To Aru Kagaku no Railgun - Episode 9 Discussion / Poll

[Keroko]

I think it was stated somewhere that their suits were supposed to be resistant to psychic powers or something. Not that we notice much of that. <_<

Originally Posted by Mentar

The Saten development HAS been spread out over multiple episodes. Don't tell me you missed it?

Considering I have repeatedly voiced my joy over it and defended it wherever it was criticized? Hardly. What I'm saying is that these specific scenes, those of episode 9, would have a stronger impact if they were spread over a few episodes rather than packed into one.

Originally Posted by Mentar

Keroko, what I'm going to say is not directed against you, but rather the Animesuki community as a whole (me included): If I were in any way involved in the professional production of anime, I'd be disgusted at us. There has such a spoiled and arrogant-ungrateful undertone developed on anime boards in general that it's bothering me - a fellow fan with no attachment to the project. Most of us are paying zip for the fansubs, and still we act as if the anime creators/producers were peasants in front of our throne. Is this unappreciative behavior the way to go? I only wandered here by coincidence since I wanted to see what people were writing about Kuroko, but seriously guys, what I read in this thread bothers me bigtime.

An interesting opinion. For me, it's a half/half kind of thing. Unbased rants that merely say "it sucks" is something I hate, but as a fanfic writer, or perhaps more appropriately in this case, an editor, I can appreciate people saying "Hmm, well I don't like this episode because of A and B, and I think it would have been better if they had done C and D instead, because of E and F."

Now, it's important to note that there are 3 steps: Recognizing something you don't like, stating what you would have preferred, and most importantly: Explaining why you think it would have improved the episode. If people do all 3, it shows that they have watched the episode extensively, and care to see how it could improve in their eyes.

As a fanfic writer and student-editor, I have had entire works torn apart because of things that didn't work in other's eyes. Sometimes I argued, other times I went "Wow, thanks. That'll help me make a better version." Often both.

[Reckoner]

Originally Posted by Mentar

Keroko, what I'm going to say is not directed against you, but rather the Animesuki community as a whole (me included): If I were in any way involved in the professional production of anime, I'd be disgusted at us. There has such a spoiled and arrogant-ungrateful undertone developed on anime boards in general that it's bothering me - a fellow fan with no attachment to the project. Most of us are paying zip for the fansubs, and still we act as if the anime creators/producers were peasants in front of our throne. Is this unappreciative behavior the way to go? I only wandered here by coincidence since I wanted to see what people were writing about Kuroko, but seriously guys, what I read in this thread bothers me bigtime.

Just a bit of food for thought. Flame away.

(Oh, about the ep: I thought that they managed to work out Saten's development wonderfully. Too bad about skipping Touma, I'd have liked to see him. Good execution of the Kuroko battle. IMHO)

Well lets look for example at a fast food restaurant. These people work tirelessly to provide you with delectable pieces of greasy meat and potatoes. But if you're order goes wrong, are you going to sit there and take it saying that it'd be cruel to them and spoiled of yourself to complain about it?

That sort of attitude is applied to anime viewing as well. I don't think you can wish for people to do otherwise... If they think something is done badly, then that's it.

Originally Posted by Keroko

I actually can't help but feel offended at that. Especially since I've always been a great supporter of more Saten development because of her involvement in the plot.

What I dislike is not the scenes, but their execution. As I said before, too much of one thing is never good, and the Saten drama scenes could have used a bit more spreading over several episodes, rather than stuff them all in one.

Uhm. My post doesn't necessarily target you by the way... Anyhow, we'll have to disagree there about the execution of the Saten development.

[Shinji103]

Well, finally watched the episode for myself.

Originally Posted by Mentar

We've got a clear case of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" here. If J.C.Staff doesn't adapt the manga source and just stays true to it, people complain about not spicing things up enough. When they do (like in this ep, by concentrating on the Saten backstory, on the expense of one Touma scene), other people jump in complain either. It's a lose-lose situation.

Keroko, what I'm going to say is not directed against you, but rather the Animesuki community as a whole (me included): If I were in any way involved in the professional production of anime, I'd be disgusted at us. There has such a spoiled and arrogant-ungrateful undertone developed on anime boards in general that it's bothering me - a fellow fan with no attachment to the project. Most of us are paying zip for the fansubs, and still we act as if the anime creators/producers were peasants in front of our throne. Is this unappreciative behavior the way to go? I only wandered here by coincidence since I wanted to see what people were writing about Kuroko, but seriously guys, what I read in this thread bothers me bigtime.

Well let's face it Mentar, there will always be complainers. That's why there's almost always one person who always hits 1/10 on the poll of every episode and never steps in to say or explain anything about it.

........that said, I think you may be overblowing that quite a bit. I've seen a fair amount more discussion on this episode's bad and good points than straight "this series sucks" posts than say, Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka.

On to my opinion of the episode:

While I don't dislike the Saten-dilemna focus this episode, I don't quite like it either. It just seems a bit too over-focused, and when all is said and done I still can't feel sorry for her. The Level-Upper is kind of like buying cheat-sheets or pre-done essays online. Sure I realize that it's a bit worse in this case for Saten since it has less to do with effort and more to do with just not being able to have powers as a natural cause that you can't change, but this isn't quite the way to do it. If it's just about not being strong though, she could try something like learning martial arts or something.
For example, Hei in Darker than Black was known as the Black Reaper long before he got his Contractor Powers. He was just a human being with super skills. At first glance that may not be a terribly good example, but DtB is actually a bit more "realistic" in terms of normal human abilities; people in DtB don't jump to inhuman heights or have super strength, and it certainly doesn't have nearly-all-powerful guys liek Accelerator running around. Obviously I'm not saying Saten should strive to be a super-assassin , but if you look past the abilities of a lot of people in this show, you'll see that a lot of people here actually rely heavily on their powers and don't really know much in martial arts or even how to fist-fight in general. (Accelerator for example) She'd actually be pretty strong against a lot of people here if she got good at martial arts.

Yes.......I'm once again disappointed in Touma-lack-age here. It feels like they just kept Touma making cameos 'til episode 7 just because of the fact he was needed in the explosion in that episode to use his power, than tossed him away as soon as the plot allowed without care for the Railgun-Index corrolation. If they didn't want this show to be connected to Index, why not make a different show entirely?....

I definitely loved the Kuroko fight though; it's nice to finally see Kuroko's kick@$$ side. Although the exposition seemed a bit overdone here, but meh there's always exposition. Bleach has it, Rurouni Kenshin had it, Index has it, and pretty much all action shounen/seinen have it. Otherwise how the heck would the viewers know what's going on or what somebody just did in the show? lol That's the whole point of the exposition.

So tie that all in together, and 7/10.

[Miraluka]

Originally Posted by Shinji103

Otherwise how the heck would the viewers know what's going on or what somebody just did in the show? lol That's the whole point of the exposition.

So tie that all in together, and 7/10.

Sure they know a lot of supernatural powers(scientists?) or they can read the minds of J.C.Staff.

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Shinji103

While I don't dislike the Saten-dilemna focus this episode, I don't quite like it either. It just seems a bit too over-focused, and when all is said and done I still can't feel sorry for her. The Level-Upper is kind of like buying cheat-sheets or pre-done essays online. Sure I realize that it's a bit worse in this case for Saten since it has less to do with effort and more to do with just not being able to have powers as a natural cause that you can't change, but this isn't quite the way to do it. If it's just about not being strong though, she could try something like learning martial arts or something.

It's not so much about strength... in fact, it's a combination of two things.

On one hand, becoming a psychic was a dream she held when she was just a little girl. Having that dream smashed to pieces is not something everyone can get over that easily. When a chance to still achieve said dream gets thrown in your lap, resisting it is harder than it looks from the outside.

Second is that she felt like she was drifting away from her friends. Imagine all your friends getting shiny new bikes, while you still have to walk. You see your friends every once in a while, but not for long before they hop on their bikes together and go have fun, leaving you behind because you have no bike of your own.

Originally Posted by Shinji103

If they didn't want this show to be connected to Index, why not make a different show entirely?....

Isn't that exactly what they're doing by changing things?

Originally Posted by Reckoner

Uhm. My post doesn't necessarily target you by the way... Anyhow, we'll have to disagree there about the execution of the Saten development.

Ahh, apologies then.

[Shinji103]

Originally Posted by Keroko

It's not so much about strength... in fact, it's a combination of two things.

On one hand, becoming a psychic was a dream she held when she was just a little girl. Having that dream smashed to pieces is not something everyone can get over that easily. When a chance to still achieve said dream gets thrown in your lap, resisting it is harder than it looks from the outside.

Second is that she felt like she was drifting away from her friends. Imagine all your friends getting shiny new bikes, while you still have to walk. You see your friends every once in a while, but not for long before they hop on their bikes together and go have fun, leaving you behind because you have no bike of your own.

Well trying to achieve her dreams through a "cheat," and one that's being investigated by Judgement to boot, isn't exactly a good idea. If she thought about it, then she should realize that there could be some dang bad ramifications in using an illegal power-giver. (so to speak) After all, we're talking about something that alters a person's body/mind to give them superpowers; it should be common sense to be pretty wary of such things. Having your dreams "crushed" (and I'd say that's pretty overstating it, she doesn't look that bad off) is a poor excuse for negligence. It's pretty much the equivalent of athletes using drugs like steroids to boost their performance; being unable to keep up with others gives you no excuse to start drugging up, and if you're not caught you're going to pay in another way, anyway. So I still can't feel sorry for her. Athletes don't get off the hook for drug abuse just because they were chasing their dreams, so why people who use Level-Upper?

Isn't that exactly what they're doing by changing things?

Err, not quite what I meant. If they're trying to toss out the connection to Index, then why not make a Mikoto story totally different from the manga and give us something completely new?

[Cyrus17]

Actually if you rewatch the ep. 1 again, the scene where she's being hit in the face while trying to protect a child, you'll become aware of real problem of Saten (actually it was shown to us again in ep. 9 but in a less acute way). It's not like this: in the world of espers she's powerless, and she wants to get those powers. But rather this one: she desperately wants to make an impact on the events surrounding her (she experienced several events that were dangerous to people involved in them), she wants to protect those people near her, to save them, but she has no powers to do so. The true conflict behind Saten's character is that she is Touma without Imagine Breaker. Tbh it's as well may be the main conflict and the main story of the whole series.

Just like Touma, Saten care about everybody, not only about children and cute girls, but about fat and stupid and greedy guy from the 9th ep. too, just like Touma, she's never satisfied with "meh, I tried" or "what could I do" attitude (she returned to those three guys, remember?), just like Touma she's ready to pay exceptionally high, enormous price to save other people, even to risk her own life. But what could she possibly do against Mikoto on that bridge without imagine breaker??? This is her true tragedy.

Btw, somebody already mentioned something like this. Here:

Originally Posted by Tornado Riku

I suspect that Ruiko and Touma are cousins

But to me, the issue about does Saten have hidden Imagine Breaker potential inside her or not doesn't seem very important (in fact, the series main conflict's resolution can employ any of these two variants with equal success). What is really important, at least from the "artistic truth" viewpoint (or you can call it "the logic of the work of art"), is the fact that deeply inside Touma and Saten are the same.

[Shinji103]

@Cyrus17: Thhhhhhat, I find difficult to agree with. Sure she's a good person and would protect other people, but in both the anime and manga (not so much in the manga since it didn't cover her dilemna as much), it's clear that she was just one of those kids who wished to be a superheroine with big powers to be cool.

But either way, it's still not an excuse for essentially drugging herself up without considering what it might do to her, the same as athletes. If athletes used enhanced strength through drugs to protect people, they wouldn't get off the hook either.

[serenade_beta]

^At aboves

Before more posts continue with the trend, just want to budge in and say that I don't think we are supposed to talk about the reputation we get... Best if it is done with private messages?

Originally Posted by HandofFate

anyone else feel that The Anti-Skill are useless?

The anti-skill are very useless... Then again, if they were useful, there wouldn't be much of a story, I guess.

[Joe_fh]

Originally Posted by Shinji103

While I don't dislike the Saten-dilemna focus this episode, I don't quite like it either. It just seems a bit too over-focused, and when all is said and done I still can't feel sorry for her. The Level-Upper is kind of like buying cheat-sheets or pre-done essays online. Sure I realize that it's a bit worse in this case for Saten since it has less to do with effort and more to do with just not being able to have powers as a natural cause that you can't change, but this isn't quite the way to do it. If it's just about not being strong though, she could try something like learning martial arts or something.

I have to agree on this one and actually the things mentioned below in other posts (too lazy to quote them all) Point is the Saten drama is under such focus that it feels unnatural. The only way I can understand her is if she did it on the spur of the moment. The more she thinks about it the more she should realise that the thing she is trying to do is wrong in various ways. Things like this always are sudden and the one doing them doesn't usally spend a long time thinking about them.
And on top of that her friends aren't drifting away from her. In fact they're sticking close to her so that's one more reason that if she thinks about this more she shouldn't do it in the end.

Let's not forget that a lot of things in Academy city are done by the scientists that don't have any powers plus there's also antiskill. This means there are a lot of amazing people in the anime that are level 0.

I think they're ovedoing it a little. And a lot of it in one episode isn't good. Still I never said the anime is bad - in fact I enjoy it quite a lot.

Originally Posted by Shinji103

Yes.......I'm once again disappointed in Touma-lack-age here. It feels like they just kept Touma making cameos 'til episode 7 just because of the fact he was needed in the explosion in that episode to use his power, than tossed him away as soon as the plot allowed without care for the Railgun-Index corrolation. If they didn't want this show to be connected to Index, why not make a different show entirely?....

Yes indeed. Why are they doing all they can to not connect Index and Railgun? I mean there's nothing to loose if they do - in fact they might gain something from it by attracting new viewers to Index. There's no point in removing Touma from every scene that makes a connection between the two. Not to mention Misaka and Touma interactions are always funny + Misaka is cute in them which might cout as good fanservice.

Oh and btw I don't think the Touma example is that good. Especially the brdge scene but no spoiling
He's trowing himself in all kinds of situations and I don't think he's doing it because of his power. I mean there's no way to know what his power does and does not os you can't rely on something like that. I agree that they're alike in the things they do but both do it because they care - no other reason.

[velvet nightmare]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

The anti-skill are very useless... Then again, if they were useful, there wouldn't be much of a story, I guess.

i don't really see how they're useless, if anything they're equivalent to at least level 2-3

looking at the abilities shown so far, 90% of the abilities can be nullified with a bullet, and the time it takes to learn how to fire a gun, maybe a few days compared to years of kids going through the level system, im leaning towards the side that guns still win

i can sort of see how antiskill are the 'fodder' of this series compared to judgement, but tbh, grown adult that looks like he's in swat, vs. a kid who can throw fireballs, im gonna take the dude with the gun b/c you cant see bullets

[Shinji103]

Originally Posted by velvet nightmare

i don't really see how they're useless, if anything they're equivalent to at least level 2-3

looking at the abilities shown so far, 90% of the abilities can be nullified with a bullet, and the time it takes to learn how to fire a gun, maybe a few days compared to years of kids going through the level system, im leaning towards the side that guns still win

i can sort of see how antiskill are the 'fodder' of this series compared to judgement, but tbh, grown adult that looks like he's in swat, vs. a kid who can throw fireballs, im gonna take the dude with the gun b/c you cant see bullets

You gotta admit, correct logic is correct. In the time it would take for that guy in episode 1 to swing out a fireball, an average shot could put five bullets in him from a semi-automatic.

Besides, it's not Anti Skills' fault they only get to put in an appearance against the real super-powered bad guys.

[Patriot's Blade]

i don't know why i had this vision of a bunch of Judgement cops raiding a student & took away his/her MP3 player like it was a Smoke pot or something

[KaneDragon]

Originally Posted by DRAGUN H.E.X.

i don't know why i had this vision of a bunch of Judgement cops raiding a student & took away his/her MP3 player like it was a Smoke pot or something

RIAA strikes again!

[relentlessflame]

A few quick things:

1. No whining about negative rep. Sometimes you get undeserved positive rep too, but no one complains about that. It's just the way it goes. I know it's hard, but you just have to learn to ignore it. They barely count against you anyway.

2. For the people worried about the series being 12/13 episodes, give whoever told you that a swift kick (in a nice way) for being embarrassingly poorly informed. The DVDs and Blu-Rays have were solicited over a month ago, and confirm 24 episodes.

3. Regarding negativity and some fans' sense of entitlement:

Originally Posted by Reckoner

Well lets look for example at a fast food restaurant. These people work tirelessly to provide you with delectable pieces of greasy meat and potatoes. But if you're order goes wrong, are you going to sit there and take it saying that it'd be cruel to them and spoiled of yourself to complain about it?

NOTE: I'm not trying to single you out at all, but I'm just using your useful illustration. So please don't think this is aimed at you in particular. It's not.

I understand what the illustration is getting at, but...

a) We're leechers, not customers. We haven't bought any product. We don't deserve a damn thing.
b) There's a difference between objective mistakes and matters of personal preference.
c) A mistake or error, even if it's objectively so, doesn't give someone the license to attack or abuse anyone.

There's a bit of a difference between being critics and being ungrateful assholes. The attitude you get from some people, it's like they're tied to their desks and being forced to down this bitter food (called anime) they hate week after week, only to complain about how much they hate the taste and those who made it are incompetent hacks who don't deserve to step foot in a kitchen, or worse. And yet, every week, they're there at the same table, gorging themselves completely undeservedly, taking the attitude that "well, they should just damn well make my food the way I like it, and then I won't complain". Or will they...

Are these sorts of "anime fans" tsundere, or masochists? Or both? Or are they really even anime fans at all...

I'm just sayin'... offering useful or well-considered criticism is rarely a problem. But it can sometimes be pretty hard to find what's "useful" amidst all the rhetoric, fanboy whining, and "noise". I have to imagine that if I were involved in an anime production, I would have had to learn to tune out most of this forum a long time ago. Won't current and prospective anime fans on the outside feel the same way? That all sort of reflects poorly on us if the objective of offering criticism is to be truly heard and taken seriously.

So anyway, now back to your regularly-scheduled program.

[Reckoner]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

NOTE: I'm not trying to single you out at all, but I'm just using your useful illustration. So please don't think this is aimed at you in particular. It's not.

I understand what the illustration is getting at, but...

a) We're leechers, not customers. We haven't bought any product. We don't deserve a damn thing.
b) There's a difference between objective mistakes and matters of personal preference.
c) A mistake or error, even if it's objectively so, doesn't give someone the license to attack or abuse anyone.

There's a bit of a difference between being critics and being ungrateful assholes. The attitude you get from some people, it's like they're tied to their desks and being forced to down this bitter food (called anime) they hate week after week, only to complain about how much they hate the taste and those who made it are incompetent hacks who don't deserve to step foot in a kitchen, or worse. And yet, every week, they're there at the same table, gorging themselves completely undeservedly, taking the attitude that "well, they should just damn well make my food the way I like it, and then I won't complain". Or will they...

Are these sorts of "anime fans" tsundere, or masochists? Or both? Or are they really even anime fans at all...

I'm just sayin'... offering useful or well-considered criticism is rarely a problem. But it can sometimes be pretty hard to find what's "useful" amidst all the rhetoric, fanboy whining, and "noise". I have to imagine that if I were involved in an anime production, I would have had to learn to tune out most of this forum a long time ago. Won't current and prospective anime fans on the outside feel the same way? That all sort of reflects poorly on us if the objective of offering criticism is to be truly heard and taken seriously.

So anyway, now back to your regularly-scheduled program.

Hey, please do single me out, it would be more fun that way .

Your first point is irrelevant. I could very well be a Japanese Otaku on Japan watching this show on TV... Where the company makes its money is the DVD sales and merchandise... Which both sets of groups buy.

Your second point goes without saying. But that line becomes very foggy as what might appear subjective to someone is objective to another person...

As for the third point... Of course no one should abuse other people...

I think we've discussed the rest of your post though in a thread in the general anime forum before so I will not derail this discussion any further.

EDIT: Here it is... Do You Consider Yourself an Anime Critic...

[tsunade666]

The anti-skill are trained to handle espers unlike espers even if they are strong they aren't strong to fight. Take accelerator for example. His the sooo cold strongest but doesn't know how to fight for real. And anti-skill will be touma. Having no esper abilities but trained on combat and has strategist. Well they have guns and all with armored suits. But they are just well late like a real time police

Edit:
I almost forgot about saten's emotional development. I can't compare him to touma because first of all she's a girl and touma is a guy.
A girl couldn't just barge in on guys bullying someone. Even if she's brave and all. Well that's the image I got from a girl. Well if she did then she's fantastic that's all I can say. And a model to booth but for guy stopping someone is normal for me. Specially if its touma. His like a walking good samaritan that helps anyone without reason if someone asks it though be prepared to have lots of complain but he will certainly helps. And comparing their powers as both level 0. Well toum has the imagine breaker but its not all the time help hims. Specially if his up against thugs and armed people. But despite that he still helps them without much further thinking.

Well saten did have a certain complex ( not know on what to call it.... inferiority? ) she dreams of becoming an esper and even goes to academy city despite her mother initially against it. And having your dream crush is hard................ really hard. Even with all those hard work but no results. I feel even pitiful for him. She goes to academy city to become an esper but for touma he goes to the academy city to have his bad luck fix. Meaning its almost to stop him being an esper or rather a way to become normal or control it. See the difference?

[Ashaman]

Originally Posted by Shinji103

Well trying to achieve her dreams through a "cheat," and one that's being investigated by Judgement to boot, isn't exactly a good idea. If she thought about it, then she should realize that there could be some dang bad ramifications in using an illegal power-giver. (so to speak) After all, we're talking about something that alters a person's body/mind to give them superpowers; it should be common sense to be pretty wary of such things. Having your dreams "crushed" (and I'd say that's pretty overstating it, she doesn't look that bad off) is a poor excuse for negligence. It's pretty much the equivalent of athletes using drugs like steroids to boost their performance; being unable to keep up with others gives you no excuse to start drugging up, and if you're not caught you're going to pay in another way, anyway. So I still can't feel sorry for her. Athletes don't get off the hook for drug abuse just because they were chasing their dreams, so why people who use Level-Upper?

While I agree that a using a cheat is a bad idea, especially considering that she knows there could be side-effects, I'd like to point out that all psychic powers are given by body/mind altering, so it would be par for the course really. and I fully agree with you saying that it is wrong to use it, but I see her growing inferiority complex as her excuse to use it. It isn't a very good one.

Originally Posted by Cyrus17

she desperately wants to make an impact on the events surrounding her (she experienced several events that were dangerous to people involved in them), she wants to protect those people near her, to save them, but she has no powers to do so. The true conflict behind Saten's character is that she is Touma without Imagine Breaker.

I can sort of get behind this, but I also think she wants an ability as well, not just to protect. She wants an ability, and if she had one she would use it to help people if the oppurtunity arose. the fact that she hangs around 2 Judgement and a Level 5 means that it would probably occur more frequently.

She is using idea of wanting to protect as an excuse to use Level Upper, but that is not to say she wouldn't help if she could. (she was close to deleting it in the episode, before she overheard the random thugs.)

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Shinji103

Well trying to achieve her dreams through a "cheat," and one that's being investigated by Judgement to boot, isn't exactly a good idea. If she thought about it, then she should realize that there could be some dang bad ramifications in using an illegal power-giver. (so to speak) After all, we're talking about something that alters a person's body/mind to give them superpowers; it should be common sense to be pretty wary of such things.

Of course, that would ignore that the entire Academy city curriculum is based on altering the mind and body to give them super powers. The Level Upper is merely another drop in the pond in that regard.

And then there is the line that we can draw whether or not something is a cheat. If you, for example, walk into an impassible wall when doing school work, you tend to look in your books or ask a teacher for help instead of trying to solve everything yourself, right? In other words, you look for another solution to pass that wall. Same thing here, Saten encountered an impassible wall, and looked for another solution to get past that wall. The Level Upper proved to be that way.

Originally Posted by Shinji103

Having your dreams "crushed" (and I'd say that's pretty overstating it, she doesn't look that bad off)

Her dream was to have powers, she has no powers. How does that look 'not that bad off?' It's the equivalent of wanting to be a professional soccer player while having paralyzed legs.

Originally Posted by Shinji103

is a poor excuse for negligence. It's pretty much the equivalent of athletes using drugs like steroids to boost their performance; being unable to keep up with others gives you no excuse to start drugging up, and if you're not caught you're going to pay in another way, anyway. So I still can't feel sorry for her. Athletes don't get off the hook for drug abuse just because they were chasing their dreams, so why people who use Level-Upper?

And yet many athletes still do so to this day, all in order to grasp their dreams. You underestimate the pull a true dream can have to make you seek for any way to achieve it.

That said, I don't think the people of Academy City know that the Level Upper works like steroids for the brain. I mean, we know it has downsides like steroids do because we get all the information, but to all the people of Academy City it's merely something that makes them stronger, a better version of the brain-meddling their school does to them. What's the harm in using something that does the same thing their school does, only better?

Originally Posted by Shinji103

Err, not quite what I meant. If they're trying to toss out the connection to Index, then why not make a Mikoto story totally different from the manga and give us something completely new?

*shrug* Why would they? It's not as if the Railgun/Index connection is vital to the Railgun plot so far. Besides, we still have the... later arcs. And there's little walking around that connection.

[tsunade666]

well if they tried to WALK THEIR WAY out of the connection their then they shouldn't even animated it. Because that the whole point of THAT arc. Hoping the "kittens" will stay