Watching Steins;Gate only last year for the first time proved to be
beneficial since it was relatively fresh in my mind as I dived into Steins;Gate 0 earlier this year. As a sequel, Steins;Gate 0 is not set after the events at the end of the
original series or the movie, but is set between the happenings in Episode 23 (“Open
the Steins Gate”) of the original series – particularly (major SPOILERS for the
original Steins;Gate series) between
the moment Okabe Rintaro returned from his failed mission to save Kuriso and
the moment he received a video message from his future self.
In Episode 23, Rintaro time
traveled to the past in order to save Kurisu, but after failing, he fell into
despair. However, he received a video message
from his future self, who provided him the instructions to reach the “Steins;Gate”
worldline (a reality where both Kurisu and Mayuri survive). Encouraged by this, as well as a pep talk
from Mayuri, he decided to try once more, finally succeeding the second time
around in Episode 24 (“Achievement Point”).
Steins;Gate 0 tells the story of that alternate Okabe Rintaro who
would send that video message from the future.
This Rintaro didn’t receive a video mail from a future self, and thus,
he didn’t gain the hope that would have enabled him to overcome his despair and
try once more. Instead, he gave up,
succumbed to misery, and surrendered to live in a reality where Kurisu is dead.
The anime starts off a couple of
months after that fateful day (which was shown in the OVA, Episode 23(β): “Open
the Missing Link”, an alternate episode of Episode 23 that serves as prologue to Steins;Gate 0). Okabe Rintaro is no longer
the same. He has buried himself in his
college studies, got rid of his “Hououin Kyouma” mad scientist persona, and now
has a gloomy, tormented, “normal” personality.
While attending a seminar, he meets Prof. Alexis Leskinen and his
assistant Hijayo Maho, who are the late Kurisu’s colleagues. After learning of his friendship with Kurisu,
they ask Rintaro to be the tester of Amadeus, a futuristic artificial
intelligence system that they have developed with Kurisu, which also possesses
her appearance and memories before her death – basically making it her digital
clone. And thus begins a chain of events
that make Rintaro realize that his nightmare with time travel is far from over.
Steins;Gate 0 is not a show that one will grasp, much less
love, if he or she hasn’t seen the original series yet. In order for it to make sense, one is
required to have an understanding of various concepts and plot points that was established
in Steins;Gate. Most importantly, the tedious pace and
convoluted plot will undoubtedly turn off first-time viewers, while these will prove
to be welcome elements for the versed.
Moreover, the show doesn’t spend much time building up the OG characters. It operates with the assumption that the viewer already cares deeply for these characters. It simply concerns itself with giving these characters their “moments to shine”, whose magnitude only long-time fans will thoroughly appreciate.
Meanwhile, the treatment for the new characters and the layers they add to the story is mostly effective. But outside of Kagari, Maho, and Prof. Leskinen, there’s a lack of fleshing out that happened. Two or three of these new supporting characters haven’t really added anything to the story. In relation to this, there are plot points attached to these characters that are either under-explored or simply pointless. Maybe they are looked into more in detail in the visual novel, but in this anime, they only have an unsatisfying presence.
Moreover, the show doesn’t spend much time building up the OG characters. It operates with the assumption that the viewer already cares deeply for these characters. It simply concerns itself with giving these characters their “moments to shine”, whose magnitude only long-time fans will thoroughly appreciate.
Meanwhile, the treatment for the new characters and the layers they add to the story is mostly effective. But outside of Kagari, Maho, and Prof. Leskinen, there’s a lack of fleshing out that happened. Two or three of these new supporting characters haven’t really added anything to the story. In relation to this, there are plot points attached to these characters that are either under-explored or simply pointless. Maybe they are looked into more in detail in the visual novel, but in this anime, they only have an unsatisfying presence.
There are also intriguing parts
of the story that I wish had been given more focus.
For example, I like how the Future Gadgets Laboratory members eventually
become the core of the Valkyrie resistance, and it would have been cool to see
more of their operations as well as how they developed into such (maybe have an
entire series to show all these, eh?).
Though it can be left to the imagination how they have come to fill
their respective roles (e.g. Faris obviously provided the funding), I still
would have loved to see the specifics.
In relation to this, going into this show,
the thing I was really looking forward to see the most was a meticulous
depiction of how Okabe Rintaro successfully formulated the needed steps to reach
the Steins;Gate worldline. Unfortunately,
this wasn’t shown at all. It just fastforwarded from the point he regained his will to save everyone to the point
he already knew what to do and was ready to send these instructions to his past
self. I wasn’t greatly disappointed by
this, but still, my preference was a thorough account of the planning stage.
Anyway, the plot is already quite complex as it is with the material that it has chosen to explore. And I’m not going to pretend that everything about the story has been thoroughly clear to me. It definitely requires to be watched again, and I will eventually do so (heck, I’ve seen the original Steins;Gate series twice – the first time in sub, and the second time in dub – and it’s still possible I missed a couple of things). Nevertheless, my first viewing experience and what I got to understand from it are already enough to make me see how much of a smart, resonating, distinctive, and well-told sci-fi thriller/drama it is.
Anyway, the plot is already quite complex as it is with the material that it has chosen to explore. And I’m not going to pretend that everything about the story has been thoroughly clear to me. It definitely requires to be watched again, and I will eventually do so (heck, I’ve seen the original Steins;Gate series twice – the first time in sub, and the second time in dub – and it’s still possible I missed a couple of things). Nevertheless, my first viewing experience and what I got to understand from it are already enough to make me see how much of a smart, resonating, distinctive, and well-told sci-fi thriller/drama it is.
In a nutshell, the entire series
involves waiting for the dispirited Okabe Rintaro to “resurrect” Hououin Kyouma. It takes most of the episodes to get there,
and it can be sometimes chore-like. It
also results to lesser comedic and light-hearted moments. The show does have those, but compared to its
predecessor, the laughs are minimal.
However, the great anticipation for the endgame and exemplary
storytelling amply enable the audience to push through, and once it finally arrives at
the eventual return of Hououin Kyouma, it’s such a glorious, spine-tingling,
fist-pumping moment that it makes the somewhat tough journey toward it well worth
it.
Lastly, it doesn’t reach the same
emotional heights of its predecessor – which is partly something of a given since the inherent sense of excitement brought by an unknown ending is already
negated by the fact that where the story will end up is already determined (i.e.
Episode 24 of the original series).
However, just like the original, it’s still quite splendid in
manipulating emotion nonetheless. And I mean that as
a good thing. With moving music, masterful
direction, and well-thought-out placing of cliff-hangers, the narrative emphatically
incites all kinds of feels.
In the final analysis, Steins;Gate 0 succeeds in being a terrific
sequel to an anime masterpiece.
An OVA is set for release later
this year, and if it’s anything like the original series’ OVA, it’s surely
going to be a delightful epilogue. Hopefully,
it involves showing how the new characters introduced in this series are faring
in the Steins;Gate worldline as well as following up on what happens (SPOILER)
with the Rintaro, Mayuri, and Suzuha that got to 18,000 B.C. Can’t wait!
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