A Certain Scientific Accelerator

Episode 12

Since Academy City is still around and intact later in the storyline, that the Isaac/Taowu golem would eventually be defeated was a given. The only questions were about how that was going to be carried out and whether or not it would be done in a credible fashion. The choices that the writing made on how to handle that were interesting ones.

That Esther's dagger would strike the final blow was also a given, especially once it became clear that the golem's powers could at least partially thwart even Accelerator's vector manipulation. That he would also finally be nearly out of juice (or rather, his batteries would be) as the fight climaxed was also no surprise; when the hero is as powerful as Accelerator is, the story has to find ways to limit him or the bad guys pose no real threat. However, I had been expecting all along that he would, at some point, use his vector manipulation to pick up Esther's dagger and use that against the golem, perhaps under the logic that a villain should be the one to do the killing in a scenario like that. After all, he's used it to hurl plenty of other objects before.

Instead either Accelerator or the series is operating under a different logic this time. He seems to specifically want Esther to be the heroine, which would normally be out of character for him. The only logic that I can think of here that makes any sense is that he sees Esther attempting to redeem herself for her past mistakes and can sympathize with her need to make things right. Hence instead of Accelerator finishing off the bad guy, he just deals with the set-up and clean-up afterwords while Esther, Zombie Girl, and 10048 all work together to drive the dagger home. I choose that for a screenshot because it can be looked at as an assertation of girl power. It also shows the culmination of one thread that has been bugging me for the last couple of episodes: how utterly useless 10048 has been. She finally contributes in a significant way both in this scene and an earlier set-up where she uses her electrical powers and the Misaka Network to disrupt the coffin that Isaac/Taowu is still linked to. Oh, and we can't forget the DA guys, who get eaten but end up being enough of an internal distraction for Isaac/Taowu to allow the heroes to do their business. Isn't always nice when the bad guys end up being useful in the end?

That just leaves the seasonal wrap-up, with Train Guy popping up again lauding the merits of what seems like one of the least secure ways to stay safe (how many different ways can a subway tunnel be messed with?), Yomikawa getting a chance to talk with Accelerator, 10048 appearing in a nurse's outfit, and a slightly emotional scene where Esther finally puts Zombie Girl to rest. If she does forsake her necromantic ways and either forsakes the family or tries to push it in a different direction, what will come next for her? Accelerator's next task lands almost literally at his feet when a mysterious blond-haired girl wearing what looks like a wedding dress falls out of what looks like a large suitcase inside an object being harassed by drones. Guess we'll find out what's up with that if another season gets animated, though at this time I don't recall yet hearing any plans for that.

On the whole, this season of A Certain Scientific Accelerator is a step up from A Certain Magical Index III. I am fully expecting it to be outshone by the upcoming A Certain Scientific Railgun T, but it does help solidify why Accelerator is widely-liked among franchise fans.

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A Certain Scientific Accelerator is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.