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.
Where To Start The Index/Railgun/Accelerator Light Novel or Manga 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.
From here, we are going to have little milestones based on what you have watched, since not everyone bothered with Railgun or side series like Accelerator.
If You Watched All Three Seasons of Index:
If you watched seasons one through three of A Certain Magical Index, that series completely adapts the Old Testament, so you can skip those light novels completely if you wish and start at the first novel of New Testament. The singular caveat is that you should go read some side stories include SS2, Norse Mythology, and Fanfare. The side stories, as you will learn, are almost always important to the main novels in some way.
A Certain Magical Index also has a manga, but one that is behind the anime. As of Chapter 187, it is at about Season 3, Episode 14.
All of Index + All Three Seasons of Railgun:
If you have also watched all three seasons of A Certain Scientific Railgun, there are no separate set of light novels for Railgun. Instead, what the anime is adapting is the separate Railgun manga story. You can pick the A Certain Scientific Railgun manga after the third season of Railgun anime at Chapter 97.
Index + Railgun + A Certain Scientific Accelerator:
If you watched A Certain Scientific Accelerator, you can continue the story with the A Certain Scientific Accelerator manga, which is what the anime was adapting. You can pick it up at Chapter 37.
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 in 26 episodes. Nine – particularly detailed and politically intricate – light novels.
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.
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?
The has been no official announcement of more A Certain series anime projects.
While A Certain series was nothing short of a craze at one point, that time seems to be over now. It seems that interest has died down in adapting the next part of Index, more of Railgun, or more of Accelerator, much less any of the other spin-off/side story.
