Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T Episode 20

Ha det bra is the 20th episode of Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T. It was broadcast on August 21st 2020. The episode was directed by Sokuza Makoto, Kuriyama Takayuki and Nagasawa Yuuki, the screenplay written by Uchida Hiroki, and storyboarded by Nihei Yuichi.

In return for the hearty (canned mackerel) meal earlier, Frenda saved Saten from almost being abducted. Frenda immediately brings up the topic of having Saten prepare a celebratory canned mackerel party when suddenly she was shot by someone. Aware of the attacker's lack of hesitation despite the presence of many people as well as its accuracy, Frenda sees herself in her "hunter" as they share a tendency to play with their prey.

They try to work out a plan against the enemy's scheme, but the enemy is not caught by her traps or feints and their movements are completely predicted. At that moment, the fear of not knowing the enemy's injury or nature causes chilling thoughts to come into mind. Saten, who felt that she had been a burden, offers a proposal to turn herself into a decoy.

Synopsis
Frenda's cheerful mood becomes frantic as a shot tears through her left shoulder. As she tries to locate the attacker, another shot pierces her phone, preventing her from contacting ITEM for reinforcements. Frenda then pulls Saten into a nearby department store, all while their hunter, Yumiya Rakko, easily tracks down their path.

Even inside a crowded area within the department store, Frenda is once again shot while trying to heal her wounds using a special ointment. She soon realizes that Rakko is the one taking advantage of the civilian crowd and is forced to run away with Saten to a less populated part of the building. There, Frenda becomes aware that their escape is actually part of the attacker's plan, and that she is facing a hunter who shares her own mindset in hunting targets. Frenda determines that the attacker will only eliminate them when they do something undesirable and uses this to formulate a plan involving making a scene with a random civilian in an attempt to cause confusion. Rakko, however, is unaffected by this move, as well as the other traps laid by Frenda along their escape.

As the boy with goggles returns to their hideout to report his successful mission to the girl in the dress, Rakko continues her slow pursuit of her targets. With Frenda still unable to comprehend how the attacker is able to read their every more, Rakko prepares to cripple the target by shooting its leg, only to be momentarily distracted by her schoolmates who passed by. Meanwhile, the helplessness of the situation slowly persuades Frenda into turning her companion into a decoy to help her escape. But, to Frenda's shock, Saten herself is willing to become bait, knowing that she is being a burden to her. Frenda, amazed at Saten's decision, agrees to push through with the decoy plan.

Rakko soon finds herself wanting to finish the mission to avoid being scolded. Then, she sees the companion of her target walking towards her. Although surprised, she anticipates an ambush from somewhere else and immediately tries to blend with the crowd. But, Rakko is shocked to discover that Saten is carrying several explosive dolls she thought was rigged to explode. Fearful of the various repercussions of a potential blast in the department store, Rakko reverts to acting on impulse, hiding behind a nearby pillar to avoid being caught in the blast. As a result, Frenda identifies Rakko as the attacker and begins her counterattack.

The ensuing exchange causes panic to the surrounding civilians. As agreed upon earlier, Saten joins the fleeing crowd to the exit of the department store, leaving Frenda and Rakko to clash against each other. Although frightened by the usage of miniature explosives in a hand-to-hand fight, Rakko quickly exploits Frenda's injuries to gain the upper hand. Frenda, in response, activates several explosive dolls around them. Rakko is not harmed by the blast, but the thermobaric bombs used by Frenda removed most of the oxygen in the air, compelling her to rush to a nearby window broken by Frenda's miniature explosives earlier. To Rakko's surprise, Frenda awaits her at this opening, jamming Rakko's mouth with miniature explosives and kicking her out of the window. After dropping explosive dolls on Rakko, Frenda delivers her last farewell to Rakko before detonating all of the explosives at once.

The events that had happened to Saten cause her to be put under Anti-Skill custody to ensure her safety. Meanwhile, the incident at the department store had reached Judgment, but Uiharu reports no casualties, which brought relief to Saten. After receiving a new phone after losing it during the abduction, Saten is contacted by Frenda for the first time, promising to visit her the week after to eat some canned mackerel with her.

Meanwhile, SCHOOL's Kakine Teitoku meets his fellow operatives, delighted to be able to gather intel on the Tweezers with Rakko's help. Through the Indian Poker cards, he determines an upcoming experiment involving the Tweezers at Kirigaoka Girls' Academy. Rakko, who miraculously survives the explosion with the help of the boy with goggles, develops a twisted obsession towards Frenda and wants to confront her again. But, Kakine rejects her proposal as the Tweezers becomes top priority. Rakko storms out of the meeting, but Kakine pays it no mind, as he has already prepared a replacement in time for something that would involve the deaths of many.

A week after Frenda's promise, Saten patiently waits for her friend's message on Speech Bubble as she finishes preparing a dinner for two. Then, the doorbell to her apartment room rings to the presence of Uiharu, who has her arm cast because of a recent injury. Although disappointed that it was not what she was expected, Saten invites Uiharu still.

Major Events

 * Yumiya Rakko's pursuit of Frenda and Saten Ruiko culminates to a one-on-one fight inside a department store. Despite receiving several injuries in the pursuit, Frenda was able to win over Rakko, while Rakko is last seen caught in a mid-air explosion while falling off the department store building.
 * SCHOOL's Kakine Teitoku successfully gathers credible information on the whereabouts of the Tweezers.
 * Rakko survives with the help of the boy with goggles, but her obsession over a re-encounter with Frenda clashes with SCHOOL's top priority. Regardless of Rakko's response, Kakine has already prepared a replacement for her.
 * After a series of events that occurred during the week after the clash between Frenda and Rakko, Frenda would no longer be able to uphold her promise to visit Saten again. Uiharu also became injured during this time.

Characters
By order of appearance:
 * Yumiya Rakko
 * Frenda Seivelun
 * Saten Ruiko
 * Mugino Shizuri (mentioned)
 * Tsukuyomi Komoe
 * Himegami Aisa
 * Yobou Banka
 * Gokusai Kaibi
 * Takitsubo Rikou (mentioned)
 * Uiharu Kazari
 * Kakine Teitoku

New Characters

 * Sunazara Chimitsu (indirectly referenced)

Abilities

 * AIM Stalker - Takitsubo Rikou, Level 4 (mentioned)

New Abilities

 * Second Sight (referenced)

Locations

 * Academy City
 * School District 7
 * Sakugawa Middle School
 * Saten Residence
 * School District 18
 * Kirigaoka Girls' Academy (mentioned)

Trivia

 * The unnamed men and woman are voiced by Nogawa Masashi, Murakami Yuuya, Shimizu Kensuke, and Miwa Natsuki.
 * The unnamed female students of Private Shidarezakura Academy are voiced by Enoyoshi Maya and Kobari Saki.
 * Credits refer to Measure Heart instead of Gokusai Kaibi, despite her name being revealed in Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Biohacker.
 * The ointment Frenda used in this episode to treat her wounded left shoulder is the same ointment that Shirai Kuroko used in her previous apperances to treat her wounds.
 * The episode timeskips past the events that take place in Toaru Majutsu no Index light novel volumes 14 and 15. This makes this episode having the quickest timeskip.

Referbacks

 * Frenda's promise to Saten that she'll eat the canned mackerel she bought on her account from the previous episode is referenced here.
 * There are references in this episode to the events of the Battle Royale Arc, such as:
 * Yumiya Rakko, SCHOOL's original sniper prior to Sunazara Chimitsu survives Frenda's attack, creating an narrative consistency between this episode and the original novel (in which adapted to ) where both SCHOOL and ITEM admitting that the latter killed Rakko, though it can be assumed that Rakko is killed at a later time.
 * Uiharu Kazari gains a cast on her arm, a reference to her run-in with Kakine Teitoku during the events of October 9 after she tried to protect the whereabouts of Last Order from him.

Cultural References

 * A is an explosive which uses oxygen in the air as an oxidiser instead of having an oxidiser packaged with the explosive.
 * One of the billboards seen outside the mall (visible when Frenda explodes Rakko) has the brand name Wonder Michael Cinemas, which is clearly a parody of, which is also the distributor of the  movie.

Differences in Adaptation

 * Tsukuyomi Komoe replaces Fukiyose Seiri's appearance in this episode due to the latter's VA on indefinite hiatus. Also, Himegami is completely drawn in this episode, unlike in her manga cameo.

Animation Trivia

 * At least 20 seconds of footage from the previous episode is reused in the beginning of the episode before actual original scenes for the episode are seen.
 * Originally, in ', Kakine fractured Uiharu's left arm, but in this episode, her right arm gains a cast on her arm instead. This is consistent with the manga series, where in ', he fracutred Uiharu's right arm to be consistent with , where she gains a cast on her right arm.
 * The chair is rendered in CGI when Rakko walks out.
 * The animation effect when the Level 5s are introduced in  is reused in this episode when reintroducing Kakine Teitoku.