If you haven’t seen Steins;Gate you should, because as far as time-traveling science fiction series go, this one was definitely a thrill the entire time.
I won’t divulge a great number of details for those who have not seen it yet, but the ending is probably pretty predictable for you if you’ve been paying attention up to this point. The key lies in the details surrounding the very first episode, and from episode 23 you connect the dots easily after listening to Future Okabe state to Present Okabe that he was to fail at least once. But he then presented the challenge, change time without changing any of the events that occurred. This is where re-watching that first episode comes into play, because every event that led to the discovery of the death of Kurisu is noted in the final episode. It was honestly bittersweet and great to see that after an entire series of twists and turns, everything comes out okay in the end.
The only slight problem is, Steins;Gate was greenlit for a movie, so the ending was wrapped up a little too neatly and left open for something new to occur, probably involving Suzuha or present-day CERN. Honestly though, I’d much rather they translate the VN and put it out over here to play, because that would be boss. Last I knew some dedicated /a/nons were on the task, here is to them finishing sometime this year.
Then there is the comparison to Nitro’s earlier series, Chaos;Head. Having watched both I am sticking to Steins;Gate, it was much better executed and played out. Chaos was too confusing in places and didn’t really clear up its story until almost the last episode. Had it been a full 26 episodes maybe it could have been done proper, but it just didn’t cut it for me. Steins;Gate did not go too fast or too slow and from what I know, stuck to the VN material pretty much verbatim.
So the verdict is, if you’re up for a time-travel series with murder mystery and suspense, it’s like nothing your local library will ever throw for you with a dinner.
Title: Steins;Gate
Sub Group I Watched: Commie, Horrible
Episodes: 24
Rating (1-10): 9
Favorite Character: Rintarou “Hououin Kyouma” Okabe
Least Favorite Character: Moeka Kiryuu
Kurisu or Mayushi?: Kurisu. Always love a girl willing to theorize anything.
Boy or Girl Ruka?: Girl. Not that it really mattered. He’s no Hideyoshi.
DR. PEPPER: The choice of science!
2-3 weeks remain in the season, with Usagi Drop scheduled to end this week and several more next week and the week after. Definitely ready for the next season with Shana and Working! on deck. I’ll try to finish those charts this week, Saimoe just keeps me behind a little. Hope this post helps a little. =D
