Steins;Gate: Kyoukaimenjou no Missing Link - Divide By Zero

(Spoilers obviously lol)

This episode is fantastic. THIS is how I wanted Steins;Gate to end. One of my only complaints with the original series is how they had to have episode 24 and how it felt like they undermined the tragedy in the story to give everyone a happy ending. To me, it was like the creators were afraid of leaving it as a tragedy for fear the fans wouldn't like Kurisu actually dying as if to discard the entire point of the series itself: The choice. Who do you choose to let die? Your childhood friend who has become part of your identity? Or the ... only girl you've loved?

I honestly enjoyed the throwback with the art and animation. I appreciate that they didn't update the look and instead it felt like a alternate version rather than an addition. I understand completely that Steins;Gate 0 will look relatively different (it'll be 1080p, have the look of the VN, and will obviously be better funded) and I have no problem with that, but it was really nice that they stuck with what they did in the original series in this one.

I thought that the mini-development Okabe went through in this episode is terrific. Obviously having previous knowledge about his character helped our foundation, but we could see before our eyes him mentally snapping. He just crumbled. With this crumbling, he matured. We could see at the end how Okabe is now a college student, he's accepting adult responsibilities, dressing in a more conventionally appropriate way, and he even remarked that he's socializing. I could be wrong, but the phone call Okabe had sounded like he was either going on a date, or meeting up with some friends to eat or go to a movie. This is something the Okabe of the original series wouldn't have done. His development is masterfully portrayed.

After watching this episode I am even more excited about Steins;Gate 0 than I already was, and that's all a special really is, isn't it? A way of putting out something for people to see and get excited about. This is a wonderful "prequel" episode to the events that are about to unfold and I, personally, can't wait to see what comes next.

Thank you for reading my review, and as always, feel free to leave a reply on my profile if you liked or hated it and need to tell me why. Either is fine, I don't mind.

This Steins;Gate alternate episode cuts into the main series and changes the story completely to make it possible to have Steins;Gate 0. It's hard to rate or review something that is simply another episode of a series. It's not like the sequel special (Steins;Gate: Oukoubakko no Poriomania) where that has a beginning, middle and end. It's just a convenient replacement for episode 23. I don't know if to rate it the same as the main series or try to dissect it as a stand-alone. It fits perfectly, picks up just fine, and feels very natural to the main series; but, it doesn't do anything in ... itself other than undo the original ending. By itself, it's not better or worse than the original episode 23.

In 2011, when Steins;Gate was uber-cool, and I was just taken away how intricate, search-able terms, and mind-boggling Steins;Gate is. To this date, in 2018, no time-travelling anime can top it. Erased is a different breed, but others like it sounded childish compared to this.

So what happened, then, in 2015, we're given this "alternate version", and this is an appalling, offensive OVA. I'm all for emphasizing story points, arc, plot, and character development, however, 2011 was such a long time that by 2015, we'll have to be convinced that "no, no, there's an alternate version ending and here it is!".

Steins;Gate is a visual novel to ... start with, so it should have multiple endings BUT that is in the realm of visual novel.

In anime, or manga, there has to be one definite ending, because that completes the ethos of storytelling, you can't just make multiple endings or stories and cash yourself in it, otherwise that rightly states that:
1. This is a milking cash-cow episode.
2. The original creators don't know what they're doing.

There are those who said this is how Steins;Gate should end, and I agree---I very much will like this to be the path or "world line" of the plot, IF THIS WAS what it was supposed to be in 2011. Otherwise, this is a fuck-off piece of 23mins episode wasted. You watch this so you can watch and understand the premise of Steins;Gate 0, and thus you make the creators smile.

The visual novel has four writers: Chiyomaru Shikura, Naotaka Hayashi, Shimokura Vio, and Tanizaki Ouka. However, the writer for the anime version, in the 2011, and this OVA, and on the Steins;Gate 0, is a prick named Jukki Hanada.

It seems that Jukki Hanada realized he could cash Steins;Gate for more, and thus created this abomination, and the "alternate sequel" Steins;Gate 0. Somebody should create a time machine and prevent him from becoming the writer of Steins;Gate anime, at all. Since the visual novel was already established, any competent writer who hopefully won't turn to greed, could do the same thing of writing that he did.

And don't get me started with alternate sequels, for example, I've like Fate/Stay Night so much despite its honest cash-cow arc, but that's because it's on fantasy genre, and it's established that Fate/Stay Night has the Saber arc (the original), the Tohsaka or the Unlimited Blade Works arc, and the Heaven's Feel or Sakura arc. So we accept that as it is; it's an honest cash-cow and we know there has to be THREE storylines of the Fate/Stay Night anime.

But Steins;Gate only has "one" arc, given with multiple endings. And that's a load of bull to put two different endings on an acclaimed anime. That makes it cheap, and an obvious cash-cow loot.

Thus,

The original Steins;Gate is the 2011 version with its 25thepisode OVA, and the Deja Vu movie. THAT'S IT. That's all you need to watch and get along with Steins;Gate as one of the greatest anime of all time.

Otherwise, if you want to contribute to the cash-cow, then watch this appalling alternate version, and its abhorrent alternate sequel called Steins;Gate 0.