Welcome to a world where mysticism and science collide, and supernatural powers are derived from either science or religion. At the heart of this world is Academy City, an advanced metropolis whose population is comprised mostly of students. The majority of students are enrolled in the city’s “Power Curriculum Program,” where they must learn to master their latent psychic powers. Out of several million students, only seven are deemed powerful enough to have Level 5 status. Meet Mikoto Misaka, the third most powerful Level 5 esper in Academy City. Together with her best friend Kuroko Shirai and the other members of Judgment, a student-run law enforcement agency, Mikoto delves deep into the dark heart of the scientific sprawl she calls home, and uncovers secrets she wishes she hadn’t!
WITH GREAT POWER COMES… LOADS OF FAN SERVICE! Mikoto Misaka, the third most powerful Level 5 psychic in Academy City, has stumbled upon a secret. Along with her best friend Shirai and other members of the student-run law enforcement agency known as Judgement, Misaka has discovered the existence of “Level Upper”–a mysterious tool that grants or enhances psychic abilities. Now Misaka and her friends must figure out who’s behind Level Upper and how to defuse it before it claims even more unsuspecting victims!
In a staggering battle of electricity versus every super power imaginable, Mikoto Misaka, the third most powerful Level 5 psychic in Academy City, aka “The Railgun”, has managed to hold her own against rogue scientist Kiyama Harumi. But Misaka’s luck may have just run out. The Level Upper network has given birth to an “AIM Burst”, an entity of immense power with one singular purpose–to absorb every last AIM Dispersion Field in Academy City so that it can grow all-powerful. To achieve this, it has set its sights on its next meal: Academy City’s experimental nuclear reactor! Also included: A special two-part prequel exploring how Misaka’s friends Kuroko and Uiharu first met.
Throughout Academy City, the rumors are spreading like wildfire. People are finding mysterious envelopes containing free cash cards in and around the back alleys of the Seventh School District. Whipped up into a frenzy, the populace looks for as many cash cards as they can get their hands on, even if it means braving the perilous Skill-Out Territory, risking injury or worse by roving gangs of Level 0 thugs. Judgement is left with no choice but to step in… While Shirai and Uiharu try to crack the case and figure out who is behind the cash card chaos, Misaka decides to take to the streets herself… and soon gets embroiled in a disturbing scientific conspiracy the likes of which will rock her world to the core.
Misaka Mikoto, a.k.a. the “Railgun,” is left reeling from the revelation that Academy City’s scientists have used the DNA she donated as a child, meant to be used for curing diseases, to create a veritable army of emotionless clones. And worse, these clones have only one purpose in life–to die over and over at the hands of the Accelerator, so that he can achieve ultimate power…
Despite Misaka’s tireless efforts and her explosive confrontation with ITEM at Academy City’s Pathology Analysis Laboratory, progress on the “Sisters” cloning project hasn’t missed a beat. Something big is behind the Sisters, and the deeper Misaka digs, the less she understands. Out of options, Misaka finally resorts to a deadly gambit against the project’s crowing achievement: the Accelerator himself. In her darkest moment, an unlikely hero emerges who may turn out to be Misaka’s only salvation.
In the final battle against the Accelerator, the truth cuts like a knife, while romance blossoms between Misaka and Touma. Meanwhile, Tokiwadai Middle School welcomes its newest student, the egotistical Kongou Mitsuko, who immediately sets off a power struggle among the student body as she seeks to form her own faction. While tensions run high at the school, what better time than to throw a sports festival? It may sound like all fun and games, but Academy City is about to see an explosive competition the likes of which it’s never known before!
AMBUSHED!! The Daihasei Festival may be all fun and games (and explosions), but the chaos of the competition also serves as a distraction. A dank conspiracy lurks behind the event, and it ensnares one of Misaka’s “sisters.” When Misaka tries to investigate, the enemy proves to be more complicated–and ruthless–than she first guessed. Judgment is crippled. Misaka’s back may be up against a wall, but some of her other friends prove to be powerhouses in their own right.
While searching for answers and her missing “Sister,” Misaka finds herself facing a new ruthless enemy who takes her mother and Uihara as hostages! But when this new foe accuses Misaka of crimes she never committed, Misaka is left wondering exactly who she’s fighting and why. At least Kuroko and Saten are willing to help, despite their impaired memories…but even that isn’t enough to get to the bottom of this mystery. Misaka may have to turn to a very unlikely ally for help!
In this pulse-pounding climax to the Daihasei Festival Arc, Misaka’s allies split up to fight their own battles. Friend and foe and even mild acquaintances team up to save the only thing they all share in common-Academy City. With the giant brain Exterior thrown into the mix, this fight is a real puzzler! In the meantime, the doomsday clock has started ticking…and Misaka’s time is almost up!
With the Daihasei Festival behind them, an unusual calm has settled over Academy City. That is, until a weird rumor begins to circulate. Supposedly someone has created a machine that can manipulate what a person dreams, allowing good dreams to be shared. But when it’s revealed that these altered dreams affect reality itself, is this newest Esper invention a gift or a curse?
A can of mackerel leads to an unlikely bond between Saten and Frenda – and good thing too, because someone’s out to kidnap Saten! Frenda is sure she can save her without breaking a sweat…at least, until the sniper Yumiya Rakko is sent to finish the job.
Kuriba Ryoko’s Doppelgänger–the by product of a cyborg experiment that may have generated a human soul–has run amok, and Misaka may be the only one who can stop it. Misaka’s unlikely team-up with the girls of Scavenger could be the key to uncovering the truth inside the Doppelgänger. The explosive conclusion to the Dream Ranker Arc!
Academy City’s newest corrections facility offers a dark bargain: The Jailbreak Challenge. It’s said that anyone who runs the dangerous gauntlet of security systems, rescues their target from imprisonment, and escapes with both their lives intact is entitled to an impressive prize: One billion yen. Cash. Deep in the trials of the Challenge, Mikoto, Kuroko, Uiharu, and Saten find themselves up against desperate odds–as well as every force in Academy City with an eye for the prize.
Uiharu, winner of the Jailbreak Challenge, has been kidnapped! In order to save her, Mikoto, Kuroko, and Saten must confront Shundan Kimi’s accomplices, who have taken control of the Reformatory with the help of the recently freed Kimi herself. Do Uiharu’s friends have what it takes to overcome Kimi’s newfound ability?
Uiharu, winner of the Jailbreak Challenge, has been kidnapped! In order to save her, Mikoto, Kuroko, and Saten must confront Shundan Kimi’s accomplices, who have taken control of the Reformatory with the help of the recently freed Kimi herself. Do Uiharu’s friends have what it takes to overcome Kimi’s newfound ability?
Kimi and her crew have taken over the Reformatory and abducted Uiharu. Their goal? To force her to construct a global network that will allow them to release Academy City’s hidden ability development technology and throw the world into chaos! But behind this sinister plan lies a dark secret from Kimi’s past. Will Mikoto be able to rescue her friend before it’s too late?!
A fight breaks out among Tokiwadai Middle School’s three biggest cliques! At first, Mikoto has no interest in the drama, but after meeting with the leaders of each (and running into free-spirited Ruri, who isn’t affiliated with any clique, yet has the interest of all three), she suddenly finds her school life taking a turn!
As the Big Three cliques of Tokiwadai Middle School ruthlessly compete with one another, a member of the Mikagami Clique is attacked! Tensions heighten to the point of developing into a skirmish. However, each of the clique leaders cannot help but feel something is off about the entire situation. Eventually, the repercussions reach all the way to the school’s two Level 5’s! Misaka’s first-year arc comes to a tumultuous climax that brings in the entire student body of Tokiwadai Middle School!
The clique conflicts may have been resolved, but trouble still lies ahead for Tokiwadai Middle School. Thanks to a joint operation between the big three cliques, Antikythera—the company conducting illegal abilities research—has been defeated, and for the moment, peace settles over the campus. However, Hasekura Reiri and Shin’enkouji Rurikakesu cannot help but feel something is off. Meanwhile, while Shokuhou Misaki and other Tokiwadai students are at a theater for their art-appreciation class, they end up getting more than just a show…
A new academic year begins at Tokiwadai Middle School, bringing in fresh faces! But just as they dust off their books, a spate of incidents involving abilities occurs in Academy City, and the entire student body falls under suspicion. Meanwhile, Shirai Kuroko, a member of Judgment and a new student at Tokiwadai, begins investigating the incidents, only to find a mysterious message left on an office computer…