Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 147

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Chapter 147Adoptee
Part of Volume 19
Kanji	養子
Rōmaji	Youshi
Release date	July 27, 2023
Chapter Chronology
Story Arc	First Year Arc, Part 20
← Previous	Chapter 146
Next →	Chapter 148

Adoptee (養子, Youshi^?) is the 147th chapter of the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun manga series, released on July 27th 2023 in Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh.

Major Events

• At some point after the disbandment of Mikagami Nagisa's clique, Ruri talks to Hasekura Reiri about the loose-ends of the Antikythera incident and how multiple shady companies involved in esper development have been taken down in the past year. On mention of how Tanrei Chemicals was the first to go, Hasekura talks about a covered-up scandal three years prior involving Tanrei and a former Majesty candidate, Takebayashi Yayoi.
• Ruri approaches Konoe Nagisa, one of the former Takebayashi Family adoptees, for information, secretly being followed by Misaka Mikoto and Kessai Kiyoshi, hoping to watch her Judgment work, as well as an armed group who burst in and fire on Konoe as she tries to flee.

Characters

By order of appearance:

• Hasekura Reiri
• Shin'enkouji Rurikakesu
• W. G. Waitley (fantasy)
• Misaka Mikoto
• Kessai Kiyoshi

New Characters

• Takebayashi Yayoi
• Konoe Nagisa

Abilities

• Ability involving manipulation of facial muscles - Konoe Nagisa
• Unknown - Shin'enkouji Rurikakesu

Locations

• Academy City
  • School District 7
    • Tokiwadai Middle School

Trivia

• When Ruri and Hasekura mention during their discussion that a lot of the girls in Tokiwadai were sent in order for their associated groups to form connections in Academy City, it is mentioned that the Dialine Empire sent their own empress. Though unnamed in this chapter, this refers to Resanerié Sadis Dialine (presumably a second year at this point), who would later orchestrate a major incident during her third year (around the time frame of the main story).

Referbacks

• As she had previously promised, Mikagami gave everyone in her clique beauty treatments after the Antikythera-Montgolfier conflict was resolved. Once she had delivered on her pledge, she disbanded her clique, as she had intended to do before.
• As previously mentioned, Majesty is a title that given to the leader of a clique who remains the largest for over a year and until her graduation. One who earns the title is said to be guaranteed a successful career, including a spot on the city's Board of Directors.
  • Hasekura once aimed for the Majesty title in her first year and her clique was previously number one clique before being overtaken by Mikagami Nagisa's Clique. Earlier in the year, when considering the time left and circumstances at the time, Asato Kisa had wondered if Hasekura had given up on Majesty, something which Ruri also suggested in this chapter by referring to Hasekura's pursuit in the past tense.
• The CEO of Antikyhtera is still considered missing after the conflict and his death is not known to public.
• Mikoto and Kessai mention to Ruri that the game casino has a good AI dealer. Presumably, this is referring to the same casino in School Garden that Mikoto and Kessai previously visited, where Mikoto got the idea of using coins for ammunition.

Cultural References

This section requires expansion Takebayashi (Moon/Rabbit) - fine-tuning

A depiction of the Takebayashi adoptees, with the symbol of a crescent moon and rabbit behind them.

• The Takebayashi Family appears to be symbolized by a crescent moon and a rabbit - there are numerous pieces of folklore in East Asian and indigenous American cultures involving rabbits in association with the moon, likely inspired by lunar pareidolia associating dark markings on the near side of the Moon with a rabbit or hare.
  • In East Asia, the rabbit is seen with a mortar (and pounding it with a pestle), the contents of which differ depending on the version (for example, an elixir of immortality in a Chinese version, or mochi in a Japanese version).
  • Elsewhere in the story, a grimoire derived from the Aztec Calendar Stone bore the name Moon Rabbit and was based on a story from Aztec Mythology, where a rabbit was thrown at the newly-created moon to lessen its glow.
  • Although the Takebayashi Family (武林家) itself does not have it, another homophonic spelling of Takebayashi (竹林) has character readings ("bamboo grove") that bring to mind another tale associated with the moon - the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter or Taketori Monogatari, which tells the story of Kaguya-hime, a princess from the moon who was discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a bamboo plant and eventually returns to the moon.

Unanswered Questions

• Who are the group after Konoe Nagisa?