A Certain Scientific Railgun S - Episode 9

Just as Misaka manages to get the better of her opponent and corner Frenda, so the cavalry arrives in the form of two of her fellow ITEM comrades, meaning a whole heap of new trouble for our protagonist.

As if Frenda hadn't been a tricky enough proposition, Mikoto is now faced with a showdown against fellow Level 5 and so-called "Meltdowner"Shizuri Mugino, leading to a cat and mouse game which very much puts our heroine on the defensive as she fends off her opponents attacks.  Normally, this might not be such an issue, but with Misaka's energy well and truly sapped by all her exertions and with Mugino making the use of ITEM counterpart Takitsubo to track her opponent's AIM field, there seems to be nothing for it but to plan an escape - something which Misaka single-mindedly refuses to do.

While Misaka is fighting this war of attrition to destroy her current location, Shinobu is indulging in a little terrorism of her own - having tricked her way into the hub of the Sisters project's operations, she seeks a rather less violent method of action by effectively reprogramming the emotions of the Sisters to shun conflict and open up all of the suppressed emotions within them.  Although even Nunotaba herself doubts this plot will succeed, she's still willing to give it a shot, although there's still one member of ITEM unaccounted for...

As this story arc progresses, A Certain Scientific Railgun S continues to build nicely - this was a satisfying action-oriented episode that still had enough going on to enter the realms of big explosions and little else, which is also managing to keep enough tension bubbling under the surface to boot.  There really isn't a lot to say beyond that as this arc continues to build carefully towards its climax - it remains enjoyable and arguably the best this franchise as a whole has offered for the most part, and it's still a vital part of my week to race to watch it of a Saturday morning.