Steins;Gate is a patient and thoughtful time travel anime that takes its sweet time to deliver a compelling and satisfying story, even with a bit of a slow start and some shaky plotlines.
Steins;Gate is a show composed of two halves, the first half is a lighthearted slice of life anime about experimenting with time travel, while the second half is a darker and dramatic sci-fi thriller filled with tragedy, time loops, character deaths, and a battle to save the world. The first half of Steins;Gate is alright. It's an incredibly slow-paced mystery where each episode has the cast slowly experiment with time travel, which means that not too much happens every episode. As a result, I didn't really love any of the episodes in this first half, they all just kind of blended together for me. Despite my complaints, this wasn't a bad first half. There's definitely a satisfaction in how they slowly learn more through iteration, escalation, and the scientific method. But while the sense of mystery is great, what really made me want to get through this first half was the characters. Steins;Gate's cast is excellent, they're all super colorful and have some amazing and entertaining banter between each other. Even when not much is happening, it's just fun to see them all interact, and I really found myself liking a large portion of the cast.
However, even with the moments in the first half that I did enjoy, it wasn't until the end of Episode 12 when Steins;Gate became quite a bit better. From here on, the story shifts to a thriller where Okabe repeatedly goes back in time to change the future, stop SERN, and save Mayuri from dying. I already mentioned how much more compelling Okabe was during this first half, but the higher stakes left me a bit more hooked. Even more, despite the drastic shift in tone, this second half keeps the iterative elements of the first, with the characters constantly experimenting with ways to modify the timeline enough. Eventually, the conflict became far more character driven as Okabe has to convince every member of the cast to take back their D-Mails (those initial experiments that altered the time) to save Mayuri and the world. While I do like the character growth it gives, and the decision that Okabe has to make are pretty heartbreaking, but it's also pretty easy to see its visual novel origins through the "girl of the week" structure. My favorite part of the series ended up being the last two episodes, which felt like a large scope ending that brought things full circle and tied up the loose ends for every single character in a heartwarming and satisfying manner.
Out of the show's cast, I don't think there's a single character I disliked, with Kurisu and Suzuha being particular standouts. I even found Faris, the "moe cat girl" character, incredibly fascinating in how much of a colorful and bizarre character she is. Though, the highlight was definitely Okabe. I kinda hated him during the first half, he was really insufferable a lot of the time. He was a jerk to most of the cast and his antics became annoying fast. However, once the second half started, Okabe actually started to develop as a character, and his sheer determination to save Mayuri made him far more compelling and interesting. After twelve episodes of him being a bit of an ass, it was satisfying to see him actually bond with the other lab members, maybe that was even the point. The only character that really rubbed me the wrong way here was Ruka, who really could have been one of my favorite characters if dealt with a bit more sensitively. The concept of someone wanting to go back in time and change their gender is an interesting one, but there's so many uncomfortable moments surrounding Ruka, particularly stemming from Okabe's insensitivity and the generally conflicting claims on what gender Ruka's actually supposed to be (and not just from the outside). I did find myself caring about Ruka's conflict because it was a fascinating idea, but the execution of her storyline generally just left me feeling mixed.
As for the presentation, I thought it was pretty great. The animation is generally pretty expressive and well-animated, but it has these random moments of being insanely smooth that catch me off guard all the time. Between that and the fact that lot of the really impactful moments and lines have the characters stare right at the screen really make it feel like Steins;Gate is a visual novel in motion (the anime is based on one after all). I also really like the tone it strikes through the presentation, there's barely any background music outside of important scenes and the whole anime has this incredibly muted and foggy filter to it that creates this compelling sense of isolation, even in the more light-hearted moments. In spite of the general lack of music, I did really like the anime's OP.
There were a bunch of really great episodes in Steins;Gate, even despite my gripes:
Dogma In Ergosphere: Frankly, most of this episode was just alright, but it was the ending that really kickstarted the show proper. SERN storming into the lab, revealing the mole, and killing Mayuri drastically changed the tone and direction of the anime. It's not just a relatively lighthearted show about a bunch of dorks tinkering with time travel anymore, SERN is real, the stakes have risen, and the cast is in serious trouble by the end of the episode. It's really great stuff!
Metaphysics Necrosis: Coming after that big twist was easily one of my favorite episodes in the show. It chronicles Okabe's first two attempts at going back in time to save Mayuri, serving as a pretty great microcosm of the second half of the anime. Okabe is reckless and panicked during his first attempt and causes Mayuri to die again, so he tries to be a bit calmer and more rational next time only to realize that maybe she's just destined to die. It's an intense episode that really got me hooked.
Sacrificial Necrosis: This episode's ending was just rough. It was all building up to Suzuha's attempt at going back in time to retrieve the IBN 5100, only for it all to go horribly wrong. The reveal that she had amnesia for years and killed herself upon realizing what she missed out on is just devastating, and Okabe's decision afterwards sets the stage for several future episodes of the show.
Finalize Apoptosis: The second half of this episode was just plain insane. The big confrontation with FB, who is revealed to be Mr Braun, is just plain sickening, as he articulates just how much pain he puts Moeka and the other Rounders through before shooting her and then himself. Yeah, no wonder Okabe throws up after that scene. And just in case the episode wasn't crazy enough, Okabe realizes that if he wants to save Mayuri, Kurisu's gotta die.
Being Meltdown: This episode focused almost entirely on Okabe and Kurisu, who I actually thought were a really great and compelling couple. Most of this episode were just them discussing what Okabe is supposed to do, with him ultimately deciding to pick Mayuri. It's a heartbreaking episode and could have been a really bittersweet ending for the show... at least until Suzuha calls in the post-credits scene.
Open The Steins Gate/Achievement Point: I was worried the last two episodes would feel a bit tacked on and cheapen the ending of Being Meltdown, but these actually ended up being the best episodes of the show. We learn about how Kurisu's death happened and how it caused WWIII, and the series ends with a fun and exciting time-heist where Okabe has to trick his past self into think Kurisu died utilizing tons of Chekhov's Guns from previous episodes of the series. The ending was incredibly happy and satisfying, and everything was brought full circle.
Overall, Steins;Gate had a bit of a slow start with a shaky yet methodical first half that set up the mysteries and characters. By the time the anime gets great, it's already halfway through, but at its best, Steins;Gate is a compelling time travel story with an excellent ending.
3/5 Stars
Favorite Episode: Open The Steins Gate
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