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

(Spoilers obviously lol)

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

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

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

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

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

With this special you are treated to the typical Steins;Gate feel. The story, albeit one episode was fantastic. The Art and Sounds are remarkable yet again. For the Characters, you get the simple step into. Nothing too exceeded, neither sucked to dry. Really nice enjoyment.

To go further with the story, well firstly it's an amazing way to have a little preview for the upcoming Steins;Gate 0. In spite of it being a mostly recycled episode, the subtle additions at the end were fantastic. Giving me more and more hype for Zero. To mention the characters as well, well they are the same. Except a nice ... little change for Okabe at the end. Gave him a little more "come to terms with it" look. Until he realized it's not over yet. Really the enjoyment was top notch, even with it being a mostly recycled preview to Zero.

To finish the Art and Sounds. The sounds are a mirror, recycled. But not put dull. But did seem to be a bit sharper, so it seemed more lyrical to the ears. And the art, again recycled but a sharper view. It was more absorbing, you saw and felt it was nice. With the extra scenes the art seems great, advanced but still sticking to the Steins;Gate style we all come to love.

Again this earns a perfection from my thoughts.

(SPOILERS!)

This episode was simply great. Why? That's 2 reasons.

01) The change of the Okabe we know to a completely sociable and grown person, with some responsabilities, studying in a college, and making "normal friends". This show how the universe was unexplored, and there will be more to come, and show us the "other side" of Okabe.

02) All the characters can be reformulated too, and can be really outstanding to think on a world line where the things of the main worldline have never happened, leaving the possibility of the start of a entire series. I, personally, wouldn't like to see this universe to change, because ... I love the characters how they are in the original series, but this can be a "front door" to the person that doesn't know about the series.

I love this episode, and I recommend to every fan of Steins;Gate to watch it and see "the other ending".

This review will contain heavy spoilers so read at your own risk.

I've come across the debate among many fans of the show that an end of despair would've been a perfect and a better ending than a happy one. Regardless of that, the ending for Steins;Gate came as hugely popular and propelled the show to a high and resounding stance on the Top Anime of MyAnimeList. While it greatly satisfied the majority of the populace by having Okabe save Kurise while at the same time not altering the Alpha World Line, which also saved Mayuri. This was one of the reasons which made Steins;Gate ... a great thriller. Whether it was a sad ending or not, it was something that was logical and made sense.

Now this special episode titled as "Steins;Gate: Kyoukaimenjou no Missing Link - Divide By Zero" is a twist in the tale and an alternate ending to Steins;Gate. In essence, this is another episode 23 but with a following of events that is the opposite from what occurs in the actual episode. So in reality, there is only a few minutes of footage which is actually 'original' in the whole timeline of Steins;Gate and so there is a good possibility that it would be underwhelming and you'd feel like you re-watched the entire thing just for a few minutes of new, never-seen before sequences. As a matter of fact, it's only after even the credits roll out and the ED is completed that you realize that what you see now is the true preview of the upcoming "Steins;Gate 0", which is expected to be a more detailed sequel to this alternate episode 23. Everything until that feels dull and even the brief synopsis of this title on MyAnimeList would have done enough so to match your curiosity to find something new in this episode.

That being said though, the true sequel to this is still to air, so it can be said that "Steins;Gate: Kyoukaimenjou no Missing Link - Divide By Zero" is basically a hint on what is to follow and its true relevance lies on that. Right at the end in this episode, there is a scene where Makise Kurise appears on a TV-like screen and gives her greetings. I don't follow the Visual Novel so this is just my theory: From the synopsis of Steins;Gate 0, I can state that its some sort of a new program that can store memories of humans and create them with their personality and characteristics as a simulation. This might give a clue on Okabe Rintarou to try and revive Makise Kurisu, however not by time-leaping but by sending a cryptic video mail which is seen in the actual episode 23 to the Okabe of the past. This explains the pre-requisite explained by Amane that It'd have required Okabe failing the first time in saving Kurisu to work. The true answer lies in Steins;Gate 0, which I personally am hyped for to start airing.

"How life must have been to the 33 year old Okabe?" (Oops, triggered a baby spoiler). This was one of the questions wandering in my head after watching the first TV series! And as I watched this, I already knew that this leads to the answer. This was just the start of the answer, there's still the creamier part found on the waiting movie, Steins;Gate 0.

As for the first TV series, you guys must have realized that on the 23rd episode, That world line's Okabe is not the first Okabe who experienced the tremendous 3 ... week world line battle or let's name it Operation Fenrir for the meantime xD (or did Okabe officially named it Skuld? . . whatever). Regards to my question on the first sentence of this review, get filled with the darkness awaiting to the Okabe who first engaged Operation Fenrir. You will surely notice that it is similar with the 23rd episode but you will also find things that are missing which makes it different.

Story - For giving me the appetizer for my question, I automatically rate the story 10. I already have high hopes for any new Steins;Gate series as it has impressed me enough on the first series which also leads . . .

Enjoyment - to 10. You would love to see a new Okabe either a more cheerful or tragic one. Not to mention new clothes.

Art - it has always followed the consistency from the first series. The animation is outstanding as well. 10.

Sound - 8. One thing that bothered me is how they imitate voice hallucinations. I don't have a good definition of it but I think it's not how it should sound.

Character - 10.

Overall - 10.

This is an alternative ending to episode 23 of Steins;Gate, and a GREAT choice from the writers. I highly recommend watching this!
-My recommended watch order for the entire series is at the end!-

Story - 10
Just a phenomenal idea. Giving an alternate ending to an episode, especially in a time travel anime where the alternate ending isn't just an alternate ending, but something that actually happened on another timeline, is a great idea. They chose a great spot to make things change. It really makes you intrigued and want to watch Steins;Gate 0.

Art and Sound - 8
Same as Steins;Gate, obviously.

Characters - 10
Same as ... Steins;Gate. I LOVE the characters and I love that this episode shows us something different about them. It shows us the side of them that makes some drastically different choices than in the world line we saw. I think this really helps viewers understand how the characters feel more.

Enjoyment - 9
Well, I had already binged through Steins;Gate so the first half of the episode was a repeat, but still really fun and exciting to see the change!

Overall - 9
Great segway into Steins;Gate 0. However, Steins;Gate 0 does not live up to this episode, so be prepared.

Recommended Watch Order:
1. Steins;Gate all episodes
2. Steins;Gate: Kyoukaimenjou no Missing Link - Divide By Zero
3. Steins;Gate 0 all episodes
4. Steins;Gate: Egoistic Poriomania
5. Steins;Gate: The Movie - Load Region of Déjà Vu

My reasoning: Steins;Gate 0 is much more boring and hard to get through in my opinion. If you watch chronologically you may not finish Steins;Gate 0 because of boredom, and then you won't get to the last bit of Steins;Gate which would be a shame. Also the last two kind of just make you feel good about the characters and love them more, so best to watch them last.

So, i was pretty stoked when I learned that steins;gate 23(b) was out as a precursor to steins;gate 0. However, I honestly didn't really get the change. It seemed he had given up on Kurisu, which was sad and disappointing. But more than that, it didn't really give me a lead to what S;G 0 was going to be about.

Story: 6/10
Dont get me wrong, I LOVE stein's gate, but half of it felt like a rerun and then diverged into a plot that was not fully explained as far as how it was supposed to transition. It didn't serve ... that purpose.

Art: 8/10
They kept the art original to the steins;gate series and so it was very reminiscent of it. Not much else to say in that regard.

Sound: 7/10 because it was still original to the steins;gate series but nothing new was added.

Character: 8/10
The reason why I felt this way is because in my experience reading the VN and watching the original S;G anime, Okarin just didn't act like himself. He wouldn't have given up after just one failure. His character changed but only because he was arbitrarily given this new quality inconsistent with the series.

Enjoyment: 7/10
They left at very little of a cliffhanger.

Overall: 7/10
Same reasons as the enjoyment.

*Spoilers A Plenty*

After watching a few episodes of "How to not summon a demon lord, I finally mustered the courage to watch (Steins;Gate: Kyoukaimenjou no Missing Link - Divide By Zero).

This is the prequel of Steins;Gate 0 and the alternate episode 23 of Steins;Gate where Kurisu wasn't saved...

Assuming you've watched Steins;Gate, I'm going to give my first thoughts/expectations before watching. I thought this alternate setting would be something along the lines where Okabe could not fake Kurisu's death that she would somehow wake up after he tasered her...

...But it was none of that... The trigger for Kurisu's death or survival is actually...

... ...Mayuri


I never saw that coming at all... Mayuri, the center of everything... How could i not have noticed. The plot, the suffering, the grief it all pans around that makeshift loli...

Now I'm going to re-watch Steins;Gate 0. I seriously wish I could time travel and watch S;G first before watching S;G 0... I blame myself for not checking if S;G 0 had previous seasons and for being hasty

EL PSY KONGROO







Take note that this review may be outdated. Always check my profile for my latest rating, I may have changed my rating due to various reasons.

[Spoilers of Steins;Gate]
Well, I have mixed feelings about this.
I liked some parts, but...
I just gonna say... why?

Why throw it all away at the end?
That's not what Kurisu tought you, Kyouma.
But hey, I admit is pretty interesting to know what is going to happen now, but I didn't like this alternative ending. I kinda understand that Kyouma didn't wanted to try again, but the original ending made much more sense; why stop when you can solve it! Where did all your determination went? You saw Mayuri die a lot, but at the end you saved her.

Well, let's see how this continues in Zero...

Edit: I just re-watched Steins;Gate, so I added a sentence or two more with my fresher perspective on how this episode really fits in:

This won't have explicit spoilers, but it will have implied spoilers, so read at your own risk!

I personally didn't like this episode as much as I liked the original ending. That said, this was still a great episode and retained most of the important parts that I liked about the original episode 23. I'm slightly disappointed by this ending, because it feels like more of a cop out than the original ending was, and it doesn't cleanly end the series. I think ... that the cleanliness of the original ending is one of its strengths. This ending is the same as the original for about half of the episode, before it turns away to do its own thing.

WHY I LIKED THE FIRST ENDING MORE: The original ending felt like the one that the series was leading up to throughout the show. This made the original ending feel like it gave adequate closure. It fit in line with the development of all the characters throughout the series, and didn't vary from that development or the previously established plot. For those reasons alone, I think that the original ending was slightly better than this one.

WHY I LIKED THIS ENDING: This ending was still true to the spirit of Steins;Gate, and, besides changing the overall way the series ended, retained moments that made the first ending impactful. It offers a few new ideas that were absolutely relevant to previous plot and character development, but that felt a little too sudden for me to be happy with them. Additionally, I think that a different ending doesn't take much away from the series because it just feels like an alternate world line; so I'm not terribly mad at it for simply being different. The biggest thing I think it brings to the table is building off of the original episode 23, and building excitement for Steins;Gate 0.

The 4 sentences immediately after this one (which I'll put inside of [[brackets]] to make it easier to see when it's done) will be the heaviest implied spoiler, so skip it/move straight to my summary if you want to avoid even implied spoilers!!!!! [[While I'm fine with, and can appreciate, the fact that they chose a darker ending, I think that this ending suffers from the fact that it is such a shift from what happens throughout the series. It felt like there was a bunch of development that happened throughout the series that was just ready for a bit of a push to climax and falling action, but then character development in a different direction suddenly occurred halfway through this episode, which gives it a sort of whiplash and disjointed feel - a sort of build up to nothing. That's the primary thing that makes this ending slightly worse than the original, IMO. That said, the point of this episode *isn't* to tie off Steins;Gate - it's to lead into Steins;Gate 0, so from that perspective, it gets the job done.]]


SUMMARY:

Regardless of which "timeline" ending you prefer, this is still a great episode. Definitely worth the watch if you like the series, and I think worth watching immediately after finishing Steins;Gate, and/or immediately before Steins;Gate0 (since the point of this episode is to lead into 0). If you're watching it immediately after the original ending, you can skip to about halfway through, because the first half is the same as the original. If you're taking this episode as an alternate ending to Steins;Gate, it's the weaker ending of the two, IMO, but it's fine, and still interesting, as a lead-in to Steins;Gate 0 (not sure that it adds much substance to the Steins;Gate 0 overarching plot, though)!

(Spoilers as always)

I don't like that. It's not fair for Mayuri character. I find for way better when she told him to go and help her because she was important to him.
It felt undone when it ended like that.
I'm sure creators did the right choice thanks to this episode. Also leaving Okabe's character in such a pain isn't cool.
I haven't yet watched Steins;Gate 0 but i have read the synopsis so i can see it gives the perfect beginning for Stens;Gate 0 and i appreciate that. This is the best reason to watch it ! It was shame that the bigger part ... of the episode is what we already saw in the original ending tho but its still acceptable.

-Spoilers ahead-
(for the original series and for the upcoming S;G0)


"Steins Gate: Episode 23 (β), Open the Missing Link" is the alternate ending to the original series.

Or is it? Well, kinda. But this episode is also the prequel-episode to Steins;Gate Zero which is technically a prequel to the original series.
Wich means that this episode and Zero is a(n important) part of the original storyline. Confusing, right? After all, this story is about time travel. So it has to be a bit confusing.

In this worldline Okabe refuses to attempt a second try to safe Kurisu.
And this leads to the events in the upcoming 0-series. The ... Okabe we see in this worldline is the 33 year old Okabe who sends the video-message from the future to the one we see in the original series.

So do I recommend to watch this? Yes.
Especially if you want to watch Steins;Gate Zero.

My overall rating is mainly based on the rating of the original series.
I should mention that the first 14 minutes are the exact same as in the original episode.

This is sort of the BAD END of the base Steins;Gate anime. It leads straight into Steins;Gate 0 and serves it's function well as the connective tissue to that show. I think you could probably even get to episode 23 of Steins;Gate and then watch this instead going right into 0, then coming back and watching episode 24 if you wanted the full chronological experience. Personally I think watching it this way would be a bit depressing, as you'd be left hanging for the duration of 0 waiting for a good ending to come. It does come eventually, and it's an amazing one, but I ... don't think it's impact is lessened by just skipping this episode and 0 entirely and watching Steins;Gate as is.

Honestly just having this episode around on streaming services or in your anime lists might only serve to add confusion. It makes sense once you understand the whole story, but the fact that it exists at all might lead to spoilers or just more confusion. I'm giving it a 7/10 for maybe not really needing to exist.

This chapter has left me feeling incredibly empty. So many emotions together that I don't even know what to do. Not to mention what happened between Okabe and Cristina, which I didn't remember, I felt all over again. I'm crying and everything. I give it an 11/10.

It's definitely unique in anime, on the level of Okabe's superb writing.

How an anime can evoke such emotions is really a testament to the skill of the creators. The writing, the animation, the music, it all comes together to create an experience that can be incredibly moving.

What happened between Okabe and Cristina, though I didn't remember it, affected me ... as if I was experiencing it for the first time. This speaks to the power of storytelling and how certain moments can stay with me, even if the details fade over time.

It's interesting how anime, like any art form, can leave a lasting impression and evoke a wide range of emotions. Each viewer can have a unique experience, and that's part of what makes anime so special.

My 11/10 rating shows how much I appreciate this anime and the level of emotional impact it has had on me. Okabe's superb writing, as I mentioned, plays a crucial role in this, creating characters and plots that viewers find engaging and unforgettable.