A Certain Scientific Railgun S - Episode 4

Having, to her mind, resolved any concerns about a nefarious cloning project being carried out in her name, it's fair to say that Misaka is pretty much at peace with the world as this fourth episode of A Certain Scientific Railgun S begins - rather creepily so, as a matter of fact.

With no school in session and without a care in the world, this effectively means an episode of Misaka and her friends goofing around, whether it's shopping for a rice cooker for Uiharu, looking at swimsuits or playing with a bunch of younger kids in a nod back to the first series (which invariably ends up with our titular Railgun on the hunt for a particularly cute frog badge).  In short, life is fun for our protagonist - for now...

From our own perspective, these moments of fun and frolics are inter-cut with footage of the continuing cloning experiment going on using Misaka's DNA as the network of these clones continue to grow as a means to an even more malicious end than the initial experiments which saw the project's creation.  Misaka may be able to laugh off the urban legends which still swirl around Academy City, but running into one of these clones herself provides a rather worrying moment of clarity that is about to shatter her care-free attitude.

Light-hearted fun though it manages to be, this was a decidedly slow-going episode of A Certain Scientific Railgun S - if you're keen to get on with the current story arc and everything it has to offer, then all the frivolity on show here feels like little more than a barrier in the way of "the good stuff".  Thankfully, the series is still competent enough at handling some comedy and its characters to make for enjoyable viewing, but I think it's fair to say that I'm sure I won't be the only one waiting impatiently for next week's episode and the promise of more substantial fare.