A Certain Scientific Railgun T: An Unlikely Friendship Develops
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 19 of A Certain Scientific Railgun T, "Strange Coincidence," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
The last few episodes of A Certain Scientific Railgun T have slowly progressed the plot while introducing us to a host of new characters, and Episode 19 is yet another step forward. But instead of adding in new characters, it brings back characters from parent franchise, A Certain Magical Index. Notably, it features Frenda, who hasn't been seen for a while. Fans will recognize her from the Battle Royale arc of Index, but her popularity exploded during further character exploration in the Sisters Arc of Railgun. Knowing her ultimate fate in Index, her reappearance in Railgun is a heart-breaking but welcome addition to the spinoff anime.
The last episode's action started with Saiai and Misaka fighting over an Indian Poker card, and this episode begins similarly. Uiharu wants to spend the day with Saten, but Shaei's precognitive app forces the Justice member to go back on patrol. Saten, now alone, wanders to the store to grab some groceries. But right after she grabs the last two cans of mackerel, Frenda — who was hoping to buy some as well — appears and explodes in a rage, yelling that she's been looking all over town for them but they've all sold out. Saten apologizes sheepishly, but in hindsight, she probably should've given up the fish.
Frenda tackles her to the ground, and though they're broken up, Saten's followed by the insistent blonde. When confronted, Frenda says she'll follow Saten until she hands over the mackerel and is willing to buy it at ten times the regular price... until she realizes she doesn't have her wallet. She then starts trying to trade it for selections from her vast arsenal of exploding dolls. Saten finally relents and gives her one of the two cans. Frenda gleefully opens it with an explosive, but there's too much firepower and the charred contents fly into the air, hitting the ground with a splat.
Frenda insists that it's an accident but Saten refuses to give her anything else, citing her own food budget. But after Frenda spears her from behind, Saten again gives in and invites Frenda to share a meal with her. Though the offending party is initially aghast at using mackerel in curry, she's quickly won over by its taste and offers to treat Saten next time, connecting with her on the fictional messaging app FUKIDASHI. Over the next few days, they message each other about mackerel, their own friends and the Indian Poker Cards. But they're not the only ones in the conversation, it seems.
Yobou Banka's told by Gokusai Kaibi about the Indian Poker cards, and that information on the Tweezers that would eventually fall into the hands of Kakine Teitoku. Banka quickly starts extracting all electronic information pertaining to tweezers and Indian Poker Cards, finding a total of thirteen matching items. One such item is a message sent by Saten that reads, "I just got the Indian Poker card of an expert who can pick up anything with chopsticks, no matter how small!" Banka decides to investigate and sends a team to abduct her. Frenda sees the abduction and calls Shiage, and the two chase Saten and her kidnappers. Frenda fires two dolls to create explosions that trap the enemies, who are now surrounded by debris.
Meanwhile, Banka himself infiltrates a science facility and copies the contents of a hidden Indian Poker Card onto his own blank card. But he's then called by the abduction team, who requests backup before Frenda takes them out. Banka realizes that they've been defeated by someone strong, and sends in SCHOOL's sniper Yumiya Rakko. The reunited Frenda and Saten are about to go shopping for mackerel, but Rakko finds them by tracking the scent of the capture team's blood. As Saten listens to Frenda talking about mackerel dishes other than curry, she's surprised when Frenda stops talking and a spray of blood comes out. Behind them, Rakko grins.
The Dream Ranker arc, it seems, is much more than just a plot about the Indian Poker cards and whatever unknown connection they might have to Shaei and his app. It's setting up the events that led to the Battle Royale arc. Rakko was the immediate predecessor to Sunazara Chimitsu as SCHOOL's sniper, while the tweezers that Banka is searching for is indeed the same Tweezers that Kakine stole. Railgun takes its time, but uses it well to paint a broader picture of Academy City while continuing to advance its own plot.
from Poker
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