“A fitting end to the Steins;Gate story, driven by love and passion.”
Wow, I can’t believe it has been so long. Steins;Gate, the anime that has revolutionized the anime genre with its concept of Time Travel and its implications, is finally back after two whole long years. It’s been a long wait, but is it worth it, or a huge disappointment? Let’s take a look!
*contains MAJOR spoilers of both the movie and the original anime*
Story & Characters (9.5/10)
A year has passed since Okabe Rintarou has reached the Steins Gate World Line, where neither Makise Kurisu nor Mayuri dies. It's the perfect world, no? Life can go on as normal, or can it? Unfortunately, our character Okabe’s Reading Steiner ability appears to be more a threat than a blessing. His past memories of the other world lines is overloading his Reading Steiner and he ceases to exist in that world…
This is basically the story, which is fairly simple. However, what made the movie so great were the characters. The reason for lumping the characters portion and the story portion was because Steins;Gate is nothing without its characters. Its characters power the otherwise simple story forward.
Let’s first talk about Okabe Rintarou. He’s still the ever-hilarious Okarin that we knew since the anime season; therefore, if you loved his character then, you’ll love it now. In this movie, it was further expanded on how much despair he had when travelling between the world lines. Constantly witnessing Mayuri’s death over and over again, and doing whatever it takes to save Makise Kurisu. But most importantly, as he said so himself, knowing things that others don’t know or can’t remember… It’s just painful. Just pretend you had a time of your life with your friends in the past, but now, they don’t remember any of the time they spent with you. How would you feel? All alone and helpless right? That’s exactly how Okabe feels. Additionally, the reason the anime was awesome is because it’s as if you’re in Okabe’s shoes. You experienced every world line with him, and when you see people saying “huh, did that actually happen?” you feel frustrated too. He can remember everything that happened in the previous world lines, but no one else can remember it.
Additionally, I found it really commendable that he told Kurisu not to alter the time lines to save him. Its okay for him to be gone, he says. As long as Mayuri and Kurisu live. Do you see just how noble he is? He suffered so much in order to come to the Steins Gate world line, but yet, he’d rather disappear then to let Kurisu time travel and experience the same things he had experienced – Despair, despair and more despair as repeated attempts end in failure, as well as having to change a better future of someone else. He didn’t want that for Kurisu. He’d rather disappear. It’s this care and concern that shows just how much he loves Kurisu – and this makes him much more respectable in my eyes.
Now, let’s talk about Makise Kurisu. This movie is basically the story about Kurisu deciding on whether to listen to her emotions and save Okabe by altering time travelling, or to follow her conscience and fulfill his wish by not doing so. That internal struggle was what made the movie rank up so highly. Right now, Kurisu moreover finally understands what Okabe had been through, which is knowing something that no one else remembers. And because she can now put herself in his shoes can she see just how much Okabe has been through which makes her desire to save him stronger, though her stubbornness often gets in the way of this. As you watch the movie you’ll see how she can’t forget Okabe, her first love, and how she manages to overcome her stubbornness, and it is glorious. Moreover, we can see just how much he loves Okabe, even though she always act like she doesn't (tsundere), after Okabe disappears… But I shall not spoil it.
What deducts a point from the story is how rushed it was at the end. If it just had an extra 10 minutes on development, it would have been so much better.
Animation (9/10)
Animation is basically the same as in the anime, beautiful. Moreover, since this is the movie version, a lot of the scenes were super detailed and crystal clear. Everything from the toys on the table to the label on the lab coat looked beautiful.
Sound (8/10)
Sound design is great, with the some better than others. For example, the scene of Makise running to the lab; that soundtrack was amazing, capturing all the essence of Kurisu’s emotions and desire to see Okabe, and it was so satisfying to the ears.
As for the voice actors, a really commendable one would be Okabe’s voice actor again. Without Mamoru Miyano’s fantastic voice acting, Okabe would not be such an interesting character.
Enjoyment (9.5/10)
As a Steins;Gate fan, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, especially the time between Kurisu and Okabe. I’ve wanted to see more between their relationships since the OVA, and has it been a long wait. Of course, the hilarious scenes from the movie and interesting story and characters made me enjoy it a lot.
Overall (9.5/10)
On the whole, the Steins;Gate movie is very well executed, allowing us to see more into Okabe and Kurisu’s characters, and more importantly, is a better and more satisfying ending to the Steins;Gate series. Is it a must to watch? I would think so, especially of you’re a fan of the original series.
Written by: Ace エイス
