If you like complex storylines and can handle time paradoxes, Steins;Gate would be a great choice to watch. It is fairly difficult to get into, but after a couple of episodes the show smooths out. The story follows a immature scientist, Rintarou Okabe, as he uncovers a conspiracy with his time machine invention. He works to end this conspiracy while saving the lives of his friends at the same time. Although the show follows a linear trajectory, the circularity of it is noticeable through the side characters, as they cannot remember what happen when time changes. Regardless, the minor characters each have their own identifiable personalities and have importance to the plot.
The art in Steins;Gate is top notch, and it fits the tone of the story well. Both the designs of the characters and backgrounds are among the best of the year, and the color palette allows for the happiest and darkest of moments presented. The music for the show was quite decent. The opening and ending themes, albeit dark, fit the majority of the episodes. The in show sound track did not stand out, in either a good or bad way (and when it did it was always in a good way).
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Characters - 10
The characters in Steins;Gate are what shaped the show into what it became. The protagonist had a lot of development from the first episode to the end. Rintarou Okabe is far from your ordinary main character. He is a self proclaimed mad scientist, who is always pretending to be paranoid of imaginary secret organizations. In the first few episodes he acts quite childish around his friends, and his experiments are far from successful or meaningful. Although the show has serious tones to it, he does not until the plot progresses (but he is not silly to absurdity). At a point in the storyline, Okabe beset by turmoil and has to solve his problems alone; he begins to become overtly serious, and this does not go unnoticed by the rest of the cast. As the show does not end on a dark note, neither does Okabe. By the end, he leaves his solemn state and returns to how he acted at the beginning. This character development has a powerful effect, as the storyline is very circular; Okabe is the only character who perceives the story as being linear, but his personality changes still emphasize the circularity.
The secondary characters of the show do not get as much development as the protagonist. Although this is bad, it makes sense. Every single one of these characters does not follow the linear direction of the show. As they cannot remember many of the major plot events as Okabe does, they had no reason to change as the story progresses.
The fact that the side characters have no development does not make them bland. They each have a sense of individuality, and they can be identified by their personality traits. You have the close friend who is an overweight computer hacker; he never hesitates to overtly express his erotic interests and teases the female characters often this way. There is the childhood friend who is a very childish young woman; she seems to be an airhead, but at times she appears to be more aware of everything going on than even the protagonist. There is a bashful shrine maiden who is actually a trap. Another is an energetic girl who is always found working hard with any task given to her; nearly all series long she is mysterious, even when she reveals that she a “genius” and “in the know”. There is a rich girl who works at a maid café for the fun of it and speaks like a cat. Lastly an extremely reserved woman, who communicates mainly through text messages, fulfills the role of a temporary lab member.
Story - 9
It is difficult to describe the story of Steins;Gate without ruining the majority of it. For lack of better terms, the plot was highly chaotic. This is completely inevitable when dealing with a time machine and time loop storyline. The show follows Okabe as he is working on his homemade time machine. As the design of the machine is very simple and it functions unpredictably, the first half of the season covers the experiments using it. The more experiments that Okabe does, the more his world changes and the more danger he puts himself and his friends into. The second half of the season follows Okabe as he attempts to return the world back to the way it was and save the lives of his friends.
The scheme of Steins;Gate was quite complex, as the story was filled with multiple side plots that were crucial to the overarching plot. Complex stories can make or break a show, and the directors appeared to have thought everything though. Each subplot was resolved without leaving the viewer with a multitude of questions. Also, almost none of them were rushed; the writers took their time and kept the pacing smooth. Only the very final plot point seemed rushed, and had the shot had one or two more episodes this could have been averted. Even though the ending felt faster paced than the rest of the series, it does not ruin the quality of the rest of the episodes. There is just no buffer between the final two arcs of the show, and because of this some of the events towards the end seem like a deus ex machina (which is ironic considering what happens, and when you get to that point you’ll understand).
The story does not feel like the best I’ve ever seen, which is why I haven’t given it a ten. It might be because of the ending, but it is also an instinctual thing. If you are considering picking up the show, I would definitely suggest it if you like time paradoxes. It is very hard to get into, but it smooths out after a couple of episodes. I should also make a point that it can get very dark, and I think it may be the darkest show of the year (even more so than Madoka, but that is my opinion). The good thing is that it does have a happy ending.
Art - 10
I am a stickler for art, and I will sometimes pick up terrible shows because it has good art and drop amazing shows because I can’t stand the crayon scribbles. In the case of this show, I was intrigued by the banner art when I was reading the summery towards the beginning of its release. I was astounded by the visuals; the characters were well drawn and so were the backgrounds. If I had enough time to do so, I could pause an episode and just marvel at all the details put into the background and even the characters.
Steins;Gate doesn’t have the best art I’ve seen, but it is pretty close. The style of art used for the show fits the tone of the storyline perfectly. When things are happy, the colors are light and calm. When things become dark, everything seems dismaying and terrifying at the same time without the overall color palette changing. It is by far the best art I’ve seen in the past few seasons, and that is why I gave it such a good score in this field.
Music - 9
The opening and ending of Steins;Gate do not change until the final few episodes. I like it when shows change their themes after twelve or thirteen episodes, but in this case I didn’t mind. Both the opening and ending, although not the most impressive songs devised, fit the show splendidly. They were dark but energetic; sad but lively at the same time. They fit the tone of the show, regardless if the plot was currently in the happiest or darkest points. On top of that the themes were high quality; I found that I could add them to my playlist and listen to them without the urge to skip them (which is a feat indeed).
I’m glad the show stuck with the opening all the way through and only changed their ending for the final three episodes; with how the storyline functioned, I think it would have been odd for theme to have randomly changed. When the endings changed, it made perfect sense. “Fake Verthandi” added an extra layer of suspension to the end of episode 22, being both dark and depressing yet hopeful at the same time. “Sky Clad no Kansokusha” powerful beat and base lines reinforce Okabe’s determination at the end of episode 23. “Another Heaven” had a slightly different tone from all the other endings, that matched the ending to the series. All of these endings worked for their specific roles. The original ending was the best of them all, as the final three where not as musically sound. The differences were minimal, and the new ones fit well enough that I have minimal complaints.
