Well during last season and part into this, I finally got that break, to enjoy Stein's Gate and Stein's Gate 0, I was in no way disappointed. It surpassed every expectation I had of the show. There are very few shows that at the end of several of the episodes I was left with goosebumps wondering what was going to happen, to the point I had almost watched all of Stein's Gate in one sitting. A show where I was generally confused by a twist in the plot and was like, "what is going on ??" A show that the characters were so well developed, so well acted, that I was genuinely sad when things affected them.
Not only do I think Stein's Gate is in a level of classic, this is a bold thing to say, I think the show is one of the best shows of all time. Not bad for a show that started as an adaptation of a visual novel.
A bold statement indeed. But why do I feel that way ??
To say that I have to delve into the characters, the plot, the rest of the neat things. I will try my best to say enough about each without ruining the story itself because the shows are so good that it is a travesty to not watch them.
I think what I like most about Okabe is his demeanor, he says he’s a mad scientist, an evil person trying to dominate the world, but in fact he is just a brilliant college student with a heart of gold. A man who goes out of his way to assist the friends he treasures and the woman he falls in love with. His lab members mean the world to him and that attitude being portrayed throughout makes him a great character. Add to that all of the stressful things we see him go through and the tough decisions we see him make and we sympathize greatly with him. Also his voice actor, Mamoru Miyano, his tremendous one of my favourite Japanese voice actors and he’s someone that helps give the show identity; his voice brings so much emphasis to Okabe’s character that it’s hard to imagine it differently and why this show should never be watched in English.
I went from not knowing much about Stein’s Gate and Okabe to having him be one of my favourite characters ever. That’s the kind of character you are introduced to.
I like Ruka, moreso when I found out how they played his look into the story, but just in general. He is one character along with Mayuri that no matter what happens in the regular show or in Zero that Rintarou makes sure that all the other lab members keep quiet around them. He’d prefer that both Ruka and Mayuri stay “pure” in a sense, just away from all the time travel nonsense, from lab things in general even though they are lab members. I think it’s Suzuha that says when Ruka asks, “why do you call me Ruka-niisan and Faris Rumi-neesan. Especially why do you call Okabe “Uncle Okarin”?” Suzuha simply says I can’t tell you because you being separate from this stuff is part of what keeps Okabe grounded in reality, because I don’t know where he’d be in his head if you and Mayuri were lost to him. Basically, Ruka is so important that he is one of two people that keeps Okabe's fragile mind from breaking in pieces.
It is a show that I almost powered through in a day it was so good, I think the only reason I didn't was because I was exhausted. Steins Gate was amazing. So yes, I wrote the Steins Gate: 0 plot first and it's going to seem longer but it's much harder to spoil than this is. If I gush and gush about this or go on too long I'll say some spoiler I'll regret.
Until he meets Maho and her colleague Professor Leskinen from the University of Viktor Concordia, the same place Makise Kurisu was working at, in Tokyo from America to do a press conference. Upon defending the idea of AI and other unique things at a press conference, Okabe is brought into see the two, to discuss things and they find out he is friends with Kurisu and so they bring him into the Amadeus Program as a tester. The Amadeus Program, Okabe finds out, is a fully functioning AI with the thoughts and feelings of Makise Kurisu before she headed to Japan that fateful day; leaving Rintarou in shock that suddenly he "has her back in a sense". However Maho warns him, this isn’t really her so don’t get too attached.
Oh by the way, this whole time, there’s the overhanging threat of Okabe being the only one to stop World War 3 from happening. Yes, that’s right, our random little skinny nerd who’s given up on being a mad scientist, is in fact the only person able to prevent World War 3 from breaking out between the United States and Russia. Except this war isn’t a war fought by nuclear bombs, at least not at first, at first this is a normal war, fought over how to produce a working time machine. Why is it just up to Okabe though ? How can this nerd possibly be the answer to prevent a massive war. His “Reading Steiner”. His knowledge of the worldlines, his understanding of time travel, he is the one person able to go back in time and prevent ANYTHING from happening. That’s why the skinny, nerd scientist from Akihabara is the only one to fix the world’s doomsday.
Now how does that happen, well a lot of it involves different things that if I go into too much detail can ruin it because one decision leads to another, what I will say is that all of these people in the series being together at the same time has caused nothing but massive issues in the world. One wrong move by any character in the series has massive repercussions and that's all I will say.
Steins Gate: 0 is unique though in that it, like I said, is the continuation of the original beta world line that Okabe found his way back to. One with no Makise Kurisu. In order to get the perfect outcome this show technically can't exist, not in the Steins Gate world line, the one where both Shina Mayuri and Makise Kurisu are both alive and well and no such time travel exists. Well the knowledge on how to is in the minds of all involved but can never happen. But yes, it is a world that both does and doesn't exist, Steins Gate: 0 is essentially a world line for us to follow but not the end we want.
I can not suggest these games enough, especially for fans of the show, though you do also have to like visual novels which I do so it could just be a preference thing. I find them to be relaxing and tense at the same time.
But like this picture is an example of how unique the artwork is. Such good times.
Just all in all between these two shows we’re given a cohesive narrative that at times can seem messed up but they managed to pull it all together in one neat and tiny ball, one neat and tiny ball that culminates in an OVA where we see the finale of what Steins Gate is. I mean the OVA doesn’t officially mean the series is done but it seems to wrap up nicely and hopefully that’s where it ends; I love it how it is.
Steins Gate and Steins Gate: 0 are nothing short of classic anime. Two classics in my mind anyways, to others they might not go down in the same path but to me I can honestly say. Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, Neongenesis Evangelion, Steins Gate, yes it fits with those to me. It’s unique and interesting enough, with standout performances and fantastic animation to be one of the best anime.
I can’t think of a better way to conclude this than with that, I think it’s a pantheon title like those others mentioned. No show that leaves me with a tingle and desire to want and watch more could be anything less. Ya, goosebumps good doesn't come around too often folks.
All I have to say is I highly recommend both of them. Steins Gate. Steins Gate 0. Then finally the Steins Gate OVA. In that order, oh and then go back and play the visual novels if you get super hooked. I will leave you all with "Hack Into The Gate" from Steins Gate and "Fatima" from Steins Gate 0. Such good intros.