Accelerating Coral: Railgun VS Accelerator

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S Episode 6

I've been anticipating this episode FOR DAYS since we get to see Misaka's fight against Accelerator.

Basically, this episode shows the epic fight between Misaka and Accelerator. And unfortunately, as well all know, whether from the manga or the index anime, that Misaka lost to him. It is to be expected since Accelerator's the strongest Level 5 while Misaka's the third strongest. Their powers can't be compared. On top of that, Accelerator has a bad-shit personality. Anyways, the episode goes on to show one of the Misaka clone's interaction with the high-school scientist who partook in the Level 6 Shift project but ultimately quitted after she realised that those clones are in fact more humane than they are. Misaka spent the night outside feeling depressed and that made Kuroko and gang worried about her but she returned to the dorm the next morning. The episode ends off with her resolving and determined to "clean up the mess" that she created by giving the doctor her DNA map when she was a little kid.

My Thoughts

This episode is touching, and it breaks my heart to see Misaka struggling with her feelings and anger of her clone being killed brutally by Accelerator. She goes nuts, screaming and all, charging towards Accelerator in madness and in extreme anger - her eyes were wild and crazy - and even used her ultimate weapon, the Railgun, only to find out that she could not even land a single hit on him.

What hits me the most was when Misaka saw her clone's leg that was ripped off and the pool of blood under the debris of what's left of her clone. She grabs her own arm, as if in pain as she discharged powerful electricity at Accelerator. She collapsed in defeat, more of an emotional collapse, when the rest of the clones (dubbed as 'sisters') stopped him since if he were to kill the original Misaka now, the experiment will be affected.

Misaka struggles with the guilt of causing all this "mess", feeling that it was her fault for the birth of the sisters whose sole purpose was to be killed by Accelerator. And as usual, she puts up a brave front in front of her friends. Her facade didn't last long as you could see that she wasn't in the right state of mind especially when Saten asked where she went the previous night and Uiharu asking about the code that Misaka asked her about the previous night. Misaka, of course, didn't tell them the truth, instead crafted something up but when Uiharu asked her about the code, you could see that she was deeply affected by yesterday's events as images of her clones, the ripped off bloody legs, Accelerator's mad face flashed across her mind. Saten, knowing that something was up but didn't want to force Misaka, suggested that they go to the arcade so that she could have another match with Misaka. I liked how Saten and the others gave her the space she needed and how they were so concerned about her when she saw her distraught look. Such wonderful friends they are~

Anyways, Touma has yet to make his official appearance in the show but i think we'll get to see him soon. Maybe two or three episode later. I'll be waiting patiently for that day.

On another note, i feel a little sorry for Kuroko. Even though she's obsessed with Misaka, (her "Onee-sama". And yes, she swings the other way though Misaka always electrocute her when she tries to *coughs* do something *coughs* inappropriate *coughs* to Misaka.) she really deeply cares for her as her best-friend. She's worried sick about her but didn't probe further when Misaka refused to tell her the truth. I believe that Kuroko really wants to know what's going on but didn't want to force her Onee-sama in telling the story and would rather wait passively until she decided to tell her. Kuroko's often a character that's deemed, "disgusting", "weird", "obsessive", "funny", but even though she's the comic character of the series, with Misaka electrocuting her and all, she's a kind and caring person who would do anything for Misaka.

Misaka's character is such that she takes everything upon herself, not wanting to rely on people and also not wanting to burden them with her personal issues. She feels that the whole "Level 6 Shift" project was her fault and seemed determined to bring it all to an end, further edged on by the nightmare she had of the bloodied clones blaming her. She knows that she has friends she can count on but she doesn't like to involve her friends in her personal problems. Though i wished that she could've at least told Kuroko, since she's the closest to her.

The episode

This episode shows the cruel side of a place we call reality. Reality is harsh; it smacks right back into your face. Misaka is experiencing an emotional crisis and she has to learn to trust her friends and to rely more on people to solve certain problems that couldn't be solved by oneself. Misaka is a well-sheltered girl and such an experience would of course, traumatise her as she learns of what reality is actually like - not all fluff and pink. Character development would be expected of Misaka as her mindset changes, making her more mature than girls her age, and that is what makes this particular episode or rather, anime a good one to watch - besides all the action and comedy of the 'science world'.