I really struggled to finish this series. It’s as everyone says. The beginning is SUPER SLOW and agonizingly boring. Nevertheless, I got through it to the end. And to my surprise, I was very dissatisfied.
Things that I thought were great about Steins Gate:
The most amazing thing about this series is the unique art style. I really loved the style of Steins Gate. I can’t quite describe it in words, but something about the style and animation used for this series is beautiful. The character designs (for the most part) are excellent and the soft tones keep it easy on the eyes.
Voice acting for this series was great as well. I don’t really have much to say about that. The soundtrack, openings and endings were all very well made and pleasant to listen to.
Now the cons:
The biggest problem I have with this show are the characters. The love for Okabe is so unreasonable, and I just don’t understand why so many people love him. He is without a doubt, the MOST ANNOYING character in anime history (behind Nina from Code Geass, Gabi from Attack on Titan, and Asuka from Evangelion). My very first impression of him was as if he was a 6 year old who just stuffed his face with Halloween candy and went on a massive sugar crash. He’s a human symbol for ADHD on steroids.
Then comes his derpy, pervert otaku friend who takes every chance at ogling Makise. Such a forgettable character, I already forgot his name.
That being said, the only sensible character I came to like was Makise. Beautiful, fierce, and intelligent. Can’t ask for much more. Mayuri was adorable and one of my favorites, but too bad her character was so damn submissive and unrealistic.
The story takes way too damn long in the beginning. The very first episode was confusing, which is what pushed me onto the second episode. From there on out to the next 4-5 episodes, it was agonizing and dreadful. It was so hard to keep my eyes open because it was so insanely slow and boring. To make things worse, Okabe’s hyper character only pissed me off and made me not want to watch it.
Overall
Even though I despised the story in the very beginning, I gradually began to see it unfold at an easy going pace. I won’t deny that it was a fantastic story by the end of the series. My problem was that it took way too long for me to even gain the smallest amount of interest. Peer pressure and the insanely good reviews are what kept me going through this series to the very end.
Time travel is not an easy subject to put on screen. That being said, I believe Steins Gate did a pretty fair job. Only a handful of characters were memorable, meanwhile most of them were so annoying, I can’t even stomach looking at them anymore.
Was a terrible show? Absolutely not. Does it deserve the high rating it has? In my opinion, it really isn’t anything special. Very forgettable and not very intriguing. Hard to recommend it to anybody.
