# A Certain Scientific Accelerator

A Certain Scientific Accelerator (Japanese: とある科学の一方通行（アクセラレータ）, Hepburn: Toaru Kagaku no Akuserarēta) is a Japanese manga series written by Kazuma Kamachi and illustrated by Arata Yamaji. It is a spin-off of A Certain Magical Index series, which focuses on Academy City's most powerful Level 5 esper named Accelerator. The manga was serialized by ASCII Media Works through their monthly magazine Dengeki Daioh from December 2013 to July 2020 and published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment. Kamachi and Teto Tachitsu wrote and illustrated its manga spin-off titled A Certain Idol Accelerator-sama, which was published from October 2015 to November 2018. An anime television series adaptation by J.C.Staff aired from July 12 to September 27, 2019.

## Plot

After protecting Last Order at the cost of much of his power, Accelerator now finds himself dragged into a new conflict in the form of a sinister organization called Disciplinary Action which plots to use Last Order for a dangerous mission. Now that they have set their plan into motion and are in pursuit of the young girl, it is up to the world's most powerful esper and his newfound companion, Esther Rosenthal, to protect Last Order and defend Academy City in the process.

## Media
### Manga

The October 2013 issue of Dengeki Daioh magazine announced a manga spin-off of A Certain Magical Index series to be written by Kazuma Kamachi and illustrated by Arata Yamaji and Kiyotaka Haimura, which began serialization in the magazine's February 2014 issue on December 27, 2013. On March 25, 2015, Seven Seas Entertainment announced the English publication of A Certain Scientific Accelerator in North America. The manga concluded in the September issue of Dengeki Daioh on July 27, 2020.
| No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN |
| 1 | July 26, 2014 | 978-4-04-866702-9 | October 27, 2015 | 978-1-626921-86-3 |
| Chapters 1–3 |||||
| 2 | November 27, 2014 | 978-4-04-866988-7 | January 5, 2016 | 978-1-626922-28-0 |
| Chapters 4–8 |||||
| 3 | April 27, 2015 | 978-4-04-869345-5 | May 31, 2016 | 978-1-626922-64-8 |
| Chapters 9–13 |||||
| 4 | October 27, 2015 | 978-4-04-865430-2 | October 25, 2016 | 978-1-626923-37-9 |
| Chapters 14–18 |||||
| 5 | May 27, 2016 | 978-4-04-892121-3 | March 7, 2017 | 978-1-626924-35-2 |
| Chapters 19–24 |||||
| 6 | November 26, 2016 | 978-4-04-892430-6 | August 29, 2017 | 978-1-626925-10-6 |
| Chapters 25–30 |||||
| 7 | August 26, 2017 | 978-4-04-892917-2 | January 16, 2018 | 978-1-626926-68-4 |
| Chapters 31–37 |||||
| 8 | March 24, 2018 | 978-4-04-893719-1 | February 12, 2019 | 978-1-626928-22-0 |
| Chapters 38–43 |||||
| 9 | October 11, 2018 | 978-4-04-912054-7 | June 18, 2019 | 978-1-642750-88-1 |
| Chapters 44–48 |||||
| 10 | June 26, 2019 | 978-4-04-912586-3 | April 28, 2020 | 978-1-642757-33-0 |
| Chapters 49–52 |||||
| 11 | March 26, 2020 | 978-4-04-913114-7 | December 1, 2020 | 978-1-64505-449-8 |
| Chapters 53–58 |||||
| 12 | August 27, 2020 | 978-4-04-913394-3 | June 8, 2021 | 978-1-64505-827-4 |
| Chapters 59–61 |||||

#### Spin-off

A four-panel comedy manga spin-off of the series written by Kamachi and illustrated by Teto Tachitsu, titled A Certain Idol Accelerator-sama (とある偶像（アイドル）の一方通行（アクセラレータ）さま, Toaru Gūzō no Ippō Tsūkō-sama), began serialization in Dengeki Daioh from October 27, 2015 to November 27, 2018. It focuses on Accelerator's career as an idol, along with other Level 5 espers.
| No. | Japanese release date | Japanese ISBN |
| 1 | November 26, 2016 | 978-4-04-892363-7 |
| Chapters 1–10 |||
| 2 | August 26, 2017 | 978-4-04-892916-5 |
| Chapters 11–19 |||
| 3 | March 24, 2018 | 978-4-04-893715-3 |
| Chapters 20–29 |||
| 4 | December 25, 2018 | 978-4-04-912240-4 |
| Chapters 30–39 |||

### Anime

On October 7, 2018, an anime television adaptation of A Certain Scientific Accelerator was announced. The series is animated by J.C.Staff and directed by Nobuharu Kamanaka, with Kenji Sugihara handling series composition and Yohei Yaegashi designing the characters. Maiko Iuchi, the composer of A Certain Magical Index and A Certain Scientific Railgun, was confirmed in March 2019 to be composing the series. The Sixth Lie and Sajou no Hana performed the opening and ending theme music titled "Shadow is the Light" and "Parole", respectively. Twelve episodes were aired in Japan on AT-X, Tokyo MX, BS11, and MBS from July 12 to September 27, 2019. The first Blu-ray and DVD volumes of the series were published on October 30, 2019, followed by the second and final volumes on December 25, and February 28, 2020.
Crunchyroll streamed the series worldwide outside of Asia beginning July 12, 2019, while Muse Communication began distributing it on their Muse Asia YouTube channel on the same date. Funimation streamed the series in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand with an English dub beginning July 26, 2019, and Netflix released it in India on September 1, 2020. The series was released on Hulu in Japan on March 24, 2022.

#### Episode list

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | "Accelerator" Transliteration: "Akuserarēta" (Japanese: 学園都市最強能力者（アクセラレータ）) | Nobuharu Kamanaka | Kenji Sugihara | July 12, 2019 (2019-07-12) |
| An ultra-high-pressure experimental water cutter weapon is stolen in a secret research facility at District 4 in Academy City. Later, three high school students, Yōko Takada, Minori Kidera, and Hiromi Nakahara, assault the hospital at District 7, where Accelerator is confined, using the stolen weapon to obtain his genetic data and sell it to the highest bidder. Hiromi is knocked down by Accelerator's attack, while Yōko and Minori retreat after they stole Last Order's gift containing his blood that accidentally dropped from his open wound. Accelerator manages to stop them and retrieve the gift to return it to Last Order. In a post-credits scene, a hooded woman is observing the hospital afar with a picture of Last Order. |||||
| 2 | "Necromancer" Transliteration: "Nekuromansā" (Japanese: 死霊術師（ネクロマンサー）) | Nobuharu Kamanaka | Kenji Sugihara | July 19, 2019 (2019-07-19) |
| Three days ago, a suicidal student named Hasami Hitokawa was rescued by Anti-Skills, who introduced themselves as from DA, but later got killed by them to use her dead body for an experimental weapon. In the present, the hooded woman flees from pursuing DA operatives and enters Accelerator's room in the hospital. She later gets apprehended and drops the picture of Last Order, which Accelerator noticed. Accelerator confronts the DA operatives and destroys the experimental machine, known as Coffin, that they launched against him, which contained Hasami's dead body. Aiho Yomikawa and her Anti-Skill unit arrive at the scene, and she denies knowledge of DA's existence. Accelerator encounters the hooded woman introducing herself as Esther Rosenthal and learns about the machine's purpose of controlling the dead. Esther seeks his help to stop the individuals she taught about necromancy as they plan to use Last Order. |||||
| 3 | "Numbers" Transliteration: "Nanbāzu" (Japanese: 四凶の符（ナンバーズ）) | Tsuneo Tominaga | Asami Ishikawa | July 26, 2019 (2019-07-26) |
| Accelerator and Esther arrive in a warehouse where she used to be imprisoned and encounter Qiong Qi, a Coffin operated by Mikihiko Hishigata which uses one of the Rosenthal family's charms that are part of the artificial souls called Numbers. Mikihiko retreats after a scuffle between him and Accelerator. Accelerator and Esther return to the hospital and later bond with Last Order in a restaurant. Afterward, Heaven Canceller visits them and presents a charm he retrieved from Hasami's corpse. Esther brings Accelerator to the morgue and summons a pseudo-soul called Huotō to close Hasami's open spiritual circuit and lay her rest properly. Two DA operatives arrive and attempt to dissolve the corpse with a solution, but they are stopped by Accelerator. |||||
| 4 | "Third Number" Transliteration: "Sādo Nanbā" (Japanese: 擬似魂魄・禍斗（サードナンバー）) | Hiroaki Takagi | Noboru Takagi | August 2, 2019 (2019-08-02) |
| Huotō possesses Hasami's corpse and helps Accelerator in dealing with the DA operatives. One of them escapes and takes Misaka #10046 hostage. Kazari Uiharu and Ruiko Saten discuss an urban legend about a train that continues to run without stopping at any station, which revealed to be the mobile hideout of one of Academy City's Board of Directors named Rizō Nakimoto. Rizō contacts the liaison of the dark side organization Scavenger to have them eradicate DA due to their recent actions causing a nuisance. Meanwhile, Accelerator regains consciousness after his fight with DA and receives a call from Kikyō Yoshikawa about her findings of the organization. A Misaka clone visits Accelerator to give him a letter from Esther telling him that they are pursuing the DA hostage-taker and informs him about the abduction of Misaka #10046. Meanwhile, the Scavengers destroy a warehouse in District 3 where DA's hideout is located. |||||
| 5 | "DA" Transliteration: "DA" (Japanese: 警備員の闇（DA）) | Tsuneo Tominaga | Masaharu Amiya | August 9, 2019 (2019-08-09) |
| Anti-Skills raid a supplement factory, where DA used it as their hideout, and outnumber them, but DA manages to counter-attack with their Tarantula machine. During the fight, Aiho notices a group of DA retreating with a body bag containing Misaka #10046 and stops them. The Scavengers arrive at the scene and disable the machine with the help of Tarōmaru Seike's ability to manipulate friction coefficients, while Esther and Huotō rescue Misaka #10046 from falling to the ground. Meanwhile, Accelerator exits the hospital with a recently-charged choker to rescue the abducted Misaka clone. |||||
| 6 | "Scavenger" Transliteration: "Sukabenjā" (Japanese: 屍喰部隊（スカベンジャー）) | Hiroaki Takagi | Masaharu Amiya | August 16, 2019 (2019-08-16) |
| One of the Scavenger operatives named Naruha Sakuragi fights Huotō and overwhelms her with her ability to manipulate paper into shapes and sizes. Accelerator arrives before Naruha finishes off Huotō. Rita Īzumi, the leader of the Scavengers, soon realizes that they are fighting the ranked-one Level 5 esper of Academy City after hearing his name from Esther. Accelerator defeats the rest of the Scavengers. |||||
| 7 | "Download" Transliteration: "Daunrōdo" (Japanese: 制限時間（ダウンロード）) | Taiji Kawanishi | Kenji Sugihara | August 23, 2019 (2019-08-23) |
| After the fight, Esther commends Accelerator for not killing the Scavengers despite his great power and offers herself to be his student, while a mysterious woman watches them through a surveillance camera. They later encounter three Coffins operated by the mysterious woman, revealed to be Mikihiko's younger sister named Hirumi. The machines successfully abduct Misaka #10046, making Accelerator to pursue them. Esther reveals to Aiho her involvement with Mikihiko and the Coffins through necromancy. Meanwhile, Mikihiko begins downloading the memories of the 10,031 dead Misaka clones from Misaka #10046 as he taunts Accelerator for his past involvement in the Level 6 Shift Project, while Esther and Huotō arrive in an abandoned building to help Accelerator in her own way. |||||
| 8 | "Friend" Transliteration: "Furendo" (Japanese: 蛭魅（フレンド）) | Tsuneo Tominaga | Tsuyoshi Tamai | August 30, 2019 (2019-08-30) |
| 9 | "Memory of Death" Transliteration: "Memorī obu Desu" (Japanese: 10031回の死（メモリー オブ デス）) | Hidekazu Sato | Masaharu Amiya | September 6, 2019 (2019-09-06) |
| 10 | "Catastrophe" Transliteration: "Katasutorofu" (Japanese: 目覚め（カタストロフ）) | Shigeki Awai | Kenji Sugihara | September 13, 2019 (2019-09-13) |
| 11 | "Perfect Golem" Transliteration: "Pāfekuto Goremu" (Japanese: 完全体（パーフェクトゴレム）) | Tsuneo Tominaga | Tsuyoshi Tamai | September 20, 2019 (2019-09-20) |
| 12 | "Something to Protect" Transliteration: "Mamoru beki mono" (Japanese: まもるべきもの) | Hiroaki Takagi & Tsuneo Tominaga | Tsuyoshi Tamai | September 27, 2019 (2019-09-27) |

## Reception
### Sales

The first volume of A Certain Scientific Accelerator sold 39,039 copies in the first week of its release, ranking 27th behind Kuroko's Basketball, and 54,093 copies in the second week, coming in twelfth.

### Critical response

Evan Minto of Otaku USA found A Certain Scientific Accelerator lacking an "establishing exposition" and noted its "confusing starting point" but commended Yamaji's "comfortable" handling of action scenes.
Theron Martin of Anime News Network rated the first episode of the series' anime adaptation 4 out of 5 stars, describing the overall production "at least... impressive" despite his concerns with Kamanaka and Sugihara due to their previous works and the show a "sharp enough addition to the franchise that... should not disappoint any established fan of the franchise".