The second season of the Japanese animated television series ''

A Certain Scientific Railgun is a Japanese manga series written by Kazuma Kamachi and illustrated by Motoi Fuyukawa, which began serialization in the April 2007 issue of ASCII Media Works' '' Dengeki Daioh'' magazine. The manga is a spin-off of Kamachi's ''A Cer ...

'', marketed as ''A Certain Scientific Railgun S'', is based on the manga series of the same name written by

Kazuma Kamachi is the pen name of a Japanese author who has published over 100 light novel volumes. He is best known for the creation of the ''A Certain Magical Index'' franchise which, as of 2019, has sold over 30 million copies worldwide and has been licensed ...

and illustrated by . The season follows Mikoto Misaka in her attempt to stop the deadly project that involves her clones and the most powerful esper in Academy City named Accelerator, with unlikely help from

Toma Kamijo is a fictional character created by Kazuma Kamachi and first illustrated by Kiyotaka Haimura. He is the main protagonist of the light novel series ''A Certain Magical Index'' and a major character in its manga spin-off series ''A Certain Scien ...

. Produced by J.C.Staff, the season was directed by

Tatsuyuki Nagai is a Japanese director and anime storyboard artist. He is known for being one third of the creative team Super Peace Busters. He made his directorial debut for the second season of '' Honey and Clover''. He then worked on the anime series, '' Ido ...

with series composition supervised by . ''A Certain Scientific Railgun S'' sees the return of the main cast members

Rina Satō is a Japanese voice actress with hundreds of television and video game productions, many multi-year, and is active in film and as a singer as well. She won the Best Lead Actress Award at the 8th Seiyu Awards. Satō has been appearing since 200 ...

Satomi Arai is a Japanese voice actress. She married Yoshimitsu Shimoyama in 2008 and had a son in 2010. Her husband's identity was later disclosed in 2016. Filmography Anime series Original video animation Original net animation Anime films Tok ...

Aki Toyosaki is a Japanese actress and singer. She had her first major voice acting roles in 2007, voicing Amuro Ninagawa in '' Kenkō Zenrakei Suieibu Umishō'' and Su in ''Shugo Chara!''. She was named "Best New Actress" at the 4th Seiyu Awards in 2010 f ...

, and Kanae Itō, with the addition of Nozomi Sasaki and

Atsushi Abe is a Japanese voice actor and narrator represented by Ken Production. Some of his major roles include Toma Kamijo in the ''A Certain Magical Index'' / ''A Certain Scientific Railgun'' series, Kukai Soma in ''Shugo Chara!'', Moritaka Mashiro i ...

from ''

A Certain Magical Index is a Japanese light novel series written by Kazuma Kamachi and illustrated by Kiyotaka Haimura, which has been published by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko imprint since April 2004 in a total of three sep ...

'' television series. The second season consists of 24 episodes and ran on AT-X from April 12 to September 27, 2013, with other networks following days later. A third season was announced in October 2018. __TOC__

Episodes

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Production

Development

A sequel to the 2009

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series ''

'' was announced at Dengeki 20th Anniversary Festival in October 2012. A few days after it was announced, J.C.Staff was confirmed to be returning from the first season to produce the sequel, with the returning staff members

as the director, Seishi Minakami as the series composition writer, and Yuichi Tanaka as the character animation designer. The series would be premiered in 2013, later announced to be on April 12, and consists of twenty-four episodes.

Writing

The series adapted the Sisters

story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of a plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing narrative, storyline in episode, episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strip ...

from ''

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series. J.C.Staff producer Yuji Matsukura was glad that the popular story arc would be animated in the second season since it was still in the middle of serialization during the production of the first season. Nagai revealed that an original summer vacation story would be included in the series upon the conclusion of the Sisters story arc.

Casting

In October 2012,

, and Kanae Itō were confirmed to be reprising their respective roles from the first season as Mikoto Misaka, Kuroko Shirai, Kazari Uiharu, and Ruiko Saten, with the addition of Nozomi Sasaki as the

Sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

and

, both reprising their roles from ''

'' television series. In March 2013,

Ikumi Hayama , also known as , is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actress and narrator. Biography After working at Beeface Creative and Osawa Office, she joined Vi-Vo. Hayama reported on her blog she was married on March 29, 2014. In December 2014, sh ...

was revealed to be voicing Shinobu Nunotaba, a researcher associated with Level 6 Shift Project. In May 2013, additional voice actors were announced to be voicing the members of dark side organization ITEM, including

Ami Koshimizu is a Japanese actress and singer. She has voiced many different types of characters, from young girls to adult women, as well as boys and animals. Her roles include leads such as Ryuko Matoi in '' Kill la Kill'', Charlotte E. Yeager in '' Str ...

as Shizuri Mugino,

Chinatsu Akasaki is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with 81 Produce. Biography Akasaki graduated from Kagoshima Prefectural Kinkōwan High School and Tokyo Gakugei University. She studied Italian as a second foreign language. She won the Nippon Cultural Br ...

as Saiai Kinuhata,

Maaya Uchida is a Japanese actress and singer who works for I'm Enterprise. She won the Best Rookie Actress Award at the 8th Seiyu Awards. She is best known for her roles such as Fischl in ''Genshin Impact'', Rikka Takanashi in ''Love, Chunibyo & Other De ...

as Frenda Seivelun, and

Aya Suzaki is a Japanese voice actress and narrator affiliated with I'm Enterprise. She is widely known for her work, such as Tamako Kitashirakawa in '' Tamako Market''. Biography Suzaki is good at singing, and lists soft tennis and scuba diving as her ...

as Rikō Takitsubo.

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

announced in April 2014 the English dub cast for the series, including

Mariela Ortiz Mariela Ortiz (born August 5, 1976) is an American voice actress. She's also an accomplished stage performer who has appeared in productions in both Texas and New York, including The Chico de Jazzz Show written by William M. Hoffman. Filmography ...

as Nunotaba,

Leah Clark Leah Clark is an American voice actress, ADR director and script writer. She has provided voices for Japanese anime series and video games. Some of her major roles include Mavis Vermillion in '' Fairy Tail'', Suzuka Asahina in '' Suzuka'', Saki ...

as Seivelun,

Lydia Mackay Lydia Marie Mackay (born 1977) is an American actress, known internationally for her work for Funimation and OkraTron 5000. She has provided voices for a number of English versions of Japanese anime films, television series and video games. Ea ...

as Mugino,

Apphia Yu Apphia Yu, also known as Ayu Sakata, is an American voice actress and voice director. She has worked on games such as '' Loren The Amazon Princess'' and '' Tales of Aravorn: Seasons of the Wolf'', and on anime like '' Assassination Classroom'' ...

as Kinuhata, and

Megan Shipman Megan Shipman (born March 13) is an American voice actress, known for providing voices in English-language dubbing of Japanese anime series. Some of her notable roles include Yuzu Aihara in ''Citrus (manga), Citrus'', Aoba Suzukaze in ''New Game ...

as Takitsubo.

Music

Maiko Iuchi of

I've Sound I've Sound, or simply called , is a Japanese techno/trance music production group based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. Led by Kazuya Takase, it features the talents of seasoned "sound creators" and many different vocalists, known as to their fans ...

served as the

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

of ''A Certain Scientific Railgun S''. The second season uses six pieces of

theme music Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

: two openings and four endings. For the first sixteen episodes, the opening theme is "Sisters' Noise" by fripSide whilst the main ending theme is "Grow Slowly" by

Yuka Iguchi is a Japanese voice actress and singer. Biography She auditioned for Broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the Brassicaceae, cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose l ...

. The ending theme for episodes 11 and 14 is "Stand Still" by Iguchi. From episode 17 onwards, the opening theme is "Eternal Reality" by fripSide whilst the ending theme is by

Sachika Misawa is a freelance Japanese voice actress and singer from Yamanashi Prefecture. As a voice actress, she was previously affiliated with numerous agencies, with the recent being Stardust Promotion, departing from the agency in March 2023. As a singer ...

. The ending theme for episode 23 is by Misawa.

Marketing

A TV commercial ad, narrated by Satō, for ''A Certain Scientific Railgun S'' was aired on AT-X in March 2013. In the same month, Satō, Arai, Toyosaki, and Itō were present at Anime Contents Expo 2013 in

Makuhari Messe is a convention center in Chiba (city), Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, located just outside of Tokyo. Designed by Fumihiko Maki, it is accessible by Transportation in Greater Tokyo#Railway and subway, Tokyo's commuter rail system. ''Makuha ...

to promote the series, where a 90-second promo video was released. Additional three TV commercial ads were aired on

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV (channel 9), branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent station, independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city and parts ...

in April 2013, each narrated by Arai, Toyosaki, and Itō.

Release

Broadcast

''A Certain Scientific Railgun S'' began airing in Japan on AT-X on April 12, 2013, on

on April 13, on

MBS MBS may refer for: People * Mohammed Ben Sulayem (born 1961), president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile * Mohammed bin Salman (born 1985), crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia * Mohan Bikram Singh (born 1935), Nepales ...

on April 14, on

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

on April 18, on BS11 on April 20, and on GYT on April 24.

Home media

Geneon Universal Entertainment (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, owned by American telecommunications/media company Comcast headquartered in Akasaka, Tokyo ...

released eight

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

volumes of ''A Certain Scientific Railgun S'' in Japan starting July 24, 2013. Each volume contains a

bonus Bonus commonly means: * Bonus, a Commonwealth term for a distribution of profits to a with-profits insurance policy * Bonus payment, an extra payment received as a reward for doing one's job well or as an incentive Bonus may also refer to: Place ...

novel written by

titled ''A Certain Magical Index: Necessarius Special Admission Test''. Funimation released a DVD volume containing the first twelve episodes of the series in North America on July 1, 2014, and another DVD volume containing the final twelve episodes on August 19, while a Blu-ray and DVD combo set containing the full season was released on January 19, 2016.

Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1991, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyr ...

released a Blu-ray and DVD combo set for the series in the United Kingdom on August 21, 2017. Crunchyroll released the season on Blu-ray in North America on March 4, 2025, and will release it in the United Kingdom on March 31. Funimation began streaming the season on April 14, 2013, while it was added to

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

in December 2016 and to Tubi TV in December 2017.

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

released it in Japan on March 24, 2022. Muse Asia began streaming it on their official

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel on June 30, 2022.

Reception

Critical response

Rebecca Silverman of

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

graded ''A Certain Scientific Railgun S'' 'B', feeling that the Sisters story arc in the series was not rehashed as compared to its earlier portrayal from the first season of ''

'' and lauding Misaka's appearance in it. Ian Wolf of ''Anime UK News'' scored the series 8 out of 10, describing the Sisters story arc as having a "lack of imagination" despite being told in a different approach (from Misaka's viewpoint rather than Kamijo's) but finding its story "feel nga lot more emotional".

Scientific accuracy

Tsukasa Kano, a science writer who graduated from

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice, in 1889. The university's name is derived from the Ja ...

and member of the Space Authors Club, discussed

human cloning Human cloning is the creation of a genetically Cloning, identical copy of a human. The term is generally used to refer to artificial human cloning, which is the reproduction of human Cell (biology), cells and Tissue (biology), tissue. It does ...

in ''A Certain Scientific Railgun S''. He stated that there is a possibility but currently impractical due to the low yield rate among humans, while contradicted the 14-day development of a clone to a full appearance of a junior high school student as depicted in the series since it naturally needs to grow for up to 14 years, which requires 80,000 eggs harvested from people and 80,000 women to serve as "borrowed bellies" for impregnation.

Other media

puzzle game A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to find the solution of the puzzle. There are different ...

ASCII Media Works , formerly , is a Japanese Publishing, publisher and brand company of Kadokawa Future Publishing headquartered in Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It originally formed on April 1, 2008, as a result of a Mergers and acquisitions, merger bet ...

based on ''A Certain Scientific Railgun S'', titled '' A Certain Scientific Railgun S Puzzle'', was released on July 26, 2013. An 80-page official visual book for the series was released on March 27, 2014, which was bundled with a Blu-ray disc containing a brand-new episode titled .

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Certain Scientific Railgun season 2, A A Certain Magical Index episode lists A Certain Magical Index Certain Scientific Railgun S, A