I have to start off by saying that initially I gave this anime a 9 out of 10. However, as time passed I realized that there was no reason for me to give it a 9 over a 10. Normally with things I score a 9, there was something about it that prevented me giving it a 10. Such as, the ending was unsatisfying, the plot too confusing, too much fanservice, etc. etc. But with Steins;Gate there was literally nothing.
Some complaints that could be used against Steins;Gate is that the first half of the show was really slow. However, I was hooked from quite literally the first second of the show. As soon as I heard the opening quote I was like "dayum" and immediately proceeded to marathon the entire thing. But I have heard from others that the first half was hard to get through. The thing about the first half of the show is that it sets the plot up like dominoes to topple over and then completely destroy and annihilate with an atomic bomb in the second half. This is not your typical time-travel anime. I pretty much spent the entire second half of the show crying and yelling THIS IS EFFED UP to my friend who had already seen it.
Now on to the actual review:
Story: 10/10
As I explained above, the first half sets up the second half. In addition, there are many story elements that are only partially explained at first (i.e. what Steins;Gate refers to), leaving you guessing until the very end when they explain what everything is. Then you're sitting there in a daze going "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" for about fifteen minutes. The show's theories about and behind time travel are also very well explained, so there aren't plot holes to be found there. In addition, if you had any lingering questions or regrets, the OVA/special wraps things up very nicely. Overall, the story was absolutely fantastic and still blows my mind away.
Art: 10/10
Apparently Steins;Gate was really low-budget, but I'm not too convinced myself since the art was very pretty and pleasing to the eye. They stuck to the style of the visual novel and did a good job keeping everything focused where it should have been all along: on the story and characters. There weren't battle sequences where you get to see how well animated it really is, but Steins;Gate centers around the plot, not so much the action.
Sound: 9/10
The only reason this isn't getting a 10 is because for the most part, there was a lack of background music. However, that wasn't really a problem for me because the story was so engaging without it. But when background music is playing, and then it stops, you know it's about to get real.
As far as songs go, the opening song, "Hacking to the Gate," and the ending song, "Butterfly," are both really great songs too and fit the theme of the show. The opening song's lyrics actually have a ton of foreshadowing if you go back and look at them later, and the ending song is pretty much my trigger because I'd be sitting there in shock after an episode, the ending song would start rolling, and I'd start crying.
Another thing about sound is that since this takes place in the summer, there was a pretty much constant buzz of cicadas. Since that sound was omnipresent through the whole show, whenever I now hear the sound of cicadas I immediately get reminded of Steins;Gate.
Character: 10/10
The cast of characters was so diverse in this show. All of their personalities resonated really well with each other. You have Rintarou affecionately calling Mayuri his hostage and also walking around like he's the king, only to get reminded that he is only, in fact, 18. Then there's his dynamic with Kurisu (who he calls Christina because he is quite literally the biggest dork ever), where she dislikes his bossy personality and makes it a point to argue with him as much as possible. Indeed, she does establish her dominance over him from time to time. Namely, a scene where she was teaching him to speak nicely to her and use her correct name by repeatedly hanging up on him until he got the hint. In addition, Mayuri and Kurisu have a wonderful friendship with each other, and Kurisu gets really protective of Mayuri because she thinks that Rintarou and Daru are perverts (Daru yes, Rintarou not so much).
Also, Daru's vocabulary basically consists of old Internet memes and the like, and Kurisu knows what they all mean despite her consistent refusal to admit that she does. There was an especially golden moment when she and Rintarou were arguing and Daru said "They are the OTP in the fanfic I call my life." Kurisu immediately burst out, "We are not OTP!" and then Rintarou and Daru were making fun of how familiar she was with the lingo despite her claims that she is not around the online community that much. That fools no one though. We all know she knows as much as Daru.
This show also brought one of my biggest ships around here too. It's confusing at first, because there are two main female characters and one main male character, but both of them are not love interests. Let's be honest, if this was Sword Art Online, both of them would be nuts for Rintarou, but that isn't the case. The romance is subtle and develops slowly and quietly throughout the show.
Then there's the character Suzuha, who seems to dislike Kurisu for some reason. I'm going to avoid talking about her for the most part, but her role in the story is very important.
There is a lack of character development in the show, but not for the reasons you might think. It's actually a huge part of the story, but I'm going to leave it at that because of spoilers.
I watched Steins;Gate dubbed, and I thought the dub cast did an outstanding job of reflecting each character's personality. J Michael Tatum was spot on as Rintarou, and my favorite role of Trina Nishimura is Kurisu (though Mikasa is a close second). Both of them nailed their characters and they did such a great job with their acting. According to my friend, the actors mentioned in panels that they kept crying while recording and J Michael Tatum had a mental breakdown while recording an episode, but they kept it because it matched the lip flaps. The fact that the characters were crying while recording shows that they really got into their roles and felt an emotional connection to their characters.
Enjoyment: 10/10
Some people might argue that the first half was hard to get through, but speaking from personal experience as someone who marathoned the show in two days, it was not. I keep explaining that the first half of the show sets up the pain and heartbreak for the second half.
In addition, Steins;Gate does a great job of referencing pop culture. They reference Doctor Who several times, and the text messages they send into the past they decide to call D-mail, short for DeLorean mail, which is obviously a Back to the Future reference. Then there's the bit about OTPs and fanfics, and tons of other references made left and right.
Steins;Gate was engaging the whole way through and just generally had a lot of crying alone in the dark in front of my computer while I pressed next episode and sobbed a lot. As heartbreaking and painful as it was, it was such a good show, and I'd love to erase my memories and watch it again, and get drawn in by it again.
Overall: 10/10
This show definitely made it into my top 5 animes of all time. Unfortunately, it can't move up much farther from there, just because my top 5 animes were all so amazing. That being said, it definitely does not suck, and you just have to watch it to experience it for yourself. There's only so much explaining I can do.
