| A Certain Scientific Railgun | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Cover of the first volume featuringKuroko Shirai (left) andMikoto Misaka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| とある科学の超電磁砲 (Toaru Kagaku no Rērugan) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Genre | Adventure,science fiction[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Manga | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by | Kazuma Kamachi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illustrated by | Motoi Fuyukawa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Published by | ASCII Media Works | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| English publisher | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Magazine | Dengeki Daioh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Original run | February 25, 2007 – present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Volumes | 20(List of volumes) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A Certain Scientific Railgun (Japanese:とある科学の超電磁砲,Hepburn:Toaru Kagaku no Rērugan)[a] is a Japanesemanga series written byKazuma Kamachi and illustrated by Motoi Fuyukawa, which began serialization in the April 2007 issue ofASCII Media Works'Dengeki Daioh magazine. The manga is aspin-off of Kamachi'sA Certain Magical Indexlight novel series, taking place before and during the events of the main story.Seven Seas Entertainment began publishing the series in North America in June 2011. Ananime television series adaptation byJ.C.Staff aired in Japan between October 2009 and March 2010, followed by anoriginal video animation released in October 2010. A second season titledA Certain Scientific Railgun S aired between April and September 2013. A spin-off manga series titledA Certain Scientific Railgun: Astral Buddy began serialization inDengeki Daioh from April 2017 to July 2020. A third season titledA Certain Scientific Railgun T aired between January and September 2020. A fourth season has been announced.
In the futuristic Academy City, which is made up of 80% students, many of whom are espers possessing unique psychic powers,Mikoto Misaka is an electromaster who is the third strongest of a mere seven espers who have been given the rank of Level 5. The series focuses on the exploits of Mikoto and her friends Kuroko Shirai, Kazari Uiharu, and Ruiko Saten, prior to and during the events ofA Certain Magical Index.
A Certain Scientific Railgun is illustrated by Motoi Fuyukawa and started serialization in the April 2007 issue of ASCII Media Works'Dengeki Daioh. The first volume was released on November 10, 2007, and as of June 26, 2025, 20 volumes have been published. North American publisherSeven Seas Entertainment began distributing theRailgun manga from June 2011.[2]
A24-episode anime television series adaptation that was produced byJ.C. Staff and directed byTatsuyuki Nagai aired in Japan between October 3, 2009, and March 20, 2010.[3] The anime was collected into eight DVD and Blu-ray Disc sets released between January 29 and August 27, 2010, with each volume containing a short story series titledA Certain Magical Index: Kanzaki SS. The series was licensed in North America byFunimation, who released the series on DVD on April 16, 2013.[4][5] A bonus episode was included with a visual book released on July 24, 2010, and anoriginal video animation (OVA) was released in Japan on October 29, 2010.[6]
A 24-episode second season, also directed by Nagai, titledA Certain Scientific Railgun S, aired in Japan between April 12[7] and September 27, 2013. It was simulcast by Funimation, who released the series on DVD in North America in two parts on July 1, 2014, and August 19, 2014, respectively.[8][9] Another bonus episode was released with a visual book released on March 27, 2014.
A third season titledA Certain Scientific Railgun T aired from January 10 to September 25, 2020.[10][11] The third season ran for 25 episodes. Two bonus anime were released from the third season's first and fifth Blu-Ray/DVD volumes.[12] Unlike previous seasons, the season was simulcasted on bothFunimation andCrunchyroll, with Crunchyroll streaming the series in Japanese with English subtitles, and Funimation streaming the English dub.[13][14][15] The three seasons, including the OVA, were released onHulu in Japan on March 24, 2022.[16]
A fourth season was announced during the "Dengeki Bunko Winter Festival 2025" livestream event on February 16, 2025.[17]
The anime adaptation ofA Certain Scientific Railgun has five pieces of theme music, two opening themes and three ending themes. The first opening theme is "Only My Railgun" byfripSide, and the first ending theme is "Dear My Friend -Mada Minu Mirai e-" (Dear My Friend －まだ見ぬ未来へ－;lit. 'Dear My Friend (Toward a Future We Haven't Seen Yet)') byElisa. The song "Smile (You & Me)" by Elisa, which uses the same tune as "Dear My Friend (Mada Minu Mirai e)", is featured as the ending theme for episode twelve. The second opening theme is "Level 5 Judgelight" by fripSide and the third ending theme is "Real Force" by Elisa. "Only My Railgun" appears in Konami'sarcade music gamesPop'n Music 20: Fantasia,Dance Dance Revolution X2 andJubeat Knit. For the OVA, the opening theme music is "Future Gazer" by fripSide, the single of which was released on October 13, 2010, while the ending theme is "Special One" by Elisa, the single of which was released on October 27, 2010.[18] The opening theme for theA Certain Scientific Railgun PSP game is "Way to answer" by fripSide.[19]
ForA Certain Scientific Railgun S, it has six pieces of theme music, two opening themes and four ending themes. The first opening theme is "Sister's Noise" by fripSide and the first ending theme is "Grow Slowly" byYuka Iguchi, the latter of which was released on May 15, 2013.[20] The song "stand still" by Iguchi is featured as the second ending theme for episodes 11 and 14. The second opening theme is "Eternal Reality" by fripSide[21] and the third ending theme is "Links" bySachika Misawa.[22] The song "Infinia" by Misawa is featured as the fourth ending theme for episode 23.[23]
ForA Certain Scientific Railgun T, the first opening theme is "final phase" by fripSide[24] and the first ending theme is "nameless story" byKishida Kyoudan & The Akeboshi Rockets.[25] The second opening theme is "dual existence" by fripSide, and the second ending theme is "Aoarashi no Ato de" (lit. 'After the summer storm') bySajou no Hana.[26]
Avisual novel based onA Certain Scientific Railgun for the PSP was released on December 8, 2011, after facing several delays, and comes in a special edition which includes a Kuroko ShiraiFigma figure.[27][19] Fuji Shoji released apachinko based on the series, titledA Certain Scientific Railgun P, on January 24, 2022.[28]
A light novel consisting of four stories about Mikoto, Kuroko, Kazari, and Ruiko was released in Japan on June 10, 2022. It is written by Kamachi and illustrated byKiyotaka Haimura, Fuyukawa, Chuya Kogino, Arata Yamaji, Yasuhito Nogi, Teto Tachitsu, and Nankyoku Kisaragi.[29]
Four manga volumes distributed by Seven Seas Entertainment have been featured onThe New York Times mangabestsellers list, with the most frequently listed (A Certain Scientific Railgun vol. 7) staying on the list for 4 weeks.[30]
The opening theme music for the first season of A Certain Scientific Railgun, "Only My Railgun", won Best Theme Song at the 2010Animation Kobe Awards.[31] In September 2020, the anime series garnered over 300 million views in China through the Chinese streaming platformBilibili.[32]
Nicole MacLean ofTHEM Anime Reviews had mixed feelings on the first season of the series. Comparing the series toAoi Hana,Bodacious Space Pirates, andInari Kon Kon, she criticized the relationships between the characters but praised the narrative it adds to theIndex franchise.[33]
