“The experiment was cancelled.”
Impression
The fight with Accelerator wrapped up this episode, though I don’t think it was as cool as the initial segment of the battle – when Accelerator was wrecking havoc and Touma was desperately trying to stop him. Nonetheless, that final Imagine Breaker punch was still very satisfying xD It was admirable to see Misaka stand up for Misaka Imouto, in front of an opponent whom she knew she was outclassed against – it’s obvious that Accelerator thinks the power gap between them is massive, but…to be honest, he’s right. I’m not sure where No. 2 stands in between them, but Accelerator easily toyed around with Misaka the last time they met. Also, I don’t really know how I feel about Accelerator’s “reasoning” for killing the Sisters. It seems like it’s his way to prevent conflict, though it sounds pretty messed up to me. Yeah, power does breed conflict. But even if he has so much to the point it’s not contestable, I doubt it’d stop all conflict entirely. Even if it does, he’s going to have to murder 20,000 times to get there…I don’t think anyone can justify genocide on that sort of scale.
If Misaka wasn’t in love with Touma before this, I’m sure she’s head over heels now. Though…she might not be quite ready to admit it yet, both to herself and to Touma. It’s too bad she never got to give those homemade cookies to him, especially as she went out of her way to ask Saten-san for help 😀
Although Misaka clearly feels like she’s got a bit of reconciliation to do with the Sisters, I think she’s already well on that path. The experiment which treated them like guinea pigs has been cancelled, and now they can gradually experience what it means to be human – though they’re already more human than they think. The Sisters don’t bear any ill will towards Misaka, so hopefully she can get some closure from this despite everything that’s happened. The arc ends with this – there’s going to be a new OP next episode! As a non-manga reader, I’m not sure where things will play out from here…though I spy both Frenda and the usual Railgun cast in the preview. It’s been action-based for quite a while now, so I’d love some slice of life!