To Aru Kagaku no Railgun - Episode 14

After treating us to that "swimsuit special" over Christmas, we still haven't exactly resumed normal service with this fourteenth episode of To Aru Kagaku no Railgun, leaving us with another stand-alone instalment which focuses primarily on Saten.

If anything, this particular episode acts as something of an epilogue to the whole "Level Upper" arc, as all of the students who used said method to gain or increase their powers are called together for a special lesson on what would otherwise be a day off. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Saten herself still doesn't really seem to have recovered completely from her Level Upper experience, and she certainly doesn't appear to be her usual self throughout much of the episode.


While many of the pupils present see this special lesson as punishment for breaking the rules, Saten in particular seems quite determined to give it her all, and even finds herself standing up to some of the delinquents on-hand when it comes to putting her particular point of view across. None of this is enough to make Saten truly find her "personal reality" and thus lift herself above her current Level 0 status during the course of the lesson, but perhaps it's a precursor to her finally "finding herself" in terms of her powers?

Despite that future possibility, I have to admit that this was a rather flat episode of To Aru Kagaku no Railgun - While I can see the point of it, and while it brought forth a couple of nice cameos from teacher Komoe (of To Aru Majutsu no Index fame) and eyebrow-scrawling Jufuku (who has clearly taken quite a shine to Saten), there was no real heart to what it tried to deliver. While the emotional intensity of this series actually surprised me when it came to Saten and Uihara's exchange on the phone a few episodes back, there were no such signs of emotional depth here, leaving an instalment that simply went through the motions with seemingly little interest in the story it was trying to tell or character progression it was trying to bring about. Maybe Saten discovers that she's important to a lot of people here, but sadly the same can't be said for this episode itself, which will doubtless be quickly forgotten.