Anime Review: Steins;Gate

Out of everything that science fiction has to offer, my favorite aspect of it has always been time travel. My favorite books growing up as a child were the Magic Tree House books, a series where characters Jack and Annie travel through the ages in a tree house using books. I love time travel movies, like Back To The Future, The Terminator, and Looper. Heck, when I was younger I tried to write a book series called “The Time Machine”. I really love how it always gets you thinking about what you would do if you were in the character’s situation; what would you change, what would you leave the same, and so on. Maybe it’s just based around my love for both travel and history (NERD!), or maybe it’s just a fascination out of pure curiosity. Either way, even though I love time travel, I haven’t seen a story that doesn’t use time travel as a plot device but decides to just focus on the act of time travel. That is Steins;Gate. So, how does it hold up? Sit back, relax, and read on as I review Steins;Gate.

The Setup:

 So, Steins;Gate is based off of an electronic Japanese adult visual novel, or…you know what, it’s only funny when gigguk tells this joke, so I’m just going to leave it at that. Our story follows a self-proclaimed mad scientist named HOUYIN KYOMA! (yes, that name must always be shouted), or Okabe Rintaro if you want to go by his real name (but don’t tell the organization). He runs a dingy lab in Japan with two other lab members: Maiyuri, his airheaded yet perceptive childhood friend, and Daru, the resident fat otaku who loves hentai games (insert Welcome To The NHK reference here). One day, after hooking up a cell phone to a microwave, they create a device that can send text messages into the past (kids, don’t try this at home), giving them an opportunity to alter the past and change the future. If I told you anything beyond that, I would be spoiling a lot.

I will say that a few experiments lead to green, liquidized bananas

The Characters:

I was really impressed by the characters of Steins;Gate, because all of them are memorable in some way, shape, or form. I absolutely love casts like this because it means that the anime took the time to focus on all of the characters enough to make them unique, and didn’t just leave the characters alone like so many other shows do with their side characters. To start off with, Okabe is now one of my new favorite anime characters, and I am sorely disappointed with myself for not including him in my Top 10 Favorite Anime Heroes countdown because, at the time, I hadn’t seen the anime in its entirety. I haven’t felt this attached to an anime character since Edward Elric, and it’s purely because Okabe is one of the most human characters that I have ever seen. He’s arrogant, foolish, curious, and a little reckless in the beginning of the anime, but as you everything that he has to go through and how he responds emotionally, you really identify with him. You see him break down multiple times, make mistakes, and even lose himself in his goals. He always tries to keep his problems to himself, but learns to rely on one person in particular that I’ll get around to mentioning. If you’ve read my poem “The Time Traveller”, you’ll get a bit of a sense of his personality from my interpretation of him. Next we have Makise Kurisu, or Christina, as Okabe likes to call her. She’s an 18 year-old genius who helps Okabe out in the lab a little further into the anime (by episode 2-3), and later on in the anime she becomes the emotional support. The chemistry between Okabe and Makise is very apparent, as their personalities work off each other wonderfully, making way for a lot of humor and dramatic moments. While Okabe is loud and obnoxious, Makise is quieter and more reserved, but isn’t afraid to speak up whenever she feels it necessary. She’s incredibly stubborn and hates being proven wrong, but is also curious and loves working with science. All I can really say is that Makise Kurisu is my new favorite female anime character, mainly because she epitomizes everything that I want to see in a female character; to be strong, smart, and independent, but not so distant from those that she cares about. She also happens to be the character that reminded me of myself the most, so I suppose that I am slightly biased, but I still think she’s a great character regardless. Next we have Mayuri, Okabe’s childhood friend. As I stated before, she’s very innocent, winsome, and slightly air-headed, but is also incredibly perceptive when it comes to how others are feeling. Though, and I do have to be honest, I kept on getting a bad vibe from her for the first half the anime. To be fair, I’m pretty sure that it was the intent of the creators to make you feel like there was a foreboding cloud surrounding Mayuri, so I can’t really fault the anime for that. Next we have Daru, the computer hacker who’s also an otaku. I have mixed feelings about this character, but he can be rather hilarious at times, so it’s not like he was unlikable or anything. As for the side characters, we have Suzuha, the cheerful part-timer who works for the man who owns Okabe’s residence; Moeka, a girl who won’t ever put her cell phone away and doesn’t talk much; Ruka, a…you know what, I’m just going to skip over this character because it is incredibly awkward to talk about; and Faris Nyannan, a girl who works at a cosplay restaurant dressed as a cat and ends every sentence with “meow” in the English dub. I get the feeling that she was more annoying in the Japanese dub, though I haven’t personally seen that. Overall, the cast is very well rounded and likable, especially considering its size.

(Note: These designs are from the visual novel) From left to right: Moeka, Mayuri, Makise, Ruka, Suzuha, Faris, Daru, Okabe

The Story:

To explain the story of Steins;Gate to the uninitiated is almost like trying to teach a blind man how to read; in other words, it’s practically impossible (unless you’re using braille, in which case I would tell you to be quiet because I’m trying to make a point here). Whenever I see someone review this anime they never talk about the story in particular because of how many spoilers there are and how complicated the story is, and those are very valid points. The anime on the other hand has a special gift for making the most complicated of situations seem really simple, though, so you probably won't be very confused while watching the show. As for the pacing of the story, despite most complaints, I think that the pacing is great. Yeah, the first half is a little slow, but it allows you to get to know all of the characters rather well. It’s the same situation as Trigun; in the first half, you get to know the characters, and when an actual plot kicks in later on, you therefore care more about what will happen to those characters. Though, to be fair, Steins;Gate’s story was always prominent even in the slower scenes, because the first half builds up to a second half that is unforgettable. If there is one problem with the story, however, it’s the anime’s shackle to the visual novel that it was based off of. There are two episodes that kind of become “The Dating Sims” starring HOUYIN KYOMA!, and it was a pretty big contrast towards the rest of the plot. However, that’s essentially a nitpick. Overall, the story of Steins;Gate was excellent, and always had me wanting more after each and every episode.

Despite a slow start, the story is well-writen, well-paced, and well-explained

The Animation/Sound:

Produced by White Fox, a lot of people consider Steins;Gate’s presentation to be above average, and I would be one of them. Steins;Gate has very fluid animation and bleak colors, as the show seems to love the colors gray, white, and black. There is some color, but the show can never, at any point, be considered bright and cheerful. This was actually quite refreshing, as it made the show seem a lot more realistic than it could have been, considering that it’s an anime. I also really like how the bleakness of the colors set the tone for the show really well, as did the music. To be perfectly blunt, the soundtrack isn’t anything truly amazing, but it knew when to be present and when to shut up. There are moments in the anime where there is no music, and the show is reliant on the animation and characters to express the emotions and the events going on at that particular time. There are also some sound effects, like the chirping of birds and the buzzing of insects, whenever the characters were outside, which gave the anime an even more realistic feel. As for openings and endings, the first opening is fantastic. Everything from the music to the style to the animation to even the lyrics of the song fit the show and was wonderful to watch and listen to. The ending was okay, nothing to write home about. Finally, should you watch this show in Japanese or English? Hm…I think that with this one, you should go with the English, because, in my opinion, it’s one of Funimation’s best. You couldn’t have cast someone better than J. Michael Tatum as Okabe, who gives one of his best performances in this anime, and every other voice fit really well. The only downside to the English dub is that it lacks a certain scene that was absolutely hilarious in the Japanese dub, but the English dub did attempt to make up for it by creating a not-as-funny-but-still-pretty-hilarious scene in its place. You can make the comparison yourself:

Opening: