Episode 08 – “ITEM”

We get our first episode that’s almost entirely devoted to action, and I must say it’s pretty sweet. We’re introduced to an interesting cast of antagonists known as ITEM, a group of mercenaries that is enlisted by the labs to take down Misaka. Even they’re “bad guys,” that doesn’t stop them from being hilarious characters.

Frenda Seivelun (CV: Maaya Uchida, as in Rikka Takanashi from Chuunibyou) faces off against Misaka this episode. She wields an assorted battalion of weaponry and focuses on using her surroundings against her opponent. Too bad Misaka can manipulate metal at her will by generating magnetic fields. It’s still quite fascinating (and quite awesome) how Frenda can pull out a seemingly infinite barrage of explosives from under her skirt. She’s like a modern day female Gilgamesh…or Link. I mean she throws Bullet Bills, how cool is that?!

It’s nice to hear more of Maaya Uchida, since I liked her so much as Rikka in Chuunibyou. She does a great job of doing Frenda’s character and just makes everything super funny, maybe even more then they should be. Though, the connection between Frenda’s philosophy of her target’s fate and the Sisters Project was really well done. I would have been too dimwitted to catch that if they hadn’t pointed it out. Once again, the ability of Railgun S to balance comedy with business shines through, and I personally don’t think that it hinders the experience at all. It’s quite the opposite actually.

It also looks like Misaka is no longer alone in her fight against the clone producers, as Nunotaba seems to be offering her hand to help. Unfortunately, she’s a Level 0 so it’ll be interesting to see how helpful she’ll be in battle, especially since she can’t rely on tricking her opponents all the time. She might be a smooth talker, but that can only last so long. Speaking of which, I like how we got to hear Frenda’s inner monologue throughout her fight with Misaka. It was very entertaining. But according to the preview for the next episode, Nunotaba looks to be packing some heat (you know, like a gun).

Next week, we’ll get a more proper introduction to the rest of ITEM, as well as their abilities. So excited!

B.W.