At 14 episodes into the Steins;Gate 0 dub, I have to say, I am disheartened. So disheartened that I felt compelled to write a review so that strangers on the internet could empathize and console me.
The original Steins;Gate stands out to me for several reasons. For one, the dub is exceptional, as it is not a literal word-for-word translation but a localized and natural sounding one. The voice actors have great chemistry and the dialogue flows in a believable way. Additionally, the main premise of the show (time travel) is compelling, well thought out, and believable within confines of the show's universe. There are no Deus Ex Machina moments, just about everything that happens seems like a logical next step. Lastly, and most importantly, the characters are unique and interesting. And, for the most part, they behave as you would expect real people to when thrust into the extreme circumstances that they deal with.
Steins;Gate 0, as of episode 14, has failed where the original succeeded.
Starting with the dub, it feels stiff and forced. Much of the dialogue is far too wordy (especially Daru), and even with John Michael Tatum reprising the role of Okabe, the chemistry just seems to have evaporated. Even worse, the story can't seem to find a direction to take. Are they trying to stop World War 3? Or wait, no they are looking for Kagari. Just kidding, they are developing an AI that acts like Kurisu. Nope, they're just trying to time travel again. Ahh no, that's it, Okabe is going to college in America! Oh, and we can throw in some Moeka/Ferris fan service while we're at it!
Which brings me to the most important point: There are far, farrrr, to many characters that feel completely irrelevant, who seem to have their roles tacked in just because they were in season 1 or something similar. Moeka, the private detective but everything else about her is exactly the same as the original show? Or Ferris but now her outfit is even more ridiculous and she says more cat-related lines? Mayuri, but she decided to stop being cute and instead turn the annoying factor up to 11. And how about Amane, Kurushima, and Nakase? 3 additional characters that serve literally no purpose whatsoever except to get a couple blushes out of Daru.
In addition, the main characters (new and old) feel watered down and one dimensional. Suzuha does karate and is worried about Kagari. Okabe hates time travel and is always sad. Hiyajou has some creepy obsession with Kurisu and Mozart...
If you haven't caught on yet, so far I have found the show to be underwhelming. While it started off great and has several good points (art, character design, animation), my excitement for more Steins;Gate has steadily dwindled since the first few episodes. I'm sure that there will be some incredible twist to tie all of the disjointed pieces together in the end, but currently I am struggling to find a reason why I should care. I find the idea of a world line where Okabe failed to save Kurisu extremely compelling, but in the words of Bilbo Baggins, the story to me "feel[s] thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread." There are so many competing things going on, that I can't seem to find which is supposed to be the most important.
