Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T Episode 18

Bust Upper is the 18th episode of Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T. It was broadcast on August 7th 2020. The episode was directed by Kitamura Sho, the screenplay written by Yasukawa Shogo, and storyboarded by Yamakawa Yoshiki.

Indian Poker enables the experience of the dreams of other people. Those dreams are passed around, and were confirmed to allow useful skills to be learned in a method similar to sleep-learning, causing traders of various Indian Poker cards to make an appearance.

Mikoto, who discovered a certain trader along the street, was recommended a card containing the unparalleled dream of an eccentric genius scientist. Its name is Bust Upper--Mikoto, who was initially uninterested, suddenly changed her mind and seized the card at lightning speed. However, the card was also being held by another girl. It was ITEM's Kinuhata Saiai. With their circumstances making the card necessary for both of them, the two girls scrambled for the card, pressing on for the data hidden deep within!

Major Events

 * Misaka Mikoto and ITEM's Kinuhata Saiai, after their respective moments of breast envy, enter a temporary alliance in the search for the Bust Upper, an S-Class Indian Poker card rumored to store the secrets of a bigger bust size.

Characters
By order of appearance:
 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Saten Ruiko
 * Aogami Pierce (fantasy)
 * Mugino Shizuri
 * Kinuhata Saiai
 * Takitsubo Rikou
 * Frenda Seivelun
 * Yomikawa Aiho (fantasy)
 * Tsuchimikado Maika (fantasy, posed as Kinuhata Saiai)
 * Yobou Banka (mentioned)
 * Kongou Mitsuko (fantasy)
 * Wannai Kinuho (fantasy)
 * Awatsuki Maaya (fantasy)
 * Kirifu Megumi (fantasy, posed as Misaka Mikoto)
 * Kobayashi Satori (fantasy)
 * Shokuhou Misaki (indirectly referenced)
 * Index Librorum Prohibitorum (cameo)
 * Shirai Kuroko
 * Uiharu Kazari

New Characters

 * Fremea Seivelun (indirectly referenced)
 * Hamazura Shiage
 * Indian Poker Trader
 * Yoshikawa Kikyou (fantasy, posed as Misaka Mikoto)
 * Tsuchimikado Motoharu (fantasy)
 * Yumiya Rakko (fantasy, posed as Misaka Mikoto)
 * Matsunoyama Shigemi (fantasy)
 * Kuruwa (fantasy, posed as Kinuhata Saiai)
 * Kuriba Ryouko (fantasy)
 * Sphynx (cameo)
 * Fusou Ayame (indirectly referenced)

Abilities

 * Offense Armor - Kinuhata Saiai, Level 4
 * Electromaster (Railgun-variant) - Misaka Mikoto, Level 5

Locations

 * Academy City
 * School District 3
 * Private Salon
 * School District 7
 * School Garden (referenced)
 * Tokiwadai Dormitory

Trivia

 * The unnamed female student who got the Bust Upper is voiced by Okuno Kaya.
 * The unnamed narrator in Kinuhata's dream is voiced by Souma Kouichi.
 * The unnamed hotel employee is voiced by Hori Soushirou.
 * The unnamed internet cafe clerk is voiced by Murakami Yuuya.
 * With Shiage's appearance in this episode, this means that all three main protagonists of Toaru Majutsu no Index have appeared in Toaru Kagaku no Railgun anime adaptation.
 * Index makes a cameo appearance for the first time in Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T.

Referbacks

 * The Bust Upper was originally mentioned as an Urban Legend during the events of Toaru Kagaku no Railgun SS: Liberal Arts City.
 * Saiai wanting a C-Rank story while choosing her cards is a reference to  where her fond of C-movies are revealed.
 * The lab in Yoshikawa Kikyou's dream is the same lab where Accelerator goes to her to ask about Last Order.
 * The Fallen Angel Maid Outfit is one of the maid outfits developed by Tsuchimikado Motoharu for Kanzaki Kaori.
 * The clothes in Rakko's dream where she imagines to be an idol is the same clothes Meigo Arisa wore in her second live performance in .
 * The hotel that Mikoto and Saiai visited in this episode is the same hotel that the former inquired back in , where she plans to find out about the Radio Noise Project.
 * Shiage relates how he had helped Saiai fake her age by forging an ID in order to watch an R15 movie, an event that is directly taken from Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume SS2.
 * Kinuhata Saiai learning seducing techniques via Indian Poker in this episode will be used later on to seduce Hamazura.

Cultural References

 * is a game that uses a toy of the same name to perform tricks.
 * Cybele #5 is a reference to, an ancient Anatolian goddess representation the personification of motherhood that eventually made its way into Greek and Roman mythology.
 * Some names of Indian Poker cards have references to other media, such as:
 * Electric Sheep's Dream (電気羊の夢), which is a reference to the science fiction book  by ; and
 * Star Force (スターフォース), which is a reference to the 1984 arcade game.
 * Motoharu references, a sea creature from Jewish mythology, which was referenced many times in the Bible.

Differences in Adaptation

 * Due to the scene from ' where Saten explained sleep-learning through Indian Poker being cut in ', it was brought up here in this episode instead. This also means the mentions of cards involving conversational English and pro-level bowling are brought up here as well.
 * The scene with ITEM at the beginning of the episode is originally a flashback in the manga.
 * Some dream sequences from the manga are cut in this episode, including:
 * Mikoto's dream involving Hattori Hanzou, which was also removed in the tankōbon release and was cut at the request of Railgun mangaka Fuyukawa Motoi;
 * Mikoto's dream as a road side artist with Fusou Ayame (though was mentioned in her monologue at the end of the episode), which was cut at the request of Railgun mangaka Fuyukawa Motoi ; and
 * Mikoto's dream at A Certain High School, mainly due to Fukiyose's VA being on an indefinite hiatus.
 * The above latter two cut dream sequences from the manga are replaced by anime-original dream sequences, such as:
 * Mikoto's dream as Yumiya Rakko, replacing her dream with Fusou, which was written by Railgun manga editor Ogino Kentarou ; and
 * Mikoto's dream as Kirifu Megumi, replacing her dream with Fukiyose, in which was written by Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T scriptwriter Yasukawa Shogo.
 * Saten showing her amazing pen tricks to Uiharu thanks to Indian Poker is anime-original.

Animation Trivia

 * The fan that Takitsubo holds in this episode, as well as some Strange Juices given by Hamazura to ITEM are rendered in CGI.
 * Unlike the dream sequence in  which was animated with higher hues and lighter outlines, this episode instead animated the dream sequences (except Kuriba's dream) normally with 2.35:1 aspect ratio. This also happened in Nunotaba Shinobu's flashback with Misaka 8912.
 * In the flashback where Shiage forge Saiai's age in her ID to watch an R-15 movie, at one point, they go out of bounds from the background.

Unanswered Questions

 * Who is that mysterious strange-haired girl with the lab coat in Mikoto's dream?
 * Who is that mysterious girl who got the Bust Upper?