Misaka's deadpan rage at Kuroko's advances is funnier than shows that build entire seasons around a single joke. The cast chemistry makes even procedural monster-of-the-week episodes feel like hanging out with friends who happen to fight reality-bending criminals. Clean animation and snappy editing keep the pacing tight enough that you don't notice the plot isn't going anywhere until you're already invested in these four people.

In Academy City, a student-dominated metropolis whose technology runs decades ahead of the outside world, young people train to develop psychic powers and are ranked from Level 0 to Level 5. Misaka Mikoto is the third strongest of the city's seven Level 5 espers, an electricity manipulator known as the Railgun. She shares a room with Kuroko Shirai, a Level 4 teleporter who serves in Judgment, the student-run public safety corps. Rounding out their group are Kuroko's Judgment partner Uiharu Kazari, a Level 1 skilled at hacking, and Uiharu's friend Ruiko Saten, a Level 0 with no powers at all. Their routine is disrupted as odd urban legends prove true, including a rumored way to artificially boost an esper's level. As crimes tied to this Level Upper grow more serious, the four begin to see that their glittering city may be far more twisted than it looks. The result is an action-driven sci-fi fantasy set in the same world as Toaru Majutsu no Index.