http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun

— Mikoto Misaka "Everyone has to look out for themselves. That's the way it works."

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Mikoto Misaka is the third-most-powerful Esper in Academy City, a state-of-the-art city dedicated to the scientific study and development of Psychic Powers. Every student in Academy City is given an "Esper Rank" to indicate their power, and Mikoto is a Rank 5: the best of the best, an electromaster with the nickname of "The Railgun".

Together with her friends in "Judgment" (the student-run "Public Moral Committee"), she works to protect the peace in Academy City from delinquents and hoodlums. The story narrates the events of A Certain Magical Index from Mikoto's perspective, as well as delving into her own conflict with the darker evils that lurk in the shadows of Academy City.

A Certain Scientific Railgun is an ongoing manga spin-off and supplementary reading to the A Certain Magical Index Light Novel series written by Kazuma Kamachi which began in 2007. Unlike the main light novel series, the Railgun manga purely focuses on the science elements of Academy City, and not the greater Magic/Science conflicts of Index. However, there are side-story novels, included in the limited edition volumes of the Index anime, where Mikoto and her friends unknowingly encounter elements of the Magic side. The manga series currently has 15 volumes released, with four completed arcs and a fifth in progress. It later got its own Spin-Off A Certain Scientific Railgun: Astral Buddy that ran from 2017 to 2020, starring Hokaze Junko, the Number Two to Mikoto's rival Shokuhou Misaki. Both manga are being localized by Seven Seas Entertainment.

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Similar to its parent series, Railgun has received an Animated Adaptation courtesy of JC Staff. The first season debuted on October 2009, focusing on the Level Upper arc of the manga as well as some anime-original material penned by the author. A second season, A Certain Scientific Railgun S, aired in Spring 2013, focusing on the Railgun version of the Sisters arc and an anime-original plotline. A third season, A Certain Scientific Railgun T, started airing on January 10th, 2020, following the third season of the Index anime and the Accelerator anime, adapting the Daihasei Festival and the Dream Ranker arcs. Along with Index, the anime is being licensed by Funimation entertainment, with Crunchyroll also providing a simulcast for the third season.

This series shares a character sheet with A Certain Magical Index.

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Also, check out the franchise's other spinoff, A Certain Scientific Accelerator.

Has a recap page.

A note on timelines: The manga's events begin two weeks before the Index novel and anime. The anime, however, violates this by adapting events from Volume 8 of the novels into the anime's first episode. As it stands, Chapters 18 to 39 occur around the time of Volume 3 in the novels, Chapter 40 is around Volume 5, Chapters 41-42 and around volume 8, Chapters 43 to 70 take place around Volume 9, and Chapters 71 to 97 spans around Volumes 10 to 16.

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