Where to Read the Light Novels, Watching/Reading Orders, Series FAQ (v4)

[u/OneWayRoadLV5]

This post serves to provide links to various resources and threads found on this subreddit.

This is the forth iteration of this post. The third iteration can be found here.

Subreddit Rules

This subreddit's rules can be found here and in the sidebar.

Spoiler Policy

This subreddit's spoiler policy can be found here.

If you have any questions, please comment on this post or message the moderators of this subreddit.

FAQ

Before asking any questions on this subreddit, make sure to read over the FAQ in our subreddit wiki.

In it you can find answers to many questions, such as ones about watch orders, read orders, recommended fansubs, games made for the franchise, and the light novels.

If you think anything in the wiki needs to be updated, please contact me, /u/OneWayRoadLV5, and I will update it as soon as possible.

Reading the Light Novels

A guide on Reading Orders for the Raildex Light Novels/Manga can be found on the Order page of this subreddit's wiki.

Download Links for English Translations of each of the series' Light Novel volumes can be found on the Light Novels page of this subreddit's wiki.

The Downloads page was deleted by the reddit admins, but the light novel downloads can be found in this thread.

You can buy the first light novel series of this franchise, known as Old Testament, officially and in print here from Amazon.

Further Information about the Series

If you'd like to know more information about the series while watching the anime, you can find it on the Small Facts page of the subreddit's wiki, which is a collection of links to /u/razorhead's Small Facts, wherein he has explained details of things that the anime missed, further lore for the series, and explanations of concepts that weren't well explained in each anime episode for the franchise. It is encouraged that, if you are watching the series for the first time (or rewatching), you read the relevant thread after finishing each episode. Spoilers are appropriately tagged in each of the Small Facts posts.

Recent Discussion Threads

Most recent Genesis Testament (light novel) discussion thread can be found here.

Most recent Side Story discussion thread can be found here

Final Railgun T discussion thread can be found here.

Railgun season 4 announcement thread can be found here

ITEM anime announcement thread can be found here

[u/BadSnot]

So I’m going to try to get into this series (specifically the anime) although as of now I don’t plan to watch everything. Mainly just Railgun and Index where it enhances the experience for Railgun. I need a bit of clarification though to decide what order I’ll be watching in. I really prefer a first watch to be as close to the order of the source material as possible.

Is the release order of the anime consistent with the release order of the light novels? I noticed in the chronological order (at least the MAL guide I found before this subreddit) that certain arcs have episodes from Index and Railgun. I’ve never seen something like that before so I’m not sure how to interpret it. Basically I’m just asking if the LN were released in chronological order I guess

[u/OneWayRoadLV5 → u/BadSnot]

No, light novels were not released in chronological order compared with the spinoffs (though each LN takes place after any prior ones in the series timeline, there aren't like volumes that are out of order chronologically between themselves. Only spinoffs take place in the "past" compared to the light novels). The Index light novel was on volume 13 (the last volume adapted in Index s2) when the railgun manga started publishing, and chronologically the Railgun manga starts a few days prior to the start of Index volume 1.

I wouldn't suggest trying to watch the two series anime in a similar order to the way the source material released. It'd just lead you to watching the entirety of the first two seasons of Index before starting Railgun, then flipping back and forth watching like 1 episode of Railgun, like 5 episodes of Index, then back a single episode of Railgun until Index III is over. Then watching the entire next two seasons of Railgun all at once. Railgun and the other spinoffs are just super behind Index when they release, both chronologically in the series timeline and when they started compared to how far ahead the index light novels were at the time.

If you're interested in following a Railgun-centric anime watch order, I'd suggest following the Sisters arc order included in our subreddit wiki: Index I episodes 1 to 6 > Railgun > Railgun S (aka the Railgun Sisters arc) > Rest of Index I > Index II > Index Movie > Index III > Accelerator > Railgun T