Where Does A Certain Magical Index / A Certain Scientific Railgun Anime End in The Light Novels?

Because A Certain Magical Index and A Certain Scientific Railgun are two series, each with three seasons now, this simple question of where to start in the light novels after the anime if you don’t just want to start from the beginning is a bit complicated. I will try my very best to make it as clear as possible since I am, myself, somewhat new to the light novels and had to do some learning.

A Certain Light Novel Series After The Anime

Before we begin, you need to know that A Certain Magical Index, the name of the light novels, is not just one set of novels now. There is the Old Testament (the original novels which the anime adapts), the New Testament (the sequel), and Genesis (sequel to the sequel). There is also Apocrypha Archive, which is just side stories.

A Certain Magical Index

• If you finished A Certain Magical Index Season 1 – You can start the A Certain Magical Index light novel at Novel 7
• If you finished A Certain Magical Index Season 2 – You can start the A Certain Magical Index light novel at Novel 14
• If you finished A Certain Magical Index Season 3 – Season 3 adapted through Novel 22 of A Certain Magical Index, fully adapting the series, so you can start at Novel 1 of A Certain Magical Index New Testament

A Certain Scientific Railgun

A Certain Scientific Railgun does not have a light novel, it is a manga story, which is a separate section further down below.

A Certain Scientific Accelerator

A Certain Scientific Accelerator does not have a light novel, it is a manga story, which is a separate section further down below.

A Certain Manga Series After The Anime

A Certain Magical Index

• If you finished A Certain Magical Index Season 1 – You can start the A Certain Magical Index manga at Volume 9, Chapter 45
• If you finished A Certain Magical Index Season 2 – You can start the A Certain Magical Index manga at Volume 21, Chapter 123
• If you finished A Certain Magical Index Season 3 – The manga is still behind Season 3 of the anime. As of Chapter 201, it is on Season 3, Episode 16.

A Certain Scientific Railgun

• If you finished A Certain Scientific Railgun Season 1 – You can start the A Certain Scientific Railgun manga at Volume 4, Chapter 18
• If you finished A Certain Scientific Railgun Season 2 – You can start the A Certain Scientific Railgun manga at Volume 7, Chapter 43
• If you finished A Certain Scientific Railgun Season 3 – You can start the A Certain Scientific Railgun manga at Volume 14, Chapter 97

A Certain Scientific Accelerator

If you finished the A Certain Scientific Accelerator anime and want to continue the story in the manga, you can start at Volume 8, Chapter 38.

Is The Index/Railgun/Accelerator Source Material Ongoing?

A Certain Magical Index:

• The A Certain Magical Index – Old Testament – light novel is complete. It ended in 2010 with Novel 22.
• The A Certain Magical Index – New Testament – light novel is complete. It ended in 2019 with Novel 23.
• The A Certain Magical Index – Genesis – light novel is ongoing. Since launching in 2020, it releases about two novels per year.
• The A Certain Magical Index manga is ongoing. Since launching in 2020, it releases one or two volumes per year.

The A Certain Scientific Railgun manga is still ongoing. Since launching in 2007, it releases about one volume per year.

The A Certain Scientific Accelerator manga is complete. It ended in 2020 with Chapter 64.

What to Expect From The Index/Railgun/Accelerator Source Material Compared to The Anime?

While the anime series of A Certain series are quite popular, their quality as adaptations of their source material is spotty at best.

A Certain Magical Index started strong with season one, but by the third season they crammed nine light novels into 26 episodes. Nine – particularly detailed and politically intricate – light novels into 26 episodes, which is okay, but a lot of things were cut out of it.

A Certain Scientific Railgun had a lot of anime-original content and “fluff” in the first and second seasons while the third season was a quite good adaptation.

A Certain Scientific Accelerator is actually probably one of the better adaptations, but it is also the shortest series.

Knowing all that, it is strongly recommended to read A Certain Magical Index light novels from the beginning since it is so dense with world building, and that world building is actually kind of important in this particular series. A Certain Scientific Railgun is easier to get into after the anime since it doesn’t skip anything too important. As for Accelerator, you can just dive on in there after the anime.

A Certain Series Spin-Offs

A Certain series is a series you can get lost in forever if you dive into the spin-offs too.

This excludes the Railgun manga and Accelerator manga, since they have their own anime.

• A Certain Idol Accelerator-sama (Manga, Complete) – A 4-koma comedy manga about making Accelerator into an idol and harnessing the power of his fans.
• A Certain Everyday Index-tan (Manga, Complete) – 4-koma comedy slice of life manga about comical everyday shenanigans of various characters
• A Certain Magical Index – Miracle of Endymion (Manga, Complete) – Manga adaptation of the movie by the same name.
• A Certain Magical Index – Road to Endymion (Light Novel, Complete) – Prequel short story to the Endymion movie.
• A Certain Scientific Railgun Side Story: Astral Buddy (Manga, Complete) – A side story that takes place parallel to the Dream Ranker arc in Railgun that follows Hokaze Junko.
• A Certain Scientific Mental Out (Manga, Ongoing) – Sequel to Astral Buddy
• A Certain Scientific Dark Matter (Manga, Complete) – Spin-off about Kakine Teitoku’s past.
• A Certain Dark Side’s Item (Light Novel, Manga, Ongoing) – Spin-Off about ITEM
• A Certain Magical Heavy Zashiki-Warashi Deals With a Simple Killer Princess’ Marriage Circumstances (Light Novel, Manga, Complete) – Crossover story filled with characters from the author’s, Kazuma Kamachi, other series.
• A Certain Magic Index SS (Light Novel, Complete) – Side stories that take place between V13-V14 and then V16-V17 of Index Old Testament.
• A Certain Magical Index SP (Light Novel, Complete) – Various side stories from the Index and Railgun main story
• A Certain Magical Index SS: Norse Mythology (Light Novel, Complete) – Side stories about Kanzaki Kaori.
• A Certain Magical Index: Love Letter Competition (Light Novel, Complete) – A comedic short story about Kumokawa Seria giving a love letter to Touma and the various people that want to intervene.
• A Certain Magical Index Side Story: Biohacker Arc (Light Novel, Complete) – Alternate story about Touma, Ayu, and Seria fighting a mysterious dragon.
• A Certain Magical Index Side Story: Agnese’s Magic Side Work Experience (Light Novel, Complete) – Side story about Agnese and the nuns.
• A Certain Magical Index Side Story: Necessarius Special Entrance Exam (Light Novel, Complete) – About the Amakusa jumping through hoops to join the Church of England.

Will There Be More A Certain Series Anime?

After a long silence, it was announced that they will be making a Season 4 of A Certain Scientific Railgun. Announced in February 2025, there has been no further information as to when Season 4 of Railgun will actually air.

Alongside the Railgun announcement, they also announced that the A Certain ITEM of the Dark Side spin-off will also be receiving an anime. Though no further word as to when that will air has been announced either.

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A Certain Magical Index is a tale of what happens when magic meets science. It is one of those shows that can be hard to get into, but once you are, you are really dragged into it. If you are looking for similar anime recommendations, we got them.