Story-wise, Stein;Gate is fantastic. Its a very internally consistent universe, important for any hard sci-fi series such as this, and once the ball gets rolling it is very, very hard to peel your eyes away. Tense mysteries and conspiracies build up to a nearly seven-episode long payoff that then proceeds to out-do itself. After hitting episode twelve, the intrigue hits a fever pitch and doesn't settle back down until the finale. Okabe's romance sub-plot is done so subtlely and manages to work into one of the show's biggest hype moments so well that I'm hard-pressed to find any problems with it. Where most shows buckle under the pressure of balancing both a science fiction adventure with a romance, Steins;Gate makes it an integral part of the plot. The only problem then, is the five episodes before anything actually happens. Episodes one through five are all character building and light-hearted comedy, with only the barest of hints at whats to come. This is common in Visual Novels, as its important to build up a player's attachment to the characters before forcing them to choose routes, but in an anime its hardly needed. While the five episode build up is funny and entertaining, it is most certainly the weakest link here, and would've been a welcomed cut.
The art is gorgeous. At once realistic and otherworldly, Steins;Gate makes excellent use of lighting to portray an otherwise normal portrayal of Akihabara as somewhere between a desert paradise and a purgatorial nightmare. All of the characters look distinct to one another, avoiding the same-face dilemma that even great shows run into from time to time. In addition to this, the character's appearances say a lot about who they are as a person. From the endearing naivety of Mayuri to the porcelain grace of Kurisu, to the withdrawn beauty of Ruka, each of the character's designs do wonders to establish who these characters are before they've even said a word. Its worth noting that while some of this comes from the original visual novel, and due credit should be paid to it, some of the mystique does come from the production studio. The best example is Kurisu; in the visual novel, she and Okabe have a fairly similar skin tone, while in the anime Kurisu is considerably paler than every other character in the show. Changes like these are for the better, and add a lot to already wonderful designs.
The soundtrack for this series is great, even though that rarely weighs into my opinion of the show. In particular, both the OP and ED do a excellent job of setting the tone and being extremely enjoyable to listen to on their own. Its just a shame that when you marathon the series, you're most likely going to skip right past them. In all other cases, the soundtrack is used extremely sparingly. Most of the time, the most startling and excellently used track is pure silence, adding once again to the sense of realism this show manages to convey.
Alright, now to justify my choice of Dub vs. Sub. Yes, the Sub has several absolutely hilarious scenes of Okabe making an ass of himself. Yes, the Engrish is very funny. Yes, the Japanese voice cast is great. So why dub? Well the choice is easy due to the first five episodes: Hououin Kyouma. In the English dub, "Kyouma" manages to come across as eccentric but obviously false, adding to depth of Okabe's character from the very first episode. In the original Japanese, however, "Kyouma" manages to sound like a recent lobotomy patient with marbles in his mouth. Considering how often the Kyouma voice is used in the first five episodes (Read, all the motherfucking time) the Kyouma act gets real old real fast, and I can't blame anyone for dropping the show during the first five episodes, and if you have done so in the past I implore you: Watch the Dub. The Dub's cast is amazing too, not a wrongly cast character in the bunch, every line delivered with rich coarseness that betrays the characters inner thoughts, and Trina Nishimura is an amazing voice actress who has a criminally small list of roles considering how fantastic she is.
Characters are great. I'm not gonna spoil it, watch it yourself if you really want to know. Ruka and Kurisu tie for best girl. Most of the fun of the show is unraveling how these characters think and watching them grow. Watching Kurisu and Okabe's relationship change and grow closer even across world lines that Kurisu shouldn't remember is fantastic and my favorite part of the show.
All in all, if the show were to abridge the first five episodes down to one and a half, this would be a perfect show. If you can make it past the slow as hell first five episodes, Steins;Gate is one of the all time greats.
(Don't forget to watch the OVA follow up if you want closure to the main romance. Also don't watch the movie, it blows.)
