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Full disclosure, if you're reading this review in the hope of getting an objective critique of Steins;Gate, you're probably going to be disappointed. As it stands, Steins;Gate is probably my favorite series, and I cannot in good conscience allow you to believe that this is going to be anything other than me completely gushing over everything about the show. So, if that's not your thing, thanks for stopping by, and maybe we can talk again some other time. But if you're willing to listen to me ramble about why I think Steins;Gate is an absolute masterpiece, and why I think you should watch it too, ... then stick around, you might have a good time.

"People's feelings are memories that transcend time." - Makise Kurisu

Story 10/10:
Steins;Gate has garnered a reputation from some people for having a complex story that can often be very hard to follow. On the surface, I suppose that could be true. It's got pseudo-scientific terms being thrown around all over the place, time travel, parallel dimensions, all the ingredients you need for a show that will make your brain hurt. However, and take this with a grain of salt as I am not overly familiar with time travel fiction, I believe that Steins;Gate handles the time travel elements better than anything else I have seen across any fictional medium. Many of the plot points that permeate time travel fiction (time loops, changing the past to change the future, etc..) are found within Steins;Gate, and they are handled masterfully. What you get when you have a show that handles it's core conceit so well is a show that allows you to look past what it is about on the surface, and look into what the story is really about: the characters (but more on them later.)

In short, if none of that made any sense, the story of Steins;Gate wears a veil of pseudo-scientific complexity, one that falls away after a few episodes, and allows the viewer to see the face of the real story, that of the characters. And when you get to that, Steins;Gate becomes a mesmerizing tale of the bonds between people, and how far along the fabric of space and time those bonds can go before they break.

Art 10/10:
The art and animation in Steins;Gate is, simply put, simple. This is a not a show with over-the-top visual effects and fight scenes taking place every episode. Everything about the art style is subdued; the show utilizes a fairly muted color palette a lot of the time, and focuses on mundane looking characters going about their business in mundane locations, although both the locations and characters and drawn and animated beautifully. Often the show will linger on locations, characters, and simple small details for longer than would seem necessary, but it all feeds into the aesthetic nature of the show, which I would call contemplative. Steins;Gate is a thought provoking series, and by using the art and animation to give the viewer time to breath and take in everything that is going on, the show allows the viewer to fully experience the emotional weight of what they are watching.

Sound 10/10:
Much like the art of Steins;Gate, the ambient sound and music of the show exists primarily to further its aesthetically contemplative nature, and it does so very well. The sounds of Tokyo's pedestrian and vehicular traffic, crickets chirping, cicadas buzzing, it all plays into making the world of the show feel real, while also taking up a lot of the dead space when there is no dialogue, keeping the viewer engaged and their thoughts provoked. Additionally, the Opening and Ending songs are both fantastic, among my absolute favorites. They both took awhile to grow beyond being decent, but by the end of the series I looked forward to both of them every time.

The voice acting in both the subbed version and the dubbed version is stellar. The casts of both do an amazing job of bringing the characters and the story to life. Personally I prefer the subbed version, the main reason being that Miyano Mamoru does a masterful job conveying the nuances and eccentricities of the main character, Okabe Rintarou. J. Michael Tatum does a fantastic job as well in the dub, but his mad scientist laugh is just not quite as satisfying.

Characters 10/10:
This is the big one. I've realized over the years that no matter what medium I'm experiencing, the most important thing to me when it comes to enjoying a story is the characters. The cast of Steins;Gate is not that large, with their only being around 9 major characters, but every one of them steals the show at one point or another. As I said in my discussion of the story, the real heart of Steins;Gate is the characters, and all of them are highly enjoyable to watch every time they are on the screen. Okabe Rintarou stands as my favorite anime protagonist, largely because he is so fun to watch. He is amazingly nuanced, much like the show itself, in that they both initially present a false face, in the case of Okabe that of mad scientist Hououin Kyouma, and the show as a tale about science and time travel, but eventually the walls are broken down to reveal that Okabe is actually much less irreverent than he first appears to be, and the show is much more about characters and their relationships than anything else.

The other characters are all fantastic for their own reasons, and are just as dynamic as Okabe. They all get their moments to shine in the story, and by the end I found myself caring deeply about all of them.

Enjoyment 10/10:
All you really need to know is that I watched the entire series in less than 24 hours, and then went back and watched the whole thing again over the following week. And I regret none of it.

Overall 10/10;
Watching Steins;Gate is an experience that I don't think I will ever match again when watching anime. The story, the art and sound, and especially the characters combine to create a masterfully told story about how far people are willing to go for the people that they care about. It can be heavy and slow at sometimes, but if you're anything like me, it's worth it in the best way possible. I recommend it to anyone who loves intelligent, character driven stories that take a few twists and turns along the way, and wants to experience something that will take them on an emotional roller-coaster.

"The passage of time depends entirely on where you're standing. Relativity Theory... it's so romantic. But it's just so tragic too." - Makise Kurisu

El. Psy. Kongroo.