Chaos Theory; A subject of much speculation & fascination. Most everything related to time, space & its very fabric is incomprehensible to most and hence the easiest subject for fictional writers to screw up. There is just so much to make sure of as a writer when it comes to topics like time travel given the unpredictable nature of the subject itself , the margin of error is very fine..
But then here we have Steins;Gate, Chiyomaru Shikura,5pb & Nitropluses brainchild that manages to tie all the loose ends that may have been possible along with managing to constantly managing to keep it's audience at
...
the edge of their seats..
The story follows Okabe Rintarou, an 18 year old self-proclaimed mad scientist who, along with the few friends he has, rents a room to open up his so-called lab.
Nothing much happens until they tweak a microwave to turn bananas into jelly. They have no idea of the groundbreaking capabilities it possesses until genius neuro-science researcher Makise Kurisu catches a glimpse of it and apparently, it has the ability to send objects onto the past, including text messages..
From there on the story takes the viewers through several tight corners, twists & turns at breakneck speed. However, that doesn't mean that it doesn't take its own sweet time to get going. The first 6-7 episodes are excruciatingly slow but it all roars to life during this one particular scene at the end of episode 9 when Okabe realizes the gravity of what happens when one tries to change the past.
I know, it has been done a thousand times before.
But if you can overlook that (which you probably can) you'll realize that Steins;Gate has way more to present than a 'picnic to the past' trip á la 'Back to the Future' as it covers the topic of internal conflict, predicaments regarding lives of loved ones & of course, most importantly,the threat of a a sinister organization that seeks such technology for all the wrong reasons..
Steins;Gate is all about how Okabe manages all of these looming threats and how he manages to get out of them with the help of his 'side-kick' and romantic interest, Makise Kurisu.
You see while the show keeps you bored, showing you nothing during the first seven episodes, it sneakily gets you attached to it's quirky characters. And they are very likeable indeed. In fact, the first seven episodes are just a mere setup of what s to come..
To say that Okabe is slightly eccentric would be a massive understatement, at first he sounds like a whack job: repeatedly picking up phone calls that aren't there, constantly blabbering on about a non-existent evil organisation that doesn't exist. But while he is slightly delusional what he also is is brilliant. The reason why you should care more about him is because he is blessed with an ability to keep his memories from other alternate pasts absolutely intact.
Makise Kurisu, along with being highly intelligent, is much more calm, collected and (due to a lack of a better way to put it) normal. She may not fully know what's going on, but is smart enough to understand and act accordingly. She doesn't need to experience what went on in other world lines to come up with some very handy solutions that are key to solving these problems and she doesn't exist only to be Okabe's romantic interest.
The other female protagonist; Shiina Mayuri is the exact opposite. She is still very childlike in her behaviour and in her thoughts. She serves the purpose of being Okabe's childhood friend and also being a plot device.
Other characters consists of a fat perverted hacker, the silent chick, a cheerful part timer, a trap & a maid. All of them, when together create some pretty decent humour when they are not busy in correcting and over-correcting the past. But I can promise you this that none of these characters are wasted.
What helps these characters is Brilliant voice acting, everyone has their own very unusual traits but never do they sound over the top. Each character is perfectly well realized and delivers their dialogue with utmost sincerity, making them sound honest & unpretentious.
The soundtrack is brilliant as well, Electronic rock meets J-Pop. The opening is quite catchy itself but the ending is astounding; despite sounding dark, mysterious & somber captures almost every mood the show goes through.
My only lament about the sound in Steins;Gate is that it doesn't use its lack of background music in a lot of situations. I understand that it is more of an artistic choice but it could have done with a bit more of that given that most background scores in this show are brilliant.
The art is great as well even though at times characters literally look like flat, rectangular objects and at other times characters look slightly ill-proportioned.
Another thing that slightly annoys me is the constant white,blinding light that the artists have going during the day. It's safe to say that Steins;Gate shines most when in the dark (or indoors for that matter).
I have absolutely no complaints on the animation front however, of course there aren't a whole lot of action scenes but animation is fluid and seamless nonetheless.
Overall, Steins;Gate does a very good job of making it's world look,sound and feel as alive as possible.
TL;DR
S;G twists & turns like a rollercoaster that it is, taking Okabe (and the viewers of course) through incredible highs and lows all while constantly creating empathy for him & his friends. The characters are written in such a way that even the so-called 'villains' are worthy of their own share of sympathy.
Of course there aren't a whole lot of action scenes but S;G is certainly action-packed. It balances it's action-thriller elements along with a dash of comedy & romance all while based on the delicate subject of space-time. To put it simply; Steins;Gate is a thriller masterpiece and anyone who gets past the 7th episode will be thoroughly rewarded..
OVERALL:10/10
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Jan 18, 2016
Steins;Gate
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Chaos Theory; A subject of much speculation & fascination. Most everything related to time, space & its very fabric is incomprehensible to most and hence the easiest subject for fictional writers to screw up. There is just so much to make sure of as a writer when it comes to topics like time travel given the unpredictable nature of the subject itself , the margin of error is very fine..
But then here we have Steins;Gate, Chiyomaru Shikura,5pb & Nitropluses brainchild that manages to tie all the loose ends that may have been possible along with managing to constantly managing to keep it's audience at ... |
