When you think about Waifu/ Husbando culture. The word; Tsundere comes out a lot. Love them or hate them, Tsundere’s can come across to non-anime fans as someone who is borderline terrible to have as a date. To explain in “normal human language” the word Tsundere is derived from the terms tsun tsun (ツンツン) ('to turn away in disgust/ anger') and dere dere (デレデレ) ('to becoming affectionate'). Regarding this Wednesday’s post, I will be talking about my favorite Tsundere;
The Third among The Level 5, the Ace of Tokiwadai, The Electrical Princess, The Railgun herself...
Anyone who has read my post about [World-building: becoming the Jack of all Genres], you know I had this coming! I love the <A Certain Magical Index> series in terms of its world building and its character’s respective development but I also LOVE its spin-off; <A Certain Scientific Railgun> Where we follow the young Esper’s adventures in Academy City with her best friend/ roommate; [Kuroko Shirai], her Judgement partner; [Uiharu Kazari] and close friend; [Saten Ruiko].
Born on the 2nd of May (Age: 14) and voiced by Satou Rina (Jap VA)/ Brittney Karbowski (Eng VA), Misaka’s story began when she agreed to meet Kuroko’s colleague, Uiharu and Saten for a casual hang out. After some time of mundane (at least, in Academy City’s terms of mundane.) adventures and high jinks, the pair grew to admire Misaka’s brave soul, sweet kindness and protective nature.
Raised from a more humble household, Misaka entered Academy City from an elementary age, distinguished by her professors, teachers and peers as a child prodigy. Initially starting out as a Level 1 (a low Esper rank) climbing her way up to Level 5 (the highest Esper rank.) Compared to the other Level 5′s she does not look down at students from the lower levels. In fact, she encourages them to keep giving their best effort instead of giving up.
In terms of appearance, she is described as a “proper lady” for the most part but there is also a rather tomboyish side to her. She seen wearing a pair of shorts underneath her school uniform skirt. Misaka is also shown to have a complex to her figure, feeling inferior in some areas when compared to other girls her age like; [Shokuhou Misaki]; As seen [HERE]
Yeah, I know. Its a tasteless comment, I’m sorry.
Personality wise, She’s generally friendly and easygoing but often prefers to be in solitary and dislikes the idea of being restricted by rules, complimented by her keen sense of justice against bullies and horrible scientists with her unshakable resolve. She can also be selfish, jumping head first into bad situations alone to avoid endangering other people and her friends. As shown during The Level Upper Incident and The Sisters Arc.
As an Esper, Misaka is categorized as an; Electro Master. Which is an ability that allows her to generate and manipulate electricity, attract and repel against metallic material, manipulate iron sand to become a buzz saw, hack electronic devices, sense all electrical and magnetic phenomenon and so much more. But of course, her signature move and finishing move is; [The Railgun].
An actual scientific weapon backed up by ACTUAL science! Using her abilities, Misaka forms parallel currents on both sides of her arm and utilizing the Lorentz force, with the addition of Fleming's left-hand rule. She can fire metal objects three times the speed of sound. Her choice of projectiles are arcade coins that when fired, has a limited range at 50 meters.
However, in the series. She has been seen using larger objects with higher voltages. Shown on top. 👆
Dangerous weapons on her fingertips aside. Misaka is also a talented violinist but also has childish side. Despite being a teenager, she still likes to buy and own cute things especially when it comes to the local mascot; [Gekota]. However, she gets easily embarrassed when she’s caught by her peers.
Her Tsundere side is heavily showcased when she interacts with the main character; [Kamijou Touma]. Where she violently swings back and forth when interacting or referring to him. Claiming that she doesn’t have a crush while at the same time, goes out of her way to care for him and assist him when given the chance.
In an interview with Kamachi Kazuma, the creator of the series. He states Misaka Mikoto will be the one he would want to choose as his friend. Fun fact, there is a China-based video sharing site <Bili-Bili> which referenced Misaka’s nickname "Biri-Biri" given to her by Touma.
In addition, there is the giving "coins" feature for user contributions. Referring to Misaka’s use of arcade coins for her Railgun, the user rank system from level 0 to 6 is a nod to the Esper levels and the site’s celebration of her birthday.
Also, [THIS] modified from the site itself.
On a personal level, I see a lot of her in my own personality.
As young working adult, I too own a shrine full of plushies, toys and trinkets but I’ve learned to accept it as a part of my personality. To see a character who is told to grow up and be more woman-like while also getting intense over winning a piece of “kid targeted” merch brings me back to my crane machine obsession and frequent visits I make to a nearby toy store.
I also think Misaka is a cool and cute character! She’s flawed, insecure and she’s relatable to anyone who struggles with abandoning their child-like tendencies to becoming a functioning adult. We root for her to grow and to be honest with her feelings towards Touma and we get to see that her fight is not just her own, because she has friends that she can rely on.
I know Its a little hard for people to understand but its just a different way of finding relatable characters to love and support. All in all, its in good fun.
Biri-Biri is BEST GIRL and I can admire her in a totally normal way.