To Aru Kagaku no Railgun - Vol. 17 Ch. 131 - Freshman

[tsukari741]

@Nunally Mikoto did deny it saying she wasn't really bullied. But I feel it was probably pretty passive bullying like silent treatment or exclusions from certain things. She also noted herself that she's the weakest lv 5 and basically just a strong lv 4 so she might not get the respect we all know her to have back then.

 

[BobBob]

GEKOTA-SENPAI

Impressive how Misaka's skirt didn't flip over while she was upside-down. Did she pinch it between her thighs?

 

[Xevin]

Got me confused for a moment.

So it is a flashback arc. I found it was weird why suddenly no one showing her respect when I can remember that everyone in that school treated her like a walking goddess.

 

[REMasher]

So in a ~year she went from the weakest lvl5 to the third most powerful. Damn.

Whoa wait, does this mean we're gonna get some snippits of pre-amenisia Kamijou? I hope so.

 

[Pamasich]

@REMasher I wouldn't really say she's the third most powerful now. Her rank as the third is because of how useful (and understood) her power is to the city. Which is why Gunha with his super unknown and seemingly random power is last, despite being stronger than Misaka.

Misaka is definitely weaker than Gunha, which would make her at least fourth in terms of strength ranking.

 

[OldShadow]

misaka of course 😋 @ilikepi31415

 

[Nunally]

@tsukari741 yup thats what I think it is, she really is bullied but maybe not physically or to open because she is stronger than them, and in the end she dont mind it that much (in outside perspective, it looks like she is pretty arrogant). Btw I dont believe that she will lose when fighting with any other level 4, their level is still far apart (on that time with another level 5 yes, she is the weakest), I think she is just humble there.

@Pamasich another reason why she is 3rd in rank is because Academy city is a technological city and very depended on electricity, its Mikoto playground. In short at last in the city its safe to assume that Mikoto is stronger than Gunha. Well if its a normal head to head she will definitely lose though.

 

[Wuckus]

This chapter is actually promising (finally), especially considering we might get to see Shokuhou blowing away every last cliches.

Also pre-amnesia Touma, please.

But not gonna lie, flashback arc at this point really sounds like they were running out of time. NT was pretty close timeline-wise.

 

[IlsaTilsaKilsaMilsa]

Well those 3 cliques will be in a sorry state pretty soon. And now we get to see how she started abusing a certain vending machine.

And of course Misaka tries to pick a fight. Considering how everyone basically worships the ground she is standing on I assume at least one of those cliques are going to be destroyed by her in a direct confrontation, in an overwhelmingly one sided beat up at that.

 

[bnyahav]

I just noticed Misaka has lil gekora hairpins, thats so cute

 

[daime17]

Chaser is a tradition but Misaka hasn't thought it to any of her juniors yet.

 

[fern459]

What I find interesting is that in one chapter we can see already how much of an impact Ruri made on Mikoto. Not only the clothing but the mannerisms, how she carries her bag, winks while looking at people, chaser. However was this a natural emulation or did something happen that Mikoto took on these traits? It seems unusual that she would change here mannerisms to this extent simply from being friends/looking up to. Also want to know is this a 3rd year or 2nd year girl???

Also curious as to the ranking, yes they stated it's by how useful they are but in the light novels they clearly use the rank as by strength, Gunha may be an exception there but overall there are plenty of LT references to the characters rank how Mikoto is the #3. Did note they didn't call her the railgun or mention any sort of rank here, did the rankings happen later? Did they change over time, or did Mikoto get strong over the course of her first year?

What happened from first year where everyone ridiculed her to becoming the Railgun Misaka-sama Ace? I hardly think she would have been called the respected Ace without some power to back that up.

Personally i'm okay sans-touma he gets enough attention and hero worship in his own story(s) let Mikoto be the hero/focus of her story.

 

[SandyBoi]

@Wuckus
Definitely, this is a tweet by Ogino translated by js06 himself which says ""It would be difficult to tell the kind of Railgun story the readers want in the post-WW3 world."
https://twitter.com/js_06/status/1365174187602640897?s=20

There's also this tweet saying Fuyukawa and Ogino have wanted to do this for about 12 years now.
https://twitter.com/js_06/status/1365173260544077826?s=20

Also, people in comments saying Mikoto is stronger than Gunha (regardless of where they are fighting) when Gunha was handling Mikoto Lvl 5+ in the Daihaisei Festival arc just fine (until she started reaching lvl 5.3-ish) is a Weirdchamp moment.
Not to mention the rankings of the level 5's aren't based on strength, they're based on importance to Aleister Crowley's plans and research potential.

 

[henryph-am]

What kind of story is this arc, it called fan-service)

 

[Cralkx]

Excited for this flashback, Misaka not taking shit from anyone is still there haha.

 

[PDugna]

this might be the last last railgun arc, or close to it, not much room to tell a story after

Spoiler

WW3

. What sucks though is we will most likely still not see any of these characters in the main novels.