A Certain MoeMoe Railgun S – Ep.2

This week starts off with lilbiri being a good and moe loli that turns out to be Mikoto having a dream of her past. In the manga it was the same, but seeing her big ol head with the same exact hair and facial features but on a little body was kind of silly. It almost looks more like SD-mode Biribiri rather than her as a child, but in a good way. I hate Last Order but the real deal as a kid was moe. We’re also introduced to the new creepy girl taking the place of everyone’s favorite insane teacher, though I don’t think her name has come up yet, and we also get some hints at the Sisters.

I liked her quite a bit in the manga from what I’ve read of the Sister’s arc – admittedly I haven’t entirely finished the arc because I didn’t want to spoil the anime for myself (having assumed it would get more seasons), though I have read some of it. I don’t remember her actual name, but the show hasn’t said it either so it’d be a spoiler, so let’s just stick with Creepy because it’s how she’s supposed to be. I remember her looking a little more “off” and tired in the manga, but they did just fine here too. One thing that threw me off was her speaking Engrish though, I don’t know if it was originally that way in the manga, but the English releases sure as hell didn’t make any note of it. BEEEECASSUUUU. I actually forgot how she dealt with those Skill Out guys, so it was fun to watch again, the way she handles them is very entertaining and exciting, then feels a lot more familiar to railgun once it’s all over. I like that her entire strategy was one of logic rather than force, it’s one element that Railgun has that Index and plenty of shounen don’t have – actual strategy and tactics.

I smell some dicks around here.

In terms of adapting the episode, this kept very close to the manga in how it played out, even giving us such a long scene of the creeper fighting Skill Out and having Saten-san sniffing and scurrying around for cocks cash cards. We do get some made up stuff, but it’s all very connected to the plot this time around and, like with season 1, mostly served to flesh out parts that were skimped on or just ignored in the manga. I especially liked Kuroko’s onee-sama voice collection, which I don’t remember being in the manga, and wish I had one too. Actually, I feel the manga focused more on Mikoto and Saten searching for cards, while the show almost entirely cut that part out with it just flashing forward after they went searching, so it seems they are even more focused on the relevant material than wasting time showing these two looking under things all day. Saten’s sniffing and shuffling around on the ground was animated really cute and her seiyuu’s sniff sniffs were moe.

I’ve noticed she has a new habit of doing this with her hand. I don’t remember her doing it in season 1 – but she’s done it like 4 times already in S. It’s a basic little hand thing everyone does, but it’s really noticeable and something she didn’t used to do.

I’m noticing a lot of fleshing out Mikoto’s personality this season, I mentioned it in episode 1 for a handful of scenes but overall her entire character feels a lot more like she’s “supposed” to feel. Not just supposed to, but she feels a lot more real and believable. She feels like The Railgun – but she feels much more like a teenage girl at the same time, and it’s really great they are doing this balance more properly in season 2. It’s giving her not only somewhat a new side, but really showcasing her entire character as a whole. In season 1 they focused mostly on her tomboyish and brash side, but here we not only see her acting more childish and silly, plus doing things like sleeping with a huge teddy bear – but Rina Satou (her seiyuu) seems to have upped her voice a little bit, taking her to just an ever-so-slightly different pitch that gives her more of a cute sound when she’s not angry or fighting someone, and more embarrassed sounding when that’s the case. I think the seiyuu has really hit the mark this time around and given a perfect performance – getting across the tomboyishness, the brashness, the girlish silliness, the childishness, and everything mixed in extremely well.

I wish so much that I could switch with Kuroko.

BIRIBUTT

Actually, going back just a few sentences to that bear comment, they are bringing in a new mascot alongside Gekota – Kirugamar, who was only mentioned in passing in season 1 during the Tokiwadai festival thing episode, wherein Kuroko spends a shit ton of money on some of it’s merchandise because it belonged to Mikoto originally. Now though, she sleeps with a massive plush of him and he’s all over the ED as well. This brings out a lot of that childish side of hers really well compared to just liking Gekota and acting silly sometimes because now she literally is like a little kid pulling around her big ol stuffed bear in her froggy pajamas, it also shows that these girls – like real people – actually buy things over time. It really gives her that soft and pure of heart appeal which is actually relevant to this season’s story and a big part of her character in general. It’s very cute and feels nice seeing her like that.

Not only is Mikoto getting more full development and a realistic personality mix, but the rest of the cast seems to be more, I’m not sure how to put it…”right” I guess. Everyone feels much more in-tune and really how you’d imagine them to be. Kuroko has been especially upgraded this season, simply enjoying watching her onee-sama go into fits of cuteness and playing down her lewdness while pushing forward more of her non-physical affection towards her. In season 1 she was always really horny, but this time she seems more seriously in love with Biribiri and just wanting to be with her and watch over her. It’s much more endearing and sweet to see than the fanservice Kuroko forced into season 1, and it really makes her love for Mikoto feel a lot deeper than before, which I really like because I always felt Kuroko was being shown more as a horny lesbian than someone who sincerely felt some very special love-love feelings for her. It was shown a little bit in episode 1, but it was much more noticeable this time around with her not forcing herself onto biribiri or being annoying about it at all, instead she’s a little whiny about it but understands trying to force it doesn’t work – so she seems more calm and like she’s trying to pace herself better. I mean, the simple fact Kuroko was only holding Mikoto’s sleeping tummy instead of her breasts (or down her pants) is an amazing leap for Kuroko’s self control.

Also, I brought up the height issues before but looking it up, Saten is actually only 1cm shorter than Mikoto. I guess she’s just amazingly tall for her age and for being Japanese, much like Biribiri – so I guess their heights are correct. The heights were inconsistent throughout episode 1 though (changing from scene to scene at times) but these two being almost even is pretty accurate. Uiharu and Kuroko seem to be growing and losing height still as well, but at least they are smaller all the time in this episode.

I think my main focus this episode was on the ED, which I think was really well done. It had an air of the usual friendship stuff like in season 1’s EDs – but it also had something darker about it and a little empty of a feeling mixed in, yet at the same time feels very sweet. Most importantly though, we get to see Biribiri being extremely cute and having a tea party with a sister and her big stuffed bear. I really like both the song and the overall feeling the ending gives off, probably my favorite of the three (including the 2 from season 1).

bai-bee

Oh and one side note – I’ve seen people making assumptions about how a part of this arc will play out based on the OP; if you pay attention, Biribiri clearly changes into the new outfit next season, which makes the blatantly obvious OP stuff irrelevant, as she’s in the wrong outfit – so stop worrying that Touma will show up during ITEM, or that anyone will for that matter.

Well that’s all for this time, until next week; be power smart and conserve electricity ~biribiri!

Me too.