Steins;Gate 0

The eccentric, self-proclaimed mad scientist Rintarou Okabe has become a shell of his former self. Depressed and traumatized after failing to rescue his friend Makise Kurisu, he has decided to forsake his mad scientist alter ego and live as an ordinary college student. Surrounded by friends who know little of his time travel experiences, Okabe spends his days trying to forget the horrors of his adventures alone.

While working as a receptionist at a college technology forum, Okabe meets the short, spunky Maho Hiyajo, who
later turns out to be the interpreter at the forum's presentation, conducted by Professor Alexis Leskinen. In front of a stunned crowd, Alexis and Maho unveil Amadeus—a revolutionary AI capable of storing a person's memories and creating a perfect simulation of that person complete with their personality and quirks. Meeting with Maho and Alexis after the presentation, Okabe learns that the two were Kurisu's colleagues in university, and that they have simulated her in Amadeus. Hired by Alexis to research the simulation's behavior, Okabe is given the chance to interact with the shadow of a long-lost dear friend. Dangerously tangled in the past, Okabe must face the harsh reality and carefully maneuver around the disastrous consequences that come with disturbing the natural flow of time.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Okabe, Rintarou Main

Miyano, Mamoru Japanese

Makise, Kurisu Main

Imai, Asami Japanese

Shiina, Mayuri Main

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Amane, Suzuha Main

Tamura, Yukari Japanese

Hashida, Itaru Main

Seki, Tomokazu Japanese

Hiyajou, Maho Main

Yahagi, Sayuri Japanese

Urushibara, Ruka Supporting

Kobayashi, Yuu Japanese

Akiha, Rumiho Supporting

Momoi, Haruko Japanese

Kiryuu, Moeka Supporting

Gotou, Saori Japanese

Tennouji, Yuugo Supporting

Terasoma, Masaki Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Yoshikawa, Tsunaki Producer

Chiba, Makoto Producer

Matsunaga, Takayuki Producer

Reviews

Oct 22, 2024

Khashishi

Recommended

How do you make a sequel for a story that absolutely doesn't need one? Simple, you do the impossible. Nothing is out of reach for the mighty Hououin Kyouma. Despite being an unnecessary addition to the series, everything this show does adds to Steins;Gate and does not take away from it.

It's not a perfect series, but still worth a 10, because it's still better than pretty much everything else but Steins;Gate.

So if the whole series occurs in a world-line which is going to be replaced, what is there to do? Character development. A lot of character development, especially for Mayushi (who is the real hero ... of this story), but also for Okabe (who doesn't go by Kyouma anymore :(), and Daru, and new characters. Maho is a bit similar to Makise, though not a stand-in replacement as we also have Amadeus playing that role, and Maho has an inferiority complex to Makise.

Some of the plot arcs feel disjointed and arbitrarily put together, but each arc is pretty solid by itself. I can't talk in detail without spoilers. There are both thrilling parts and chill labo party scenes, and sad character moments (which are acted immaculately), similar to the original series.

One of the weaknesses is that a big plot point is explained by villain monologue, which is cheesy and stupid.

The score is the best in anime. Not "one of the best"; there are no anime with better soundtracks than Steins;Gate 0. It builds on the OST of Steins;Gate and adds even better songs. I'd point out specific banger tracks except that they are all bangers.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Nov 12, 2024

spirit_machine

Mixed Feelings

Steins;Gate 0 is an interesting look at what happened between Okabe giving up on saving Kurisu and receiving the message from his future self, which takes a dark tonal shift. The contrast to the more dorky light-hearted Steins;Gate could have been nice, and certainly does have some good ideas behind it, but is overdone and dreary. The first third or so is really engaging, then it gets more grueling for most of the show. So much time is spent on Okabe yelling the same shit about why he can't save everyone over and over and over and over and over and over. It's as ... if the writers are afraid we will forget that he is depressed. It would be nice if some of that time was spent on giving literally any of the side characters more development. Kagari is especially in dire need of a personality. There are so few moments between her saying "mommy" 51 times in a row and being an empty vessel, it is just annoying and sad. Her looking similar to Kurisu could have been utilized interestingly, she could have a deeper reaction to this and the resulting tension could affect the character dynamics in a way which would deepen the plot. Even that little bit would have made her an interesting character.

There is plenty to criticize. The good ideas that are there feel messy and disconnected from each other at times. Besides his melodramatic outbursts, we also get to see a "normal" version of Okabe, Mayuri has 20% more agency, there is a new character who is jealous of Kurisu's intelligence, and guilty about this jealousy now that Kurisu is dead. A sort of time-travel family reunion happens. Obviously there is also Okabe's pain of being able to see a loved one captured in the form of a virtual character, but knowing it is not her. Eventually actual time travel happens again too. But the show is dragged out forever before that or Okabe's arc happens, and when it does the stakes are ramped up way too high way too fast.

I want to be clear that I did enjoy this a lot and there is a reason I am giving this show a nine star rating. There are heartwarming moments, a bit of intrigue that was actually engaging rather than simply existing to yank the pants off of the viewer, and interesting character interactions. It is just sad the most meaningful moments are buried underneath more Daru pervyness, annoying melodrama, and an almost useless character.

That being said, I am an edgy motherfucker that likes sad characters and just wants to see my favs on screen again, I had fun, and I think many of you will as well. 9/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Sep 12, 2024

VVayfarer

Not Recommended

As with the first half of the original Steins;Gate anime, the bulk of the Steins;Gate 0 adaptation has been rushed to the point where it's difficult to care about anything that happens.

My favorite scene from the Steins;Gate 0 VN is the Gehenna sequence. It's simultaneously one of the most haunting and epic scenes I've ever seen in fiction. It's absolute perfection; I wish I could erase my memory of it just so I could experience it one more time.

Yet, for some inexplicable reason, the adaptation team decided to scrap it in its entirety. The lead up has been completely cut out; the scene itself ... has been replaced with some kind of confusing, abbreviated flashback-y dream sequence with zero context. The more impactful part of the scene was cut off from the build up, eliminating the contrast and thereby minimizing shock factor; and as a final nail to the coffin, the initial segment of the scene is depicted very much like the hallucination scenes in the Steins;Gate movie (which itself completely contradicts the games in terms of how Reading Steiner works) thereby trivializing everything that follows. It's almost as if the writers were deliberately trying to do a case study of "how to ruin a perfect scene".

So the biggest selling point in the story has been omitted... for what? I don't know, I guess the anime director/writer didn't really like it.

The adaptation does have some merits. I felt some of the slice-of-life scenes in the VN to be a bit drawn out, and the anime does feel slightly better-paced in this respect. But that doesn't really make up for the downsides... namely, that the most epic scene in the story is literally nowhere to be found, and that every other twist has virtually no build up, leading to most of the story being almost devoid of emotional impact. The ending is still good, but it's not worth wading through 20 episodes of nothing.

Anyway, I would just recommend skipping the anime, unless you've played the VN and want to check out what's different. As a standalone, it's considerably worse than the Steins;Gate adaptation, and not really worth the time investment.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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