Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S Episode 12

"Tree Diagram" is the twelvth episode of the second season of the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun anime series, and the 36th episode of the series overall. It was first aired on June 28th, 2013. The script was written by Hanada Jukki, directed by Nihei Yuuichi, and storyboarded by Sonoda Masahiro. The animation was co-directed by Matsumoto Fumion, Fukuyo Takaaki, Hayashi Saitoku, and Furusawa Takafumi.

She had discovered that her enemy was Academy City itself. The Level 6 Shift Project, the "Experiment", held in the noisome depths of the "darkness" that Mikoto is obsessively fighting had struck her down with a sense of helplessness.

However, she herself must put an end to it. Finally, Mikoto sets forth towards a new target, the Tree Diagram, a supercomputer whom the best minds of Academy City seek out, and the very computer that suggested the plan in the first place.

Meanwhile, Touma once again meets Biribiri's little sister, hesitating before an abandoned cat, and is later involved in taking care of it.

Major Events

 * Misaka 10031 and 10032 learn about experiencing the following emotions which are from then on permanently stored in the Radio Noise network: happiness, anger, frustration, irony, bewilderment, and sadness.
 * The 10031st Level 6 Shift experiment begins.
 * Mikoto discovers that Tree Diagram has already been destroyed.

Adapted From

 * Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 032
 * Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 033
 * Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 037
 * Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 03

Characters

 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Uiharu Kazari
 * Saten Ruiko
 * Haruue Erii
 * Shirai Kuroko
 * Kamijou Touma
 * Misaka 10031
 * Kusakabe Yumi
 * Kanmi Eiga
 * Misaka 10032
 * Misaka 10032's cat
 * Accelerator
 * Index
 * Misaka 9982
 * Himegami Aisa

New Characters

 * Misaka Misuzu

Locations

 * Academy City
 * School District 7
 * Tokiwadai Dormitory
 * School District 23
 * Book-On

New locations

 * Tree Diagram Information Receival Center

Abilities

 * Electromaster (Railgun variant) - Misaka Mikoto, Level 5
 * Accelerator (ability) - Accelerator, Level 5

Trivia

 * Grow Slowly returns as the ending theme, replacing stand still from the previous episode.
 * Misaka 10032 identifies herself as such only after seeing both Misaka 10031 and Accelerator together for the experiment. Here, the Misaka 10031–10032 confusion is finally cleared during this episode as Misaka 10032 meets up with Misaka 10031, a fact that is only slightly shown in the manga and revelead in an omake of the 6th Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Volume.
 * Touma references both Index and Himegami Aisa in her conversation with Misaka 10032 regarding taking care of cats, specifically Sphynx.
 * The Destruction of Tree Diagram and its Remnant is referenced during this episode.
 * The anime makes it clear that Mikoto was planning to stop the Level 6 Shift experiment by having Tree Diagram explain that the fight between her and Accelerator permanently prevented Accelerator from becoming a level 6 esper. She then planned to destroy Tree Diagram.

Referbacks

 * A photo of Mikoto and her friends that was taken from episode 20 of the previous season is shown in this episode.
 * Touma references his meeting with Misaka 10032 with the beverages last episode to Mikoto.
 * The cat that appears in this episode is the same cat that appeared back with Misaka 9982 in episode 05..
 * Misaka 10031 references Misaka Mikoto's rejection of her from the previous episode.
 * Misaka 10032 references animals' fright of Mikoto and her clones because of their electricity from episode 05.

Cultural References

 * is referenced by Misaka 10032 during this episode. He was the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled over Japan for more than 200 years.
 * is referenced as well by Misaka 10032, as a name for her cat. The reference here is different from episode 10 of Toaru Majutsu no Index as Touma simply states that it is taboo to name cats after him. Here, Touma references the entire.

Animation Trivia

 * Animation from episodes 5 and 6 are reused as flashbacks for this episode. Moreover, as well as from the previous episode during Misaka 10031's recollection of Mikoto yelling at her.