Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator Episode 10

Catastrophe is the tenth episode of the Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator anime series. It was broadcast on September 13th 2019.

Major Events

 * 'Hirumi' awakens and after seeing the stabbed Hishigata Mikihiko, begins to form a monstrous body across Seiin High School, as DA is cornered by Anti-Skill.
 * Seeing that Hishigata will die from his wounds, Taowu ceases its deceptive imitation and reveals its actions in pursuit of the past goal of the Rosenthal Family. Despite Esther's pleas, Taowu refuses to relent and is revealed to house the will of Isaac Rosenthal, Esther's ancestor and 4th head of the Rosenthal Family.

Characters
By order of appearance:
 * Hishigata Mikihiko
 * Hishigata Hirumi (Taowu)
 * Esther Rosenthal
 * Yomikawa Aiho
 * Itou
 * Takahashi
 * Hitokawa Hasami (Huotou)
 * Misaka 10046
 * Accelerator

New Characters

 * Obed Rosenthal (flashback)
 * Isaac Rosenthal (flashback, revealed)
 * Li (flashback)
 * Li Fanglan (flashback)

Locations

 * Academy City
 * Seiin High School

Trivia

 * The voice actor of the unnamed Anti-Skill officer is Maeda Hiroki.
 * The voice actors of the unnamed DA members are Ban Taito, Tanabe Kousuke, Shinohara Koutarou, and Sugisaki Ryou.
 * The voice actress of the unnamed female student is Hasegawa Ikumi.

Cultural References

 * There are numerous references to Kabbalah during the explanation of the Rosenthal Family's past and the plan executed by the Taowu.
 * Most prominently featured is the Sephiroth, also known as the Tree of Life, a diagram which depicts the emanations, attributes and realms between the material, the spiritual and the divine, in the form of a tree of ten spheres or Sephirah (sometimes with an eleventh hidden sphere, Da'at (meaning "knowledge")) and usually twenty-two paths connecting them. The Taowu's objective in obtaining the memories of death was to artificially reach Keter (meaning "crown"), the topmost Sephirah.
 * On one of the depicted versions of the Sephiroth are two symbols representing flows of power through the tree. The Flaming Sword, also referred to as the Lightning Flash, zigzags through each of the Sephirah down the tree, with its hilt in Keter (the topmost) and its tip in Malkuth (meaning "kingdom", the bottommost). The Serpent of Wisdom on the other hand coils around the tree, with its head at the top and its tail at the bottom, passing through each of the paths between the spheres but not actually touching the Sephirah themselves.

Differences in Adaptation

 * The flashback of Isaac Rosenthal's experimentation at the Li household is shown immediately after the reveal that his will is within Taowu, rather than later. The flashback of Nathan Rosenthal and his transferring Isaac into the Taowu isn't shown.


 * The image of the Sephiroth which forms over Seiin High School differs from the manga depiction in that it is a version which includes the 11th sphere Da'at.
 * The scenes featuring Yomikawa Aiho and her Anti-Skill associates are anime-original.
 * Unlike in the manga which was more ambiguous, it is outright stated in the anime that Isaac was the demon who conveyed the method to Taowu. The time since activation given by Taowu is also different.
 * Unlike in the manga, Accelerator and Misaka 10046 are not present when the truth about the Taowu and the past of the Rosenthal Family is revealed.
 * Esther and Taowu/Isaac's conversation is expanded with a number of changes, some reflecting the changes in Episode 8. Esther is harder hit by the revelations and her ancestor's words, and subsequently she is in a worse state when the group gets outside, with Accelerator's words to her being different as a result.
 * In the manga, Hishigata is separated from Esther's group after the Taowu conversation concludes and before they get outside.
 * Index and Aleister's cameos are omitted.

Animation Trivia

 * A new version of the opening theme used in this episode.
 * After the artificial sephiroth is summoned, the colors of everything else but the sephiroth and the glow of Esther's dagger are turned monochrome.