2D in 3D (A Certain Scientific Railgun)

So this was originally a light novel series right. Unfortunately I don’t have the light novel translations so I’ve been left to suffer the characterization inconsistencies between the manga and the anime. I can’t argue for what was intended so instead I have to bite my tongue since I realize it would only come down to preferences. So this post will be about Misaka. Hurrah, I can already empathize with the many rabid fanboys drooling on their keyboards, but sadly I will be talking about her metamorphosis using Manga pages since it’s so much easier. I’ll also warn you now I’ve included about 25-30 manga pages (with no spoiler material if you’ve watched all of To Aru Majutsu and up to a few episodes ago of To Aru Kagaku).

Most characters start as stereotypes through no fault of the writer. When we greet Toma running away from some thugs some of the first words uttered from his mouth become his catch phrase “So order online pharm unlucky”. This is a common trait in anime heroes. Their ‘misfortune’ creates conflicts while providing comic relief and an easy out for self pity. Misaka’s introduction on the other hand serves a much more interesting purpose.

First she’s a badge our hero can wear when he protects her in an all too common scenario. For the next few scenes he is a protector of girls being harassed by delinquents. He’s a stupidly brave good guy.

However, she quickly steps into a much more important role; she shows the where to buy doxycycline viewer/reader that Academy city is not all that it appears. Someone who looks weak might not be weak at all, and those who look strong might be tadpoles lost in the ocean. She’s also the first character that Toma gets to really online the diet pills buy Ampicillin interact with and their interactions, in my opinion, are the best part of the show.

Thus Misaka’s third purpose is to be a source of exposition. Between Toma and Misaka we’re allowed to get a small introduction to how this whole Academy city thing is going to work. Then we approach our initial impressions of Misaka and what kind of character she is.

Pretty obvious right? “I cannot allow someone stronger than me to exist”. Once again she’s a foil for the main character buy online tabs Toma, the writer flaunts her as extremely powerful and by Toma standing up to her we also gain that he’s powerful by association. Most importantly though we’re forced to view her as someone who starts unnecessary fights. Toma was shown to have somewhat noble reasons for being there and only defends himself. Misaka on the other hand is just an angry person going around frying people. Of course this doesn’t last and we can place these attributes on a larger picture now that we know more about her, but originally that was all she was.

So my question to you then is when did Misaka become three dimensional? Was it on their next encounter?

I don’t really think so. Was it Misaka’s arc? Did she become three dimensional when she actually cared about the sisters? Maybe, there were a few things, though I would like to state for the record crying doesn’t make you three dimensional. No the part of the arc that I thought put her close was this particular interaction.

And so on and so forth. I’m sorry I just made you read like an entire manga chapter. I would, however, like to point out that this is when she broke her stereotype. It’s not necessarily that she let us see beneath the mask it’s that she has a mask at all. In the opening image we see she’s worried, but immediately covers it up when she interacts with Toma. She’s a little Tsundere, but that doesn’t define her either. Outside of her growing feelings for Toma we see that she is genuinely a good person who doesn’t yet know what her feeling are or how to deal with them.

Like I said, that to me was when she broke her stereotype, but it took a spin off to really define her. I now bring you a few pages of her manga.

Truthfully this is just my favorite segment of the entire franchise. You should go read it here if you haven’t. It’s a little different from the anime, but pretty similar. You may be asking your empty room right now why I think this makes her three dimensional. Basically it just explains it. It makes her understandable. Toma is a crazy idiot, the one person she can’t make fit into her jigsaw puzzle of a world. It irks her, but it’s also the one thing she needs to change her world view. By seeing a crazy idiot she can justify her hope that there are more selfless people out there.

At this point we stop treating her like fiction and start looking at Misaka as a human being. Before this scene her problems were still a bit incomprehensible and her reasons for attacking Toma we understood on an entertainment level, but not on a personal one. Suddenly she’s just another soul trying to figure out the absurd universe she’s landed in by being close to the things that give her hope.

I don’t know whether you think this is a big deal or not, but to me it is. Most characters never get to this level. Most of the characters in the franchise never get here (truthfully the only other character I do see getting to this point is Toma and not this succinctly). I could name anime where none of the characters are three dimensional and I could name others where almost all of them are. If you’re wondering what draws me to an anime and keeps me coming back week after week, it’s just been explained a little.

You may not agree and that’s ok too. I know there are lots of other reasons for loving the genre, but I don’t think they draw you into the story. In the end the plot and setting aren’t that great, magic vs. science is a good idea but kind of poorly executed, and the arcs are rather dull and stereotypical. But don’t tell me you weren’t excited when Misaka had a date with Toma. I’m giddy whenever they run into each other.

I’ve been a little disappointed by the anime, but that’s only because there are some differences in Misaka’s character (compared to the manga).  Is it so bad that Railgun isn’t worth watching? Far from it, it’s incredibly fun watching Misaka biri biri all over everything. And on that note I better wrap this up. It’s almost Christmas right?

Thanks for stopping by and I salute all the great character writers out there. Until next time :)