Anime Review: Steins;Gate

Steins;Gate

I was so so late to watch this show. Basically, the show centers around Okabe Rintarou, a mad scientist who actually creates a microwave that can send text messages into the past with his friends. Basically, it’s a story about time travel, with conspiracy theories thrown around too. The age-old time travel story of how even little changes have such huge effects on history.

If we include the OVA that came out recently, which actually wraps up the story nicely, I’d say that the ending of the show was incredibly well done. Still, stories about time travel can be dangerous and I think this show becomes a little too easy to predict at some points. However, the series makes up for it with zany twists pretty much everywhere that keep every episode exciting (no…there’s no Endless Eight, so relax).

Story: Score 91/100

The characters in this show are pretty much the best part. Okabe Rintarou is probably the most unpredictable character I’ve ever seen. He can make any scene goofy, but he can also make it completely serious. Alongside him, we have Makise Kurisu, who is a fairly classic tsundere, but still amusing. Shiina Mayuri, the cheery airhead, and Hashida Itaru, the computer-savvy otaku, finish off the core characters of the show, and a few supporting characters that pop up a bit later round off the cast. I don’t really think there was a character that I hated (not even the bad guys).

Characters: Score 97/100

The animation in this show was pretty good…nothing so bad that I would notice. No complaints here. The music was pretty good when it showed up. There were a lot of points where the music just wasn’t there, but I felt like it fit the situations. The idea was to make everything pretty mysterious, and the effect was there. Hacking to the Gate is a pretty good song, but I’d have to say it’s a bit overrated. I think I enjoyed the ending theme more just because it has a bit more of a chill tune to it, with the mysterious (almost adventurous) theme that fits the show.

Animation: Score 90/100

Music: Score 92/100

They didn’t lie when they said this show rocked. I definitely enjoyed it. I might even look into the visual novel if I ever have the time. What I thought was incredibly interesting is how they approached time travel. In my eyes, there are two possibilities for the mechanism of time travel. The first is that history is absolute, so if you go back in time, you won’t change history because history would be such that you were meant to go back. The second is that history is flexible, so going back in time either changes the future or creates a separate future (like Trunks in DBZ). The cool part is that this show managed to make both of those true. They never really explain how it makes sense, but I thought it was pretty interesting.

It’s tough to create a confident main character, but I like how this show chooses to pull it off by making him crazy. He doesn’t have to be a genius to be super confident like Lelouch or Light…he’s just nuts. There was a lot of hype for this show before I watched it, and admittedly it made the time travel parts a little bit too predictable. Still, I’d say the hype is very well placed…I liked the show anyway. I can definitely see why it’s so well-rated. Look forward to the movie when it comes out.

Final Score: 93/100