the seriousness of the story and characters, which thankfully this season, don't have that much of a problem and gives a full-on ride.
One main thing that's different from the previous seasons with this season is that;
The characters in previous Railgun series, blend in different settings, once being a sci-fi/thriller and other being a comfy SoL but in this season, the characters drives the plot instead of blending into a different setting which gives it a lot more consistency and better flow which wasn't achieved in previous seasons and adds a much more serious tone to it. With our usual group of Misaka, Kuruko, Saten & Uriharu, we also got a small introduction to the all the Level 5s. Gunha really stole the screentime as small as it might be and Shokuho cemented herself as the Level 5 Queen, during the Festival Arc. After the Festival Arc, we got some nice interactions between different characters, like the ITEM girls and the main gang, one being the "Bust Upper" episode which was dumb, overused but pretty hilarious with it's own twist. The newly introduced characters also had their fair share of impact. While Kuroko got a good screentime as Judgement, she still felt as annoying as ever. Misaka continued to prove why she works better as a protagonist than Touma, and the rest of the cast are all well explored.
The conflict in each arc was very immersive but the highlight of this season is definitely the Festival Arc. The Festival Arc, which started as a small missing case build up into something a lot more and unexpected than it's initial setting was. This arc merged like nearly 15 different characters into one coherent plot with giving enough screentime and development to each of those characters. All other arcs are pretty well rounded too, even if it's just one or two episodes it slowly build each character and make them not just side characters but "memorable" side characters. The final arc also had some interesting philosophy regarding "soul" & "human" with a sci-fi conflict.
This is just a nitpick, but while there are like 4 different arcs and the flow of each arc might be smooth but sometimes some arcs don't end properly. The Anime left a few things open without proper explanation even though enough consideration was given like;
As I said, I really wished I liked this series because of the interesting world and power mechanics (Science side) it had but couldn't because of how boring the previous installments were. While this season isn't perfect, this is my favorite season in the entrie franchise.
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