Anime: Steins;Gate a2a35

Steins;Gate is a famous anime series that was adapted from a game of the same name. It follows self-proclaimed mad scientist, Okabe Rinatarou throughout his daily life. It starts as a mystery, turns into a slice-of-life comedy with sci-fi elements sprinkled within, and then turns into a full-blown thriller that never looks back. It handles some dark themes such as depression and suicide, the idea of free will and if it truly exists at all, what it means to go insane and give up everything at a small chance of happiness, and much more.Starting with the story, Steins;Gate has one of the best and definitely one of the most well-written stories I have encountered in anime as a whole. It is a story centered around the entire idea and concept of time travel, it is scientifically accurate in the theories of its time travel and the mechanics but it adds in some mumbo jumbo to spice it up and make it even more interesting and original. Steins;Gate uses time travel to its fullest potential, with 0 plot holes relating to its usage of time travel, it has all of the effects of time travel demonstrated/shown in detail. It uses a bunch of different methods/ways of time traveling. It also shows the mental toll that time traveling can have on someone. It sets up rules of time travel within its own universe and sticks to them. It introduces several concepts and executes them to near perfection. The story is definitely the biggest highlight and triumph of the anime. No time travel anime comes close to Steins;Gate, there is no debate that Steins;Gate is without a doubt THE time travel anime. Steins;Gate above all is a time travel centric story within a contemporary setting, it is grounded in reality and so the time travel actually gets explained (unlike a lot of other anime in the same category).The protagonist, Okabe Rintarou is an eccentric university student on summer break at the start of the series, the way his life and he as a whole changes throughout the course of the series due to the events that take place make it feel like you have gone through an entire life's worth of events with Okabe as you get to see him at his lowest of lows and his highest of highs. Okabe is by far the most interesting and well-developed character in the entire anime. He has two persona's, that of an everyday socially awkward university student and that of a mad scientist with over the top and grandiose dreams and delusions of "destroying the world's ruling structure", at the beginning of the series Okabe seems like a mentally insane and unstable individual, he talks to himself on the phone, gives everyone around him nicknames, randomly falls into insane, maniacal laughter, and talks about organizations and conspiracies. However throughout all of this, there are points in the series where cracks begin to form in his facade, the viewer, as well as world-renowned scientist Makise Kurisu, can see glimpses into Okabe's true form so to speak, Kurisu is the only person who is smart and attentive enough to really see these minuscule changes in his personality and it makes for a great duo. Okabe slowly breaks down due to certain events in the series and he completely reveals his normal, true self. His true self is someone who longs to make friends and form bonds/relationships with others and protect those around him, he wants to be a leader figure and motivation for his friends. This makes what happens in the series, due to his own carelessness, all the more tragic. After a certain point where Okabe's life crumbles around him, Okabe wants to go back to how things were before he messed up everything. The way Okabe atones for his sins and gets punished relentlessly for toying with a power that he never should have is mesmerizing to me, somehow you want Okabe to succeed and come out on top despite everything being a result of his sheer arrogance and irresponsibility.A character I previously mentioned, Makise Kurisu, is the heroine of the story, the deuteragonist. Her and Okabe's back and forths are endlessly enjoyable. They have really witty dialogue with each other. Okabe calls her "Christina" as it is a play on her name "Kurisu-tina" which happens to sound like the American/English name equivalent. Kurisu is a tsundere, although she never attacks or really berates Okabe in the series. She is calm and collected most of the time, but once again this is just a front, she even states that she builds walls around herself, just like Okabe, they are one and the same in a way. She wants to remain as a respectable scientist and researcher, however, she has a much more different personality when she's by herself or with Okabe. Okabe is a character, just like Kurisu, who figures out that Kurisu has a different side, Kurisu uses @channel (sort of like 4chan) and posts memes and all of the sort, Okabe discovers this fact. Kurisu in reality is different from what she may appear at first. She is very curious, yet she denies it, she uses memes and other cultural references in conversation which she denies ever saying. she is sort of like the viewer when it comes to how she sees Okabe too, she can tell when he's not acting normal. She is the only one who can really notice his changes in attitude, no matter how insignificant. The viewer can connect to Okabe and Kurisu the most due to these factors.There are also a few other side characters, Suzuha is a really great character, she has an entire arc, throughout a short amount of episodes, that actually feels fulfilled and satisfying. Daru is a character that adds to the back and forths between Okabe and Kurisu, making it even more entertaining. Mayuri is an airhead but she is shown to have a much higher emotional intelligence, she just isn't smart with science or hacking, etc... like any of the others. Moeka has a little arc in the space of a couple of episodes, not as great as suzuha's but still pretty good. there's also Ruka and Faris who have to undo and sacrifice many things, which makes them feel more human. All the characters feel somewhat explored, obviously it's a 24 episode anime so some characters are going to be more developed than others.Steins;Gate has average animation, however, sometimes it can change styles completely for certain scenes. The camera work and directing are sublime which makes up for some of the lacking animation, there are scenes where the camera frantically shifts around characters and where it dramatically zooms in/out on subjects which adds to the animation. The anime also has a unique lighting effect that creates a tense atmosphere in some scenes and makes it feel mature in tone and melancholic. The animation definitely goes downhill in the latter half of the anime, some character designs can be a bit off or inconsistent in later episodes, movement can also feel a bit jagged and stiff, but the excellent directing and camera work makes up for that in most cases, and it didn't ruin my experience or take away my immersion with the series at any time, but it can be noticeable at some points.Steins;Gate has a decent soundtrack that fits with the atmosphere of the story, the standout tracks are the OP - Hacking To The Gate, Farewell, and the many iterations of Gate of Steiner which is also the main theme of the game the anime is adapted from, there is also Skyclad Observer which was the OP for the OG game. The opening song, Hacking to the gate does extraordinarily well at matching the series throughout its many phases, it feels unique for an anime opening, it doesn't try to just be hype, hype, and hype, it has slow parts, with it slowly building up with all the instruments, the lyrics are also full of meaning and symbolism for the anime as a whole. Skyclad Observer is only played once near the ending of the anime and it fits in perfectly, the way they timed for it to start playing is seamless, it starts playing at the right time, any other time would not have worked, it makes the scene it is used in feel epic and uplifting in all the right ways. None of the OST's are overused, they are all used as little as possible only for the necessary parts. Farewell is another OST I found memorable, it is used for a couple of scenes, but it is most notably used in the ending scene of the anime which is fitting given the title of the track is "farewell" and it definitely feels like a farewell scene with it playing for the very final moments of the finale. Gate of Steiner is used for the "Oh shit!" moments, when it plays you know everything has gone awry, it is used flawlessly. There are many different versions/iterations of Gate of Steiner as I have mentioned, and they all have their own flair to them, which makes them feel different despite going by the same beat.In conclusion, Steins;Gate is so popular and universally accepted as being a timeless masterpiece by the anime community because of everything I have mentioned and then some. It has a lot to love. The only legitimate complaints/criticisms someone could have for the anime is that it starts slow, the rest are mainly nitpicks or down to personal preference. Steins;Gate really manages to have every key component of a great story in only 24 episodes, something a lot of 300+ episode anime struggle with, Steins;Gate has a great build-up, a great turning point/middle, and a mind-boggling ending. It has endless rewatchability and more. In my opinion Steins;Gate truly is a masterpiece and deserves its praise, of course, like anything in life, Steins;Gate isn't for everyone, but if you want an anime that takes time to build everything up and one that foreshadows a lot of things and makes the audience fit pieces of the puzzle together themselves in a mind-blowing way, if you pay attention throughout, then Steins;Gate is definitely for you, it is a must-watch for anyone even if you don't think you'll like it, give it a shot, it's only 24 episodes long! El Psy Kongroo.

Probably not an understatement to say that this anime is about the best anime to date. It has perfect balance in pretty much everything and excels in a lot of areas, simply put. That said, it does not make itself out to be some pompous fully genius work which is a downfall of quite a few anime that rely on pathos. It is also important to note that this is probably the most successful adaptation of a game or VN to an anime series.

One thing I would like to note is that this anime as an adaptation is rather different from source material in several aspects, from plot to animation. This difference is good in and of itself, but it should be kept in mind for anyone who is going to play or has played
the VN.

The anime itself is an adaptation of an equally good visual novella (VN) of the same name, though there are changes, ranging from changes done to characters to certain plot elements and presentation. The premise of this anime revolves around time travel and is set in the Science;Adventure setting of other VNs by Shikura Chiyomaru's team. The premise of this anime also uses certain assertions and the existence of a person who went by the pseudonym John Titor in early 2000s and wrote on the internet about how he claimed to be a time traveler. His internet activity has earned him a Wikipedia article. The character "John Titor" as well as his online persona and some of his assertions form the basis of the plot of the anime. Not often you see such intricate, discrete, and deeply integrated references in any literary piece. The plot also makes references to a mass surveillance network, and they even call it by name in Steins;Gate 0. In the VN, there was also reference to the Committee of 300, which is mentioned quite often in Sci;Adv series VNs. The whole thing about the LHC being able to make black holes as mentioned in the anime comes from several incidents when people opposed CERN's research because they believed that it would make a black hole or some other cataclysm. IBN is obviously a changed name for IBM, with whom Steins;Gate even had something of a collaboration with. A lot of these aspects (with some exceptions) that make up the setting of the anime can be classified as conspiracy theories and that is something that Sci;Adv series uses in almost all of its work; SciFi and conspiracy theories in an otherwise normal Japanese setting.

There are a lot of themes shown in this anime and there is at least one theme per character that they are designed to explore by their story. For instance, Moeka's story shows, among other things, dependence. It shows how a person can be stripped of all meaning other than to do anything for something or, as in this case, someone and not bat an eyelid when that action is despicable. Rukako's arc is a bit weirder in that it seems less philosophical but it does show emotional problems related to gender and, in the case of this story, confidence. Suzuha is most closely related to duty and the future, in that she consistently struggled with keeping said duty and also her very existence starts and she is shaped by the future that she wants to change. The whole conflict between Kurisu and her father also shows things like ambition and how corrupting it may be, though this is overshadowed by other things in plot. Probably the most important theme in the whole anime is fate and how people are shaped by it as well as its nature. All of these characters have had their lives changed, possibly forever by the time machine. Time travel even has power over life and death. This anime puts a worldview that is something in between being a deterministic and a non-deterministic view of fate, in that in one world line a person will die no matter what you do if their death is a "convergence" and most such events are. However that is avoidable by going to another world line where such a thing does not occur.

The plot is near perfect for a sci-fi piece. It is unitary in that it all comes back together and intertwines various arcs perfectly after reaching the turning point. The creators have wisely not unloaded a ton of events and knowledge onto the viewer, as is often the case with most sci-fi, like Serial Experiments Lain. Instead, the plot is relatively simple and progresses at a decent pace, though one will only recognise said pace after the turning point. By the plot being simple, one can follow what happens with no effort easily and not be overwhelmed. The pace is slow enough that one can distinguish easily events within the anime after watching it.

While this is not noticeable by the average viewer, there are some moments which the anime skips out that were in the VN and that would have made the plot slightly more coherent as well as add more lore to the anime as part of the Sci;Adv series. Fortunately, here this problem is not as severe as it was in the later Chaos;Child, where the story line just ceased to make sense because they removed far too much from the initial plot of the VN. Here it seems they did that just to cram more scenes per episode, but I would argue that in adding all of the more crucial little bits missing here but present in the VN they would not exceed one more episode in running time. For instance, the VN had a lot more tie ins with other Sci;Adv stories. Some of the excluded episodes actually covered some would be plot holes. For instance, they "compress" data in a black hole (this is stated explicitly, we assume that this is a mechanic and is not something easily disprovable and therefore not a plot hole), but they need to receive it back fast before it decompresses. In the VN they show that the whole house is directly connected to SERN via cable, though that also gives more questions than answers. There is no similar explanation in the anime; they just stated that they had a direct connection to SERN. There were also other small bits and pieces that added to the story and the atmosphere. Either way, it is a good idea to watch this before or after playing through the VN for the lore.

Aside from lore and some connecting bits, the VN also had a fair bit of theory and physics knowledge presented to the viewer in order to back up the "scientific" part of the plot. In the anime this was seemingly cut because it would inevitably just overload the viewer with information that becomes irrelevant as the viewer gets drawn away from the technical side of the plot towards the second half of the anime. Normally, including such information would make the anime much more sophisticated for viewers. Anime like Serial Experiments Lain have large portions of the anime dedicated to almost lecture like bits explaining complicated computer science history and concepts which gives it a level of sophistication, but this is an extreme example. Steins;Gate does not bomb the viewer with information seemingly to streamline the pace of the anime, though for some this would (erroneously in my opinion) indicate a lack of sophistication.

Despite the anime's ingenuity, there are some parts that may be considered plot holes or ambiguities, though you need to look very deep to find them. That said, looking at the reviews above, ostensibly if you do not look hard enough you run the risk of erroneously finding plot holes that are otherwise explained in the plot.

I would argue that the scientific basis for the anime is not a plot hole as it is with any sci-fi, especially since the science in the anime is more or less believable.

Episode 25 is a bit of a blunder in of quality overall, but it is still moderately comic. It was released half a year after the series ended and it is rather raw in animation quality in several scenes. There is also a game called Rai-Net within the anime. It is shown only about 3 times, but one could say that it is in the anime only because the VN also had it, because otherwise it seems redundant and not fully worked out and only takes up time even if that time is measured in seconds. The "But he's a guy" line can get a bit annoying, but considering that it actually became a sort of a meme it is not too cringe. Amane Yuki is also shown in Episode 25, but for some reason her character design here and in the movie is radically different from the one in Steins;Gate 0.

The soundtrack is very well made. Some of it is soundtrack that is used from the VN which is also very nice and most of it is upbeat but at the same time calming. Other parts of the OST are obviously made specifically for the anime and are quite memorable and pleasant. The OST is good enough to listen on its own, but it is not particularly distinguished as music. I do wish however that more of the VN soundtrack was used after all. Quite a bit of it had a much more fitting atmosphere than some of the newer soundtrack. For instance, OST Chaos Mind was used for literally only a couple of seconds in the anime, and it would have fit so well in certain points in the anime. These VN OSTs make up a large part of the atmosphere in the VN and I feel that they could have brought more of that atmosphere had they simply used more of the OST from the VN. Quiet Air was also a very nice OST that deserved more screen time than it got. But I can understand these OSTs not being included as much as the atmosphere had to be changed to accommodate them in certain scenes.

The animation quality done by White Fox is variable, but is good overall. Particularly in close ups of things, like faces of characters, does the animation truly excel. There are certain animation sequences in the anime that are fluid and showcase some of the best quality animation I have seen, even if the animation itself is brief. It is like the animators went to the maximum at those select sequences. There is also a significant work done on shadows. Those are consistently well done. That being said, quality noticeably drops even if the viewer is about 8m away or at a weird angle. It is not impossible to make high quality animation even in those circumstances, but because of its simplicity, the animation remains fluid and the quality drop is barely noticeable. Inanimate objects, like rooms and furniture, are often either drawn in a different much more polished style or drawn using CGI altogether. Either way this was a good decision as when this is the case, characters do not look out of place as their animation keeps up normally, and it allows just for a more polished picture overall. I suppose completely following huke's (character designer for the VN) would be both too expensive and probably out of place. While his character designs are amazing, I find it hard to imagine them being animated, even if it was done to the last detail, although I would like to see that. The changes done to character designs here were also good, in my opinion, as were the original designs. Nevertheless, there are still better examples of animation out there like anime by Shaft or KyoAni, which can be more detailed and more fluid.

The opening and the ED are both excellent. I have no idea what deal Chiyomaru has with people working under him, but generally Ito Kanako and FES(Sakikabara Yui) have made some of the best and most original songs for VNs and anime that I have heard, and Steins;Gate is no exception. Though I personally favour the opening from the VN, the one here is more energetic as well as complex in visuals and music alike. The ED is also visually pleasing, though a bit underwhelming compared to the ED of Steins;Gate 0. It seems to represent the "you that goes beyond time" as was put late in the anime. In this case the "you" is Makise Kurisu, hence her naked form at the end of the ED.

The character development in this series is probably second to none. For such a relatively large ensemble to develop, be intertwined, and explored in a relatively short time, the writing has to be on point. The only anime that goes to similar lengths that comes to mind is Monogatari, but even then the story and lore is sometimes sacrificed for character development and vice versa. S;G does compromise not that way; the story is whole and at the same time enables a mass of characters and their stories to be developed. Okabe himself is shown not only to develop, from a edgy uni student to an also edgy student just with a bit more awareness, but also unravel and make decisions that would normally unthinkable for a person like him and do whatever it takes to achieve his goal. The various situations that he encounters have him deviate from his norm of half normal student and half chuunibuyou to other roles ranging from a properly decent and even pleasant human being to a truly horrible person. There is also a bit of irony in the way Okabe acts early on. My only critique of Makise Kurisu as a character is that quite often her dialogue involves like 'logically' and other words that mean the same thing in that context. It is meant to bring weight to her words as logically sound, but instead it somewhat cheapens them and gets annoying. This is also a hallmark of other more derivative anime. As was said before, the character design is good, but is subtly different from the designs in the VN. Even so, one can still sometimes see those boxes in the characters eyes, that look reminiscent of TVs...

In general, the direction of this anime is great. It is much more conventional in things like "camera" angles, lighting, and dynamic as opposed to other anime of similar caliber, like Monogatari or Tatami Galaxy, which is not limited by keeping even basics like colour palettes consistent. The very fact that some scenes in this anime look nothing short of perfect, despite using a modest set of instruments to do so, is proof of how well directed it is.

A noticeble feature used by the director is foreshadowing. Normally this is a rather primitive literary feature, but here it is done very well. Never have I seen it be used so subtly and effectively, though it is very likely that you will only notice it on the second watch of the anime. Especially in episodes 1 and 5 there are seemingly random scenes, one of them only lasts a moment, that later reappear after the turning point in important junctions.

My guess is that this is normally not used because it is too subtle. In fact there is a lot of dialogue that can be completely reinterpreted from the context at the time to refer to the things yet to come, so much so that it is creepy. Most people will miss this. But anime is not limited by one watch nor is it impossible to pause at those scenes.

While this anime ranks high on the list of watched anime for anyone who is even remotely acquainted with anime and literature, other anime adaptations of other VNs in the same Sci;Adv setting have generally been a failure despite sometimes excellent original material. Chaos;Head had a questionable art style and could not reconcile changes made to itself with the original themes and plot of the VN. As a result it came out messy, but watchable for 2008 standard. In 2011 came Steins;Gate. In 2013 the movie sequel for Steins;Gate came out. In 2014 came Robotics;Notes, but its problem was in the fact that the plot felt like it did not change from the VN. As a result, it was rather long and did not have the content to fill the length of 24 episodes, in the very least dynamically. On the other hand Chaos;Child (2017) was far too short for the content of the original. The Chaos;Child VN could easily take much longer to fully complete than probably all of the other VNs in the series, and yet they cut out a lot of the important parts to the plot and shoved it into a barely 14-episode anime, which obviously was not a good decision. Out of those 14 episodes, the first episode was a very quick filler for Chaos;Head VN, a story that has no relation to Chaos;Child other than being in the same setting. Steins;Gate 0 came out a year after that and while it did not reach the same level of ingenuity in plot and direction, it was still a strong adaptation, probably second only to the original itself in the Sci;Adv series. There is also Occultic;Nine, but apparently that is a separate story and it also was not infallible to say the least.

This anime is generally as good as it gets. It can be enjoyed by both people looking for a nice 1 watch scifi action anime and people who overanalyse anime way too much. It is true that many people praise it whereas it seems that some of this stuff was unintentional and rather primitive, like foreshadowing. Even if that is the case, frankly that is even more impressive that the people that made this got the balance between pace and plot right on accident. I would normally binge watch it, but one could take it slower. There is also a question of how to watch this and Steins;Gate 0. The main problem with Steins;Gate 0 is that it is chronologically positioned just before the very end of Steins;Gate, which makes for a somewhat awkward watch, if you decide to watch 50 episodes at once. I think that it would be much neater to watch Steins;Gate 0 on its own. If you stop at episode 23 and move to Steins;Gate 0 it feels rather unsatisfying as everything before that episode was building up for a nice unitary epilogue, but you would be starting another 24 episodes. It leaves you with a rather unsatisfying feeling as you start Steins;Gate 0. On the other hand, watching Steins;Gate 0 on its own is also a bit weird. Steins;Gate 0 requires context to watch it. Looking over the reviews for this anime, I have come back to the realisation that anime, and cinematography in general, is extremely subjective. I have laid out a lot of objective reasons to like it, like themes and directorial instruments, but other things, like pacing, OST, and even the plot itself, may not be everyone's cup of tea. As Tarkovsky said "Never try to convey your idea to the audience – it is a thankless and senseless task. Show them life and they'll find within themselves the means to assess and appreciate it". On one hand Steins;Gate does not dwell on a set idea and rather allows the viewer to take the story as they want it, so to speak. Even so, there are some set pieces, like the aforementioned pacing, that are too solid to be for everyone. But I strongly believe that this anime comes as close as any anime I have seen to satisfy everyone's demands and it does that well.

Visuals - 9
Steins;Gate employs an overall visual aesthetic that makes it difficult to label. The artwork and animation themselves are of a noticeable high standard, but it's the presentation and technique that make the visuals really standout within the low number of environments in the series. Since the series doesn't particularly move away from the urban surroundings of the city where the characters inhabit, there's no cause to diversify the artwork etc., however with the seemingly bizarre nature of the series the direction of the visuals has been beautifully crafted to convey this sense of intrigue and often complexity. Some shots are designed so that the viewer really needs to spot the subtle information being given to them that can change how they perceive a scene - I began thinking it was a little tedious but soon began to appreciate that this aspect really draws you in and engrosses you in every second of what you're seeing in case you feel like you might miss something important.

Sound - 9
It's often difficult to find a series these days with a half-decent opening/closing theme, and unfortunately Steins;Gate isn't where I found one. They're forgettable and just noise in my opinion. Luckily the other audio aspects of the series are on top form. The musical score is kept subtle and accentuates scenes very well when it's on; the sound effects give you a well-balanced feel of the sometimes busy urban environments and the quirky scientific gadgets; and the voice acting is well suited to the characters and despite some being rather formulaic, does accurately reflect their personalities.

Story - 9
The complex nature of the plot involves the protagonist, a young scientist with an overly active sense of enthusiasm, who together with his 2 friends stumble onto a way to send messages back in time and thus alter the current timeline. Soon, this has spiraled out of control and the ensuing butterfly effect from just one or two adjustments in the timeline have changed large aspects of the protagonist's environment and the characters he interacts with.

Right from the opening episode I was confused as to what I was actually watching. The whole series started off as if it may have been a comedy, with the protagonist being a nutcase. But the closing scenes of each episode ended with a jolt to my expectations, and by around episode 6-7, I was thoroughly intrigued by what was going on and felt like I was in the rabbit hole and deciding to explore just how deep it goes.

The series in no way became predicable. I always felt as though I was on the back foot, and just when I thought I had figured something out, the plot takes a turn and suddenly everything - sometimes literally - changes. The only 'downside' of this was that my expectations would often cause my satisfaction to fluxtuate. I was never satisfied until the end of the series about how ambitious its scale would be. There's no way to tell how the story is going to unfold with so many possibilities hinted at, so it's hard not to think ahead at times and assume something more ambitious than what the story intended all along. With stories involving the manipulation of time, I've become almost too accustomed to seeing some large scale plot unfold that involves multiple locations and spans great distances. However in Steins;Gate the plot doesn't move out its initial environment. Instead, it focuses on the changes to it's main cast of characters and how they populate the familiar surroundings that they're based in. At first this felt like a missed opportunity, but as the series ended I thought it was actually a pleasant breath of fresh air.

Character - 8
The main protagonist Rintarō Okabe is absolutely the heart and soul of the series, and steals the show. I began the series feeling a bit irritated by his thoroughly confusing, eccentric personality, but as the series progressed and I learned more about his traits and his subtleties, he's definitely hands-down the best representative of Steins;Gate. His interactions with the ing cast are what essentially 'make' the show.

After a few episodes you understand the environment these characters are in and their overall personalities and quirks. Many of the characters don't have their backstories explained for a long, long time, and up until that point you just have to accept them and enjoy the ride. Each character brings a different and distinct dynamic to the group, and provides many subtle aspects that help showcase how changes in the timeline affect them.

Another aspect that caught me a little off guard was the love story. So much of the show was engrossing due to the timeline events, that the love story almost slowly crept up on me. It was developed very sweetly and unlike a lot of other series, had a satisfying conclusion that felt justified.

The only character I wasn't very keen on was Moeka. As well as being fairly unlikable and sometimes unnecessary, I felt as though her story wasn't clearly resolved or in any way received adequate closure, which I certainly thought it needed.

Value - 5
I reckon I would watch the series again in future (along with the concluding movie) but certainly not in any hurry. Much like something similar to Death Note (which I watched a second time about 5 years after my first viewing), the excitement here is in the unraveling of the plot rather than something aesthetic in the visuals, and as such it requires a rather large lapse in time for you to suitably forget about it so you can come back to it fresh and enjoy it all over again.

Enjoyment - 10
After a reluctant start, this series was one of the best I've seen at the time of it's release, and even 8 years later in 2019, kind of still is. Refreshingly complex and unforgiving, funny and exciting, heartbreaking and sweet. All in all it's simply interesting, and showcases this in a unique manner that sets it apart from other contemporary anime.

Before I begin, I should make it clear that this review is not meant to promote an anime to those who haven't seen it, but rather, it is meant to evaluate a great title. Thus, be warned that there will be significant spoilers in this review, so do not read if you haven't already completed the show. With that out of the way, let's get started.

Who doesn't love the concept of time travel? Many scientists have been fascinated by the idea, yet there hasn't been any real progress on this field in today's world. Not only is our technology still lacking from accomplishing this feat, but ethical consequences also remind some of us why time travel may not be "ideal". Putting this in perspective, think about what would happen if you were suddenly transferred into a future twenty years from now. You may meet your future child or grandchild and you wouldn't even know it. However, by meeting them in this way, you're also changing history itself, and that could have some serious implications on the present world you live in. Steins;Gate explores the interesting concept of time travel by taking the form of a psychological thriller.

Story -- 9/10

Basically, we have a group of college students who have discovered a way to send text messages to the past, and in doing so, they can alter the world. This ties back to what I talked about earlier -- should time travel really be attempted? Well, the group experienced first-hand just how incredibly wrong things went after they tempered with time. For each message they sent back to the past, the world around them has slowly, but gradually, changed. All of this eventually led to a secret organization named SERN, catching on to the group's experiments, and brutally murdering one of the . From there on, the story took a serious turn, shifting genre from a normal Sci-fi/Slice of Life to a Thriller. The protagonist of the story is ultimately caught in a dilemma, between saving the life of his childhood friend (who was killed by an agent of SERN) and saving his new love interest from dying. For the majority of the second half, the protagonist travels back in time repeatedly in attempt to save his friend from dying. It is also in this second half that we can clearly feel the protagonist's pain and suffering, since he is the only character who retains any memory after travelling from one world line to the next. The plot has successfully constructed a "believable" thriller without too many inconsistencies, and it is subjectively very entertaining all the way.

Character -- 10/10

In my opinion, almost all characters in Steins;Gate are either well developed or just plainly likable. In fact, Steins;Gate wouldn't be half the show it is without these characters. The group of college students I was talking about earlier get together in a shop keeper's basement, which sort of serves as their secret lab. Here's a quick run down of the lab .

Okabe Rintarou- He is the protagonist of the story and the founder of the lab (which really isn't what you would call a lab... but I digress). Love him or hate him, you will definitely the guy. He introduces himself as a mad scientist and calls himself Hououin Kyouma (he actually prefers others to address him as Hououin or Kyouma, rather than his real name). From talking to himself on his own cellphone to giving other characters strange nicknames, you will probably think he's an idiot. Personally, I think he's part of the reason why this show works well; since the overall tone in Steins;Gate is dark, his character manages to provide enough comic relief to balance the mood. In a nutshell, this man is usually a goofball, and only becomes serious when it counts.

Makise Kurisu- She is the main heroine of the story and the "assistant" to Okabe. She often serves as the voice of reason to Okabe's whimsical decisions. Her interactions with Okabe are arguably some of the most enjoyable moments in Steins;Gate. On the surface, they would constantly bicker, but it's clear from the start that they have strong chemistry together. And as one would expect, she becomes the main love interest for Okabe. Thanks to Okabe, she has at least 8 unique nicknames -- the most common one being Christina. She can be best described as calm and intelligent. Also, she's one of the few tsundere characters I actually love with a ion.

Shina Mayuri- The other central heroine of the story. In a sense, her role in the story is just as significant as Kurisu's, since the actual thriller part of the story doesn't begin until she has been killed. She is the childhood friend of Okabe, and has an unusually cheerful demeanor. She often refers to Okabe as Okarin, and calls herself Mayushii.

Hashida Itaru- Usually referred to as Daru, he is the super haker, er, hacker, in the group, who does most of the technical works (e.g., hacking into SERN's system and learning about their secrets). When he's not busy hacking, he is a perverted otaku who likes to make dirty jokes in the presence of girls.

Akiha Rumiho- Normally addressed as Ferris, she works as a maid and has a habit of ending all her sentences with "nyan". Essentially moe personified.

Amane Suzuha- From the beginning we can easily see that she knows a great deal about time travel. It is later confirmed she is John Titor, the enigmatic time traveller who told Okabe to save the world. She feels insecure when around people, probably due to the fact that she lives in a dystopian future governed by SERN.

Kiryuu Moeka- A girl who is pretty much mute, constantly relying on text messages as her primary method of communication. In reality, she works as a spy for SERN.

Urushibara Ruka- An extremely effeminate boy who deeply respects Okabe. He wishes he was born as a girl instead, because other guys often made fun of his looks.

In short, all these characters have their own quirks and serve their purpose well in the story. Definitely one of Steins;Gate's strongest points.

Art -- 8/10

Animated by the relatively new Studio, White Fox (the producer of another great work, Katanagatari), the animation style is pleasing to the eyes for the most part. It isn't comparable to high budget productions of Kyoto Animation, P.A. Works, and Ufotable by any means, but it does serve its purpose for a thriller. The animation is pretty consistent for characters and backgrounds, with backgrounds being more pronounced. Character designs are sufficient enough for the average viewer to stay interested. Last but not least, I should mention that the visuals in Steins;Gate have somber colours, which work well in reminding the viewer that this is a Mystery/Thriller title with an underlying dark tone.

Sound -- 8/10

The Opening song, along with two other insert songs, are done by Kanako Itou, who, in my opinion, is a talented artist. The songs are pretty catchy and memorable. The original soundtracks are not especially awesome, but they do contain some great pieces, such as "Gate of Steiner", "Christina", and "Farewell". However, I can say that most of the soundtracks fit the animated scenes well, and effectively, accentuating the mood of those scenes. Moreover, the voice actors did a great job on voicing their respective characters. Miyano Mamoru, well known for his role as Yagami Raito in Death Note, did another fantastic job in his role as Okabe; his mad scientist laughs are spot on and effectively captures Okabe's [playful] insanity. Hanazawa Kana and Seki Tomokazu voiced Mayuri and Daru, respectively; both are experienced voice actor/actress's who excel at bringing out the best emotions in their characters. I have to say I have never heard of Imai Asami before her role as Kurisu, seeing how she isn't exactly a seasoned voice actress. But after her performance as Kurisu, I really think she ought to have more roles in the future, for she has successfully displayed emotions on a level I think only a veteran could have accomplished. Special mention goes to Tamura Yukari, who did a nice job on Suzuha's part. The voice acting is overall consistent and great.

Enjoyment -- 10/10

At this point, you should already know I absolutely enjoyed this show. There aren't many anime out there that have impressed me as much as Steins;Gate did. The first half of the series did well to introduce the characters through witty conversations and dialogues. It's light hearted and comedic at the beginning, then it gradually gets darker as the story approaches its climax. The transition from the light hearted, comedic first half to the more serious, dramatic second half feels smooth and natural. That isn't to say this show has no flaws, because every anime has a flaw in it somewhere. In the case of Steins;Gate, it left a few questions unanswered, along with some very minor issues with the first half's pacing. But that doesn't make it any less enjoyable for me.

Objective Score -- 9/10

Looking at it from an entirely objective standpoint, the imperfect story prevents the series from being a total masterpiece. However, the show's strong characterization, as well as its brilliant plot, more than compensates for the few flaws it possesses.

Subjective Score -- 10/10

If you only look at the overall enjoyability and overlook the minor issues, then it's a freaking perfect anime. If you're a fanboy, then this will probably be a 11/10 for you.

Final verdict? Steins;Gate is a gem among anime. A must-see for any anime fan, especially for those interested in time travel. It is a title to be ed for many years to come.

El Psy Congroo

The show has humor and is fun and becomes a little tiny bit scary at one point.
---
I really liked the shows characters. They all ed the plot.
---
I found the timeline explanations to be confusing since I had to watch english subs while focusing on the visual explanation. could easily be fixed with english dubs.
Aside from that, the visual is all good.
---
Dialogue not as good as in spice and wolf though, because the plot itself deals with a complicated "butterfly effect" theme, whereas spice and wolf could focus on trading talk.

Personally I think that dialogue animes like Spice and wolf, Bakemonogatari, Rumbling hearts and this one, are underrated, since it is what keeps the flow of communication on the intellectual side. Still I like to see action anime once in a while - like Black lagoon (especially the first episode).
to sum it up this one is the thrilling comedy/philosophical/action anime with very few gunfights

8.2 from me

When you are writing a tale about time travel, two are the things that matter most: consistency and plausibility.
Consistency implies that a time travel based story has to be carefully plotted from start to end before putting even the first word on paper: if you dare to improvise midway you are doomed to stumble onto horrible plot holes that will utterly butcher the viewer's suspension of disbelief, and the tale will lose cohesion and focus. Many storytellers, be them novelists or scriptwriters, have the habit to only come up with a generic plot draft before beginning to write, and then they watch where the pen takes them; this isn't necessarily bad in several genres, and is probably the most genuine way to create a tale, but it just doesn't work when time travel is involved.
Plausibility implies that a time travel story has to come up with a set of fictional scientific rules to dodge some of the most blatant paradoxes and make time travel appear relatively believable. If it doesn't, the viewer's suspension of disbelief is again in danger. Plausibility can be however less important than consistency when the spirit of the tale you are telling is lighthearted, a comedy that doesn't take itself too seriously, which is what happens for instance in the eternal Doctor Who series. As a comedy, your suspension of disbelief isn't threatened even when plausibility only translates into time being a timey wimey wibbly wobbly... stuff. However, as soon as a season begins to get heavier on the drama (as, in the case of the Doctor, happened recently under Moffat), suddenly it all becomes less acceptable: when the plot and the characters take themselves seriously, you begin to watch them pretending seriousness, and if plausibility isn't serious enough the result isn't satisfying.

Needless to say, time travel - in a well structured plot - is a very hard theme to depict with real plausibility, nowadays more than ever as the public is generally less naive than some decades ago and less prone to just gobble up some Star Trek rough sketch. There have been very few stories focusing on actual time travel to have ever really worked. Steins;Gate lies on a very thin thread: I would say it works; barely, really barely, it's always just one tiny misstep from crumbling upon itself, but in the end it miraculously manages to work, for the good drama rather than for any good time travel depiction.

It isn't a bad show, quite the opposite, but the hype I see from some comments and ratings is seriously excessive, though seeing what crap has the anime industry cranked out in the last few years it's not surprising a finally decent series suddenly looks golden.
Steins;Gate does a very good job in the consistency department, as the intricate plot was clearly planned from day 1, granting a very effective pace to its twists and turns. Plausibility is however sub-par, and in several occasions if it wasn't for the actually rather engrossing storytelling and characters a knowledgeable viewer would toss a slipper at the screen in a righteous nerdrage. More details on this in the actual story comment.

Art & Animation

From a technical perspective, the show is pretty average. Faces and characters are a bit stiff, there's little expression depth and details often feel lacking, however the art style covers up any deficiency quite well. The desaturated palette works wonders to that aim, while at the same time giving the imagery a distinct and rewarding style. Dark tones, shallow eyes and oppressive backgrounds manage to convey a gloomy atmosphere when the plot requires it, and all in all the final result is definitely enjoyable, if not anything breathtaking.

Sound

Opening and ending themes are catchy enough, neither shame nor glory. The same could be said for the BGM, an interesting enough soundtrack that doesn't divert the attention and succeeds at further setting the atmosphere both in the lighthearted and more dramatic moments.

What really is more worth mentioning, though, is the voice acting. Several characters are almost painfully cliched in their personality/voice combo (Feyris' nyans, Kurisu's tsundere lines and tones, Taru's otaku voice etc), but as the show uses those stereotypes with a prevalent parodic goal it doesn't really become an issue. More distinct is Mayuri's voice, which - tough cliched as well - kind of drills into your brain with that tutturuu~ and threatens to stay there for an unhealthy amount of time. What really shines is, however, Myiano's portrayal of main character Okabe: as an embodied mockery of animesque stereotypes, his over the top acting when Okabe acts as his demented "alter ego" is spot on. Moreover, while during most of the show it puzzles you to hear such a mature voice coming from a character supposed to be 18 years old (and which also looks far older), when suddenly Okabe screams or cries in the most dramatic moments and his pitch goes up to suddenly reveal his real age, you can't help but be quite amazed by Myiano.

Story

As said, it is a story about time travel, focused on it, unveiled by it, and finally solved by it. Time travel isn't a plot device, it's the very nucleus of it, and as such can be somewhat puzzling at times. Long story short, Okabe Rintarou is an 18 years old slacker student who apparently likes to believe to be a comicbook mad scientist who answers to the name of Hououin Kyouma and is persecuted by some over the top evil organization. He really isn't literally crazy, and how this mania of his actually came into be is a bittersweet touch in the plot background. Anyway, together with his sweet but retard not very bright childhood friend Mayuri and fat otaku friend/slave Taru, "works" in a mockery of a science lab devising unlikely and most of all useless not-so-hightech gadgets. By sheer chance they happen to create a rudimentary time machine out of a microwave and a cellphone, able to send messages to the past. As he then follows up on it, he gains more lab , of course of the female kind.

However, while this setup would seem pretty much the usual harem crap, even though the whole first half of the series is indeed mostly a comedy it never falls deep into it. The plot does advance, even though its main focus is into the introduction of the characters to make the viewer grow affection towards them, and the parody is actually pretty good. Jokes are often, if not of the really smart kind, neither stupid, Okabe's mania of calling every "operation" of his with norse mythology names (as we know ludicrously ever present in the anime world) and how the others react to it will spur a grin, and even the ittedly very old interactions between the perverted otaku and the tsundere researcher do not feel overly stale, probably as the pace never stumbles out of comedy into pure idiocy.
During this phase the first kinks of pseudo-scientific time travel are thrown in. And you can't help but be somewhat pleased to see the writers, while surely not being experts themselves, did their research. As the team begins sending messages to the past to experiment with the actual changes made to the timeline, discovering that for some unknown reason Okabe has the gift of keeping his original memories after a time change, we see a rough draft of the butterfly effect, as well as the appearance on the net of the mysterious John Titor, apparently a famous case of a guy claiming to have come from the future to stop SERN (sic) from turning the world into a dystopia using time travel: this is also based on truth, as John Titor does "really" exist and created quite the fad since late 2000, when he began appearing on several internet sites and forums. Much of the show's details take inspiration from his claims, such as the IBN (sic) 5100, and while this doesn't of course give any more credibility to the plot premises, it surely helps in making it feel connected to our world.
However this is also where plausibility already begins to suffer: one can even accept for CERN SERN to be an evil organization, it's fiction, but that the characters could all still have met under the very same circumstances, become friends, and done the very same things even after butterfly effects big enough to, for instance, completely erase from history Akihabara's fad for the otaku culture is already quite too hard to swallow. However, as during this phase the atmosphere is still comedic, and nothing is taken too seriously for more than a minute, your suspension of disbelief is somewhat safe.

Also, the underlying time travel theory shown up until now is also the only one that ever somewhat worked even in serious plots (and coincidentally more or less what the "real" John Titor came up with too), the multiverse one: how can one avoid the Grandfather Paradox (another thing the show doesn't fail to mention, which adds to the enjoyment of the knowledgeable viewer)? If you go back in time and kill your grandfather, you would never have been born in the first place to go back in time, and so on in loop forever. The solution is simple: pretty much as theorized by the Copenhagen interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (also known as Many-World Interpretation), every time you go back in time you are effectively travelling from a timeline to another (might be more precise to say you are creating it, but this is pure philosophy), aka to a parallel universe. Your original timeline is then unaffected by anything you do in this timeline: you can kill "your grandfather", but that would only prevent your parallel self to be born in this future, not your actual self.
By this interpretation, the easiest paradoxes are avoided, and plausibility is, at least for a little while, preserved.
The very fact Okabe keeps his memories while not gaining those of the new timeline (the reason why is never explained) is a contradiction, a serious one which defies the very fundamentals of this ruleset making it moot, but you are prone to excuse it since otherwise there could be no traditional, linear storytelling. This was not intended to be a David Lynch movie, so we can endure the sacrifice.

But then things take a turn for the worse, while I turn to the spoiler tag, as I cannot explain both the good and bad points of this time travel theory without going into the gory details. Seriously, this is a real spoiler, without any semblance of shame, don't read it if you don't want to seriously hurt your potential enjoyment for the show.



Phew! All in all, to sum things up and say something relevant to those who don't want to read the spoiler, a better than average comedy with some interesting time travel ideas turns midway into a good drama with crappy time travel that could only have really made sense in Doctor Who, and lots of plot holes. Honestly, the first half works better per se, but of course a good drama is ten times more worthy than a decent comedy, the latter being otherwise boring if it weren't to lead to anything. Still, this cannot really justify a very high rating in this department.

Character


Ok, as the show is overall really quite good in its aftertaste, this is where I can crank the rating up a bit, and it is well deserved. While it's true most characters aren't really original, their interactions are, if not original themselves, well handled, satisfying and entertaining. The comedy might not be groundbreaking, but the characters show genuine charisma in performing it, and you become attached to them. Their development is a bit controlled and artificial, far from unexpected in most cases, but it feels nevertheless complete, even though through so many timeline resets they could have easily been considered reset too.

What really works well here is how the only original character, Okabe, interacts with everyone else or how he makes them interact with one another. When they are funny most of them often joke in a way a real human could probably joke in that situation (even Feyris, with her paper-thin moe character, is entertaining when she plays along with Okabe's mad scientist act), when they are dramatic they have damn good reasons to be and as such they never sound too melodramatic, and when they are sweet they have been building enough credibility to not feel cheesy and annoying. The ending (both the original one and the more fanservice one in the special) and how it relates to some of the main characters is really satisfying even in all its predictability and simplicity, and after all the confusion you have sat through it really was the right choice to give you a real ending, instead of the open ended crap which is year after year always more common not only in brainless comedies but in more articulated shows such as this too.

There might be nothing really memorable here neither, but very good is a fair statement.

Value

Just by looking at how does the current anime scene fare, with all its faults this show has unquestionably a good value and is widely recommendable. The rabid sci-fi fan who knows his time travel logic and cares for it, though, should be advised to not keep his hopes up too much. The presentation is good enough to build up some fairly good expectations in this department, but these fall short as soon as the plot stops messing around and gets serious: still, as it isn't your run of the mill copypasta Star Trek time travel script, there's enough meat in the drama alone to probably let all but the most unforgiving nerds enjoy it without regretting it.

This is not, by far, a masterpiece, neither it is a classic or, really, anything that will stand the test of time, no matter the timeline you are in. A few years ago it would have been treated by most as just a better than average show, worth watching but certainly not unmissable. Today... well, just look around. There honestly isn't that much that would be more worthy of your time. Seriously, this is taking 9s... where have all the Lains gone? Someone's got to save this timeline.