Toaru Kagaku no Railgun is the spin-off adaptation we needed. It does many things better than the index series, but I'm not here to bash Index. With that being said, this review will delve into the differences between the two series, so if you are a big fan of Toaru Majutsu no Index, I apologize in advance. Also, this review may contain spoilers so please read at your own risk.

Story (25/25)
The story looks at the science side of the Toaru world, with Misaka Mikoto at the helm of it. Together with her friends Shirai Kuroko, Uiharu Kazari, Saten Ruiko, and many more, they encounter what the show refers to as “The dark side of Academy City”, all the while going about their lives as middle school students. In terms of cohesiveness, this season does a great job showing that the different arcs are all part of some overarching plot, something we don’t see in Index until later in its third season. With Railgun, each arc is fleshed out and feels like a continuation of the previous one. Another thing to add is that the Esper powers and abilities are a lot easier to understand. To finally top it off, the show humanizes the struggles and successes of our main characters, and Espers in general, making them a lot more relatable. A lot of times in life we struggle and work hard towards a goal, and sometimes it’s not enough. The show really stresses that even as Espers, they are still human and can fail and that when all else fails, to rely on those you trust to help you back up when you do fail instead of needlessly struggling alone. The only thing I can say wasn’t something I was a fan of was the fanservice but unlike in Index, they really cut down on it here which is a relief.

Characters/Development (25/25)
One thing I look forward to seeing in any anime is character development but knowing how Index was in that department (ahem Kamijou Touma ahem), I was a bit worried. Needless to say, that worry was unnecessary, and I was pretty satisfied with the results.

Let's start with the main character of the series, Misaka Mikoto. Despite her being a Level 5 Esper, she’s quite a relatable character. Just like any other character, she has flaws and is very down to earth. As someone who had to work hard to get to where she is, she felt that abilities and levels didn't matter, and realizes later that people that work hard aren't always fortunate to reap the benefits. The Level Upper Arc allowed her to realize the truth of that and further develop as a character. She’s not some snobby, stuck-up brat from a prestigious school, but a kind, and caring person that takes any and every opportunity to really understand her friends and their struggles, and even relies on them in a predicament.

Shirai Kuroko is Misaka’s friend and roommate and has feelings for Misaka. She is also a member of Judgment, a team of Espers tasked with maintaining peace and overseeing Esper activity in Academy City. Outside of her “moments” with Misaka, she really shows how capable she is as a Level 4 Esper. Since this is a review of the first season, I’ll leave out future events, but Shirai really shows how devoted she can be to anything that is important to her.

Uiharu Kazari is a low-level Esper and a fellow Judgment officer along with Kuroko. She is also a computer whiz and goes to the same middle school as Saten Ruiko. Despite her being low level, she makes up for it with her computer skills, making herself an irreplaceable asset to the Judgment team.

And now the best for last, Saten Ruiko. Saten is the only Level 0 in her friend group, meaning she has no powers whatsoever, and this ends up weighing on her a lot throughout the first season. Seeing Saten go through her struggles of being a Level 0 really hit it home for me. Being surrounded by many amazing Espers had taken its toll on her and the fact that her friends were also doing amazing things made her even more pessimistic. It got to the point where she gave in and used the "Level Upper" to be able to keep up with her friends. You can't help but relate to Saten, especially when she hears from Misaka that levels and abilities didn't matter, which caused her to feel a lot more insignificant. Any person in her shoes would contemplate taking the chance at going up a level. This made her resolution in the Level Upper Arc all the more impactful and solidified her position as one of my favorite characters.

There are other side characters as well, like Konori Mii, Kongo Mitsuko, and more, However, I won’t be going into too much detail with those characters, at least not in this review. I believe they had a lot more impact in later seasons. Overall, Railgun really did an amazing job of fleshing out each character.

Sound (24/25)
I’m not very picky when it comes to soundtracks, and honestly, I have nothing negative to say about the OST for Railgun. I do have some issues with the first OP. I’m not a huge fan of FripSide, especially the first OP, but I must say that their openings do have this “Techno” style that really fits the Railgun environment. It’s the exact same for the OST as well. No soundtrack feels out of place and unnatural. There is this one piano OST that plays in those sentimental moments that I absolutely love (if anyone knows what it is please tell me!!)

Animation (20/25)
Animation isn’t too bad here, although they have a shitload of CGI towards the end of the season. This was another thing I was worried about due to my watching Index beforehand, however, the fight scene animations are done a lot better in the Railgun series. It’s always amazing seeing Misaka use her railgun ability.

Overall (94/100)
All in all, I think Railgun took a lot of what the index anime did and did it a lot better. I would recommend this series as it’s got its share of intense and sentimental moments and is a very enjoyable anime. It is recommended that you watch Toaru Majutsu no Index to familiarize yourself with the Toaru world and for chronology purposes, but it isn’t necessarily something you need to do, as this story is in parallel with the Index anime.

If you got this far, thanks for checking out my review. I hope to cover the other Toaru anime adaptations and even go outside of the Toaru series, so if you liked my review, or wanna talk anime, just hit me up!!