Steins;Gate - Review

Title: Steins;Gate
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Rating: 9.7/10

Summary:
Steins;Gate is set in the summer of 2010, approximately one year after the events that took place in Chaos;Head, in Akihabara.

Steins;Gate is about a group of friends who have customized their microwave into a device that can send text messages to the past. As they perform different experiments, an organization named SERN, who has been doing their own research on time travel, tracks them down and now the characters have to find a way to avoid being captured by them.

"No one know what the future holds. That's why its potential is infinite" -Okabe Rintarou

Story: 10/10

The best part of this series is its story. If your looking for originality, engaging twist, and unforgettable main characters then I will surely recommend this show. I have to admit that the first half of the series is quite slow but that is understandable since the purpose of that is to set-up one believable and jaw dropping scenarios in the next half of the series. The time traveling aspect has been nicely played out specially on the plot twist that it really made my jaw drop to the floor. Well since the concept of time traveling is quite limited that the creators have to heavily rely on their imagination and that explains some time traveling mojos where there are some instances that I have to bottle up my disbelief (well this is fiction after all). That’s still forgivable since despite that flaw the time traveling technicalities has been well thought out and applies the concept of cause and effect that explains why something happened when the main character tampered with history.

Characters: 9/10

I  love how the show build up its characters specially Okabe. I like how the anime depicted the pain he felt after experiencing horrible stuff over and over again. I got the feeling that the development of the side characters somehow fell short and because of that some dramatic tensions that is suppose to be there was not felt. That’s just a minor quirk in the character department but other than that you’ll learn to love the characters in this series specially Kurisu, Mayuri and Suzuha.

Animation: 9/10
The animation is also quite good specially on how it used dull colors which fits the series’ overall mood, simple to overly dramatic camera angle and effects during calm or dramatic scenes.The animation may be simple but it was creatively utilized and well choreographed.

Sounds: 10/10
The OP song "Hacking to the Gate" by Kanako Itou is just so-so but I love how Huke’s gritty style was somehow adapted to the animation of the OP. The ED song "Toki Tsukasadoru Juuni no Meiyaku (刻司ル十二ノ盟約)" by Yui Sakakibara really fits the atmosphere of the series and I really like that song. With its  shattered sand timer and Mayuri’s clock, it got the feel that time is running out. There are some bgms that are quite nice to the ears and it was played during the right moment. Sometimes the show also uses silence that indicates some tension in the atmosphere.
This show also boasts its clever dialogues and couple it with the superb performance of the voice actors it just blew my mind away since it was witty and hilarious at the same time. Thanks to the VAs the scientific jargons in the series was delivered effectively that an average person like me could understand. If it weren’t for their talent the emotions thrown in this series would miss the hearts of the viewers.

Enjoyments 10/10
Hell yes I definitely enjoyed this series! This is the only show that I was really looking forward in watching week after week wishing that I have a time machine so that I could watch the next episode. I’m a bit sad that the series already ended since I will going to miss the company of the characters which I have grown to love and sympathize with. Well I’m happy with the ending since despite their hardships Okabe and Kurisu had a happy ending.
I really love how this series makes me think and speculate on what will happen in the next episode. I guarantee you you’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll be surprised by the twist and turns this show pulled off. Even the re-watch value of this series is really high since you’ll see some clues here and there that you didn’t notice before. I really recommend this to anyone who loves anime. So what the hell? Watch this like right now!

chidori3souske signing off with Okabe’s

El. Psy. Congoroo.


Overall: 9.7/10 (Must See)