Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Misaka Mikoto (Railgun/Index) | DEATH ANALYSIS


In 2004, the Toaru Kagaku no Index Light Novel debuted featuring a certain protagonist Kamijou Touma, following his misadventures in Academy City. This setting takes place in a scientifically-advanced society separate from the jurisdiction of the rest of the world. In Academy City, youths are sent in from around to world in hopes of unlocking their Esper powers. 
While there is a Level ranking, not everyone has a tangible power, and those ranked within Levels aren't necessarily in order of most powerful. The aforementioned Kamijou Touma is a Level 0, one who has no perceivable scientific ability. By contrast, Accelerator is a Level 5, the #1, in fact, placing him at the very top of the herd for his immense power, versatility, and usefulness to the City's secret plans. 
The Index world is generally split into two halves, a Scientific and Magic side. The scientific side is as described above, whereas the magic side comes in the form of Churches, Occults, and various other groups of people based on real-world lore and followings. For example, the Roman Catholic Church plays a major role in early arcs, having their own motives for infiltrating Academy City. 
With this split between Magic and Science comes a split in power system as well. The Scientific power system will be explained in further detail, but it is essentially the result of personal reality-warping to create a scientific-abiding ability manifest. As for the Magic power system, it is... complicated, if you want to get into all the specifics. It's not terribly relevant in the case of Misaka Mikoto, although it is worth mentioning that Espers cannot use magic without severely risking self-harm or even death. Luckily, that is also not really relevant here.

Stepping away from the lore, I'll also explain the many branches of the series briefly. 
The core source material is the Index Light Novel. From there, the Scientific Railgun manga presents a side-story focusing on Misaka Mikoto, though is less significant to the core story of the ongoing Index LN. 
Other spin-offs include A Certain Scientific Accelerator, A Certain Scientific Railgun Gaiden: Astral Buddy, A Certain Scientific Dark Matter, and A Certain Idol Accelerator (though this one is non-canon and just for fun). 
The Index Light Novels have received both manga and anime adaptations, while Railgun and Accelerator have received anime and the rest are unadapted. There is also a movie, Miracle of Endymion, and several OVAs between the Index and Railgun anime.
Generally, the anime are faithful when adapting the source material, but there are some things to note. The first two Railgun seasons incorporate anime-original arcs in their respective second halves, while the third season of Index (and really, the anime as a whole) skips over a substantial amount of material and detail found in the Light Novel. Additionally, certain scenes in the Novels do not clearly translate to the anime; this is mostly a problem with the characterization of certain characters like Touma, and results in certain feats seeming far less impressive, such as Accelerator's. Thankfully, Mikoto, the focus of this blog, doesn't have these issues.

This analysis will be using the Index Light Novels, Railgun manga, and additional relevant spin-offs such as Astral Buddy as primary sources. The anime, specifically anime-original arcs and feats, such as those during the Silent Party arc, will be considered only as supporting evidence to compliment the primary canon. Anime-only feats will be marked accordingly. Typically, Mikoto hasn't really shown anything out of the realm of possibility in these Anime-only arcs, so they are likely fine to use, but it's still important to make the distinction clear.

Also, it should go without saying, but the series is still ongoing. The third iteration of the Index Light Novels, Genesis Testament, is continuing in publication, as is the Railgun manga. As such, this blog will be occasionally updated to reflect any important new information.

Table of Contents

1. Background
2. Experience
3. Intelligence
4. Physical Capabilities
5. Equipment
6. Abilities and Techniques
7. Level 6 Shift
8. Feats
9. Scaling
10. Weaknesses
11. Summary
12. Calculations
13. Stats
14. Possible Opponents
15. Recommended Viewing Orders


Background

"I'm going to let you go this time. But... make no mistake. If I ever see one of these again, or if they go near my friends, or if you so much as look in their direction, then no matter where you are, I swear I'll find you... and crush you."

Info

  • China's biggest online video site, Bilibili, is named after Misaka Mikoto. Specifically, her nickname, Biri-Biri, given to her by Kamijou Touma. Her trademark arcade coins are even integrated into the site.
  • Birthday: May 2nd (Shared with her Japanese Seiyuu, Rina Sato!)
  • Blood type: AB
  • Age: 14
  • Height: 5'3" / 161cm
  • Aliases: Railgun, Third-Ranked, Tokiwadai's Ace, Onee-sama, Biri-Biri
  • Ranked #3 out of Academy City's seven Level 5s
  • Likes: Gekota (Frog mascot), Kamijou Touma
  • Dislikes: Accelerator, Academy City's Dark Side, Vending Machines

Misaka Mikoto is the daughter of Misaka Tabigake and Misaka Misuzu. She entered Academy City at elementary age, and distinguished herself as a child prodigy, initially starting out as a Level 1 and climbing her way up to the distinction of Level 5. This made her a perfect candidate for the secret cloning experiment festering within the dark inner circles of Academy City. Mikoto, at her incredibly young and naive age, willingly gave a DNA sample of herself to the researchers involved in the project, believing it to be well-intentioned with the greater good in mind.

She would later enroll in Tokiwadai Middle School at the age of 12, shortly thereafter becoming a Level 5. As a Level 5, she is one of only seven in the world to be classified as a one-person army. She, along with fellow Level 5 Shokuho Misaki, make up Tokiwadai's "Ace" and "Queen", befitting their schools' reputation. 

Mikoto's story would truly begin after encountering the Level Upper phenomenon, which saw a mysterious audio file with the promise of 'leveling up' anyone who listened to it. This resulted in the creation of the AIM Burst, a grotesque being with the mental hopes and fears of everyone who used the Level Upper. This was her first step into the darkness of Academy City, a shadow she would soon delve completely into.

As it turned out, her past would come back to haunt her. The DNA sample she had freely given away as a young child was, in truth, used for a project called the Level 6 Shift, an experiment that essentially utilized 20,000 clones of Mikoto to use as fodder for the #1 ranked esper in hopes of powering him up to Level 6. 
Upon learning this and encountering her 'Sisters', Mikoto strove to obliterate the experiments and facilities that harbored this data. In the end, she came face-to-face with Accelerator, the #1 esper. Though she was no match for him in a 1v1, the Sisters were ultimately liberated from the project and Accelerator was defeated thanks to the combined efforts of her, the Sisters, and A Certain Spiky-Haired boy, the latter of which she began to develop feelings for. 

Over time, Mikoto would be involved in many, many other incidents, including being forced into a Level 6 herself. However, the crux of her story would revolve around Kamijou Touma, her hero and budding crush. As the world faced more and more magical threats well beyond the understanding of scientific espers, Mikoto began to realize she was powercrept falling behind, seemingly unable to adapt to these new foes despite everyone around her managing. Though desperately attempting to rectify this, she has, as of now, failed at every step, and is facing the brunt of her shortcomings. 

Experience



Mikoto may only be fourteen years old currently, but she has plenty of practical experience. As an esper in Academy City, she is enrolled in and trained in the Power Curriculum Program, which honed her abilities and informed her of her limitations and strengths in great detail. Because of the program, Mikoto was able to raise her level from 0 all the way to 5.  

 As a result, even at the start of the series, Mikoto would have considerable experience with her powers and knowledge of other powers, considering her school is literally full of superpowered people. Additionally, Mikoto also regularly engaged in vigilante work, giving her plenty of street-based combat experience as well. 

Following the series progression, Mikoto gains considerably more experience, facing off against people with multiple esper powers, beings that are immune to her electricity, people who can cancel all her attacks entirely, people who can kill her in a literal single touch, and of course, countless powerful magicians. 

Intelligence



Mikoto is a scientific and mathematical genius. In the world of Index, espers have to calculate their powers before actualizing them. For example, the teleporter Shirai Kuroko must calculate her three-dimensional displacement before she can proceed to teleport. Similarly, Accelerator calculates every single individual vector that he manipulates. The same principle applies to Mikoto, and in fact, her distinction as a Level 5 highlights her calculable capabilities as some of the best of her kind. She is clever and intuitive, often to the irritation of her enemies, and frequently capitalizes on the scientific properties of her electromagnetic power.

Physical Capabilities



While Mikoto may not have superhuman strength on her own, she is athletic for her age and very obviously is a near-peak human in some regards. 

Hand-to-Hand Combat Skill



Mikoto doesn't have any formal hand-to-hand training, but she does have plenty of experience in street fighting. She's not above fighting dirty and using any means necessary to get an upper hand on her opponent if the situation is dire enough. 


Equipment


Mikoto's primary source of ammunition are her arcade coins, of which she keeps many. While these are what she keeps on hand and prefers to use as the source of her Railgun, she's not limited to them by any means.

Anti-Art Attachment


An advanced power suit designed to combat the magical Gods of the Index universe. The armor incorporates magical elements with science. Mikoto first controlled this tech via her electrical hacking, but later received her own custom-made version. The armor provides a massive amp to her stats, although she must exert extreme effort to electrically manipulate all aspects of the armor at once. Espers cannot use magic without inflicting bodily harm to themselves; as a result, she can only tap into the scientific aspects of the armor, but she is still susceptible to physical fatigue and nosebleeds.
As of right now, the armor appears to be destroyed, and may or may not be recreated/replaced later. 


Abilities and Techniques


Personal Reality

In the world of Index, there is a crucial system in place that first needs to be explained. Personal Reality is, in very short summation, the method in which Espers 'will' their reality to manipulate their AIM Diffusion Field.
Every esper has an AIM Field, which involuntarily produces an often minor but constant field relating to the espers power. In Mikoto's case, she has an invisible electromagnetic barrier given off at all times that repel animals and protect her from outside interference on a bio-electric scale.
Understanding Personal Reality allows the esper to manipulate their AIM Fields to produce their ability. In Mikoto's case, this allows her to take her AIM Field, calculate her desired effect, and then produce it in her reality, resulting in her Electrokinesis. 


Electromaster


Misaka Mikoto's ability is that of the Electromaster. In short, she can essentially generate and manipulate electricity in all its' forms, including electromagnetics. 


Railgun


The Railgun is Mikoto's trademark technique and what she considers to be her ace in the hole. This technique works by generating two parallel currents on either side of her hand. One goes toward the palm of her hand, while the other is directed back toward her body. The projectile of her choosing bridges the two currents, though she doesn't always need to hold something before firing it off.

Using Fleming's left-hand rule and the Lorentz Force, Mikoto propels her projectile using this charging energy, before unleashing it at once. That's a very generalized description of it, but honestly, the actual science behind it rarely ever matters in practice. Essentially, she just fires off projectiles extremely fast. She has been documented to fire her arcade coins at Mach 3, though this speed scales with whatever object she is currently using. For example, a large piece of rubble will be launched faster and last longer before burning out from friction, provided she has the energy for it.

When using her standard arcade coin ammunition, Mikoto can fire them in rapid succession a total of 8 times, reaching a range of about 50 meters before the coin is completely vaporized. Once again, using other objects as her projectiles tend to yield higher numbers so long as the objects in question are larger.


Magnetism


Using electromagnetism, Mikoto can basically do what you'd expect with the ability. She can create defensive shields, levitate using a metal object to attract herself to, crush foes in a compact sphere of concrete, and so on.

Iron Sand Constructs


Mikoto's favorite use of her magnetism outside merely grabbing objects is her iron sand constructs. By magnetizing tiny fibers of iron, she can create a multitude of different weapons and constructs to use at her disposal. 


Iron Sand Kaiju


Mikoto's greatest application of the Iron Sand, resulting in the creation of a giant monster-like being. Misaka can 'pilot' this construct, essentially creating her own kaiju-combative mech. Since she is constantly maintaining the construct, the 'Iron Sand Kaiju' retains the properties of her normal Iron Sand attacks and weaponry, just on a much larger scale.

Memory Reading


Mikoto was able to experience the memories of Kiyama Harumi after unleashing an electric blast while in contact with her. This created a circuit link between their brains, somehow allowing Mikoto to view Harumi's memories in great, clear detail.
(Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Chapter 14)

Decoy Creation


Using her magnetism, Mikoto can create body doubles with enough detail to fool experienced foes, though often aided by debris and smoke, as she cannot alter color or texture.


Air Ignition


While Mikoto doesn't exactly have a constant 'shield' up at all times, she can employ her powers to act as a sort of defensive barrier. For example, she can create explosions around her body by igniting the air with electricity in order to obliterate oncoming attacks. 


Plasma Creation and Deconstruction



Relating to her ability, Mikoto can deconstruct and create plasma by manipulating existing electrons. That said, she cannot reach the same scale as say, Accelerator, who could create planet-spanning plasma storms.

Electromagnetic Sense



As an Electromaster, Mikoto is in-touch with the Electromagnetic Spectrum, allowing her to 'see' her surroundings. This allows her to traverse areas whilst blinded and deaf, and also gives her a sensory awareness of other people that utilize electromagnetic abilities. 



Flight


Mikoto has a couple ways to achieve flight. The most obvious would be through magnetism, using a metal board as a platform to stand on while controlling it with her electromagnetism. This is basically the same principle other characters, such as DC's Virgil Hawkins, use to achieve similar flight.



Technopathy


Mikoto can use her electricity to hack into any electronic device or system, allowing her to bypass even the security defenses of top scientific organizations. Bear in mind that Academy City is confirmed to be at least 20 years ahead of the world in technological advancements, meaning Mikoto should be able to hack nearly anything so long as it runs on electricity. 


Bioelectricity Protection


As an electromaster, Mikoto has a constant electromagnetic barrier surrounding her, although it's not typically weaponized. In her interaction with Shokuhou Misaki, a fellow Level 5, Mikoto was naturally shielded against the Mental Out power used by Shokuhou, a brainwashing and mind control ability that targets bioelectricity. 

  • Toaru Majutsu no Index: New Testament Volume 11, Chapter 3: "As such, there seem to be cases when their powers do not function against espers who can directly manipulate their bioelectricity, such as Electromasters. However, some speculate they would be able to force their way through that defense by raising their power." 


Electrical Resistance 

While Mikoto hasn't shown the ability to absorb electricity, she has shown some resistance to it. To be clear, she doesn't have immunity to it, but has simply enhanced endurance and stamina when taking it, due to her own use of electricity for years upon years. 


Rampage Dress


A technique created by Junko Hokaze, a Level 4 esper. By controlling the electrical signals in her body, Junko can amp specific parts of her body to achieve superhuman strength, speed, smell, etc. 
While Misaka Mikoto did not create this technique, Junko later taught her how to use it. According to Junko, Mikoto is a natural at using Rampage Dress, and Mikoto has continued to use it off and on. 

Level 6 Shift


Undeniably the most powerful Mikoto has been and likely ever will be, the Level 6 Shift is a very important topic to cover. To be upfront, this form is not standard and thus should not be considered for the purposes of a Death Battle. 

At Chapter 61 (lasting all the way until Chapter 69) of the Railgun manga, re-occurring villain Kihara Gensei had orchestrated the gathering of Misaka Mikoto and Shokuho Misaki into positions he could manipulate. Using Misaki's Mental Out amplifier and a kidnapped Misaka clone, Gensei forcefully diverted the entirety of the Misaka Network's power into Mikoto herself. 

As a result, Mikoto began to 'evolve' into a Level 6. She did so in increments, from Level 5 to 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, and so on. While Mikoto cannot use any of the feats she performed in this state ordinarily, there are possibly methods to scale down, but that will be covered later.

Notably, Mikoto in the Level 6 Shift could not contain the power she gained and also completely lost conscious control of herself, requiring an outside source to influence her subconscious into attacking. 

In short, the Level 6 Shift is not a form that Mikoto can acquire on her own, as it requires multiple outside forces and people acting against her will to achieve it. Under NO ordinary circumstances should the feats performed here be used in their entirety. However, for the sake of completion and the aforementioned scaling-down, her feats in this form are as follows.


Most notably, Gensei states that Mikoto's massive lightning strike is "dozens" of times times greater than Mikoto's standard firepower.



This, along with the knowledge that Mikoto had only reached Level 5.2 at the time of the blast, could possibly give a value for base Mikoto's power to compare to.

Feats


Overall


Strength and Power



Speed


Durability



Scaling

Misaka Network/Sisters


The Misaka Network refers to almost 10,000 clones of Misaka Mikoto, who were created with her DNA. While they retain her exact physique (usually) and powerset, they are explicitly weaker than the original, meaning anything they have achieved, Mikoto herself is also more than capable of. 

Junko Hokaze


As mentioned before, Mikoto learned the Rampage Dress technique from Junko directly. Junko herself has made statements confirming Mikoto's superiority to her, meaning Mikoto is likely just as capable of achieving Junko's feats. However, it is worth noting that Junko has used the technique far longer than Mikoto and is much more comfortable with it. Mikoto's usage of Rampage Dress tends to only go as far as amping her speed, but she is theoretically capable of performing Junko's feats. 
(The following feats are taken from the manga Astral Buddy, another spin-off in the Index universe)

Weaknesses


  • While she is capable of many things, Mikoto is still a 14 year old girl at the end of the day. Overtaxing her abilities for days on end can leave her short on power, though her stamina has clearly improved over the series.
  • Additionally, Mikoto has extremely low self-worth. She was willing to kill herself in order to discourage the Level 6 Shift Project, and was only stopped by Kamijou Touma taking the fight to Accelerator directly. As of late, her self-worth is accompanied by a severe inferiority complex.
  • Mikoto is incredibly intelligent, and can adapt to nearly any situation within her power, but she does tend to prefer a straight confrontation before exploring any alternative avenues. Her eternal frenemy Shokuho Misaki has described Mikoto as a 'meathead' for this very reason. As a result, she can often overlook the simpler solution in favor of trying to muscle through a troublesome situation. This shouldn't be misconstrued to imply she's not a strategic fighter, however; she merely tends to open them with the Railguns swinging first before trying something else.
  • While her electromagnetic sense is incredibly helpful, Mikoto also relies on it far more than she realizes. If this is ever compromised, Mikoto's senses are dulled, leaving her vulnerable. 
  • Though this is rather specific, Mikoto has had trouble coping with magic in particular. That is to say, she refuses to acknowledge the existence of a power beyond her understanding, one that completely overpowers her and defies the logic she knows. This is a result of her stubbornness, pride, and low-self worth coming together to halt Mikoto's progress up her world's totem pole.
  • Lastly, as an esper, there are a couple innate weaknesses she has. Insulation can block her electricity, although she has figured out ways around this. Her AIM Field is susceptible to very specific AIM Field Disruptors which can completely de-power espers by targeting their AIM Fields. While she can't actually stop these disruptors, she has found a kind of workaround via her technopathy to prepare for such events.

Summary

  • +Powers are incredibly flexible and versatile
  • +Has multiple ways to adapt to key weaknesses
  • +Excels at long-range combat 
  • +Can amp physicals with Rampage Dress
  • +Has plenty of mobility options
  • +Ample experience and intelligence
  • +Powers derive from a unique source that cannot be easily disrupted
  • -Has a few specific counters that, while manageable, are still notable
  • -Has clear upper limits to her capabilities
  • -Is reckless and prone to overexertion
  • -Her name is constantly misspelled/mistaken by people as "Makoto" and "Mikasa", respectively (Fun fact, she actually shares the same seiyuu, Rina Sato, as Persona 5's Makoto Niijima. They even have extremely close birthdays. No relation to Mikasa Ackerman though.)

Calculations


Mikoto's Cloudy Day - HershelLousyton

A Certain Scientific Analysis - Justin Lan/FUNIMATION





Stats


  • Attack Potency: Around Small City. This would be consistent with the Level 6 Shift's narrative amp, as it threatened to wipe the entirety of Academy City off the map. With Gensei confirming that Mikoto is dozens of times weaker than the Level 6 Shift in base, Small City seems fitting. It should be noted that this would rely heavily on Mikoto's natural lightning strikes, as the Railgun has never shown that much power comparatively. 
  • Speed: Sub-Rela+ to Speed of Light. Mikoto dodging the Meltdowner lasers gives a clear and easy feat to work off, but the light novel statements could potentially amp her further. At bare minimum they would imply Mikoto has lightspeed attacks, but her own reaction and movement speed could then scale off of that value, given that Mikoto has dodged her own attacks reflected back by Accelerator, and amps her physical speed with her powers via Rampage Dress.
  • Durability: Small City. Mikoto was in the center of her own attack against Doppleganger, the feat calc'd at Small City.
  • Lifting Strength: Class M via lifting skyscrapers with electromagnetism, albeit this is likely her pushing her limit.


Possible Opponents 


Killua Zoldyck (Hunter x Hunter)


Connections: 
  • Two of the most iconic anime heroes to primarily use electricity
  • Young prodigies (Both currently at 14 years old in their stories)
  • Powers derive from an energy form that they manipulate into electricity (AIM Field and Nen)
  • Both weaponize ordinarily mundane objects (Arcade coins and a Yo-Yo, respectively)
  • Both defend their sisters from harm
  • Killua and Mikoto represent a sort of upper-class. Killua is the heir to the wealthy Zoldyck family and Mikoto is the Ace of Tokiwadai, a 'rich girl' school. 
  • Both have experienced many horrifying things, and yet in their worlds they remain some of the most consistently well-adjusted and 'normal' people around (Mikoto is stated to be the most normal Level 5 and Killua is easily the most normal of the Zoldyck family)

Theme: Anime fight between electricity users who weaponize ordinary objects to defend their sisters.

This is definitely my preferred matchup for Mikoto if she were ever to be brought into Death Battle. While Killua definitely is a high-demand character as far as requests go, I think this would be much, much more interesting for both combatants than most of their other options. 


Denki Kaminari (My Hero Academia)


Connections:
  • Young anime heroes who use electricity
  • Both come from societies with a Ranking system for their power system
  • Both are students 
  • Quirks and Espers abilities are scientific in nature
Theme: Anime teens with scientific-based electricity powers


Static (Milestone/DC)


Connections:
  • Teenage electromasters 
  • Abilities are scientific in nature
  • Both are perhaps the two most versatile users of electricity in pop culture
  • Similar applications of powers
  • Vigilantes 
  • Both have twin clone siblings
  • Similarly intelligent in both academics and combat
Theme: Teenage vigilante electromasters with incredibly versatile applications of electricity.

Once upon a time, this may have been my preferred matchup. However, Static was instead chosen to fight Miles Morales. Sure, he could return someday. After all, new Static media is apparently on the way. For now, though, this is unfortunately pretty unlikely. I believe this to be probably the most thematic matchup for both characters and very likely the closest fight either of them has, to top it off. If Static ever comes back, and Killua hasn't already fought her, Mikoto should be the one to welcome Virgil back.


Recommended Viewing Order


As a final bonus, I'd like to offer a viewing order and media guide for anyone interested in getting into the Index series, or just interested in researching Mikoto for themselves. Ordinarily, this kind of thing wouldn't really be needed, but Index as a franchise can bit somewhat daunting to get into. Hopefully this can help anyone curious to jump in and start in a way that makes chronological sense and carries some sort of narrative cohesion. 


Method 1: Light Novels

Luckily, if you're willing to bust open some totally legitimate physical copies and invest a ton of time into reading, the original source material is the most straightforward way of digesting the Index series. While you won't get the side stories that feature Mikoto, Junko, Accelerator, and much of the rest of the supporting cast, you will get the 'core' story where much of the verse's actual top tiers and high-end feats reside. 
Basically, you can just read start to finish with no issues. There are 3 'parts' so far; Old Testament, New Testament, and Genesis Testament, with the most recent, Genesis, releasing as of the time of this publication. 

Method 2: Manga

If you'd prefer to read but with pretty pictures to spice things up, you've got the largest variety of stories any medium has for the franchise. However, the core story here is not told linearly, so here's a guide if you want to follow things in-universe chronologically.

1. Start with Railgun and read the first two arcs
2. Now you can go and read Index. There will be some repeated ground here, but you'll have a slightly different perspective
3. Once you catch up to where Railgun left off, you're free to continue reading Index for a bit. Once you reach Vol. 6, Chapter 27 of Index, you'll begin to see Accelerator's story begin. Once you finish his arc, you can begin reading A Certain Scientific Accelerator whenever you want. You can finish his spin-off whenever you please.
4. Railgun and Index will begin an arc focusing on the Daihasesai Festival. For Railgun, this begins on Vol. 7, Chapter 44. For Index, this begins on Vol. 12, Chapter 66. Feel free to read whichever arcs interest you more first. 
5. Once the Daihasesai Festival arcs wrap up, now you can begin the Dream Ranker arc in Railgun. Read a little bit, and then you can start Astral Buddy, a spin-off focusing on Junko Hokaze. 
6. After you've finished Dream Ranker and Astral Buddy, you can go back to Index. 
7. The Index manga is still ongoing and adapting the Light Novels, so you can just read straight ahead and mix in some Railgun whenever you feel. 
8. Now that you're caught up on Railgun, Index, and finished Astral Buddy and Accelerator, there are just two optional spin-offs left. A Certain Scientific Dark Matter is skippable if you're just researching someone like Mikoto, but if you want to get into it, then by all means; it's not terribly long anyway. 
9. Last but certainly not least is Idol Accelerator. Yes, that's a thing. No, it's unfortunately not canon. Yes, if you've made it this far, you owe it to yourself to read it.


Method 3: Anime


The approach to the anime is much the same as the manga. The only difference here as far as story you'll be getting goes is that only Index, Railgun and Accelerator are animated, so no Astral Buddy, Dark Matter, or Idol Accelerator, unfortunately.

1. Start off with Railgun Season 1. You can see it all straight through with no issues.
2. Begin Railgun S (Season 2). The anime adaptation of Railgun has added in anime-original arcs not seen in the manga, so it's up to you if you want to watch them or not. For completion sake, however, let's just watch all of Season 2.
3. Now backtrack a bit to Index Season 1. Hopefully you're at least a little bit invested before tackling the weakest adaptation of the three series in animated form. You'll repeat the core arc tackled in Railgun Season 2, but it's a great arc so don't skip it. or i mean you can but it's really really really good even when it's the worse version of it in Index
4. In Season 1 of Index, you'll begin Accelerator's story at episodes Episode 19 and 20. These are completely focused on Accelerator, so once you finish them, if you're so inclined, you can branch off and watch A Certain Scientific Accelerator.
5. Begin Index Season 2 and watch up to Episode 7 (31 in total). Now you can watch the Index movie, Miracle of Endymion.
6. Going back where we left off on Index, we reach the Daihasesai Arc, and this is where A Certain Scientific Railgun T (Season 3) begins. Feel free to watch whichever interests you more first.
7. On Episode 13 (37 in total) of Index Season 2, the Daihasesai concludes. Railgun T's Daihasesai finishes on Episode 15. From here you can watch the Dream Ranker arc for Railgun to finish that off.
8. Now you have all of Index Season 3 to maybe enjoy. Probably not. You might just want to read the manga or read the novels. But hey, the OPs are sick.


Method 4: My Recommendation

wait, but isn't this all my rec-  Now, I realize all of that is daunting to say the least, if you aren't used to this sort of thing. So to sum things up in the simplest way possible, here's my personal recommendation for tackling the series.

1. Watch Railgun Season 1 and then Season 2.
2. Watch Index Season 1.
3. Watch Railgun Season 3 and Accelerator.
4. Watch Index Season 2 and Season 3. 
5. Backtrack and read the manga wherever you feel interested.
6. Read Astral Buddy and finish the Accelerator manga, catch up to the Railgun manga.
7. Read the light novels around Volume 12 and take that as far as your interest can take you. You mostly just want to read all the stuff you saw in Index 3 to make some sense of it. Then you have nowhere else to go but finish the Light Novels if you're up for it.




Special thanks to Strunton, Lousy, & Kingsly for taking the time to create calculations for this character
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