Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Episode 18

"Asunaro Park" (あすなろ園) is the eighteenth episode of the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun anime series. It was first aired on February 5th, 2010.

Synopsis
The episode starts with a loud sound of cracking bone.

It's Kuroko's neck being "snapped" by Tokiwadai's Dormitory Manager, a punishment after breaking Rule #9 of the Dormitory Rules which state that using powers inside the dormitory is strictly prohibited. Mikoto watches in horror as she sees an unconscious Kuroko dragged outside.

At Joseph's Coffee and Restaurant, Kuroko lets off some steam as Mikoto listens. She has been annoyed of the Dormitory Manager of Tokiwadai Middle School and her ways of implementing the law, especially when she was just enjoying with Mikoto that time. Soon, she shoves some personal info about the dormitory manager, like her job interfering with her love life.

All of a sudden, the subject of their topic appears, wearing a more casual attire than her usual. It was the first time they would see their dormitory manager in such a way, so Kuroko uses it as a chance to stalk their superior and acquire something she can use to blackmail her with.

They tailed her as she walks, trying to keep her from noticing, and stops at a branch of Pizza Hut where the dormitory manager walks in. Kuroko and Mikoto waited outside and soon, they saw the dormitory manager with ten boxes of pizza. Kuroko has suspicions that she is to meet a man on the way, and an Italian, because of the pizza.

The two followed her on the train ride and they discovered they are in the 13th School District. Later on, they reached a place named Asunaro Park.

Inside, the dormitory manager is welcomed by a group of children who call her "grandma" (oba-chan in Japanese), but responds in a gentle way, unlike how she treated Kuroko last time. With a small moment to browse the Web, Kuroko discovers that they were in Child Welfare Facility Asunaro Park, a facility for Child Errors. Nonetheless, Kuroko and Mikoto can't believe they were seeing the same dormitory manager. Kuroko finally realizes that and feels bad at what she was planning to do. Meanwhile, Mikoto saw two familiar figures sweeping leaves from a distance, who are Ruiko and Uiharu (they are there because they have bad marks in exams). They are soon welcomed by the principal named Shigenomori Kazuko and Ruiko and Uiharu's homeroom teacher, who soon points at Mikoto and Kuroko.

Ruiko and Uiharu are surprised to see Kuroko and Mikoto there, and discover that they are there due to 'complicated circumstances', according to Kuroko.

Inside the facility, the dormitory manager is greeted by Ruiko and Uiharu's teacher, which caused her to blush. She stuttered and admitted that she can't scold his (she refers to him as Daigo-sensei) students. She even added that she never scolded the students in her dormitory, much to the shock of Kuroko. Outside, Kuroko assumes that Ruiko and Uiharu's homeroom teacher is the one the dormitory manager is in love with given her reactions. Because of that, Kuroko wants to assure that their dormitory manager's love life goes full bloom and decides to intervene.

Later that afternoon, Kuroko and Mikoto prepares a sort of a VIP treatment to their dormitory supervisor, whose attitude returns to the usually serious and strict behavior. She snaps at the two and says that she has nothing to consult them about. Kuroko soon confesses that she and Mikoto knew about what happened that day and she wants help in making her closer to Daigo.

Soon, the dormitory manager begins to give in as Kuroko continues to persuade her, and after all of her attempts, she agrees.

The next day, Mikoto and Kuroko join Uiharu and Ruiko as volunteers in Asunaro Park. Kuroko starts her plans to bring Daigo and the dormitory manager together.

Ruiko brings the dormitory manager in the kitchen and Daigo is brought there as well by Uiharu. Kuroko plans to bring them together by making them do a similar task together (which is making a hand-made cake for a birthday party). Meanwhile, Mikoto goes with the task of playing with the children.

Inside the kitchen, the dormitory manager is shocked to find Daigo accompanying her. Daigo confesses he cooks a lot, much to the dormitory manager's surprise. As he prepares the ingredients, Daigo begins to remark on cooking, family life and marrying, all those bearing onto the dormitory manager's mind.

Soon, a loud voice tore through the playroom where Uiharu, Ruiko and Kuroko were sitting. They went to assess what's going on, and saw a cloud of flour covering the kitchen; it was the dormitory manager, whose powerful hands tore apart the flour bag with excessive force. Because of that blunder, Kuroko moves on to her Plan B: for the dormitory manager to buy a cake with Daigo (who are accompanied by Uiharu and Ruiko).

Meanwhile, while playing a game similar to tag with the children, Mikoto remembers the images of Harumi Kiyama's memories she has acquired in their battle in a previous episode.

Later on, the birthday party of two of the children began with the dormitory manager and Daigo somewhat okay (the former ended up in unusual situations because of her reaction towards being close to Daigo) and everything ends up well according to Kuroko. In the middle of the celebration, Daigo comments that the dormitory manager looks better with no glasses. Soon, the children notices this and the focus shifts to him and the dormitory manager.

Suddenly, the room began to tremble. For the same time that the earthquake happened, the dormitory manager showed her more serious side and her incredible instincts, saving a boy from being hurt. Because of this, she received another comment of praise from Daigo.

Later that night, she was still in bliss after what happened. She even let a student go after breaking a rule. Kuroko and Mikoto watch as she fumbles after receiving a call from Daigo about a consultation, which Kuroko guesses as a proposal. In Jona's Garden, Daigo and the dormitory manager meet up while the four watch from a distance.

Daigo bravely asks her about marrying someone younger than her, a question which shocked her. She replies that age doesn't matter for her. Her reply is returned with a remark of relief.

Back at the dormitory, the four girls prepare to celebrate what they thought to be a successful love story between two people. The dormitory manager emerges, though her face is still of shock after that.

The next day, she asks Kuroko to help her in Seventh Mist, where they help her look better in her response.

In Asunaro Park, as Daigo continues with his volunteer work, he was asked by the dormitory manager, now with a new look thanks to the girls, to have a talk. As Kuroko and the others watch behind the bushes, Daigo admits that what happened in Jona's Garden wasn't about her... but it was about Kazuko all along. Despite the huge misunderstanding, the dormitory manager let up a smile instead and wishes them the best.

As if nothing had happened, she kept a happy face and went to the children to play with them.

That night, the dormitory manager returns to being the strict person Kuroko hated and, returning past curfew, Kuroko gets another taste of having her neck snapped once again.

Characters

 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Shirai Kuroko
 * Saten Ruiko
 * Uiharu Kazari
 * Tokiwadai Dorm Supervisor
 * Kiyama Harumi (flashback)

New Characters

 * Daigo
 * Shigenomori Kazuko

Adapted From
This is an anime-original episode, thus it is not adapted from a manga volume or a light novel volume.

Referbacks
references to previous episodes, possibly from Index(based on timeline)

Cultural References
The restaurant chain Pizza Hut has appeared in this episode as the store where the dormitory manager buys food for the children at Asunaro Park. This kind of product placement by Pizza Hut is also seen in other anime series Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion and Darker than Black.

Unanswered Questions
Earthquakes have been occuring within the last two episodes of Toaru Kagaku no Railgun. As of now, there are no explanations as to why these events intertwine with the sidestory plot of Episodes 17 and 18 of Railgun. One speculation is that it is connected with a future event yet to be revealed in the series.

Another unexplained aspect of the sidestories of Tsuzuri Tessou and the dormitory manager are the presence of characters and/or concepts related to the Level Upper Incident''. ''In this episode, the story revolves around a facility where Child Errors are taken care of. Also, Mikoto has a flashback of the events in Episode 14, where she fought Harumi Kiyama.