Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T Episode 14

Dragon Strike is the 14th episode of Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T. Originally planned to air on May 8th 2020, the episode's broadcast was delayed for a week due to the. It was broadcast on May 15th 2020. The episode was directed by Miyazaki Shuuji, the screenplay written by Yasukawa Shogo, and storyboarded by Tachibana Hideki.

Kuroko restrained Kouzaku and sealed off her movement. Meanwhile, Shokuhou's carefully laid-out plan led to the destruction of the Exterior and the severing of Gensei's control over the Misaka Network. However, despite Mikoto regaining her consciousness, her rampage continued and the black swirling mass of energy did not dissipate. This power is entirely different from esper abilities, is from another world, and is beyond human understanding. In order to release Mikoto, Sogiita cleared a path using his guts and sent out Kamijou towards Mikoto. Kamijou's right hand finally reached Mikoto, but his right arm was blown away from the shoulder upon touching the black mass. Then, at the following moment, eight enormous dragons emerged from Kamijou's right shoulder!

Major Events

 * After the defeat of Kihara Gensei, Shokuhou Misaki obtained the necessary information from his brain to develop a vaccine for the virus that was used to infect the Misaka Network.
 * Kouzaku Mitori was arrested by Shirai Kuroko after a long confrontation.
 * Sogiita Gunha joined Kamijou Touma in a decisive push against the rampaging Misaka Mikoto. Gunha was able to suppress Mikoto's powers long enough for Touma to touch the swirling mass surrounding Mikoto, but ends up destroying his right arm in the process. In a shocking turn of events, eight massive dragons emerged from Touma's right shoulder. These dragons tore through the swirling mass of energy surrounding Mikoto, paving the way for her release from her transformations and the failure of the Level 6 attempt on Mikoto.
 * Shokuhou Misaki manipulated the events that occurred, using her powers to make it seem like the Daihaseisai was postponed over the capture of a terrorist. She also restored the memories of Mikoto from Kuroko, Saten and Uiharu, and made it such that Mikoto's absence was due to a severe stomachache.
 * With the help of the data obtained by Misaki, the Heaven Canceller developed a vaccine that removed the effects of the virus from the Misaka Network. He informed Mikoto that Misaka 10032 only needs a few days to recover fully.
 * Kongou Mitsuko made a full recovery and eventually returned in time for the Fuujin-Raijin combo to return at the last day of the Daihaseisai.
 * After the sporting events of the Daihaseisai, Mikoto joins Touma on the folk dance with the help of Saten's scheme. This, however, was short-lived as Kuroko delivered a dropkick on Touma as soon as their moment started to last too long.

Characters

 * Kihara Gensei
 * Shokuhou Misaki
 * Shirai Kuroko
 * Kouzaku Mitori
 * Kamijou Touma
 * Sogiita Gunha
 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Uiharu Kazari
 * Saten Ruiko
 * Kongou Mitsuko
 * Awatsuki Maaya
 * Wannai Kinuho
 * Misaka 10032
 * Heaven Canceller
 * Kirifu Megumi
 * Judgment Boy (cameo)
 * Twin Tails Girl (cameo)

Abilities

 * Mental Out - Shokuhou Misaki, Level 5
 * Electromaster (Railgun-variant) with Misaka Network - Misaka Mikoto, Level 5
 * Unknown - Sogiita Gunha, Level 5
 * Imagine Breaker - Kamijou Touma
 * Float Dial - Awatsuki Maaya, Level 3
 * Teleport - Shirai Kuroko, Level 4

Locations

 * Academy City
 * School District 2
 * Exterior
 * School District 7
 * Heaven Canceller's Hospital

Trivia

 * The unnamed female student is voiced by Matsuoka Misato.
 * Near the end of the episode various school flags participating in the Daihaseisai can be seen. However, Kirigaoka Girls' Academy features an emblem that is different from the one that is usually used in the series. Here is the list of schools featured (in order of flags shown in the image to the right, from left to right and bottom to top):
 * Eiri High School
 * Tokiwadai Middle School
 * Ninoude High
 * Habatobi High School
 * Nagatenjouki Academy
 * Kirigaoka Girls' Academy

Referbacks

 * Scene of Mikoto telling the Shokuhou Misaki's Clique members to move from  is used as flashback when Mikoto ponders on the altered memories of her friends about her participation in the second day of Daihasesai.
 * The unnamed character that Touma accidentally gropes in the of the Index manga, and later reused in chapter 69 of Railgun makes her appearance in this episode, in the scene where Saten wins the baseball bat race.
 * The events of the bonfire folk-dance was first alluded to in the beginning of .
 * Mikoto's speech to Touma regarding the good and bad parts of Academy City is similar to the one she gives to Therestina Kihara Lifeline back in .
 * The Judgment Boy and Twin Tails Girl, last seen in the epilogue of , once again made their brief cameo appearances in this episode, seen when Kuroko dropkicks Touma to the head.

Cultural References

 * An ancient Chinese proverb, written as 桃李不言，下自成蹊, which referenced by Kongou Mitsuko, is originally written by, a Chinese historian, from his book . To be more specific , the Biography of General Li, detailing the life of Chinese general.
 * Mikoto references her combination with Kongou as the and  combo respectively, the god of thunder and the god of wind in Japanese mythology and Shintoism, just like in .
 * The by French composer  is played during folk dance sequence. You can listen to a version on Youtube here.

Differences in Adaptation

 * The scenes at the beginning of the episode, such as Misaki reading Kihara Gensei's mind and Kuroko handcuffing Mitori are anime-original. Both of these, however, are only alluded in the manga.
 * The hospital scene where Mikoto visits Misaka 10032 is anime-original.
 * The time where Mikoto visits Kongou at the hospital was moved from the fireworks display in the manga to late afternoon in the adaptation.
 * Another anime-original scene is when Mikoto receives a text message from Saten, telling that they should view the fireworks at the same roof they go at back in . It also moved the scene where Mikoto meets her friends from after the fireworks display in the manga to evening in the adaptation.
 * Related to the previous statement, the fireworks scene in this episode is anime-original.
 * The flags seen at the seventh day of Daihaseisai are changed from national flags to school flags participating in Daihaseisai.

Animation Trivia

 * Unlike other episodes in the Railgun anime adaptations, and by extension, Index anime adaptations, the episode starts with the OP before the episode proper.
 * The OST Saijaku VS Saikyō from Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S Original Soundtrack 2 was finally used for the first time, when Touma is about to touch the giant black sphere that Mikoto created and when he unleashed 8 dragons from his arm.
 * When Touma is about to release the dragons in his arm, his right eye turned red, the same effect when Kiyama Harumi used Multi-Skill, albeit in her left eye.
 * In the bonfire folk dance sequence, some students dancing in the background are rendered in CGI.

Unanswered Questions

 * What happened to the eight dragons that Touma unleashed from his right arm? Where are they now?
 * What happened to Kihara Gensei after the incident?