Steins;Gate 0

Time is the whole series when the process, action, or situation is in place or takes place. In this case, the time scale is the interval between two states / events, or it can be the duration of an event.

when we are traveling or sleeping we don't know what happened to the situation out there in other words if we pull out a hair what happens to our head? it doesn't have much effect on us to imagine when a piece of hair gets pulled one by one over a long period of time what happens? of course we will feel the impact of a ... single hair.

in the world we live there is nothing that can stop time as our will is like a spinning wheel we live always spinning and experiencing some heavy process and if the wheel loses the chain what happens? the wheel will stop spinning like a world that stops spinning and only shows day and night forever.

and so on and on ...

Originally a visual novel by 5pb and Nitroplus, Steins; Gate 0 tells the story of Okabe Rintaro (the crazy scientist known as Hououin Kyouma) who fails to save his lover and cannot stop the occurrence of the third world war. Okabe spends the rest of his time lamenting sadness after losing his lover and time spent with his "friends". The gadget is the name of the laboratory that Okabe founded to experiment on tools that could be said to be like the tools of the future. After experiencing Okabe's failure to save his lover he no longer visits the laboratory he founded with his colleagues.

after he gave up he threw out the name of chunnibyou "Hoounin Kyouma" and decided to become an ordinary student after three months of studying / as a student he met with the assistant professor at the place where he studied "Maho Hiyajo" a woman aged twenty-one years. the woman Okabe attended the brain intelligence seminar created by "Alexis Lexinen" in the seminar appeared Okabe's lover who had died a while ago but his lover was in the form of AI (Artifical Intelligence).

Steins; Gate 0 is a good series, but unlike the previous series in this series it seems not too tense. White Fox is the maker of two series of Steins; Gate, this studio gives a good impression in adapting Novel Visuals and Manga (no need to be surprised because the studio this is a studio that produces Akame ga Kill and Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seiketsu which until now has become the best-selling series).

aside from the matter above now an anime series will not be good if it is not supported by voice actors, song themes, and song background (BGM) like a car if there are no supporters like wheels then it will not work well. Thanks to the voice this time of course only this matter did not escape Miyano Mamoru's voice talents as "Okabe Rintarou", Hanazawa Kana as "Shiina Mayuri", Imai Asami as "Makise Kurisu" (although she did not play many roles and was AI), and Seki Tomokazu as "Hashida Itaru "once again I thank the series voice this time for struggling in carrying out their duties.

for the opening theme "Fatima" sung by "Itou Kanako" she has already contributed in the making of the opening theme song in the previous series. For the music background it's pretty good especially when the "twenty-two" episode starts from music that makes the audience get excited and sad

This series gets three new characters, "Hiyajo Maho" as the, "Shiina Kagari" (she is a person from the future who came with Suzuha to stop the third world war), and the last is " Leskinen Alexis ".

This series has the impression of being funny, sad, tense, and so romantic, it's no wonder the viewers are confused by the nets of the story. Although this series focuses more on the daily life of "Okabe Rintarou" who fails to save his lover, compared to the fight itself it may this might have an effect on the value or ranking down in this series even though in this series it is also no less stressful than the previous series.

even though Steins; Gate 0 is an anime science fiction it is not denied even though the time we passed from this moment we cannot return or repeat and change it according to our own desires because it is something that is contrary to the universe.

it is strange if the final winding is regret or happiness

"WHERE ARE THE JAPANESE SHAMAN GIRLS LINTAHLO?!!" - Good Boi Leskinen

Back in 2011, we were stunned by the hit-anime named "Steins;Gate" with its unique story-telling of Sci-Fi, which is time-travel in the anime industry. The industry doesn't have many anime that focuses on time-travel conflicts. So far, the only time-travel anime I've watched were Steins;Gate and ERASED, which both made me amused, excited and thrilled on their unique, individual scenes. Now, this Spring 2018, we were hitted by nostalgia with the return of the Steins;Gate franchise although, instead of it having a sequel, we get a "midquel" of the original Steins Gate. Thus, we get ... to watch the phenomenal dark story of the franchise named "Steins;Gate 0". Just a brief reminder, before you watch Steins Gate 0, keep in mind this is an alternate story of the original. After Episode 22/23 of the original series, watch "Steins;Gate: Episode 23 (B), Open the Missing Link", where this episode leads to the episode 1 of Steins;Gate 0.

Story:
We get to follow the story of a man once named "Hououin Kyouma" but then he suddenly changed with a certain incident, changing him back to only "Okabe, Rintarou." Hence, "Hououin Kyouma" was no more in this world. We are looking into a broken-man named "Okabe, Rintarou". With him not finding the goal which is the Steins;Gate world line, he was stuck to be in the Beta World Line, where Kurisu sacrificed herself for Mayuri. This is a story where Okabe failed to reach a good ending and was now stuck in a world line where WW3 was inevitable. If you want to expect more dark revelations like what the original Steins;Gate did, then you are on the right series because revelations are breathtaking on each episode of Steins Gate 0. We get to follow an Okabe who wears a dark suit, not a lab coat, depicting how his mental state is. Here, we get to see how he, a once delusional man, is now a normal college student. But, when "Amadeus" (AI Kurisu) was introduced to him, the peace that Okabe was longing started to get disrupted. Basically, everything up to the last episode, was related to "Amadeus" keeping the plot synopsis in tact and the characters as well. What I like about the story is the originality of the plot rather than copy-pasting from the original anime. Scenes that were anime-original that cannot be found in the VN were some instance, were there as well. Another thing was that the story keeps becoming dark and dark and as it goes darker, the characters are developing as well making the thrill of the story fitting to the characters not only Okabe but the others as well.

Characters:
What makes a great anime is a ton of great and well-developed characters and the Steins;Gate franchise always impresses us, including Steins;Gate 0 with their characters. Take our favorite mad-scientist for example "Hououin Kyouma". We were so attached to him on the original Steins;Gate that seeing him being so broken and fragile on Steins;Gate 0 makes me (and I bet the fans as well), hoping the great mad-scientist will return someday. But even tho he was so broken and fragile, due to the story's progression, his character development progressed each episode as well. Then we have Shiina Mayuri, who shockingly have the best character development of all. She did something so courageous that is out of her character and made us fans say "Great Job Mayuri.". Of course we will not forget Hashida Daru. The perverted otaku and hacker who for some instance a dad, a caring friend and a scientist. If you finished this anime, you know why Daru really improved alot on this series not only on a romantic way but with Okabe as well. Then we have Makise Kurisu (Amadeus a.k.a AI Kurisu), again like Mayuri, Courage made her a great character in an instance even though she is just a computer version of the actual Kurisu. Or should I say, she is just a fake. Not to mention the "trap" Ruka to have some character development even tho her screentime is not that much. Along with Ruka (who is a supporting characters) are of course Mr Braun and Moeka. If you watched the original Steins Gate you would have known they are the villains (SERN's employees or like that) but it is a good fact that this two are allies of Okabe on this Beta World Line, so expect some revelations of villains ahead.
Then we are introduced with some new characters like Professor Leskinen and Hiyajou, Maho. Maho, who is a colleague of Kurisu back in America shows lots of character traits but one of them was jealousy. Then this trait was shattered as episode goes on and on and we see her having more confidence to herself. Then there's Professor Leskinen who just wants her japanese shaman girls Lintahlo!!!..

Art:
There's nothing to say about to visuals/art design of Steins;Gate 0 as it stays just what it was back in the 2011 adaptation of Steins;Gate, and of course I'm glad it stayed that way. However, if look at it, there are more action scenes on Steins;Gate 0 compared to Steins;Gate. If your an action fan you will be disappointed as the actions are pretty whacky and not so good. But since we all know Steins;Gate is more focus on the Sci-Fi and thriller stuffs, we can let it all slip. The visuals of the opening and endings are phenominal and matches the current state of the characters on the story. Not to mention, the Endings as well. But out of all those, the first ending which is entitled "LAST GAME" grabbed my attention both visually and musically. Its inferences and basis of Okabe and Mayuri to the first half of the story are all in that ED. Overall, the visuals are great.

Sound:
A good anime comes with good openings, endings and background music and oh boy..... Zero really made my ears feel the nostalgia back when I watched Steins;Gate and play the VNs. Aside from the openings and endings being good, the background music as I hear them some felt like I heard them before. Even tho they are reusing those background music, it doesn't affect the story and scene at all. It actually makes the scene more powerful and eye-catching with your ears hearing those nostalgic beats.

Overall thoughts and Enjoyment:
In conclusion, if you are a diehard steins gate fan you wil love this 23 episodes ride of Steins;Gate 0. It actually felt like I watched a whole another anime which should be because if I felt that I just rewatched Steins;Gate, then Zero would have lacked uniqueness with its plot and characters. But thank god I didn't felt that and I enjoyed it at the same level of the original Steins;Gate. Even tho it is more dark, it should be and will always be a good anime to watch if you feel like Steins;Gate was not enough. If you haven't watched Steins;Gate, do it now and then watch this. I assure you. You will not regret it. El..Psy..Congroo..

What happens when the hero fails to save the day and just gives up?
According to Steins;Gate 0, he spirals into a state of complete depression and despair, becoming a shell of his former self.

Steins;Gate 0 is an alternate future where protagonist Okabe Rintarou fails to save Makise Kurisu. It’s sort of a “what if” story that shows what would happen if Okabe gave up on trying to reach the sacred Steins;Gate world line in which everyone is happy and there’s no apocalypse in the near future. To put it bluntly, S;G0 was a success. It’s been quite a long time since I’ve been so ... thoroughly entertained by an anime. Even though it doesn't quite match the quality of the original in my mind, S;G0 was still able to live up to the high expectations set by its predecessor, and it tells a truly compelling narrative.

It’s amazing how the personality change of one person can affect so many. The mad scientist Hououin Kyouma died alongside Kurisu in the beta world line where this story takes place, leaving behind a nihilistic and broken Okabe Rintarou. Viewers can clearly see just how hard the rest of the cast, especially Mayuri, take Okabe’s character transformation. Gone is the humorous banter and close companionship that the characters shared in the original Steins;Gate. It has been replaced with a dark and uncomfortable atmosphere, and as someone who was warmed by Okabe’s positive relationships with his friends, it’s downright depressing to watch.

An even harder loss to swallow is Makise Kurisu. She’s quite frankly an amazing character. Makise is intelligent, attractive, a bit of a tsundere and an otaku, has a lot of great and funny moments in the original anime, and is just admirably supportive of Okabe, acting as his crutch during his times of despair. It wouldn’t be a stretch to call her an ideal girl. She even sacrifices herself so that Okabe can live in an beta world line in which Mayuri lives. Wow, she might just be a bit too perfect…Although she’s dead in S;G0, there’s an amazing episode where Okabe transitions into an alpha world line where Kurisu is alive, yet Mayuri is deceased. The episode is basically there to remind us just how phenomenal Makise is, and that makes it all the more painful when Okabe returns to the beta world line, leaving Kurisu behind. I’m not gonna lie, I was starting to get a little emotional at the end of the episode.

So with Makise deceased in this world line and Okabe having suppressed his flamboyant mad scientist nature in favor of a more emo persona, you might think that this anime is a lot weaker than its predecessor in the character department. Well, while I can admit the the original Steins;Gate is superior when it comes to characterization, the cast of S;G0 is still quite amazing in its own right.

Okabe really is one of the greatest anime protagonist out there. One of the things that makes him so good is his ability to be unrealistically ridiculous with his bouts of chuunibyouism while being able to transition to a more solemn and vulnerable state when things get serious. The latter is heavily demonstrated in this anime, as the old, care free Okabe is gone, replaced by a serious man who still strives to help his friends, but struggles with his own doubts and insecurities. This portrays him as being truly human, because let’s be real, I don’t think any of us would be able to keep up a cheery image if we went through all of the pain that Okabe has faced. But do not despair, because Okabe’s depression doesn’t last forever.

Because just like the majestic phoenix, Hououin Kyouma ascends from the ashes and is born anew.

I won’t spoil anything specific, but near the very end of the anime, Okabe finally regains his drive and determination, and once again becomes the mad scientist that we all know and love. For that entire episode, I had a big, stupid grin on my face. It was so refreshing to see the old Okabe again after so long, and literally every chuuni thing he did made me nearly burst out laughing. But he didn’t go back to his old self on his own. No, his awakening can be truly attributed to the admirable support of his friends.

With Makise gone, the title of female protagonist goes to her scientist loli upperclassmen friend Maho Hiyajou. Now Makise has some pretty big shoes to fill, and being a loli, Maho’s feet might be too small to fit- oh wait, this is an idiom…whoops…Well anyway, Maho ended up being a great addition to the cast. She might seem a bit one dimensional on the surface with her main defining feature being her desire to surpass Kurisu, but I can assure you that there is so much more to her character. Despite her small stature, Maho has a big part to play in the anime. She gives several inspirational speeches that help to push Okabe forward, constructs the time leap machine in Kurisu’s absence, shows vulnerabilities despite her general awesomeness, and has many funny and entertaining moments in the show. Does she reach Kurisu’s level? I don’t think so, but she’s a great character nonetheless.

I actually liked Daru a good deal more this time around. Perhaps it was because Okabe became somewhat of a vegetable for awhile, which allowed for Daru’s personality to shine through. He actually has a nice lighthearted arc with his future wife and daughter Suzuha that develops his character. He provides some pretty good comic relief on occasion, and, along with Maho, is easily the most useful lab member to Okabe.

Mayuri’s role is important because through her, viewers can clearly see just how much the cast is negatively affected by Okabe’s give up attitude. Gone are the kawaii tuturus~ and upbeat personality. They’ve been replaced with a sad girl who just wants her prince Okabe to be happy. She feels herself slowly distancing from Okabe throughout the show, and even decides to time travel herself so that she can motivate Okabe to not give up on trying to save Kurisu. I found this to be quite admirable, and really like how the anime handled her character.

The other familiar faces from Steins;Gate unfortunately don’t play much of a role in S;G0, but they all still contribute to the story in there own way, so it’s only fair to give some of them a shout out.

Suzuha just wants Okabe to reach Steins;Gate. She desperately tries to get him to time travel in order to fulfill the duty bestowed upon her by her father, and it hurts to see her fail. When it comes to Ruka, there’s a touching moment where Ruka expresses a desire to help Okabe out in any way possible. Ruka feels left out of all of the secrets and just wants to be useful. It’s just a small moment, but it shows just how caring Ruka can be, and I really appreciate that…but he’s a dude. It’s also worth mentioning that his future self is pretty badass. And Faris…well, umm, she’s still a cute neko girl, so…yeah.

Out of the new characters aside from Maho, Professor Leskinen is easily the most memorable. He’s an American in Japan, so as you can imagine, he has many comedic misunderstandings, such as his iconic “WHERE ARE THE JAPANESE SHAMAN GIRLS LINTAHLO?” line. He’s a pretty cool dude, and ends up playing an important role in the anime.

One issue that I do have is that for the longest time, I wasn’t exactly sure what the primary conflict was. I assumed that it was to get to the Steins;Gate world line, but there are so many different things going on that it felt to me like the end goal was sort of being overshadowed. Don’t get me wrong, I highly enjoyed these other plot points. You have Okabe trying to deal with his depression, Suzuha trying to get him to time travel, Maho trying to get out of Kurisu’s shadow, the mystery behind Kagari, the whole Amadeus ordeal, the threat from America and Russia…yeah, you get the point. Maybe it’s just me, but for awhile I wasn’t entirely sure where the anime was going. Of course, all of these things do actually correlate well with one another and contribute to what is to me a great story. I just wish it was a bit more focused.

So something about Steins;Gate 0 that I’m sure most people will overlook is how it provides a model example for how comedy in an anime should be handled. I know, this is probably a weird statement to make considering the genre of the anime, but it’s true, and S;G0’s seamless implementation of comedic elements is honestly quite praiseworthy. Intertwining with the generally dark and psychological atmosphere of the show, the lighthearted moments are really able to shine through without being the least bit detrimental to the story progression. In many cases, they even proved to be a much needed breath of fresh air and fun. There are also a few fan service scenes (if you can even call them that considering how safe they are) primarily focused on Maho-tan, so if you’re not into lolis, you might actually be turned off by these moments. I, of course, being a man of culture, agree with Daru’s wise statement of “legal loli for the win!” Because remember, Maho is 21, so it’s all perfectly legal. Definitely. No sirens, no FBI.

When it comes to the technical aspects of the show, I have to say, the sound quality is simply fantastic. The opening theme song Fatima quickly rose to my favorite opening of the year, the endings were great as well, and the soundtrack just fits the anime perfectly. Steins;Gate also has my two favorite seiyuu, Mamoru Miyano and Kana Hanazawa, so that’s a big bonus. And the other voice actors do an amazing job as well. So yeah, I really have no complaints at all when it comes to the sound.

My biggest issue with this show would be it’s visuals. So this anime came out seven years after it’s predecessor, yet there are absolutely no improvements with the visual quality whatsoever. Now they didn’t get worse either, and I can understand the need to keep the visuals similar and consistent between the two anime. But I still expected the animation to be at least a little more polished and detailed. Oh, and some of the action scenes near the end to me just looked really cringy, which is unfortunate. But the character designs are still great, and the artistic quality of the show is still pretty good, despite the flaws I mentioned. It’s just that I have to be a bit nitpicky since this wouldn’t be much of a review if I didn’t point out the flaws, right?

Steins;Gate 0 is a great anime. Even with it’s male lead acting as a shell of his former self for some time and the female lead dead, it was still able to weave an exciting, albeit a bit unfocused at times, tale about the repercussions of time travel, and is filled with an endearing cast of characters. It may just be the telling of an alternate ending to the original anime, but it was simply an enjoyable ride. I was thoroughly entertained by every episode, and can definitely say that Steins;Gate 0 is one of the better anime that I’ve seen in recent memory.

''The way I see it, this world exists because of a choice Kurisu made. I must protect that choice. That is this world’s law. In reliving time, I learned one thing… That certain events converge as if orchestrated by God. Trying to change them… it’s challenging God. And God does not tolerate human arrogance. '' Okabe Rintaro

''This vague, ominous feeling… It’s like living in a nightmare where I know all the bad things to come. Where the world enjoys to rub in the guilt of my unspeakeable sin. This inescapable despair... Slowly becomes a downward spiral... '' Okabe Rintaro

Steins;Gate 0 is the bleak reality of ... the Beta World Line. Basically, it's Okabe's story of the tragic future of the beta line, portraying his depression and how he managed to plan Operation Skuld. Steins;Gate 0 arises from the premisse "what if?". What if Okabe had made another decision, giving up everything?

Story - 10
It is highly recommended watch Steins;Gate 0 because it explains exactly the events that leads to the end of the original series, why this tragic future needs desperately to change. The dialogues are dense and shocking (episode 16 is the perfect proof of this), since Okabe tries to live a normal life but, even so he sinks in an absolute sadness. See only if you have that in mind, because it is not easy to recover from a trauma, and his motives to become depressed are entirely plausible. Hououin Kyouma will return, we all know, but surely he must experience total despair before the glorious return and the glorious ending.

Art - 9
The art is very similar to the original, however, here has many more dark tones to leave a more tense atmosphere. I also like the fact that the camera focuses a lot on the traumatized expression of the Okabe, emphasizing all his suffering. The only problem of the art is the animation of the action scenes that occur in episode 17 and 18, but since it’s not an anime focused totally in action, I can overlook this a little bit. But I hope they will improve this at the final edition.

Sound - 10
The soundtrack is simply beautiful.

Character - 10
The characters continue to have a good development, especially Okabe, Daru, Mayuri and Maho. They all have a backstory, philosophical and subjective debates, goals and dramas. I would say that initially Steins;Gate 0 as well as Steins;Gate has a focus on character development, only that in S;G 0 they are developed in a dense environment, which further increases the thrilling atmosphere. It is noteworthy that, PRACTICALLY in the whole anime Okabe is depressed and hopeless, which is not a bad thing, it is totally plausible for the reasons I mentioned above.

Enjoyment - 10
If you loved Steins; Gate, you'll love this one. All the dark atmosphere and the deep feelings that are addressed in every episode. If you felt comfortable after the ending of Steins;Gate, be prepared to be punched in the gut with every episode. This is not your feel-good anime. This anime will torment you with feels in a way you wouldn't expect.

S;G 0 is so much underrated. I believe that a large portion did not understand some points of the plot, premise and the interweaving of routes of the VN. The point is that Steins;Gate 0 should not be observed separately, since the main premise is to complement the True Ending, giving a totally new great meaning to it. Basically it's the story of the Operation Skuld but not about the Operation Skuld.

This way, it can be said that the main issue addressed in Steins;Gate 0 is sacrifice. I can't say much more about the True Ending due to spoilers, but It's implied that 0kabe lives through multiple PR and V&A like scenarios. What I can say is that Steins;Gate 0 is very, very complex... maybe even more complex than the original series, because it has several layers and infinite loops of failures and sacrifices, plus the end is extremely sad. It is a sensational experience.

Overall, It's a great sequel. Steins;Gate 0 has a genial psychological plot with a very dark atmosphere and incredible soundtrack. Just like Steins;Gate, this series deserves to be watched by all humans of this and other World Lines.

El Psy Kongroo.

Steins Gate 0 is a story about Okabe losing Kurisutina and falling into depression because now his harem is incomplete. Not awesome. With the power of epic deus ex machina writing stuff, person close to Kurisutina puls a random personality capturing device out of her butt and a trip towards harem restoration begins. Awesome.

The writing is a mess. A total clash of random ideas. The amount of different plot elements from asspullery science-save-us-all devices to reading steiner super powers inserted inside slice of life harem settings about.... depression, is absurd. It mainly reminds me of the chaos that Code Geass R2 was. Inb4 who was ... riding the time machine? Predicting it.

When it comes to the build-up, last time White Fox did an impressive job by fooling people into thinking that the show isn't good. Steins Gate generating mean score close to 7.00 during its first episodes. With Steins Gate 0, they did the opposite by fooling people into thinking that this series is good. Advanced trolling. gg I guess.

Surely an anime with generic and weak story can be still good if a) the characters are amazing b) the overall execution as a whole is truly unique and impressive.

Okabe became depressed so he would look the exact same as during Mayushii rescue arc. Tutturuus are starting to feel old. Suzuha is still a whine with fabulous hair. Nyan nyan terrible excuse for a fanservice animal girl. I am still not sure if Rukako has a dick or not, but hey token traps for men of culture, amirite? Maho is just a midget with long hair. At least she doesn't have to claim she is ACHUAYLLY 700 years-old vampire in 7 yo girls body. My morals thank thee. Kurisutina is there only to insert one of each archetype into the harem mix. Daru still speaks like he is mentally handicapped... Some people call this series a masterpiece for its characters, by the way... They are just really dull and boring. Even the girls in 'White Album' had more characteristics.

When it comes to the overall execution, basically this is just a parody series which doens't recognize itself as one. Even 'Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu' was more self-aware. Okabe's traumas are handled super poorly and in a manner much worse than in 'Mahou Shoujo Site' which is another "dark" series from current season. Whenever Moeka appears and the 3 seconds long dramatic tension BGM starts playing while Okabe looks like he will get a panic attack, I bury myself in double facepalm. And whenever our characters speak of building a new machine it mainly reminds me of 'Galilei Donna' where 6 years-old kid "build" a huge, advanced airship in a day. Steins Gate is exactly as convincing for that matter. I have yet to meet a person who gets fooled by the thriller side of this show. Super cheap shit-is-getting-real running scenes which end with comedic reliefs... It's almost nauseating. And when they threw that amnesia/memory loss cliche I had no choice but to pause the stream for 5 minutes and think if the writing can even go more ridiculous than this. It's not really even funny, just sad.

The songs are inferior to the 2011 anime. I must have listened Hacking the Gate for something like 2036 years. This time there is no note-worthy songs outside the OP and ED. Especially the supposedly emotional piano songs used in supposedly emotional scenes are just awful. Practically all the rest is elevator music... if there even is any. There almost never is any music playing or if it plays, it plays super quiet and doesn't typically even sound like music. Mainly remind me of the PS3 menu sounds. The voice acting is identical. Of course there are some awkward engrish and wapanese scenes this time which could as well not be there. The art is the same, nothing to complain about that one. At least one thing which I don't have to get annoyed by...

Based to the first 6 episodes, this has the potential to be the worst anime I have seen since 'Guilty Crown' back in 2011-2012. There is almost nothing the series has done correctly (so far).

This is my second review ever so cut me some slack :p

Steins;gate zero is an alternate ending to the original series we all love steins;gate, in this ending okabe fails to save Kirisu and he gives up all hope of saving her and goes into depression.

Story: As somebody who has played the VN i am happy how the adaptation is turning out, I especially like the psychological scenes. The pacing is also better then the original steins;gate because we don't need to introduce every single character which happened in the original steins;gate (a good 10 episodes or so).

Story: 9

Art: So white fox is at ... it again, we have all the characters we know and love in some different outfits that look quite nice in my opinion, especially Okabe looks fantastic in that black suit. It really highlights that he is going through a very tough time and that he isn't the cheerful mad scientist anymore. The backgrounds look very nice and have a lot of details.

Art: 10

Sound: Oh boy, oh boy the moment I heard Kanako Itou was doing the opening again I knew it was gonna be fantastic and she didn't disappoint. (besting Hacking To The Gate is impossible but she did a really good job) Some tracks from the original show also made a return and of course they added some twists and turns left and right. Adding sad/depressing songs was a must for this show, but they delivered with that as well.

Sound: 9

Characters: This is where steins;gate truly shines. All of the characters are so lovable it isn't even funny. They feel so real and you truly care about them. Seeing these awful things happen to these characters makes me sad. We are also more attached to them because we have known them for so long. They are also very interesting and are not flat characters without any spine.

Characters: 10

Enjoyment: What is there not to enjoy? We are talking about steins;gate, each episode up until now has delivered and i am eager to see where this adaptation will lead us.

Enjoyment: 10

Overall score: 10 (9.7)

"the flow of time is an illusion, that the past, present and future are equally real, and that time is tenseless"

Hello readers
there i go presenting the review of probably the best science fiction series world of anime has to offer . They say you can't improve on perfection, yet Steins;Gate 0 does just that. Taking what made the original story so great by awesome characters and a much darker theme makes Steins;Gate 0 the perfect continuation to a story.

"no one know what the future holds, thats why its potential is infinite"

story(probably 10/10)
I love how Steins;Gate 0 embraces the Beta timeline.
As i mention steins gate 0 ... involves a much darker theme and more thrilling impact than its previous season.As we seen in previous season, the series left off at the end of its 23rd episode, except in this version of events our hero Okabe didn't go through with the heroics that brought Steins;Gate prime to its happy ending. Instead, Okabe has gone full on tortured fallen hero, even going so far as to don a jet black ensemble to reflect the depths of his anguish. he is emotionally exhausted, burnt out on play-acting, and haunted by trauma that flares up whenever he's reminded of that one cruel summer. This episode's idle conversations between very familiar friends did a great job of asserting how badly Okabe had suffered, making his resistance to Suzuha asking for further help feel entirely natural.
In short with giving much spoiler's ahead i feel story seems much more darker and thrilling than previous season. Its still lacks some originality also i feel it skipping some of its detail's but it has great potential, some starting episodes are bit drafty and will surely able to give chills through its darker theme's.

Animation and art(9/10)
White fox absolutely fantastic job here.The episode does a great job of tweaking the series into something much more unsettling than Steins'Gate's early episodes; dramatic closeups and moody camera work ensure that the audience is never unaware of the deep psychological stress that haunts Okabe at all times.
On other hand it also feel's somewhat limited by its color palette and a little lethargic in its pacing.Its similar to Re:Zero, appears to be applying some of the same elements and themes from Subaru’s hellish existence when bringing Okabe’s visions to life.though its still great and you will get what you expect.


"My one constant, the one truth that never failed me was you"

Character(10/10)
Its not unknown that this series got some awesome character complexity that is mostly one of the major requirement of sci-fi thriller story.However i feel everything you learnt about characters like Mayuri, Daru and Moeka Kiryu in Steins;Gate may now no longer be true. You will still find their characteristics the same – Mayuri is still a cute, ditsy young girl, Daru still the pervert and Moeka the shy reporter who hides behind her mobile phone.
Okabe however seems depressed and hopeless and seems like a shell of his former self, its make audience more curious about Okabe's future.

Enjoyment(9/10)
Steins gate 0 is absolutely amazing in every way. I really loved original SG and was waiting for really long time for this. It is definitely at least as good as the first.Its unpredictable,more darker, and always have potential to surprise viewer's with unexpected ending's. Its really fun series for Sci-fi Thriller lovers as well as in short its more like anime verson of christopher nolan's movie's got similar addiction, excitment,unpredectiblity and thrills.

Conclusion
Hands down to one of the most amazing sci-fi series ever produced I believe Steins gate zero has absolute potential as going down as a contender of best series of this year. If you are the fan of 1st season like me you surely find yourself in heaven while watching this series.
Its surely on par with its predecessor's high standards. It remains to be seen if the show will be able to make a compelling story out of a scenario that fans already know a happier outcome for, but the quality of this premiere has assuaged my fears. Even if poor Okabe has to suffer for it, it's good to have Steins;Gate back.

"EL PSI CONGROO"

Story(10/10)
Art (9/10)
Sound(9/10)
Character(10/10)
Enjoyment(9/10)
Hype(11/10)
overall-Highly recommended

“Theories are nothing more than words, accept what you’ve seen.” — Okabe (Steins;Gate)


Reflecting on one’s past experiences can elicit a host of undesirable thoughts/anxieties that permeate to the surface, causing emotional stress and a feeling of helplessness. The upshot being: the simple act of thinking about said events will not alter the final outcome, making the exercise an unquestionably fruitless one. But in the case of Okabe (where time-travel and reading “steiner” are quite accessible), the ability to improve upon the past is well within the realm of possibilities, allowing for the veritable “happy ending” to occur. This inevitability zaps away a ... considerable amount of the intrigue for the viewer, especially when a ham-fisted love story is thrown into the fold, making the events to come, seem exceptionally contrived. If anything was surprising about the original Steins;Gate, it was the sweeping praise it received by the anime community. But I suppose an epic theme song combined with a bunch of sexy “LAYDEE’s” (channeling my inner Bill Burr) and “the most realistic time-traveling series I have ever seen” — said everyone on MAL; literally, everyone — will make an anime series quite popular these days, so why not turn back the clock and relive that success one more time.

But before the anime staff can immerse itself into the meat of the story, we desperately need a sexy Christmas party with a few new characters……And, and, we need Okabe to communicate with a virtual Kurisu, because virtual girlfriends are a rising trend in Japan, so appealing to that growing sector will certainly increase viewership. Also, let’s throw in a handful of Ruka being a dude who looks like a girl jokes, because redundancy in comedy always kills.

But redundancy is only half of the story, because for all the “misdirection” and “flabbergast-ery” the show is ceaselessly dull, imparting a loud and clear message to the viewer: Steins;Gate 0 has no identity. Is it a harem? How about an amnesia story? Are we still doing that time-traveling thing? Is Amadeus a social commentary on the proliferation of blue balled young men? Is it a modern day reinterpretation of the rivalry between Mozart and Salieri? Is it a slice-of-life retelling of Back to the Future, with Daru starring in the role of George McFly? How about a Japanese, female-driven John Wick story with Suzuha as the main lead?

No! To all of the above.

The anime staff had one goal in mind, and one goal only: to flaunt Okabe’s chic new black suit. And I must admit, as a fellow man, it looks stunning!

But enough tickling your tits for one afternoon, because the criticism about the show’s identity is an entirely valid one. The deviation from the themes that made the original Steins;Gate mildly interesting, abated the enjoyment of the viewer, giving the show a banal texture that did not bestow anything of actual substance. Okabe was reduced to an impassive, aggrieved individual who became disturbed at the end of several episodes to feign genuine interest. Kurisu was relegated to an inactive participant due to her amnesic circumstances, and was used as a means to trigger significant events in the series. Suzuha preached about the imminence of World War III like she’s one of those homeless domesday clairvoyants. Maho was the Salieri to Kurisu’s Mozart, in the sense that she was an untalented tsundere, despite her best attempts. And, well, everyone else was….um, present? They certainly were there, but they felt more like cogs in a machine, with little to no freedom to act on their own accord.

Having a deficient cast of character’s is one issue, but having a story that felt like it was blended together by multiple writers with no communication with one another, is just inexcusable. The show felt reminiscent of Mirai Nikki, where “shocking” events would occur, but the cohesion of said events never felt homogeneous. Also, there were a considerable amount of “fluff” episodes, where nothing of actual importance took place. The lull between critical events became excruciating at times, and even when a pivotal moment would happen, it felt over-the-top, cliched, and generally out of place. Furthermore, the staff’s eagerness to exhibit their female characters in erotic situations ad nauseam, highlights how the show was never meant to be taken as a serious intellectual endeavor; but rather, a fun project to elicit some laughter, and intermittent moments of heart-pounding drama. Sadly, though, it wasn’t particularly entertaining, and it failed to engage the viewer time and time again.

The final few episodes ratcheted up the intensity to the point of becoming Hollywood-level ridiculous. There was a protracted exposition by the evil scientist, where he explained his “master plan” to the last detail (yet another old scientist who ends up being the bad guy). Unbelievable action sequences, not in the sense they were breathtaking, but just plain unrealistic. And the return of the “sleeping” protagonist to his status of Hououin Kyouma, because the fans need to be hyped up for that “epic” finale. Speaking of “hype,” that is the optimal word for describing this series, as it built itself up on sheer optimism and excitement from the anime community; yet, for all of its grand ambitions, it was nothing more than a used car salesman convincing you that it was better than it really was.

But as Okabe said, “accept what you’ve seen,” and if it wan’t overtly obvious, we have seen a bad show.

"The universe has a beginning, but no end. —Infinite.
The stars too have beginnings, but their power accompanies their decline. —Finite.
It the wise who are the most foolish. History has taught us as much.
The fish of the sea know not the world of the land. Were they to possess wisdom, they too would experience decline.
It is more absurd that humans should surpass the speed of light than it is that fish should start living on the land.
This can be said to be God's final warning to those who resist."

Oh god, what am I doing? Just please don't prosecute me this is my 3 review (2 because ... one of them is a joke). Also a final warning to you all this is gonna have some spoilers (including you anime watchers)! As of 16-05-18 (DD-MM-YY) Though, I will try to keep it down


First the setting
This setting is from the continuing of ep 23b.
More specific this is a world line where he doesn't get a video by old Okabe to try again.
so,
Okaba tries to save Kurisu, she dies
he comes back with the time machine
doesn't have a video message and because of that succumbs to despair
doesn't want anything that involves Hyouin Kyouma and his past
tries to get over Kurisus dead by going to a psychiatrist
There you go this is where we are now in the series.
Okabe is in complete utter despair. I will say the VN pointed this out much more, but well that is what happens to the anime when it's trying to compress a VN that doesn't just need to go with the true ending.
This is because you need to clear a route that sends a D-mail to the past, to even get the true ending. Not only that, but the other routes also give so much perspective to the story. You can see what they have changed with the anime in ep 4. We are in a scene that is WW3, but suddenly everything is changed. This just seems strange, and some don't like it (👀). I think this is on purpose really. EDIT (13-09-18): I believe this change from the scene of WW3 will be adapted to the OVA, can't say why wholeheartedly but probably because it has too heavy indication to who the "villain" is. They could also do it after this episode (21), but don't think it's good timing for that.

Well here we go

Story - N/A
I know what the story is from the VN, and I would give it a 10 alright. I just won't really give it a definite number.
It really seems cliched, but god damn that is a wrong assumption (👀) It's really the small indistinguishable things that has an aspect to it and really the future will use these cliche looking things and change it and give it a new perspective. I would also say around ep 16 there will be a real emotional scene alright (I predict this out of my knowledge from the VN( EDIT (23-05-18): nvm then ep 8 it is. they really jump the story on us)) that really will punch you in the gut and after ep 20 our heart will race. It could also be fun if they did little fillers, but really that is a slippery slope I don't want to take. EDIT (13-09-18): Hey, atleast i got my prediction right with our heart racing after ep 20, many thing changed from the VN, but nothing is "worse" per say. More up to how you enjoy it, but seems lige i am gonna binge this thing after it ends and rewrite the whole thing

Art - 9
Hey, what am I gonna say, it's just as normal. Just great.

Sound - 9
Again, it's great. Nothing much to say there. Normal S;G stuff

Character - 10
Everyone is exactly the same, except that Okabe is depressed, Suzuha is pissed off at Okabe and doesn't know much about Hououin Kyouma, Mr Braun is colder, Daru is Daru. Pretty much the main cast is the same. Well except that Kurisu is dead (for now), and is an AI (for now) 😢
Then there is new additions.
Maho, "Oiii soko no lolico". She is Kurisus Salieri, pretty much tells you everything you need to know about her
Kagari, a girl that has lost her memories, well at least for now 👀
Leskinen "Holy cow! So I said we should come soon", just a REALLY lovely guy that likes shaman girls, no /s 👀 Is also a meme
Reyes, well. A LOVELY voluptuous scientist, nothing more though 👀

Enjoyment - 10
It's really slow right now and is a mindfuck, but really that also how S;G also was for non-VN readers, but this time even VN readers are mindfucked most of the time. I really like it, while at the same time I don't. I have fun really.

Overall - 10
Fack me
This little quote is everything for this series
"Steins Gate is just a stupid delusion"

Oh ps while you go through this remember what the video Okabe said at the end of S;G

EDIT (13-09-18): rip this, they changed it :/ No matter, was just as epic and great feeling
"BRING MY LABCOAT!!"
"Yes, this is it! This is my holy white armour! This is the moment of Hououin Kyouma's revival! I've finally been awoken from my long slumber! FUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
El psy KONGROO~~

There comes a time when fans of a franchise should ask themselves if an established franchise deserves a sequel or not. Let’s face it. Steins;Gate made an impact back in 2011 when it became one of the critically acclaimed adaptations that year. Visuals novels aren’t easy to adapt and in fact, most recent series really proved themselves to be a catastrophe in that territory. Steins;Gate is one of those properties that didn’t really need a sequel although fans have been asking for years. And it’s a bit painful for me to say….but Steins;Gate 0 didn’t truly live up to the name it made for itself.

As ... a true sequel to Steins;Gate, this series is the canonical anime that once again shows us the world of time travel, hypothetical theories, and scientific creativity. It’s essentially a sci-fi adventure that brings back our lovable character cast while also introducing some new ones who really makes their own impact in the story. Rintarou Okabe returns in the Alpha World line without Makise Kurisu after events of the first season. What we see from Okabe’s point of view is how he deals with living in a world without her. It’s a constant everyday struggle as the man is filled with despair. However, an AI (known as the Amaedus) once again reminds Okabe of the memories he tried to bury.

Much of the season takes place in Japan and in the Alpha World line. Fans who have seen the first season will quickly realize that Kurisu is gone but Mayuri remains along with the rest of her friends. Okabe also meets Maho Hiyajou, a researcher from Viktor Chondria University. As an assistant, she works under Professor Leskinen and is the one who introduces Okabe to the Amaedus. What is the Amaedus? It’s designed and developed by Makise Kurisu herself alongside Leskinen and Maho. The program is built based on her likeness that is able to make use of human memory and converts it into digital data. As such, the AI greatly resembles Kurisu not just in her behavior but also personality and mannerism. Obviously, this reminds Okabe of the real Kurisu who no longer exists in his timeline. Steins;Gate 0 features Okabe dealing with his own personal demons, guilt, and trying to overcome his past in order to save the future. The first season capitalized on its sci-fi elements such as time travel and conspiracies. Unfortunately for this sequel, it felt like the show took a step backwards and really didn’t manage take a step forward.

At first, the show took on the approach that I felt familiar with and really embraced in. There’s a bit of dark drama and comedy that takes a realistic approach at human behavior. It’s what I thought the original season did so well when it managed to make every character distinctive from each other. For Steins;Gate 0, there’s not much change for any of the main cast at all. Okabe’s constant self-loathing gets tiresome after watching it so many times. Ok, he feels guilty about what he had to do to save someone but the season overemphasizes on this direction. To me, it felt like the show constantly needs to remind us why Okabe is like this and it’s repetitive storytelling. In the meantime, we do get some fresh faces such as Maho and Leskinen. Both characters are intelligent although contrast greatly with each other’s personalities. Maho seems similar to Makise Kurisu with her tsundere personality and there’s often a recurring joke about others mistaking her as a child. She develops an important relationship with Okabe although I didn’t feel the impact of it as much as I had hoped for; at least compared to Kurisu anyway. On the other hand, Leskinen introduces himself as a lighthearted guy who often jokes with others while demonstrating a degree of intellect. The show also does a fair job at disguising his true intentions but we don’t find out about it until fairly later on. His relationship with Okabe and others often contrasts the mood of the show especially in early episodes. In later episodes, the series gets darker and darker as startling revelations are discovered that once again deals with time travel. It’s a core idea of the franchise after all.

Now I have not played the visual novel for this sequel so this was more of fresh experience to me. The season feels rather moody even with characters like Mayuri and Faris with their roles. Others such as Suzuha also become much more important as they take their own initiative to protect what’s at stake. Still, coming in this as an anime only viewer, I felt the story is a thriller at best and dry storyteller at worst. To me, this franchise really explored everything it needed to and didn’t even need a new season to prove that. The dialogues and character interactions are interesting to listen to but doesn’t truly make this season worthwhile in the end. As a huge fan of the franchise, Steins;Gate 0 feels like it took way too much of its previous ideas and didn't make an upgrade.

White Fox is still in charge of this project and they bought out their talent once again.Thankfully, they earned my trust as the studio proved itself capable of recreating character emotions. That’s important as every character needed to express themselves as credible as they can be. This especially applies to Okabe as we see him drown in despair. Character interactions are captured wisely by the studio’s directive synergy to make them memorable. The design of the characters didn’t evolve much although it’s clear that Okabe has abandoned his lab coat for a more casual wear with his dark shirt to reflect his change in character. Others such as Maho may evoke some lighthearted laughter when certain characters makes jokes about her short height and appearance. The Amaedus is designed in the likeliness of Makise Kurisu so in terms of physical appearance, they look identical.

As a series with sci-fi themes, it’s only fitting that Steins;Gate 0 gets decorated with some colorful soundtrack. Indeed, the sequel combines thrilling theatrics with some emotional OST and melancholy. The OP song “Fatima” by Itou Kanako highlights a bit of character journey for the cast and how they feel in this season. There are several different ED themes too that makes clever usage of its sci-fi elements. On most parts, I think character voices also did a stellar job. Okabe’s personal values are often expressed by his dialogues that are important for his evolving personality. Others such as Maho, Mayuri, and Suzuha made me appreciate their character roles more when they really say what’s on their mind.

At 23 episodes, Steins;Gate 0 became a 2-cour show that could of done a better job at making itself more distinctive. Instead, it tried to rely far too much on its previous established concepts while forging a story that seems too similar to the previous. However, I will say that this sequel will be a treat for diehard fans of the franchise. The episodes in the first half bought back the mood of the original show like yesterday. Even in some of the later episodes, it still has a bit of taste of sci-fi thrilling style of storytelling. The new characters may also be worthwhile for your time if you accept them for who they are. So give it a shot if you want. It may not be perfect but it’s still freaking Steins;Gate.

Many who watched this series have missed the point of it, it isn't like the original, no it wasn't supposed to surpass it like many suspected here. It is here to complete it, you may have not noticed but the original had many things that we had yet to see. This isn't a what if story either, this is the story of Okabe who failed to find Steins Gate, the same one who fell under depression because of it.

I'll start with story, the STORY WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS:

Story obviously is a 10 for me. At some point during the Steins;Gate 0 I truly doubted if this ... was gonna live up to it's hype or fail like many sequels. Many hate it because they expected the mad scientist earlier, many were expecting too many time traveling and got sad. When the first episode of anime aired, it had a score of 9.16 I think, it was truly the best episode I had yet seen, it captured the mood perfectly, it shows us that Okabe of this world line is very depressed, but more importantly the scene where he sees many bodies of Kurisu shows us his fear. His fear that he will always fail no matter what, the fear that no matter what Okabe does, it will always result in him sacrificing somebody to save somebody else. We can see this during the rest of the show, till the point where he is forced to change the future yet again. At some point I thought too, where is this story going? How will it link to the OG Steins Gate, I really doubted the middle parts of the story honestly. One of the main important points of the story is how Kurisu is the one who even though dead starts a world war. It is always her curiosity that results in something bad to Okabe, in Alpha world line we had Sern which in a way it is both Okabe's fault and hers, in Beta we have WW3 which starts because of Kurisu's thesis. We see this through the Amadeus, we see a lot through Amadeus, why Okabe calls Kurisu Christina, how even dead Kurisu can change the world.
I'm going to skip all this to the episode 16, where we get to see an actual character development in Mayushi, I really never saw her point in O.G steins gate but honestly in Steins;Gate 0 she became one of my favorites. The reason is simple, she always loved Okabe, she always thought of him as the one who can change the future, the one who can bring peace, she always regretted not having Okabe go back to save Kurisu, it really made me break down. After trying to go to time machine and being blown into pieces, Okabe goes back to time leap but ends up in PR, in year 2036. Okabe now has his eyes wide open, he sees what will happen to this world line if he doesn't find steins gate. I forgot to mention that he was in coma and he suffered a lot when waking up, and when he started time travelling again so he can go back to year 2011, it must have fking hurt waking up in that pain. The fact that he spent around 8 years (I'm assuming that is the time it took him, could be way more or less) to go back in time and save everyone must have been painful, he had to explain everything again and again and again. A strong character in my opinion, I would go insane (you all would). BUT THAT WAKES UP THE MAD SCIENTIST! You should watch the rest honestly (too lazy to explain).

Art 8: This is the part which sucks, at times it is very good and at times it sucks. That is all about it honestly, the background though is even better than the original in my opinion, which I really loved.

Sound 10: Many of the songs that played were awesome!!!! They set the mood perfectly, the first OP and ED are in my playlist now.

Character 10 : Now this is the point that I wanted to get at. Many say that Okabe is a one dimensional character, honestly fk you all who said it. You just don't know why he is going through all that. To others it was like Okabe just went emo one day, nobody knows why, he can't tell anybody because who knows if Sern might listen. That is honestly very depressing in my opinion, we see during the 23B he looks very sad but at same time tries to look happy in front of Mayushi, that is a very strong character in my opinion. As the show progressed, we saw him slowly bounce back to his old self, the interactions between [Kurisu] and him were awesome, we saw other sides of him that we never saw in OG. And at end the mad scientist was still the same, the idiot who cracks up good jokes and has well out of this world delusions.

Enjoyment 10 : Honestly as long as you liked the original, you're fine.

Tl;DR: Hello, it's me. They didn't bother with the paragraph and went straight to the tl;dr. Shame there was nothing on it.

El psy kongroo!

Well, what a train-wreck. 18 episodes in and everything is dull, predictable and badly animated.

This episode contains big reveals which anyone saw coming from at least 5 episodes before, and some from episode 1 itself. The plot is absolutely predictable, the characters cannot connect 2 dots even if they were drawn in a piece of paper, and there is absolutely no tension.
The villains are obvious, their actions are obvious, how they get to know what they know is obvious, what they did was obvious. Characters die but come back to life just long enough to be convenient for the plot. How can they expect to ... call this a thriller when there is nothing thrilling at all? Solid 3.

Art is passable but the animation, especially during action scenes, is horrendous, to the point of breaking suspension of disbelief. People can dodge bullets shot from 10 soldiers surrounding them, missiles fly sideways, explosions break pass through items, etc. About a 4.

Music and sound effects are passable, but there are no memorable songs like in the first season. Honestly I give it a 4 because nothing is terribly bad either.

Oh... characters... where to even start... Feiris, Rukako and most of them show absolutely no character growth or even influence in the stort. Maho has a cute design but aside from that she's just a scientist with an inferiority complex, still shallow. Okabe is stuck in a depression that seems to flare up only when the plot needs it the most, with no tangible consequences after that. Suzuha and Daru get a lot of screen time, with cute father-daughter moments. Suzuha is my favourite character and she keep being my best girl of the series. Some growth and conflict are presented, being the second best character of this season. Daru is the only character I really see as being explored a little more, showing growth. The villains, as I said before, are obvious and chliché in many ways, not even worth a lengthy discussion. All in all, I give it a 4.

The series is just a mess of shallow characters, weak music, bad animation and appaling, predictable, story. I cannot enjoy this travesty of a thriller.
Overall, 3.

"That day, if my Hikoboshi came back to life, it might have changed everything."

Re-review of Steins;Gate 0 after watching the entire series in chronological order (Steins;Gate episodes 1-22, 23b, 0 episodes 1-23, Steins;Gate episodes 23-25).

This review is coming from a die-hard fan of the original series that has watched the original anime and 100% completed 0's Visual Novel as well. I originally gave the series an 8/10, but after rewatching it I'm bumping it up to a 9/10 due to the fact that I was able to better absorb the story and the series has one of the strongest finishes in all of anime.

Story:

I ... can draw some interesting parallels between the anime adaptation of Steins;Gate 0 and the original Fullmetal Alchemist adaptation. Two stories that adapt from an original source material, but have a vastly different second half from the original for different reasons. In Steins;Gate 0's case, it is because the Visual Novel of 0 is non-linear. In order for you to get the true end, you have to progress the story through two conflicting routes in a certain order. The story vastly changes depending on which route you take. White Fox had to somehow tell a linear cohesive story through that source material, and in some ways, it works really well, and in others, it falls on its face.

First, the good. The story is much deeper than the original. You really get to see the both the best and worst of humanity through this story, and adds so much character development to the main cast. The anime adaptation managed to adapt all of the endings of 0 into the main story (with the exception of the bad end) and it adds a lot of weight to the story in some aspects.

However, it's not all good. Steins;Gate was a very slow burn of a story that didn't really pick up until episode 9, and the plot didn't really fire on all cylinders until episode 12. But once it got there, oh man, I was hooked. Steins;Gate 0 has some much worse pacing problems. The first eight episodes are great, the story kicks into high gear on episode 6, but then peaks around 8, and then crashes and burns by the time episode 10 rolls around. The plot spins its wheels for five episodes, and then things start picking back up again.

Once the story hits the gecko ending (Mayuri's route in the VN was vastly different) the story doubles down and the stakes are raised even further. I can say this is probably the only time ever where knowing the source material will actually curve you even harder than going in blind. The last third of Steins;Gate 0 is far better than the VN, and is the primary reason why I adjusted my review.

The anime adaptation also added a significant amount of original content that was not present in the VN. Episode 8 turned a half hour part of the VN into a full episode, and the feels knob is turned up to 11 as a result, Daru and Yuki's relationship is expanded in a very wholesome OC episode (which pulls double duty for expanding Daru and Yuki's characters, as well as writing out a very very dumb plot twist from the VN), and once Mayuri's route starts going you get a sizeable chunk of the Drama CD Arc-Light of the Point at Infinity, which was equally as impactful as Faris' route in the original in terms of expanding the character of someone who was barely a blip on the radar and turned them into one of the best of the show. Thank you White Fox for reinforcing why I love Mayushii so much.

The Teal Deer for the story is that the VN is paced much better, but the overall changes that the anime makes to the story is much more impactful, suspenseful, and has a much more satisfying conclusion.

Art:

Oh boy, this is a hell of a can of worms. Steins;Gate had some of the best animation and art in all of anime. It defies the moeblob art style that the rest of the industry has taken to heart and favors a more realistic approach, focusing more on the character's bodies than their eyes. I'd say that the art style is the midway point between Log Horizon and Death Note. Regardless of whether or not you like the art style, you can't argue that it is part of the reason why Steins;Gate stands out in the sea of anime adaptations.

Steins;Gate 0 doubles down on what was good and bad about the original. There are scenes in 0 that look more visually stunning than in Your Name. But oh my the action scenes look just ghastly. Not to mention the various anatomical and linguistic errors (Sarieri, Roading, etc.) Now, these I'll give a pass because those will be ironed out in the Blu-Ray release, but I have no idea how they're going to fix the tire fire that is the action scenes in episodes 18 and 19. The answer is probably that they won't, and trust me, it's hard to look at.

Teal Deer, 0 retains the distinct art style of the original and works great in stills and certain scenes, but it's execution in high action scenes are laughably bad.

Sound:

Steins;Gate always had an amazing soundtrack, but 0's eclipses it by a long shot, and that's really saying something. The new tracks and the remixes of the old ones add so much more weight to the scenes. There were times where I was barely holding on in an emotional scene, Amadeus started playing, and then the dam broke and out came the waterworks.

The anime exclusive tracks are equally as impressive. I can't speak on those too much as the OST is just coming out, whereas I've blasted all of the VN's tracks on repeat multiple times, but the soft ambience of them in the background of certain scenes adds so much to the it. Re-Awake is one of the best tracks in all of anime.

Teal Deer, it's fitting that Mozart and Salieri are brought up in Steins;Gate 0, because the orchestra is a masterpiece.

Character:

In terms of overall character growth, it can be summarized thusly; is the character a main character? Yes? They are absolutely phenomenal. Supporting? They're going to range from forgettable to cringeworthy. Everyone brings up Kagari, but I actually like the way that Kagari was handled in the anime (it's a hell of an improvement of the dumpster fire that she was in the VN, with the exception of Promised Rinascimento and Recursive Mother Goose.) But Ruka and Faris take so much of a backseat that it hurts. Ruka is salvaged in the end, but Faris was my favorite character in the original after a certain point, and to see her go from such a compelling character to yuri bait just made me want to send a D-Mail to prevent the writer of 0's story from being born. Fubuki and Kaede weren't huge part in the VN, but they did SOMETHING. They're completely forgettable in the anime, and they pretty much are forgotten about too.

But as for the main cast, all of them got significant character growth. Seeing the rise, fall, and rise again of Okabe Rintaro was amazing, and the interactions with him and Suzuha and seeing them both taken to their lowest points was so heavy and their interactions were fantastic. I'm torn between Daru and Mayuri as the MVPs of the series because the story of their paternal and maternal relationships with their children was great character growth and all around heartwarming. And then we've got the two newcomers from America, Hiyajo "Legal Loli FTW" Maho, and Alexis "Where are the Shaman Girls, Lintahlo?" Leskinen. There is an all around interesting dynamic between them, and great comedy and insane plot twists regarding the two characters.

Teal Deer, while the supporting cast does not live up to the precedent set by the original, the main characters got just as much, if not more growth in 0.

Overall Enjoyment, aka the only score that matters:

I am really torn on Steins;Gate 0. It never was going to live up to the standard that the original made, simply because Steins;Gate is not only one of the best anime and visual novels, but sci-fi story and fiction in general. So I simultaneously feel that I am nitpicking 0 and giving it way too many free passes at the same time.

The skinny is that 0 is amazing. Very few anime of recent years had me anxiously looking at my clock to wait for the next episode. Even at the low points of the story, 0 always had my engagement. I haven't cried this much from an anime this year since I finished A Place Further Than the Universe.

Steins;Gate 0 is a paradox. It is a (inter)sequel to a story that had a definitive and conclusive ending, but it somehow adds to the story in a way that doesn't retread old ground or completely screw up continuity and adds so much to it. One of the worst things about the original's story was the ending, but 0 turned what was a Deus Ex Machina asspull to keep the OTP alive, and turned it into a long and arduous journey of suffering that made the happy ending of the original truly earned.

Teal Deer, if you even remotely enjoyed the original Steins;Gate, rewatch the series chronologically, that is OG 1-22, 23b, 0 1-23, OG 23-25. You will not regret it.

EL. PSY. KONGROO.

****There might be spoilers****

*This review is about Steins;Gate 0, not about the original anime Steins;Gate*

Story

Rarely, I came across an anime like this. For me, it was the perfect anime.
Never have I gotten shivers so often like I did while watching this.
Even though it's just an adaptation of a game - thus this anime gives us one of the most beautiful and at the same time shocking stories I've ever seen in my life. It shows us, that time and space is a thing that no human should ever touch or change, because if done, it'll have horrific consequences.

It is also showing us the beautiful, ... funny and amazing relationship between the protagonist and his friends and his suffering of his lost friend Makise Kurisu, who sacrificed herself for the sake of a 'perfect' world line.
But Okabe begins to notice, that there's much more wrong with this world line than promised.
So, he and also some of his friends begin to search for the Steins;Gate, the perfect world line.
The plot in this anime is amazingly picturfied and ist so intense, every single second until the end of the last episode.



Art & Character

It is without any doubt my favourite artstyle of all anime out there. You just have to fall in love with the characters, whether it's Mayuri's 'Tu-tu-ru' or the small legal loli Maho Hiyajou. Every character has a unique charm to him- or herself which makes everyone much more interesting.

The city and the rest of the background art look as amazing as ever, really sucking one in until the end and matching the dark theme of this series.



Sound

The music sounded - just like in the original Steins;Gate - different from any other anime music. That solely made the whole series, especially the Intro and outro, a whole lot more enjoyable than it even was before.



Well, that is all there really is for me to say right now.

This definetly derserves to be rated 10/10.

Man, my feelings toward this anime- though mostly positive- are extremely complicated, which isn’t helped by the fact that I played the visual novel first. So get your popcorn, cuz this review’s gonna be a while! Also, there will be spoilers regarding the original Steins;Gate in this review, since you’re supposed to have played/watched it first anyway.

Story- 9/10: So first, I need to establish context for this anime since no official description of it helps in that regard. Remember episode 23 of the original series, when Okarin was about to give up on saving Kurisu? Right then and there, he obtained a video D-Mail from ... himself 15 years in the future who disclosed the instructions to reach the ultimate happy worldline, Steins Gate. Steins;Gate 0 is THAT Okarin’s story- the Okarin who will have sent that video- picking up from a 3-4 month timeskip after the whole incident with him having murdered his loved one. Technically, Steins;Gate 0 is the second half of the full Steins;Gate story that was skipped over in the original, due to Steins;Gate 0’s own plot cancelling itself out (from OG Okarin’s perspective) through the video D-Mail having been sent.

Right away there is the issue of the visual novel’s own structure. The original Steins;Gate was really easy to adapt since it was extremely linear for a traditional VN, and most of the endings were crap. Steins;Gate 0 is more like that type of VN which goes on several diverging and significantly different paths, most of which are integral for the overarching narrative. So, White Fox didn’t JUST have to worry about truncating the walls of text, but ALSO re-ordering the ENTIRE plot structure to work in a linear, cohesive manner.

And for the most part, they succeeded.

The events play out extremely well. Heck, they went the extra mile and adapted the various tie-in drama CDs and one of the few instances of genuinely good anime original content as well. They even fixed a good number of issues present in the original. Simulcasting this show was a blast, even as a VN player, because there was still some room for throwing me for a loop.

But it wasn’t perfect. There were still a COUPLE of scenes that just do not mesh together as one linear arc, no matter how you slice it. It was still probably the best case scenario, so I didn’t mind those incoherent hiccups that much.

Another thing about Steins;Gate 0 in general is that science takes a backseat in this one. By either some dumb miracle, meticulous planning, or plot convenience, there’s nothing new to learn, science-wise in this series. I know the description alludes to some kind of AI program, but that program is made using the same technology that went into the time leap machine from the original series. In fact, it’s even simpler than that contraption was! The real issue is that we never get to learn how they actually got to build a true, physically working time machine, so that one is forever filed under the “space magic” category.

And as for how they handled the VN’s notoriously loose and anti-climactic ultimate ending, let me just say… that they actually freakin’ did it! As in, they did it WELL!

Characters- 9/10: The characters are where Steins;Gate 0 shines (for the most part). We get to see full closure to Okarin and others’ character arcs, and a couple of newcomers.

Okarin in this series is now a “sad scientist”, a dejected Okarin who turns a blind eye to the impending doom of the Beta worldline. We also have a new form of Suzuha, who is much colder due to war, compared to the Alpha worldlines’ Part-Time Warrior. In addition, we see Daru actually taking on a much more serious role than before. The characters are amazing* and it’ll make you realize who the true Best Girl of Steins;Gate is.

*I put this footnote here because the “amazing” isn’t ENTIRELY true. First off, we have three of Mayuri’s friends who were only just names in the original, actually appearing. They’re bricks. Even though one of them is Suzuha’s future mom, they don’t really do anything of much importance. Also, due to the nature of the adaptation, a couple of characters who are legitimately likeable in the VN are now either crap, or they end up having no purpose AT ALL. (Poor Judy…)

Art- Budget/10: This is where my issues start to arise with the anime adaptation of Steins;Gate 0. The 2011 anime blew me away with an artstyle that wasn’t quite as detailed as the VN, but still had a Steins;Gate-like film noir style that I loved. There was also a lot of brilliant post-production with the lighting as well as a lot of smooth animation uncharacteristic of most TV anime. Even in 2018, it hasn’t aged a day.

And yet, a follow-up that AIRED in 2018 already shows more age than the original. Look, I’m not blaming the production team. I can tell that they tried. They were likely lacking in funds. It’s jarring how cheap parts of this show look.

However, it’s mostly jarring only to VN players. The VN had some jaw-dropping artwork that make most of the anime’s renditions of these scenes look like crap. But again, if you didn’t even SEE that artwork to begin with, it shouldn’t bother you much (at least they executed THAT scene well).

But even from an anime-only perspective, there are clear hiccups (*cough* episodes 17-18 *cough*). Although the art gets significantly better towards the bitter end, I know that the prospect of having to watch 80% of a crappy anime just to get to the good stuff is not a popular one.

These hiccups will bother you depending on how much you care about the visual presentation of anime.

Sound- 10/10: At least THIS is the same. We all know these seiyuus, and they’re excellent. Their performances (at least, of the ones who were central characters) were absolutely impeccable. It’s kind of sad that this anime is probably going to be their final performances as these characters… I wonder how they feel about that prospect right now. But if it IS their last time, then they definitely went out in a blaze of glory!

The background music is- unlike the inconsistency of the first anime- entirely VN soundtracks. That’s good, since the original music is stellar to begin with, and White Fox knew as much.

The new anisongs composed for this adaptation aren’t bad either. While no “Hacking to the Gate”, the new OP “Fatima” feels much more urgent due to the usage of a ticking clock throughout the track- a clock that’s ticking down to the inevitable start of World War III (at least I’m assuming that was the intention of it).

Zwei’s “Last Game” is gut-wrenching, especially when you see a million Kyoumas shatter into pieces. Kurisu’s seiyuu also performs a techno-rock song called “World Line” which is also pretty good. However, these two ED’s should’ve been flip-flopped, given the circumstances of the first and second cours (with the latter being way more emotional). Or, they should’ve kept “Last Game”.

Overall- 9/10: This anime had so much potential to surpass the source material, and it arguably DOES in those last four episodes. But I’m sorry, the artwork and the lower quality of the first 19 episodes just really jarred me. The two versions of S;G 0 have very different strengths and weaknesses to where I would say that they become equally viable. I didn’t mind that the VN had plot holes without the drama CDs since most (key word: most) of it could be derived from context anyway.

However, I will insist that you get your Bachelor’s degree in Steins;Gate-ology. There were so many comments and criticisms on the boards when this was airing from people who clearly didn’t get the rudimentary basics of Steins;Gate, and they made me cringe. There are also a lot of subtle call backs that you will need to acknowledge in order to fully enjoy and understand the show.

Regardless, this is the second half of the Steins;Gate story, which gives full closure to the characters that the original was not able to provide. Just ask yourself, “How much do I care about the visual presentation of anime?” If you do care, then maybe you should stray away from the anime version and play the VN instead. And if you ALREADY played it, then watch the anime since it’s still really well executed in its own unique way (although it still looks like crap).

READ THIS BEFORE STARTING - Everything here written is my original review of the anime, and I still stand by my points and stance of this series and everything I said doesn't have any lesser meaning and can also be applied to many different contexts throughout the anime. I have a mini evaluation at the end which I have wrote after seeing the series, so if you have already seen my review, then feel free to read that.

As of right now, I have only seen 6 episodes of steins;gate, and I will most likely update this review either when the series is over, or my ... opinions in this dramatically change, there WILL BE SPOILERS (For up to episode 6) in this so beware if you are reading and haven't yet watched the anime. Also, bare in mind this is just my opinion (and definitely not a perfect one) while reading, I can understand if other people feel differently and I am just stating my thoughts about this subjectively great anime.

Let me start this off by doing what every other generic reviewer does (because my writing structure is pretty horrific) and begin by rating the story.

Story: 9:

Now, so far we have had a few 'calm' episodes where Okabe basically meets the new cast, which starts off very wholesome and has a pretty positive mood to it. The pacing of the anime in the starting episodes is nice and consistent with interactions of all the characters just so we are able to get to know them and see our major cast for the anime. Amadeus is discovered, Okabe gets mini-flashbacks but nothing too dramatic, which is good because it is easing the viewers into the darker turns I am sure this anime will take. After that, things pick up a bit with the (re)introduction of Moeka which is the first major surprise I would say. It was quite obvious she was going to turn up but the haphazardness of her actually appearing was refreshing because we knew that the story was picking up quicker than previously - which I believe is a good thing as we already know most of the characters. After this Okabe becomes a bit more isolated and is distrusting towards Moeka, which is to be expected. Then the search for Mayuri's daughter begins with what I can only describe as a solid pace, they don't dwindle on this for too long but still make it appear like effort was put in to try and find her and some more interactions between Moeka and Okabe which in turn allows Okabe to be a bit more trusting towards her, probably forgetting his past with her for at least a brief while (something I see as a mistake that I can pick up on). Then we move onto episode 6 where we get to see characters being more interesting and having separate motives by being pretty vague which I enjoy, it makes you think which is what a Psychological anime should make you do, things like Mr Braun on his phone while having his worries for Nae raises a question of whether he is the villain in this situation, and the suspicious professor who eyed up Mayuri's daughter, so now there is lots for a viewer to think about, then at the end of the episode, what can only be remembered as the rounders from steins;gate show up with their guns just after Okabe and Suzaha realise what is going on, then we are left with another cliffhanger, which gives us more to think about as a viewer, and this is great for me and others who love to theorise about what is going on. All in all (so far), this series' story has been systematic and consistent with a nice balance of seemingly happy situations and others where Okabe begins remembering things but desperately tries to block that away and continue with his life - the 'sad' situations.

Art 10:

Now, I don't believe there is much for me to say here. Apart from a few minor issues like the intro having Kurisu with 4 fingers for like 3 frames, which has been fixed as far as I'm aware, and some, lets say interesting facial expressions, it has been very good so far! The animation flows well and the faces are used really appropriately to show how each character is feeling, like when Mayuri is worried, and when Leskinen is simply enjoying himself, or when Suzaha is agitated - it all shows really well, especially if someone like me can pick up on it! The art style is literally the same as steins;gate so there's not much change in my opinions of it being a pleasant art style capable of showing a variety of emotions through body movements and expressions. Well done to White Fox on this one!

Sound 10:

I've heard quite a few people say that the sound is nowhere near as good as the original, but I beg to differ. The background music during certain scenes is used really well to create the ideal atmospheric setting, whether it be at the parties that they have or when Okabe is having another flashback, the OST really doesn't fail to deliver on this one with deep, heavy sounds for dramatic moments and cheerful tunes for the more lighthearted moments. One thing I did pick up on is the sounds that the character's make, like when it is simply Mayuri going 'Ahhh...' with glee instantly tells me about her current feelings and emotions, and her feelings to other characters on the room with the added facial expressions and where she looks. And also when Okabe howls at the end of episode 3, this gave me goosebumps, not gonna lie. You could really feel all of his emotions through that one bellow and it was a very dramatic one to say the least; well done to the VA there! The other things I have to address would be the intro and outro. Now, the OP is pretty vague but has a very nice beat to it so I don't really have any complaints there, but the ED is where the sound really shines. This ED is really eerie and mysterious which a soothing voice, almost like whispering to a child at the beginning - very ominous. These feelings show very well with the distress of Okabe during the series, and how he never truly knows what's going on, with himself or others around him, he is confused and this ED conveys that near perfectly, it is very nicely done.

Characters 10:

As with art, not really too much to say here apart from the rather interesting new ones and certain old ones. Mayuri is her usual happy self, with characters like Nae being the same as well. Suzaha is concerned with Okabe and how he is going about things, and she seems to have lost a bit of trust in him and the definitely aren't on the best of terms so there is a constant theme of awkwardness and agitation when both are on screen. Okabe starts off pretty care-free until meeting Amadeus, and then after he simply acts cautious of him and his surroundings and detaches himself from others out of fear and probably concern; he doesn't want people to experience the pain he is going through and wants to carry the burden himself. This is a very clever way of showing us, the viewers, how Okabe is slowly drifting back to his old stubborn ways and we know nothing good comes of this so already we know that he hasn't really moved on or advanced as a person as a result of this. Now, the new characters which I'll speak about are Amadeus Kurisu, Maho and Leskinen. Amadeus Kurisu obviously resembles steins;gate Kurisu a lot with her being a bit cold at first the quickly growing friendly towards Okabe through the time they speak, she has all her distinguishable features present and is represented well enough for the anime. Maho is Kurisu's university associate and is also fairly cold to Okabe - similar to Kurisu - but then becomes a bit more friendlier. She hasn't had too much in depth development, but she is quite oblivious as to what is going on around her with people like Okabe and Suzaha and the rounders etc. so it'll be interesting to see her develop as a character. Now onto Leskinen. he is definitely one quirky character who has a lot of fun with things like jokes, but seems to keep a lot to himself and never really 'speaks out' like the other characters, so that's already raised a bit of suspicion with me, especially with his involvement with the other mysterious American professor so I'll be keeping my eye on him for now, he seems a bit shady which is good because now I focus a lot on him whenever he is on screen, which gives me more things to think about making my experience a lot more interesting and enjoyable.

Enjoyment 10:

So far, with everything I've said, I have to say I may be enjoying this a little too much. There are a few things I haven't addressed, like Daru's involvement with his wife-to-be and some other things, but if I spoke about everything then I'd be here for quite a while, the topics I have spoken about are the most important to me and my enjoyment of this series, with the addition of interesting characters, very interesting development of old characters, a solid story and a perfectly fitting OST, this is definitely going to be one of my favourite anime's and I just cannot wait for more, especially after that cliffhanger on episode 6, I feel like everything's about to get a lot more interesting.

PS: This is my first ever review, so please be a bit more forgiving if I have made any mistakes! Thank you!

EDIT - OK, I have now finished everything and I must say, I have thoroughly enjoyed this series; regardless of others opinions. That final episode was extremely well put together and was a beautiful way to wrap up this series and leave a smile on my face. There really isn't much for me to say, apart from if you haven't seen it I would highly recommend (after watching the original series), I found this series extremely satisfying and interesting to watch and hope that others have (and will) too. I said at the end of my original review everything was about to get a lot more interesting and let me tell you; it REALLY does. If you haven't seen this yet, what are you waiting for? And if you have, I hope you share the same opinions as me - or at least respect my thoughts!

steins;gate game was amazing. steins;gate anime was amazing. steins;gate 0 game was amazing. i see a running trend here UwU. in all seriousness tho, if you watched steins;gate then this is a high recommendation for those that are a fan for the series. for those that aren't aware or watched the first steins;gate watch it first before coming to this. no excuses. just do it and watch it. :3 basically a fan of it so ez 10/10 UwU

edit:

myanimelist.net says

please enter a longer review

Q^Q insert tuturu.mp3 here

... insert "but he is a dude" meme here

FB doesnt mean facebook x3

As someone who played the visual novel, I can say that this is a better version of the game (so far)
I will keep this short. Potential spoiler as of episode 5-6. Do not worry.

This takes place in the Beta world line where Kurisu is dead and cannot be saved (episode 24 does not exist, theoretically). We get to see Okabe going through depression as he loses the woman he loves to protect his childhood friend who he shares precious memories with.

Story-10
This is not a random story, it is hinted in the original (and the VN more vividly) about Kurisu's project in the US, we got ... a more explored version here, and it doesn't need to rely on Okabe building a time machine rather other organizations having access to time machines since it was leaked through Kurisutina's father.
It is going to be an interesting ride to see how every character grows into something amazing and breaking out of their shells, trust me on this.

Art-9
It kept the same style which makes it Steins;Gate, but there are some inconsistencies which resulted with some cheap animation and still frames but I can deal with it, there are moments with high quality animation, as long as it will be fixed in the blu-ray.

Sound-10
Steins;Gate 0 has a stronger and stellar OST compared to the original, it features remixes and unique memorable sounds like the original to make it stand out, at least to me.
It also fits the theme perfectly well and used correctly for dramatic or sadness emotions etc the director knows what he is doing.

Character-9/10
I would say a 9-10 since we didn't see everyone develop yet but the old cast are pretty much the same and Amadeus is basically Kurisu but with less sass at times which is hilarious and nostalgia to the original.
Plus the new characters aren't bad, like Fubuki who is secretly Chie from Persona. You have Judy and Maho and the Finnish Alexis professor who are all fleshed out and we get a general sense.

Enjoyment- 10
Obviously since I finished the VN, I know what is going to happen and I am pleased since White Fox managed to fix many many errors and wrong doings from the VN and made the anime much better experience, trust my words, they replaced scenes and shortened it and kept the memorable moments. It turned out perfect with great directing skills so far.

Overall-10
So far, it managed to make me feel pretty depressed and we got to see more Amadeus and she has a personality unlike the VN.
The anime is doing a much better job and I am pleased.

Disclaimer: I will not be comparing this to the VN whatsoever, just the fact that it is a bit different in how it's layed out. It's to be expected though; trying to cram the enormous VN into a 23 episode anime was going to be impossible. Also I expect you to fully know what happened in the original Steins;Gate

****This is a Spoiler Free Review*****

It's finally back. The awe inspiring, sometimes dramatic, sometimes light-hearted, sometimes tear inducing rollercoaster of a series is back to take you on an another journey.
With a continuation of a plot from season 1's "sad ending", the depressing conflicts of Okabe ... Rintarou's emotions will once again have you engaged like no other. Can he change the outcome by reaching Steins;Gate? Will he return to the "mad scientist" we all know and love?

Like the previous adaptation, the sequel starts off rather slowly, however, we already see the differences, primarily in our main character. Whereas he was an exciting, funny, and overly dramatic character in season 1, he is now former shell of himself.
Depressed and conflicted over how he couldn't change the inevitable, we see that the "Okarin" we knew has changed. The change is well done in every aspect, from mannersims to voice acting to even the attire (white lab coat to black attire). To me, this was the focal point of the new adaptation: the inner conflicts of Okarin- whether to attempt to change the outcome once again or live life with the constant guilt of not being able to save Kurisu.

The story telling is generally well done. For the lovers of the original series- Fear not, for they have all the elements you loved about S;G in the sequel as well. This adaptation will still give you a false sense of hope only to yank it away from you with a twist, so no worries.
Also, one of the best things about Steins;Gate series is that they know how to incorporate both humour and light hearted moments with the dark and serious. Now, whether you like these mini "fanservice" moments or not are up to you. However, they don't really ruin the story.
As it is known for, the plot twists and the intense drama are all great, although maybe not as good as the original. The action scenes are sometimes pretty nonsensical, but thankfully Steins;Gate is not primarily about action. Like the original however, it gets dark and depressing real quick, with many episodes dedicated to drawing those feels out. As I've said, once it begins, it just keeps going and going.

Without spoiling, there are couple of plot holes and rushing here and there. It could just be an effect of trying to cram in too much in just a 2 cour, but they could've handled some plot points better for sure, because it can get confusing.
One thing I did think the White Fox handled well was adding much needed extra material to where the VN didn't. It is a small, but refreshing change.

The old characters are all lovable like before. Depressed Okarin is amazing and just made us want that comeback even more. Mayuri showed a lot more character and development here than in the original. Her emotions towards the changed Okarin is just simply heart wrenching. What surprised me however was Daru, and how he was a lot more serious and mature-like at some points(particularly from ep.16 and beyond). Suzuha is also as dynamic and serious as before.

The new characters are good, but not great, maybe a little generic. Maho, the "legal loli" as Daru would like to say, is very fun to watch in her interactions with Okarin and others. She is playful, emotional, but still strong willed. She was clearly the best of the new bunch. Amadeus is an AI version of Kurisu's memories before she came to Japan. It retains Kurisu's personalities, from her tsundereness to her playfulness. Dr. Leskinen, one of the developers of Amadeus, is a nice addition from America, with the absolute best pronunciation of "Rintaloh". Kagari (no spoilers), can be a little annoying at times, but is still an essential part to the story. Yuki also brought out more variety of emotions from Daru and Suzuha.
Honestly, I can't say too much of some of them without some heavy spoilers. Overall, the new characters aren't outstanding, but most of them do enhance the story and other characters in some way. Some, however, have very little presence unfortunately.

Regarding the characters, the voice acting is absolutely fantastic. In fact, I thought it was even better than the ones in the game. It was very dynamic, with intense emotions where necessary. Ep.16 will tell you just how good the VA is, but it was constantly amazing throughout.

The animation is ranging from decent to good, not great. The action scenes can get very clunky, and it can get a bit confusing at times. There were direction issues here and there especially with faster scenes. Honestly, it's a good thing that S;G is not primarily an action anime, because if there is one complaint I have with the anime series is that it's action scenes are rather ehh.. Otherwise I thought the rest were fine.
One thing I do love about the series in general is the dark tone/color it has throughout to accompany the darkness of the story. It just fits so well.

One other thing I have to mention is how good the music is. The opening and two endings are all amazing. Just go listen to the first ending, it to me, is one of the best ending themes ever (no bias). The instrumental osts are all great. Some of them are remixed from the original, while some are new, but they all accompany the scenes very well.

Overall, although not as good as the original (it is hard to reach that standard tbf), I thought that Steins;Gate 0 was still excellent. The humour, the raw emotions, the development, and the plot twists makes this a nice sequel. If you are a S;G fan, you will enjoy the sequel as well.

El Psy Congroo.

The development team behind the original Steins;Gate aimed for a rate of 99% science and 1% fantasy.

I’m not sure what the anime staff for Steins;Gate 0 were going for, but if I were to guess, it would be 84% rule of cool, 15% fantasy and 2% science.
If you paid attention, you probably noticed that those numbers do not add up. That’s on purpose, because Steins;Gate 0 doesn’t really care about making sense or not, and whether you notice those things and let them bug you is entirely up to you.

The amateurish team behind the series had to adapt a non-linear Visual Novel ... that had many routes, each with its own plot points and own character development. As a result, the history was divided into arcs, while still having the main story going on, but not focusing entirely in any of them. If it sounds a bit messy, it’s because it is.

The show has many plot points that may or may not begin a story arc, and the viewer is never too sure to what he should be focusing on. For once, you might think Amadeus and AI is the main theme of the series, only for it to be forgotten for a while to focus on conspiracies and information warfare, which is then put aside so they can tell a story about amnesia. Then everything comes together near the end in a very messy way.
Along with the awkward pacing and dubious writing, it becomes just too confusing for the viewer to keep track of everything that is going on.
My biggest issue with it are the many dropped plot points, but there's so much going on that most people will just forget about them.

It doesn’t help that the soundtrack for this series is basically just the game tracks that play whenever the sound director felt like. By itself, the soundtrack is amazing, but its usage here is boring and uncreative. As a matter of comparison, the original series hardly had a game song come up, and most of the episode’s duration were dead silent, with only background noise going on. This created an amazing atmosphere for the series.
It is the complete opposite here though. In almost every scene there is a track playing in the background. It’s not trying to create an atmosphere or anything like that.

As for the directing, it is mediocre and very amateurish, as expected of the staff for this show. By itself, that wouldn’t be too much of a problem, but when it tries to do something “different” it comes out jerky and very distracting, along with the poor animation that really becomes an issue on action scenes. It’s hard to enjoy and take them serious when everything moves like a malfunctioning robot. They even try to do some clever tricks to hide the bad animation, like zooming in a shot to simulate movement, or do shaky camera, but the result is straight up laughable.

With all that said, the show does have some good moments. The first half is watchable, actually improving some stuff from the source material, and episode 8 was amazing for me. The character interactions are great and heart-warming, but can get a little too fan service-ish.
As the story progresses, more is introduced and it becomes hard to follow. Maybe even the staff was having a hard time following it, since the show straight up forget some plot points or never really go anywhere with them. It gets exceptionally hard to watch towards the end, as it has some of the wackiest and inconsistent directing I’ve seen in a anime, with visuals that make no sense and are only trying to be cool. It also have some plot holes, which is ambiguous given the nature of the series, but I still believe that there are some plot holes here and there even considering that.

As for how the plot progresses, its conveniences goes as far as changing a character personality or making them act in a way that they never would just so that the story can flow, almost as if the staff couldn’t think of a better way to do it. Sometimes I felt like there were no “rules” and anything could happen.

It also tries to do drama, and I think it did a good job the first time, with a good build up and an excellent setting, but maybe it got too confident because of it, and the other times are not as good. However, it gets to a point where it desperately attempts to make you cry. It’s so blatantly obvious and pathetic that you can’t get sad. In fact, you might even laugh. The poor animation and awkward directing just make it worst.

For most people, this show will be disappointing. That’s expected, as the original set the bar so high. Steins;Gate 0 tries to reach that bar, but the lack of a competent staff like the original and all its flaws makes it impossible to do so. This end up being just a 23-episode long fan service series.

At the end, if you’re able to ignore, excuse, or simply don’t notice those things, you might enjoy Steins;Gate 0.

(And with that said (and If you read until here), excuse my grammar errors and poor writing. This is my first (and possibly last) review.